Engineers, let’s face it, we do most of our work behind closed doors, and very rarely in public, like who cares about rebranding? You often rely on your skills and network that was created and built out for years! You may be afraid that they will no longer recognise your brand…
Well news flash, research shows that rebranding occurs on average once every 7-10 years. Most companies reject the idea of rebranding, considering it as a complex process that requires plenty amount of in-depth research, time, and money. It questions, somehow even shuffles, your company’s marketing strategy and formats its mission, vision, and values.
BUT engineering companies also use rebranding to stay relevant in the market… Successfully competing with their competitors (might I say, even rivals!) Being service-based, compared to other product-based companies, makes engineering companies more complex, but more interesting to work with in terms of branding, and particularly, REbranding.
The purpose of rebranding is to breathe in a new life into your engineering company, renewing it, and giving it the attention and added value it deserves! Rebranding means growth! And rebranding is key to escalate success.
If you’re an Executive, VP, Manager, Supervisor, or any part of the workforce in an engineering company, you probably offer multiple services and even several products to your customers, which creates several layers of value that have to be properly communicated within your brand. Having a marketing funnel is important, NOT to sell, but instead to sell LESS.
While creating a brand, engineering company rely very strongly on its vision and relevance to the current condition of the technology market. Whether you focus on speed, quality, safety, or even other focal points, investing in strengthening your brand allows you to grow and develop a business. That’s why we always talk about our brand vision and mission when we meet prospects. Am I right?
A strong brand allows engineering companies to:
- Be recognised
- Build trust and loyalty with customers (both existing and new)
- Stand out in the market
- Expand market share, etc.
Creating a strong brand for your company has several stages from preparation and pre-research to brand managing. You might be surprised that a brand requires control, but this is the stage where most companies fail to perform, causing them incredible financial losses and success.
Even though ‘brand’ is a noun, its core meaning is far wider and deeper than we tend to think. It covers not only logos, color palettes, fonts, etc. It covers the reaction of customers, competitors and employees on its mission, vision and values. The latter is an ongoing process and highly dependent to market trends, demands, and expectations.
A brand message that engineering companies consider relevant 30 years ago may be outdated or even harmful for a company’s image now. Proper brand management ensures the consistency of a brand and monitors any messages going off-brand.
When this happens… Based on our experience, we react IMMEDIATELY, making sure nothing gets out of sight, and any wrongly reflected message… Should be fixed and countered ASAP with proper actions. And that is what you should be doing as well.
When talking about brands, messages, campaigns, advertisements, events and even product or service development, we correlate them highly to Public Relation before jumping to Marketing. That’s the right process and strategy to follow.
Brand has its functions, and brand management controls those functions to work on engineering companies and not against!
There are multiple reasons why engineering companies might want to rebrand. We have chosen 5 main reasons that we consider important and valuable.
- Increase business returns. Times are changing, as are your customer’s needs and preferences. What was irrelevant before, may now be become an important and even primary decision making point. As an example, with the world walking towards a net-zero emission goal. Sustainable is no longer JUST a trend, but also a requirement. Most companies now have already integrated sustainable principles to their brand paradigm, and for those what haven’t… Well they’ve lost their market share along with their revenue. (You get my point…)
- Stay up-to-date. Here comes the crucial principle of continuous market monitoring. No matter how good your service is – if your brand looks outdated, it will decrease your chances of being chosen by new clients. Moreover it can even turn your existing clients to your competitors, who have probably implemented new trends and designs into their brand personality.
- Digitalisation. We have already talked about the importance of digital marketing to grow your engineering business. Companies that prefer to ignore that fact, are again, limiting their business from growth and development. Engineering companies have to consider rebranding to maximise their potential from digitalisation.
- Changing or expanding market. It’s not once or twice that we realise our target audience is now moving to a different market. Segregated and shifting. This is something worth monitoring to make sure you don’t lose the opportunity to change or tranform your direction in the market. Ultimately to a more profitable audience. This is a great point to rebrand or create a new brand under the parent company.
- Brand positioning. That is a great deal, as your brand shows your uniqueness and importance. Therefore, when market conditions change, you don’t lose the opportunity to be seen from a news-worthy angle, as well beneficial for the world.
Rebranding may sound like a big thing, costing you a lot of time and money, but if your main purpose is to stay relevant and stand out in the market – you must consider this opportunity. This is a risk or reward trade off, and definitely not a gamble when you have the right, experienced team in your company. Clarify, freshen up, and renew your brand’s identity.
AR & Associates have helped IT, Engineering, Automation, and Energy companies all across Australia to generate leads, increase brand awareness, maintain reputable PR, as well as increasing sales.
We focus on helping you spend less time in marketing, and more time serving your customers. Leave the matter to the respective experts. As engineers ourselves, we understand the core values and importance of marketing through trust and reliability.
We provide a full tailor-made solution that helps you build your company to the next level through digital and on-site marketing. With expertise in organic omni-channel marketing and on-site event or workshop planning, we offer a full turn-key marketing solution that gives you time, space, and freedom to focus on what you do best, which is to run your business.
Email us here or call us today at (+61) 02 8416 4442 to get more information or to book a complimentary marketing consultation or strategy session.
