Zhenya Beck and Eric Beckwitt, Co-Founders of Freightera, shared the story behind their brand and their best advice on branding, naming and domain names.
What is the story behind Freightera?
Freightera is the first lower emission freight marketplace in North America. We make freight transportation easier for shippers and greener for the environment.
We are a mission-driven company. Freight is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. We experienced it firsthand when our son developed life-threatening asthma in Northern California, where the air was highly polluted with ground-level ozone. We moved our family to Vancouver, Canada, for better air.
When did you start thinking about your brand name and how did you settle on Freightera?
I previously ran a web development company with my husband Eric Beckwitt, Freightera Co-Founder and CEO. We helped many customers with the design, development, brand, and marketing of new companies. We love to travel, and while our kids were small, we took the whole family abroad, camping, and on many great road trips to national parks and scenic places in Canada and the United States. It was the best education and quality time together. We found that trips were the best for generating the most creative ideas, and the name Freightera was born on a road trip from Vancouver to California. We wanted a name that had “freight” in it. We brainstormed together, asked friends and family for input and feedback on some of the other names we considered. The Freight-Terra word combination came up and it felt right. We simplified it for easier spelling to Freightera.
What was the reason to get the domain name Freightera.com for your brand?
It communicates what we do. It has “freight” at the root of it. You can also think of it as a feminine version of “freighter” – a freight shipping vessel. You can also hear “terra”, Latin for Earth, and “era” – a long, distinct period in history, an epoch. These are positive, strong associations.
How has owning Freightera.com affected your business? Do you own any other domain names?
Freightera.com has been a great name for us. It’s a solid name communicating a solid reliable and large-scale business. Both ‘terra” and “era” project the name that will scale globally. We do own other domains, including several related ones.
Freightera.com has been a great name for us. It’s a solid name communicating a solid reliable and large-scale business. Both ‘terra” and “era” project the name that will scale globally. We do own other domains, including several related ones.
Zhenya Beck and Eric Beckwitt, Co-Founders of Freightera
What would you do differently if you were entering your category market as a brand today?
Wouldn’t change anything.
Why should entrepreneurs value their brand?
Your brand is one of your most important assets. It differentiates you from the competition, makes you appealing, memorable, and successful. It what creates companies that are built to last not just for years, but for generations. Take brand work very seriously and focus on it early on. Understand that it cuts well beyond the superficial look and feel elements. It is destined to live in the mind and hearts of people. It is the work of the whole company, every team member.
Has the pandemic affected your company in any way? What has changed since?
The pandemic forced many of our shippers to shut down, so our revenue declined sharply in March and April 2020, then recovered in the second half of the year. Because we were always a 100% remote team, we were less disrupted than others. The COVID pandemic also disrupted supply chains worldwide and made us realize how much we are dependent on imports from abroad, even for essential supplies. Freightera created a Local Sourcing Community to allow our shippers to source products and facilitate local trade with each other.
What do you do to make sure your marketing is effective?
We focus on the person: prospect, user, the customer. What are they looking for and why should they choose us? What are their needs through the entire customer journey? As a small marketing team, we look at everything from the efficiency perspective and focus on areas where we can create the biggest impact. We avoid busy work and always measure results. Some initiatives do not work the way we expected. We learn our lessons quickly and switch to other initiatives with higher potential.
What would your advice be to entrepreneurs who are just starting out, in general, and when it comes to branding and naming?
If you are just starting, think about your business holistically in terms of your own life and the lives of people you aim to impact, families, communities, and the whole planet you live on. Think about what matters to you, and how big and inspiring your vision could be so the others would follow. What are the problems humanity needs to solve and what legacy are you building? Find an appropriate name for it, one that can tell the story and grow.
Where do you see your business in the future and how does your brand name fit into that vision?
Starting in North America, the Freightera marketplace will expand globally, making the lives of people in transportation better and leading the industry socially and environmentally. It is in Freightera’s name: both the planetary scale and the era of transformation.
We hope the above information will help you in making informed decisions about your brand. If you want to say hi or have any questions about naming, branding, and domain names get in touch, we’re always happy to hear from you.
Find out more about Freightera
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