Branding
Website
HubSpot Sales & CRM
The brief
Is it weird that a digital marketing agency and a traditional engineering company find they have so much in common? Since working with VVB, we at Don’t be Shy have felt a real synergy between the way the two companies operate.
But let’s take a step back.
In 2019, VVB needed revitalising. It was lacking a brand identity that reflected the authenticity, innovation and specialism at the heart of its values.
Despite obvious excellence in their field, VVB didn’t shout about it much. After being acquired by a global group, no clear VVB brand existed in the UK, and the company was falling under the radar of the Tier 1 contractors and end users they service.
We had a few ideas up our sleeves...
“We were won over by Don't be Shy’s refreshing, digital-first offering that gave us an opportunity to do something different within the engineering space. They understood what drives us as a business and the values that VVB holds. We first brought them in to do our rebrand and revitalise our marketing efforts, but ended up going on to do much more.”
Challenge
Engineering is a conservative industry cloaked in traditionalism. But VVB offers something above and beyond the average contractor. It was our job to make that shine.
We needed a unique proposition that would cut through the noise of construction, and turn an engineering brand into a modern, tech-led presence.
Workshops
First, a thorough and honest insights process led to creating a clear, ownable voice and a new brand identity that VVB could be proud of. One that reflected the essence that set the company apart.
They built it, we made it sing.
A series of workshops saw us develop a comprehensive messaging suite described as ‘powerful and potent’ by the client. We undertook a full insights process to determine exactly what VVB’s brand positioning should be. We created depth and added focus.
5 core personas
with goals, challenges and their buyer journeys
Brand SWOT analysis
for positive differentiation in the market
Competitor analysis
that set VVB apart from its competition
Brand personality scale and character
and character, current and future
Brand identity & positioning
based on ownable, authentic traits and values
Messaging
described as ‘powerful and potent’
Logo
Then we got into the visuals. VVB were keen to keep their logo — but we convinced them otherwise.
“We took VVB’s long-established visual identity, turned it inside out and brought it bang up to date. The new logo’s timeless and, like VVB’s projects, built to last.”
- Chris Place, Creative Director, Don’t be Shy
The new version was a clever adaptation of the original. It allowed us to create something familiar, and meant VVB could stagger a rebrand roll out without it being jarring across thousands of high vis jackets, hard hats and hoarding.
The evolved logo communicates VVB’s heritage, with a sense of looking forward.
Brand
VVB’s rebrand had to include an entirely new, distinct identity based on ownable, authentic traits and values. Things we could prove.
The “VVB Focus” is a graphical device born of the logo. It evolves the visual identity a step further. It’s a natural progression of VVB’s new graphic language, and plays a critical role in supporting a robust and cohesive visual identity.
It reflects the fact that, while VVB offers complete project lifecycle services, the company has a razor sharp focus at each stage.
We’d pushed VVB out of their comfort zone. But knew there were important ‘norms’ to nod to in the visual identity, like the colour blue. It’s rife in the engineering industry so we used it to our advantage, creating a deep blue base colour but developing a stand out secondary palette and sector scheme to add a twist of tech.
Website
When it came to VVB’s new website, we needed to get specific, identifying sector specialism and self-delivery as key differentiators.
VVB offers the strength of Tier 1s, but the agility of the Tier 2s. Integral to this is VVB’s full lifecycle project approach — overseeing and implementing from the very earliest design stages, all the way into long term maintenance contracts for finished projects.
This is fairly unique. It creates a huge number of project benefits, so we knew it was key. It became an important part of our website messaging and navigation. We created:
New streamlined site architecture to create a more intuitive browsing experience
Sector-specific content and specialisms to effortlessly channel visitors along the most appropriate journey
Enhanced case study portfolio to shine a light on VVB’s extensive, high profile works
Brand video
The competitor analysis concluded that a key opportunity for differentiation lay in video, so we had to ensure the new identity would work in motion too.
The new brand system is dynamic enough to be used across all channels, and we developed a number of devices to maintain a cohesive look and feel across video.
The focus device, in particular, can be used to draw attention to specific areas of the frame, to illustrate and animate communication.
HubSpot Sales
It turned out that VVB needed a helping hand with more than just a rebrand.
VVB was managing sector progress and pipeline entirely manually. That meant email threads, in-person conversations and a time consuming process of updating their weekly investor reports on a static spreadsheet.
VVB already knew they needed to change this approach. When we came on board, they were in the middle of setting up Microsoft Dynamics. But it was a slow, frustrating process.
We told them about HubSpot — they decided to make the switch 👍
Taking a thorough, collaborative process to get right under the skin of what was required, we replicated their current manual process in just two weeks.
The HubSpot reporting suite gave them an automated version of their traditional investor reports. It allowed them to focus on updating their deal information throughout the week, and deliver weekly reports to the investor team in just a few clicks. No more manual inputting or long, drawn out reporting processes.
But what use is a clever tool without the skills to use it?
We delivered personalised, interactive training to enable the team to take ownership of the platform and accurately manage their 2 billion pound plus pipeline. It gave them the hands-on experience to maintain their CRM and create their own reports.
Then, we then entered phase 2 of our implementation plan, including:
A range of use-case specific sales enablement and email automations to speed up pipeline progression, reduce the potential for deals to go off the boil and get forgotten about by management
A new set of sales reporting dashboards, enabling them to drill down into key reporting metrics that were previously unreported
Database and pipeline health reports to assist with the maintenance of an accurate and complete CRM
“Don’t be Shy helped us through the onboarding process, and implemented the CRM for us, ensuring our data could flow into the new platform and everything was set up to ensure the business could continue reporting as it needed to. The Don't be Shy team also ran informative and interactive training sessions to assist with internal rollout. The whole thing ran very smoothly and has been gratefully received by our internal team. We're now starting 'Phase 2', which will take our use of the platform to a more advanced level, and is set to massively increase the day-to-day productivity of the team”
It’s hard to overstate the step change that this new approach reflected for a company as traditional as VVB. And it’s a credit to the client how quickly and readily they embraced it — the internal roll out of the new brand, website and CRM was testament to its success.
It’s not often you get a room of engineers admitting they prefer ‘the new way’, but VVB’s been revitalised from the outside in, with the rebrand leading to a complete overhaul of the company’s sales process too.
VVB’s website and CRM are brand spanking new. Right now, it’s too early for reporting results-by-numbers. But watch this space. The renewed energy and refreshed brand integrity already speak volumes.
Give us a call in Manchester on 0161 883 2119 or drop us a line and we'll get in touch at a time that suits you.
Manchester. London. Anywhere. We work where our clients do, we're not picky and we've got passports to boot. But, if you're stopping by our HQ, the address you need is: Don't be Shy, 8 Brewer St, Manchester, M1 2EU.
