U-Haul moving trucks – fun or pure marketing genius?
We’ve all seen them, they’re hard to miss on any road trip. You probably even look for them, trying to find the one from your hometown. I’ve even seen U-Haul trucks on Roadtrip Bingo games.
Making people look for these fun, iconic trucks is only part of the U-Haul marketing plan. Look at the trucks closer. U-Haul is explaining to you why their trucks are better. On the back of the truck they refer to the low deck and even show you the height of other truck decks. Closer to the front, you see the term “Gentle Ride” and on the truck door it generally says Automatic and A/C. You may have never thought about it, but those are important qualities to most people. Qualities you may assume are on all trucks until now because U-Haul has raised doubt about their competitors. So now you ask before you rent a truck if it has A/C and an automatic transmission. Another addition to the subtle sale pitch is the space above the cab known as “Mom’s Attic”. The term “Mom’s Attic” is cute, fun, and makes me think of my mom putting her china and other precious cargo up there away from the heavy furniture.
The entire truck differentiates U-Haul from all of the other competitors. Think of other moving trucks – they’re boring, boxy, and honestly not memorable budget trucks with the stick figures – memorable, but they don’t differentiate).
Some of U-Haul’s new trucks have a scene showing a truck all packed up making you think about moving. It’s neat and organized – giving the appearance that moving can be easy and it has a little something for everyone including a basketball, lamp, and toolbox. They even use U-Haul boxes to cross-sell that service and get their name out there a few more times.
I promise you won’t look at another U-Haul truck the same way next time you see one driving down the road.
