Embarking on a full scale rebrand can feel like a huge and daunting task. To do it properly and to deliver spectacular results, means to take extreme care, to plan meticulously and ensure every stage of the process is explored and executed thoroughly and by people with experience and expertise.

Many businesses will engage an external agency to help them with a rebrand, and we advise that you do this right at the start of the process – before you start thinking about the visual, digital and company’s brand positioning elements.

Forged Solutions Group is a client that did just this, engaging our services when they knew a rebrand was on the horizon, so that we could work with them from day one.

The client

Forged Solutions Group is a UK based manufacturer of complex metal forgings, with an international client base in the aerospace, mining, and energy industries. The company has been operating for more than 100 years, and in this time has been through various mergers and acquisitions.

In 2019 the company was formed following the acquisition of Firth Rixson Forgings from Arconic by US based private equity firm, Arlington Capital Partners. A new company name and a brand that would carry it into the future was required, whilst encapsulating more than a century’s worth of experience and heritage.

Our approach

We took a ‘birds-eye’ view of the company to establish exactly what it does and who for, and how it needs to reach those customers. We looked at the tangible and non-tangible assets the company had (including its premises, equipment, workforce, skills and reputation); and what it needed to successfully implement a full-scale branding project.

We explored all brand touch points; from the person who answers the phone and the online enquiry form, through to the signage above the door and the literature that is handed out at trade shows.

We spoke to the workforce at all levels, holding a series of brand workshops to find out what they saw as the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and what they felt the new company brand should represent. We carried out competitor analysis to see how our client could really stand out in an international market and researched the industries they serve.

This ‘big picture’ approach enabled us to direct all this insight into well informed brand proposals, including positioning statements, new company names, and visual identities. We worked closely with the client to develop and refine these proposals and agreed on a new name – Forged Solutions Group -, and all the project deliverables.

Bringing the brand to life

Once we had created the core elements of the brand, we turned our attention to the design and build of the new website. Forged Solutions Group supplies the advanced manufacturing industries across the globe, so its online and digital presence is crucial to reaching new and existing customers.

Not only did the website have to look great, showcasing the high integrity forging, impressive locations and machinery that the Group owns, it had to communicate very detailed and specific information about each sites capabilities, approvals and certifications – all key to securing new business.

We carefully planned the structure, appearance and content on the website. Our copywriting team worked closely with the subject matter experts at Forged Solutions Group to ensure that complex information was presented with clarity and in a web-suitable format.

We created a suite of corporate images, photographed on site, across the Group’s different locations to show everything the company has to offer through striking, impactful and clearly defined brand images.

Our client also needed to update their outdoor signage for all manufacturing sites and buildings to be in line with the new brand vision. As well as a suite of new signs we also produced various large-format graphics and exhibition materials to use at trade shows and events.

President of Forged Solutions Group, Ben McIvor, said:

“At the end of 2019 Forged Solutions Group was created as a result of two Corporate carve-outs. We engaged with Grey Matter to start the journey to develop our new brand and identity. Throughout this process and still today, I cannot speak highly enough of the level of engagement, professionalism, marketing insight and creativity that the Grey Matter team brought to our new business.

“Brendan, Andrew and the Grey Matter team guided us through a creative and informative process that engaged our employees in delivering the Forged Solutions Group brand, retaining subtle reference to our long industrial heritage, but well-balanced with a new look and feel for the years ahead.”

Grey Matter continues to support Forged Solutions Group in all areas of its marketing, including social media and digital marketing, production of corporate literature and collateral and the maintaining the website as and when required.