SP Archive: How Do You Market an Iconic Automotive Brand? Greg Norris On Working At Sykes-Pickavant
8 min reading time
How Do You Market an Iconic Automotive Brand?
Greg Norris On Working At Sykes-Pickavant
A huge part of our success is down to the brilliant marketing experts who work tirelessly behind the scenes to get the Sykes-Pickavant name out there. Greg Norris was front and centre during one of the most exciting times of our growth.
Greg joined us in 1983 and remained with the company until 1998, building a 15-year career at Sykes-Pickavant. He began as our first-ever Marketing Manager, and after about 5 years, Greg was promoted to Marketing Director. He learnt his craft by studying marketing at university, going on to achieve a Master’s degree in the subject.
Greg’s talents did occasionally extend beyond marketing; he was also involved with a separate business set up on behalf of Sykes-Pickavant in the 90s, where he worked in management.
Day-to-day, Greg was responsible for all aspects of marketing, from product positioning and pricing to promotion and distribution. He started working for Sykes-Pickavant when we were working on some of our older products.“When I joined the company, the product range was quite old, but the brand name was very strong,” Greg said. “Many of the products were in the very late stages of the life cycle, so we had the opportunity to evolve the product range and bring forth new products.”
Moving through the late 1980s and into the 1990s, the technology of the motor car was changing very rapidly, mainly into electronic technology. This allowed Greg and his marketing team to establish Sykes-Pickavant as a leading brand within the automotive trade.
“Our focus was on being close to the end user, not several stages back behind a distribution network, but actually being face to face with users on a daily basis,” Greg remembers. “Since the 1920s, the company had a demonstration van that would take tools into people’s workshops. That’s what made the company special all those years ago.”
Greg continued with this tried-and-tested marketing method, which meant the sales team carried out demonstrations right through 5 decades and beyond, building the dedicated customer trust that has been the backbone of the Sykes-Pickavant name.
“We would go out to exhibitions and get user feedback from there. I can see that happening now with a new generation of products, which is so refreshing,” said Greg.
In the early days of Sykes-Pickavant, the packaging and overall marketing existed to serve a simple purpose: getting our products out to our customers. That had to change when new competition came into the market.
"We had to move away from brown cardboard boxes to something a little more vibrant and colourful" Greg said. "Our literature had always been very technical, full of facts and figures which served the trade, but it didnt look particularly exciting. When i got involved, we were moving much more into colour, and we hired the first graphic designer to help with that."
The changing technology of the motorcar in the 1990s was something that Greg had to adapt to, as well as the whole business. Electrical systems like engine management and fuel injection systems were becoming the norm, so Sykes-Pickavant dived headfirst into these new tools. That meant marketing had to shift, too.
“The biggest step of growth, in terms of products, was the Automotive Code Reader (ACR) which came about in the 90s,” Greg said. “Now, what was particularly revolutionary about that product is that there were a few other competitor products, but generally speaking, these were priced very high.”
Initially, big brands sold big-box diagnostic tools. The Sykes-Pickavant angle was to sell these to ordinary mechanics at an affordable price, as a solution to workshop problems.
Greg remembers the creation of the product and its lifecycle. “The product we came up with was totally of our own conception and cost £300. We noticed a looming issue within workshops with serial diagnostics, which were still quite new at that time, and created a product to solve that.”
“The product was a huge success in both volume and value, and it became the market leader,” Greg said. “That’s one of the products that really stands out for me.”
One of our longstanding products, torque wrenches, has been one of our most popular products. Greg and his sales team were instrumental in ensuring our torque wrenches were advertised correctly and to a diverse audience.
“We thought we were making torque wrenches for hairy blokes to work on cars to tighten up cylinder and wheel nuts and things of that nature, but the torque wrenches end up being used in all kinds of arenas,” Greg said. “The smaller ones, especially the lower Newton- meter models, ended up being used to fix instruments, bicycles, and all kinds of avionics.”
This just goes to show that the right marketing efforts can penetrate new audiences, and Greg's work helped our torque wrenches become the backbone of the business.
Marketing doesn’t come without its challenges, though. Greg was at the forefront of some of the biggest industry shifts we had to face.
“The biggest change was the move into electronic products, by a long way,” Greg reflects. “It was so radical; everything had to change. The sales force and marketing team had to change because we didn’t know anything about electronic products.”
“I had to change. I had to learn about electronic products from first principles. Who we sold to changed; the customer base changed.”
As technology advanced, Sykes-Pickavant continually adapted its products and approach to meet the demands of electronics. Greg took great initiative and threw our marketing headfirst into the new age.
“In order to do that, we had to set up a completely new business. We needed new skills and people who understood electronics to initially create the ACR product,” Greg said. “The company was having to make a huge leap from being a metal-bashing agricultural tool maker to an electronics expert.”
Our new team and business meant that the shift to electronics for Sykes-Pickavant was seamless. We developed a range of reliable handheld electronic devices that sold well and became a core part of our company.
Despite experiencing some obstacles, as is expected in marketing, Greg had a long and fruitful career with us. When looking back on his time at Sykes-Pickavant, one thing that stood out to him was the culture.
“The company was always going onward and upward. There wasn’t ever any idle time, but that suited my personality and work ethic. It sounds cliché, but it really was a team of people where everybody contributed.”
“There was quite a lot of fun too; it was a good time,” Greg said. “There was a very strong social side and a good team spirit.”
During Greg’s career, he had the opportunity to travel the world, often to look at products, sources, technology, and to understand international markets. Whilst expanding his knowledge of the market, he was a fundamental part of getting the Sykes-Pickavant name known across the globe.
“I went to the States, South Korea, Japan, and all over Europe. I really enjoyed Japan and the culture there,” Greg said. “For me as a young chap in the business, this was a big adventure and is definitely a proud memory.”
Greg is a part of a hugely vital era for Sykes-Pickavant, during a time when both marketing and automotive tools were changing rapidly. By leading the charge on bringing new skills and advertising methods to the business, plus a dedication to teamwork and learning, he paved the way for our current and future growth.
Greg still keeps up with Sykes-Pickavant news and how we’re transforming our products every day.
“I’m chuffed to see the SP Archive. It’s really important, and it’s great to be a part of it. Being able to showcase all the amazing things that Sykes-Pickavant has been through as a company really brings us a lot of joy and positivity. It’s amazing.”
“The name Sykes-Pickavant may seem strange to those who don’t know about it. But for those who do, it means something.”
After his successful career at Sykes Pickavant, Greg decided to sail around the world – another challenge to his varied life!