Stantec Consulting Services Inc. was able to put its best foot forward when competing for business this year, thanks to a major rebranding effort initiated by its parent, Stantec Inc. in Edmonton, Canada.
“I feel like we are no longer adrift in a sea of sameness,” said Jeff Crawford, the company’s marketing manager for the Southern California region.
“A lot of companies have a very similar-looking logo, similar-sounding promises. Everybody is talking about innovation, integration and sustainability. It all starts to kind of just sound the same. Stantec is breaking out and clearly differentiating itself in the marketplace.”
Stantec Inc. provides consulting in architecture, environmental services, and engineering, among other areas.
Irvine serves as the headquarters for Stantec’s Southern California operations, which encompass 10 offices and 662 employees. The office focuses mostly on transportation, civil infrastructure and land development projects.
It placed No. 13 on the Business Journal’s list of engineering companies, with $18.1 million in billings for the 12-month period that ended June 30—about a 4% year-over-year increase. Its staff grew from 124 to 152 during that same time period. Companywide revenue was up 9.7% to $2.2 billion.
“The brand refresh has gone over well with clients, with employees, and with the industry at large, but it has also gone over well with Wall Street,” said Crawford.
Stantec Inc. shares were at about $64 last week for a market value of about $3 billion. That’s up from $45 a year ago.
Crawford said that in addition to “talented people, a strong corporate culture, and a loyal client base,” branding has “played a significant role” in the revenue uptick.
A thorough research of the marketplace preceded the branding effort—the largest 500 design firms in North America generate about $95 billion in annual fees, and Stantec’s slice of the pie is about 2%.
“Things are getting more and more competitive in our industry, and firms that don’t stand out and tend to just blend in and look and sound just like everyone else, I think they are going to struggle in the future,” he said.
Stantec Inc. hired the Siegel + Gale agency in New York to provide an understanding of how it was viewed by existing and prospective employees and clients; what its competitors are doing; and how it could position itself to reach its goal of becoming a “top 10 global design firm.”
“While I can’t share all of the results, it was really eye-opening,” Crawford said. “What we found is that the industry and our clients really see us really strongly in three key areas: community, creativity and client relationships.”
Siegel + Gale helped Stantec Inc. define its purpose as “making a difference in the world by creating communities,” and its company promise as “standing for design with community in mind.”
The branding also clarified Stantec’s set of values: “We put people first, we are better together, we do what is right, we are driven to achieve.”
The company’s circular logo was updated with a warm orange color palette and an “S shape” inside intended to “build on the heritage of our past logo in a fresh, new way” and stand out from competitors’ cool blues, blacks and grays.
Stantec’s website also got a facelift to bring the brand to life for new clients and potential employees, who often use tablets or mobile devices to access it. It was designed by Huge Inc. in New York with a focus on “bold imagery and visuals with short, punchy text to make the site easy to navigate and digest.” It has features such as a blog and links to social media channels, as well as “Find a Project Near You,” which lists Stantec’s projects based on a site visitor’s location.
The rebranding effort included a promotional video created by KeenEye Productions that shows Stantec employees as community builders. But it’s not just for show—employees recently participated in “Stantec in the Community Day,” volunteering in neighborhoods nationwide.
A significant portion of Stantec Inc.’s growth in the past decade came from acquiring about 100 smaller firms—its latest purchase was Santa Barbara-based Penfield & Smith, a civil engineering and land-planning company it acquired in August.
Crawford said the branding effort will also help integrate those firms, which have their own company cultures, logos and values. The company’s new marketing and other communications materials present a unified image of Stantec, both internally and externally.
The engineering firm has 39 offices in the U.S. It wouldn’t say how much it spent on the rebranding effort, but its annual report showed its administrative and marketing expenses increased by $103.2 million from 2012 to 2013.
Whatever Stantec did pay for the new look, it seems the money was well spent.
According to the company, feedback included: “You guys really hit it out of the park—the
new materials are inspiring,” and “this reads like a case study in how a brand roll-out should work.”
