Natural Warmth
'The branding makes us look far bigger from the outside than we are. And although our immediate focus is on the North, it provides a solid platform for national expansion.'
Stephen Heslop, Managing Director, Natural Warmth
Building a brand identity strong enough to establish its credibility in its sector
Stephen Heslop decided to set up Natural Warmth when increasing numbers of customers for his existing central heating installation business, a company called RDS which has been trading since 1999, started asking for lower-carbon central heating products.
'RDS had simply developed over time,' Heslop says. 'But because Natural Warmth seemed such a timely idea in the light of rising household energy prices and growing environmental concerns, I wanted to make sure we took a professional approach from day one to make the most of the potential.'
Response
Heslop turned for advice to his local Business Link Advisor who introduced him to the Design Council's Designing Demand service. Although a name for the new company and a general business plan was already in place, he hoped Designing Demand would help him develop a logo to use on promotional materials and stationery.
'Steve had an idea and had done some preliminary research to assess its viability but at the outset of our working relationship he had little if any formal strategy,' says Alan Warren, the Design Associate allocated to Natural Warmth for the duration of its Designing Demand project.
So Heslop and Warren started by analysing the market potential and goals of the business using the Designing Demand framework tool. This helped Heslop clarify the new business's proposition and objectives and more clearly define his target market.
Heslop had invested little in design in his other business, so working with Warren involved a steep learning curve.
'Alan made me sit down and take stock,' Heslop says. 'My focus at the time was simply on launching the business as soon as I could, but through our discussions I came to see that having a brand is more than just having a logo. We agreed to go deeper, and I revised upwards the budget I had initially set aside for stationery.'
The pair prepared a design brief and Warren invited design agencies to present credentials. Newcastle-based Element 5.0 was appointed to design the brand identity and produce brand guidelines and a range of marketing materials.
'My criteria was relatively straight forward,' Heslop explains. 'Only one or two of the companies really understood the project. Beyond that it was about enthusiasm and their ability to come up with ideas we'd not come up with ourselves. Element 5.0 was all that, plus I felt I could work with them.'
The design brief pinpointed three key target audiences for the new business: architects designing bespoke private homes, self-builders and small builders likely to be working direct for architects. The brand was developed to meet the expectations, desires and aspirations of all three groups.
Element 5.0 presented three possible design solutions. The one selected was a corporate identity based on the company name, rather than a graphic image.
The logo features the word 'warmth' emboldened for emphasis. It is punctuated by a circle signifying the symbol for degrees. This becomes a recurrent icon across all related marketing materials, along with a strap line: 'low carbon heating solutions'.
Impact
Natural Warmth began trading in September 2008 with a staff of two - Heslop and his wife. By the end of its first year in business, the company had generated turnover of £560,000 - pretty close to the £600,000 projected pre-launch. Natural Warmth is now in line to turn over £800,000 by the end of this its second financial year and recently took on its eighth full-time member of staff.
'We're on track - and this despite launching just as the recession was starting to kick in,' Heslop observes. 'We're serving a very niche market and demand is healthy - I'd be most surprised if we don't fulfil our current goals.'
Since the end of the Designing Demand project, Heslop has stayed in regular contact with the design team at Element 5.0 and now runs ideas for new marketing materials by them as a matter of course. Marketing will be a focus for the year ahead. The company has contracted a PR consultant and will embark on a further project with Element 5.0 to review and upgrade its web site and additional bank funding was recently agreed for this.
'The rate at which the business took off in the first year left us little time to focus on brand communications but it is a priority for year two to build on what we achieved through Designing Demand,' Heslop explains. 'Clearly demonstrating what we were doing and that we had a plan for moving forward were essential for securing the additional investment we need to do this and our ability to show both was helped, in part, by our experience of the Designing Demand process.'
Another priority for 2010/11 is putting infrastructure in place that will allow the business to cope when the end of the recession does eventually come. 'We're not as turnover-ambitious as we were at launch but with a closer focus on profit, we hope we will be able to pick and choose the right jobs with the best fit for the long term benefit of the business,' he adds.
With hindsight, Heslop believes though the business could have thrived without Designing Demand it would not have looked as professional. 'The branding makes us look far bigger from the outside that we are, too. And although our immediate focus is on the North, it provides us with a solid platform for future national expansion,' he says.
'Designing Demand has been an invaluable experience. Every new business should go through this process.'
Background
Natural Warmth is a Darlington-based central heating installation business launched by local businessman Stephen Heslop in September 2008.
The company supplies a wide variety of lower-carbon heating products offering tailored solutions for different homes. Its products range from cavity insulation to under floor heating systems and ground-sourced heat pumps which use renewable energy stored in the ground gathered by underground heat collecting pipes.
Almost two years on, Natural Warmth is growing rapidly despite the recession. The company's staff has risen from two to eight, the company is on track for achieving a turnover of £800,000 this financial year, and Heslop has recently secured additional investment he needs to fund 'modest expansion' planned for the next few months.
Book Now
Click Here