KINOVO

This rebrand was a strategic exercise to reposition the reputation of the holding parent company, internally and externally. At a time when confidence was low and trust had been lost, the rebrand was much needed to set the future direction of the businesses. From a rebrand, brand values, vision and purpose can be redefined to ensure business culture is exactly where you (and everyone else!) wants it to be.

In addition, ESGM (Environmental, Social, Governance and Mental) has become a high priority for customers in the construction sector, and many other sectors. The rebrand presented an opportunity to build a brand and a narrative based around these principles.

The primary objective of the rebrand was to bring the three subsidiary companies into one family, whilst retaining their individual identities. This included coming up with an entire new name and identity for the holding parent company.  It was also important to begin to move away from a service-led message, and create a business offering structured around their 3 core business pillars: Regulation, Renewables and Regeneration.

The first part was the groundwork and market research behind the rebrand. Oak Creative delivered a comprehensive competitor audit and market analysis, to truly understand Kinovo’s position within their marketplace. This was essential to ensure the end results of a rebrand are accurate and valuable to the marketplace.

Secondly, Oak Creative delivered a series of branding workshops with each subsidiary business to learn more about them individually – their drivers, values and USPs. This was also important to ascertain how they envisage their relationship with the holding parent company in the future. Each workshop had 6-8 members of staff, from all levels, to hear their opinions and voices. Their input fed directly into the company values Kinovo has today.

Finally, the generation of messaging, brand values and the creation of the new brand followed. This was rolled out over the course of six months. Oak Creative delivered various creative options and refined the key messaging, in partnership with the Kinovo marketing manager. The outputs also translated into culture statements, which help lay the foundations of the parent company.

Kin means family and novo means to make new. This is exactly what the rebrand exercise set out to do.

Coming up with a new company name is a great creative process. It requires creative and strategic thinking, with no limits on the imagination. Pronunciation, target audience and usability are major factors but we were sure not to allow these to hinder the creative process. Oak Creative shortlisted about 30 possible names, checked their domain availability, competitors and trademarks. We then developed 3 of those into creative concepts and worked with the client to explore each option carefully.

The rebrand placed ESGM at the heart of the brand and the business. Kinovo have committed to publishing an annual stand-alone sustainability report detailing future commitments and key targets. One of those key commitments includes being carbon neutral in relation to Scope 1 and 2 by March 2023.

Thanks to the rebrand, a Kinovo culture has been rooted. Brand and culture go hand in hand, which impacts on everything from recruitment to staff engagement.

Kinovo and its subsidiary companies operate within the public and private sector. The ESGM focus is huge in the construction sector and arguably it is this sector demand that drove the rebrand itself. Kinovo needed to be ahead in order to have a share in their market.