BRAND awareness is a key part of the successful development of any business.

The bigger the brand, the bigger the effort that goes into protecting and enhancing it.

In some respects, creating a brand is a slightly easier task than maintaining and developing it, but when it’s done well the benefits to a business can be hugely significant.

When one major player gets it right, the impact can be felt by all competitors. That was clearly evident last week in all of the coverage that followed the death of Edward Stobart.

Not so long ago, when road transport contractors were in the haulage rather than logistics business, the sector was less well-regarded than it is now.

The development of the Stobart business did much to change perceptions and reputations.

In everything from insisting his drivers wear collars and ties, to regular washing and polishing of their vehicles, Stobart knew all about brand development.

The dividends derived from such attention to detail remain high, and are a text-book example to other businesses.

One of the most striking aspects of what this firm has achieved is the way in which its brand values have been so carefully established and, in turn, the way in which they are nurtured and enhanced.

The smartness of the trucks and drivers have taken the industry a long way from the slightly grubbier and grimier territory it once occupied.

The pioneer’s influence went far further, of course.

The biggest, shiniest fleet of individually named lorries in the world only makes money when it is full of goods, not when empty lorries are trundling back to warehouse and distribution centres. Stobart’s centres were strategically located close to the motorway network, rather than in the less accessible hauliers’ yards of yesteryear.

Perhaps the most striking example of the success of how the brand was established lies in the fact that a subsidiary business manufacturing souvenirs and other green, red and gold goods grew to be worth £3.5m in its own right.

That’s a lot of toy trucks.

It’s also a smart way of doing business from a company that prides itself on its core brand values and plays to their enormous strength.