No two journeys are the same. Each project begins with understanding where you are, defining where you want to go, and charting the route to get there. Our recent project with Fortem is a great example of that process in action - and of the tangible results it delivers:
Here’s how we got there.
Established in 2002 as a specialist provider of property solutions for the social housing sector, Fortem has an annual turnover in excess of £200m and is part of the Willmott Dixon Group.
In late Spring of 2024, with a new MD in position, Fortem set a goal to define and articulate a new Brand Strategy for the business, which would underpin and steer all activities going forward, and needed to be successfully communicated at all levels to help to motivate / enthuse staff and ensure that everyone was pulling in the same direction to achieve the business’s goals.
Braden Threadgold’s role would be initially to help to refine the messaging, both at a top-line, easily digestible level and more comprehensively for key decision-makers within the business.
Fortem tasked us with developing a new internal brand to communicate the strategy in a clear and engaging way, supporting its roll-out across the business, while also refreshing the company’s logo and wider brand identity to reflect its new strategic direction for external audiences.
Having discussed and agreed overarching objectives and areas of interest, we gathered together feedback from workshops and Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meetings to help identify / define new Vision/Mission/Values and the key elements of the proposed new strategy, with primary and secondary strategic objectives.
With all feedback in place, sorted and prioritised, the next step was to create a master strategy document that firmed up the new Vision/Mission/Values and clearly explained the strategy as a whole, both top-line and in-depth, to appeal to all audiences.
Now that we had the content and direction properly defined, we were in a position to create new brand visuals to capture the essence of the new strategy, which could be leveraged to communicate it to all levels of the business.
Alongside this, we took the opportunity to revitalise the existing company brand in order to subtly evolve the current logo and create a new strapline to reflect the new strategic direction of the business – whilst avoiding a complete rebrand that would discard existing brand recognition and necessitate an expensive roll-out.
On approval of the new visual concepts (both internal and external) we applied the new brand to a brochure, presentation and supporting material for launch event and follow-up activities; to communicate the agreed strategy in a visually appealing and easy-to-navigate way (including assistance with copy writing / editing and organisation of content).
To ensure consistency of messaging and appearance across the business and all media, we created a new set of corporate brand guidelines, to support the updated brand and strategy.
We undertook a review of all existing and potential communications channels, advising on how the new strategy can best be cascaded down the business and communicated externally, through a wide variety of media. The roll-out of this is a continuing process, as the new strategy has been embraced across the business.
In the year since launch:
According to the client: ‘Within 12 months of launch, Fortem secured £41.6m in new contracts, including £22.7m in retrofit services. Clients fed back that our clearer positioning, sector specialism and stronger association with Willmott Dixon were decisive in award decisions. Combined with operational savings, the rebrand has delivered approximately £40m in growth and efficiencies.’
“The new strategy and subsequent communications roll-out have contributed massively to the rejuvenation of the business over the last year – and Braden Threadgold have been instrumental in helping us to articulate our thinking, bring our values to life and get our message out there.”