Industry legends First in franchising
Part two: Jim Zockoll, founder of Dyno-Rod, on business ventures into the 1980s and 90s and beyond, and why innovation is in their DNA...
Where do you get your inspiration from? In 1968 Dyno-Rod was in full swing; we gained in confidence and looked at other opportunities - one of which was trailers. UHaul rent-a-trailer was a very successful US brand and I wanted to bring the concept to the UK. But almost immediately, we ran into a hitch. Literally. Bumpers on the average UK car were not robust like American counterparts so the idea needed to be different from the US. We thought of a wheel attachment and approached Cranfield University to help design the ‘connection’. The venture was short-lived however as the DVLA said that our ‘connections’ were one-inch too wide for UK roads. It was ruled illegal overnight.
That setback didn’t put you off, tell us more? Bringing franchise ideas from the US started to pay off. Pit-Stop came next in 1969, a while-you-wait fitting service for silencers and exhausts. These shops were located in the UK and West Germany and the business was snapped up by Tenneco, an automotive components manufacturer, in 1976. We made it into Fortune magazine. Professional while-you-wait car spray shops came next. The paint was baked on and was the first of its kind in the UK.
What other challenges have you come up against? Ice cream was all the rage in the US in 1977 with a parlour on just about every street corner. We shipped ice cream machines from the States, brought over a general manager and set up seven ice cream parlours in West Berlin, themed around turn-of-the-20th-century San Francisco, called Old San Francisco, Real American Ice Cream Parlours. Weather-wise, we suffered two disastrous summers - even introducing hot food was not enough to keep the business viable. In the days when people still tinkered with cars, Autrac
provided mobile vehicle engine tuning by computer. However, the cost of the computer was just too great to work as a franchise and it was eventually shut down. Drips Plumbing in 1981 was born out of the ‘cowboy’
image of plumbers. The brand was eventually amalgamated into Dyno-Rod as we diversified the brand. ZIF was a concept bringing together a network of independent couriers to operate as a ‘hub and spoke’ system, unique in 1987. The business however was sold early on as we needed to focus on Dyno-Rod.
98
that challenge the status quo for generations to come”
“
zockoll.com
What is Zockoll’s legacy today? In 1994, we spotted another opportunity with ‘vanity' phone numbers, using letters to spell names and words on the keypad, instead of hard-to-remember numbers. We called them phone names. Hugely popular in North America, these memorable and sought-after business marketing numbers were unheard of in the UK. Dyno-Rod was a big user of 0800 numbers, so it was easy to switch from numbers to phone names. We’re now aiming to make this available to all companies, a phone name that best describes their business. Most phone names support an established business as a direct response number, but some are ideal as a brand, especially when combined with the matching domain name. This is where Zockoll is today, creating innovative brands that continue to challenge the status quo for generations to come. It’s in our DNA.
We create innovative brands
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116
