Walker Sime rebrand
Why we chose to rethink rather than put on our hard hats and run for cover!
What business in its right mind, three months into a global pandemic, decides it’s time for a rebrand? Well, counterintuitively, turns out the timing couldn’t have been more right for us.
Of all the things that Covid has taken – many too grim to mention – it did give us some unexpected time and some clear headspace. It also helps that, being an optimistic bunch, our collective glass remains half full.
Our old brand was designed in a different time, for a different time. And while it’s served us well over the past 20-odd years, it was beginning to show it’s age. And our old website was starting to creak a bit. It’s par for the course.
But the decision to rebrand wasn’t made on a whim, as we craved a snazzier logo or a funkier website. Our senior management team, along with our trusted Non Execs, decided to invest because it aligned perfectly with our confident and ambitious business growth strategy.
So, we drafted in a really nice brand consultant (he wrote that bit) to help guide us on the journey. And what a journey. Wide-eyed, we set off in early July. A couple of Zoom workshops, umpteen one-to-ones with our team, and two dozen client interviews later, we were ready to get stuck into investigating what Walker Sime really stands for – who we are, what we do, how we do it, and why.
It was a real eye-opener, as our team threw itself into the process and out of our comfort zones, holding the mirror up to ourselves and listening to candid feedback from colleagues and clients. We asked for straight-talking, warts and all. Thankfully, we’re wart free!
There was a recurring, emphatic theme. OK, we know that great people are the foundation of every successful business. Ours is no exception. But time after time we heard the reason why we’ve become our clients’ go-to people is, “They’re people, people.” We’re proud, positive and grounded people who really care about the tiniest detail of every job.
Of course, every client needs to know they can rely on their consultants for the technical know-how to ensure every project runs like clockwork; efficiently and profitably. But that’s a given. In our experience, they much prefer it when they enjoy working with their partners, too. And we never forget they get to choose who they commission, and who they don’t.
As part of our rebrand journey we also revisited our values. Yes, they’ve been on our old website and up on our office walls for years. But maybe they’d become wallpaper? Turns out, not. They just needed freshening up. Other building blocks included discovering our brand personality and its tone of voice. And hugely importantly, our purpose; to help make building a better world run more smoothly and rewardingly. It’s the reason we jump out of bed and throw the curtains wide each morning. Even if the furthest most of us are going is to the makeshift office on the kitchen table.
We also took the opportunity, guided by our commercial strategy and anchored in our business plan, to reframe our team’s vision and mission to better reflect our ‘WHY?’.
Our vision: To stand proudly in front of more than our fair share of remarkable construction and infrastructure projects, and quietly think, “I was part of the team that helped make this a big success.”
Our mission: On completion of every single commission, to clink glasses with our clients, in emphatic agreement, it couldn’t have been managed any better, down to the tiniest detail, by anyone, anywhere.
As for our visual brand identity, we’re absolutely over the moon with it – the logo, the styling, the typeface, the colour palette, the lot!
But we’ll spare you the hard sell or long-winded design rationale of how we arrived at the final creative solution. Or what inspired our bold new WS monogram. Instead, like a newly opened landmark building that’s ready to warmly welcome its first visitors, we invite you to take a good look around, without the QS or PM evanglising about every detail and explaining every nook and cranny. Take your time, it’s all yours to explore. We hope you like it.
