Kennards Hire is one of Australasia’s leading equipment hire companies with roots dating back to 1948. In subsequent years the company has grown significantly and now operates over 170 branch locations and 1,500 plus employees across Australia and New Zealand. Kennards Hire positions itself as being able to ‘service any job small or big from the bottom up’.

Kennards has developed a strong standing over the years as the go-to brand for DIY home renovators through to trade business owners, and the company continues to have prominent ties to those markets today.

A key opportunity for Kennards is their continued growth in the major projects space. I.M.A was asked to develop the ‘go-to-market’ approach for the ‘big end of town’.

In developing strategic recommendations, I.M.A first undertook a wide-ranging qualitative research study to gain a thorough understanding of the market and prospects’ perceptions of the Kennards Hire brand and capabilities. The study included:
 

• Interviews with internal sales and other stakeholders
• Interviews with key ‘Tier 1’ company and government representatives
• Desk industry research
• Facilitation of internal workshop session
• Competitor analysis including positioning, key messaging, sales approach and visual identity

The final recommendations to Kennards covered a broad scope of activities, to help reposition the company within the desired market. Advice included:
 

• Developing a coherent positioning and narrative aligned to the professional, corporate Tier 1 audience
• Taking a differentiated sales and account management approach
• Developing a targeted sales training module that was different from Kennards’ traditional sales model
• Developing more relevant/specific sales support materials including presentation, brochures and other collateral to better target the desired market
• Providing guidance (and drafting) of a range of policy and compliance statements relevant to Tier 1 audiences
• Developing and suppling core document templates for future completion by Kennards Hire’s internal design team

I.M.A’s core recommendations have been accepted and we are now working with Kennards Hire’s senior management team in aligning the organisation’s preparedness to implement our strategies.