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Lighthouse brands are purpose-driven in everything they do. They tend to be high-quality brands which engender trust in the consumers who support them. Their behaviour, products and services are aligned, and what they say, do and believe is consistent with their brand messaging. These brands know who they serve and why. Moreover, they understand the emotional and rational attributes that are relevant to their customers and appeal to their hearts and minds in an engaging, tangible and believable way. Consumers tend to support lighthouse brands because they demonstrate leadership and make a meaningful difference.

Vanessa Pearson, ECD at House of Brave, describes Tracker as a lighthouse brand. Tracker is a leader in the stolen vehicle recovery market but is now evolving to provide additional services and products to do with care and protection. Armed with a new brand campaign conceptualised by House of Brave, Tracker aims to enhance the lives of its customers, as opposed to merely focusing on protecting what they already own.

The brand is shifting its focus to people and their inherent value, says Pearson. “The new campaign uses storytelling as a vehicle to show what it stands for. To demonstrate Tracker’s transition to a brand that not only owns the ‘protect’ space (stolen vehicle recovery) but cares as well, we focused on the characteristics of lighthouse brands. We were trying to get away from traditional product advertising which explains the product, to advertising that creates empathy – it has a purpose that relates to consumers and communicates this purpose in order to add to their lives and lifestyles.”

The brand campaign features the true story of a relatively unknown man, Wiley Pitman, who nurtured the musical talent of a sightless young boy in post-Depression America, taking the time to teach him how to play the piano and inadvertently creating the legend that became Ray Charles. The campaign line, “Never underestimate the power of looking after something”, speaks to the potential in every individual and the fact that one never knows what someone will be able to achieve given time, opportunity and the power of care and protection.

The big take-out: Using the characteristics of a lighthouse brand, brands with purpose are built to create emotional connections with their markets.

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