Eager to find a solution to these problems, Envirotech's managing director David Birkett attended a Design Council event about how design can help businesses. It was here that he realised that branding was one way of tackling the issue of identity and public recognition, as well as improving other aspects of the business.
Birkett decided to approach several local design consultancies. Hoping to position his company as a ‘first call’ business in his customers’ minds – as the waste management sector equivalent to Dyno-Rod – he needed a bold, striking image that was instantly recognisable.
He also wanted the identity to emphasised the company's environmental integrity, without losing sight of the straight up, blunt approach which characterised his company's approach.
Leeds-based brand and graphic design agency Elmwood was the consultancy that best understood these requirements. Its portfolio of educational campaigning work, including a project for Yorkshire Water, immediately caught Birkett’s attention, as he wanted his brand to have a core of environmental responsibility. Perhaps most importantly of all, Birkett struck up an immediate rapport with Elmwood boss Jonathan Sands. 'Of all the people I saw he was the one who really got hold of my strategic ideas,' he says.
The new identity would need to overcome customers' inclination to approach the business of waste management with either sniggers or red faces, Birkett explains with characteristic candour. 'Our business is what it is. People either laugh or they're embarrassed – either way, they don't listen to you. That's a challenge when we're trying to explain that the alternative to using us could be someone who empties your tank and throws the contents into the nearest field, which is illegal and an environmental nuisance because not all the waste bio-degrades.'
The germ of an idea
The inspiration that anchored the initial design work came out of an early conversation between client and designer. Jonathan Sands mentioned that he had a septic tank, and Birkett told him that he could be liable for a £20,000 fine or even prison if the tank infringed environmental laws. 'Apparently the tanks don't work well any more because the bacteria which are supposed to break down the waste are killed off by the chemicals we put down our drains,’ recalls Sands. ‘When David told me there was a three month jail term for letting waste leak into watercourses, I said "That's serious sh**".
‘Driving home after the meeting, I realised we were on to something…'
