After it had done some initial work with customers and employees to identify Mechan’s strengths - quality, reliability, safety and innovation - the company set out to find a design consultancy to create a new identity.
Richard Carr, Business Development Director, had worked with designers on a rebranding project in a previous job and knew that a strategic design consultancy could make a difference to the business.
Evan Kitsell, a Design Associate appointed by the Designing Demand business programme to support Mechan during the design process, says, ‘I wrote a briefing document - it wasn’t a full brief, but it gave shortlisted agencies enough information about the company and the challenges it faced, so that they could be ready for a conversation with us. I talked to other Design Associates in south Yorkshire to compare our understanding of design agencies in the area and we shortlisted four. Richard already had some knowledge of design, so he placed another three on the shortlist.’
Some of the design agencies were discounted because their fees cost more than the allotted budget, while others hadn’t quite grasped the brief. Richard Carr chose Sheffield-based Vivid Creative, which has a range of local, national and international clients. ‘I felt they would be proactive and were a tight knit team. It proved to be the right choice.’
Vivid and Mechan have forged an ongoing relationship where each understands how the other works and what Mechan needs to move ahead.
Vivid Creative Director Dan Lindley says: ‘Mechan had very strong brand values - product quality and product reliability. Innovation and forward thinking combined with an “everything is possible” attitude. It also has a strong heritage in the rail and steel industries and a sense of pride. And Mechan is a business that is strong enough to compete yet small enough to care - that’s what we needed to work on.’
Vivid took all these attributes and created an image that is clean and simple and symbolises the two parts of the business - Mechan Ltd and Mechan Technology – linked together.
Evan Kitsell says that convincing everyone internally was ‘not without challenges’ because everyone had their own views, but the new identity has been well received both by customers and staff alike.
From appointing Vivid Creative to delivering the new identity took three months. ‘We needed it to be ready for a big trade fair in September 2006 in Germany,’ explains Carr. The identity was first applied to stationery and then used on an exhibition stand, in a video loop running on the stand and on printed literature. ‘It was a step change from where we were,’ says Carr. ‘It’s much more professional and reflects what we are about much better. Customers said we were about quality – not the cheapest but good value for money. We ended up with an identity that clearly reflects that.’
The new identity has been rolled out onto a new website, also designed by Vivid.
Although it’s too soon to tell what impact the new identity has had on sales, Carr says, ‘It’s early days but we have seen an increase in export inquiries from our new website.’
The website gives Mechan greater reach and impact and the company is expecting the biggest benefits to be overseas, where it has previously only done business in an ad hoc way. ‘It will be a real benefit now to be able to present a better image to agencies and to train operating companies,’ he says.
The company is now entering a new phase. Its founder has retired and Carr has led a management buyout. He has ambitious plans to expand the number of export agents it employs and to focus on new product development.
Recently the company has extended its links with a South African distributor and appointed distributors for its products in Spain and Morocco.
‘The rebrand is all about projecting a high quality, professional image to the outside world. I believe it will give Mechan a higher profile in the UK and the international market and raise us above our competitors. If it works we should see increased sales especially from export,’ says Carr.
