By Andrew Scott, CEO and founder, Purplex Marketing
Have you ever noticed that within any sector – whether it’s glazing, construction, automotive or anything else – some companies seem to be everywhere at once? Their vans are on the road, their websites are easy to find, their names litter the trade magazines and local press. Meanwhile, other businesses that are just as capable – or more so – struggle to get noticed. The difference is rarely luck or skill. In fact, it’s brand.
Brands rarely, if ever, fall into the bracket of ‘overnight success’. They are considered, worked upon and carefully calibrated to engender feelings of trustworthiness and loyalty. It’s the sense that this is a business that will deliver and still be around tomorrow. By the time a prospect fills in a form or picks up the phone, half the decision has already been made, because your brand has done some of the selling for you.
And that is why brand and lead generation cannot be separated. As I discussed in my latest webinar, a strong brand actually improves the quality of leads, shortens sales cycles and makes every marketing pound work harder. A weak brand turns every lead into a hard sell, as prospects hesitate, negotiate and compare – before vanishing. In other words, lead generation without brand is like pushing a trolley with square wheels.
I see this every day in my own sectors. Two companies run similar campaigns with similar budgets, and while one sees a steady flow of serious enquiries, the other ends up chasing the dreaded tyre-kickers. Why? Perception, of course. Perception breeds recognition and credibility, then turns them into sales.
Brand is also about consistency. When prospective clients come to us at Purplex Marketing, often one of the first things that needs fixing is a bunch of mixed messages that are creating doubt. Your website, your vans, your brochures, your social media posts, your PR – they all need to tell the same story. Strong, consistent branding reassures customers, even before the first conversation. People remember it, trust it and feel confident contacting you.
The human element matters too. Buyers need to feel someone competent and accountable is behind the name. When business leaders are visible and show a bit of personality, the brand becomes tangible. Silence, on the other hand, signals distance, making a company harder to trust.
Take Marks & Spencer. Even after a pandemic, a CEO change and a ransomware attack, it remains the UK’s most admired brand, topping YouGov’s Best Brand Rankings 2026. What’s remarkable is the steady improvement over half a decade. Customers rate it higher for satisfaction, recommendation and overall impression, praising quality, value and even the friendliness of staff. M&S shows that a brand nurtured consistently pays off: when people already like, trust and advocate for a company, lead generation is far easier.
Yet not all ‘classic’ brands last the distance. Anyone who worked in the window industry in the 80s and 90s will know that when the words ‘double glazing’ were mentioned, the brand associated with that product was invariably Everest Windows. Similarly, if you wanted to rent a video (remember those?) Blockbuster was your company. If you needed clothes, shoes and household bits and pieces, you almost always popped into Debenhams. All had strong brand awareness, yet all eventually faltered because awareness alone is not enough. That said, Anglian Home Improvements eventually bought the Everest brand, plus the equally defunct Safestyle, and kept both going. Which goes to show that you can’t keep a good brand down!
However, a brand must be supported by relevance, responsiveness and engagement. Without that, recognition becomes nostalgia rather than advantage. This is where lead generation earns its keep. PR, case studies, articles, and useful advice rarely produce instant enquiries, but they build credibility. By the time a prospect sees an advert or visits a website, they feel they already know you, which makes lead generation more efficient and less costly.
Getting the balance between brand and lead generation is the real art of marketing. Too much focus on short-term leads, and you risk chasing volume over value. Too much focus on brand, and you’ll earn admiration without action. The businesses that outperform their competitors understand that brand warms the market and lead generation captures it.
If your marketing feels harder than it should, your leads are the wrong type, or your brand is underperforming, it’s high time for a rethink. Purplex Marketing works with glazing and construction businesses to build brands that earn trust and lead generation strategies that convert it. Let us show you how to make your marketing work as hard as you do.
Andrew Scott is founder and CEO of Purplex Marketing. For more information visit www.purplexmarketing.com
