Not-for-profit manufacturing association EEF has taken stock after a period of massive change: With the sector that it represents in turmoil, it has taken on a new brand identity designed to champion a misunderstood industry, Max Hotopf reports

Does it matter if no one knows what the initials of your name stands for? EEF doesn’t think so. After all, brands such as BMW, ICI, DK and DHL are strong and recognisable, even if people don’t know what the letters represent. And so it is that newly-rebranded EEF has retained a long-standing acronym that has become the brand name itself. Its look and positioning, on the other hand, have undergone a metamorphosis.

EEF used to stand for the Engineers’ Employers Federation. A not-for-profit association, it represents and provides a range of services for 6,000 manufacturing employers as subscriber-clients. After a period of massive change, Rufus Leonard has come up with a striking new set of images and designs, altered the logo and decided on a strap line – The Manufacturers’ Organisation – but the initials remain. EEF is still  EEF.

The new look from Rufus Leonard is based much more on some stunning images of manufactured goods. One, for example, shows what looks like the cockpit of a plane rearing across the page like a killer whale. It is all part of a new look which seeks to reposition EEF, in the words of marketing manager Katrina McGregor, as “a champion for a misunderstood sector”. It should also enable EEF to appeal to a wider market.

So why the changes?

Two years ago, the organisation really was a federation with 11 regional organisations, each with its own chief executive and board. This led to massive duplication. Today, EEF is centralised into one organisation with five regional offices. There can be little doubt that the restructuring made sense. Previously, each of the 11 developed and delivered their own vast range of services to members, mid-to-large manufacturing companies whose subscriptions start at £3,000. Broadly similar, they offered training in areas such as health and safety, some business consulting and information on wages, and the EEF also represented the industry.

Centralisation has allowed EEF to develop these services and to analyse how best to show their benefits to potential members.

During 2008 EEF, under new chief executive Gilbert Toppin, started to work out what it wanted to say to the outside world and where it wanted to go. This included research with stakeholders: mainly clients, prospective clients and employees.

McGregor said this showed that, “EEF was trusted and liked by its clients but that non-clients had relatively low levels of awareness of who we are and what we do.”

It also identified a clear need for EEF to be a champion for this “misunderstood sector”. She bullishly refutes the suggestion that manufacturing is a shrinking sector. “Defined broadly, as we define it, it covers everything from design and research and development through to processes. It is far more technology-led than most people realise and the UK leads the world in some sectors which you would not normally associate with manufacturing such as pharmaceuticals. We needed to ensure that we lookedas contemporary as the sector and our members.”

The job then was to reposition EEF as a confident voice for the industry, to appeal to the newer more expansionist segments of the market, such as design and to also enable EEF to start to make the services it offers members much clearer so that they were aware of what was on offer and their benefits.

In January 2009, McGregor and her team started talking to agencies, including Rufus Leonard which was then invited to pitch alongside two other before being selected. McGregor recalls: “We felt they offered a good mix of strategic thinking and creative ability. They understood the nature of the challenges we were facing. “

Niamh Power, senior strategy consultant at Rufus Leonard recalls that EEF came well prepared. “They had a very clear idea of their strategic objectives,” she says. “Toppin saw the change of image as very important and was prepared to give us a lot of access. They are very clear about the messages they want to get over.”

A series of internal workshops showed that employees were up for change and that there was a strong consensus about what EEF stood for and how it should be presented. McGregor said: “It was about building a consensus. It was apparent people were ready to move on.” Power agrees: “There was a clear appetite change.”

But it was widely agreed that the name – EEF – should remain. Power admits the subject did come up but says, “Senior managers felt that EEF was well known and liked by clients. There is also a strong view that making big changes in image when the sector is under having a tough time could look irresponsible."

Rufus Leonard developed a strategy based on overarching images which would seek to describe and bring together all the elements that EEF wanted to get across. The aim is to build a new brand platform as Power puts it: “We developed a new way of talking for EEF, with a tone of voice called Straight Up. It provides a platform to deliver impactful messages designed to cement the EEF brand and clearly ommunicate its campaigning role, supporting manufacturers and manufacturing.”

The agency presented EEF with three options. These consisted of technology images, manufacturing momentum images and softer images based on relationships. EEF plumped for momentum and then, as is the wont of clients, added some stuff from the other two groups.

The aim of Momentum, says Power, is to give EEF the brand platform it needs to take the organization forwards: “It’s a brand proposition that’s forward looking and future focused… It reflects EEF’s grassroots role in getting manufacturing fitter for the future, and its work with government at the highest level to enable future growth.”

Under these over-arching images, Rufus Leonard came up with secondary images to be used to get across individual features and as navigation inside documents. The images are designed to be used with strong copy.

The new images and redesign were all complete by March. Powers says the speed of the project – three months from initial meeting to final design – is quite rare but reflects the way EEF had really thought through what it wanted before the project started.” McGregor says the tight deadlines kept the project focused. Yes, they were difficult but they mean we really concentrated on what we were doing.”

The manufacturing momentum images are undeniably striking. Power says: “They represent the finished product of the manufacturing industry. So in a sense they are what excite EEF members what they aspire to produce and deliver.” They should also enable EEF to appeal to a wider audience as the images represent the final output of a series of processes which start in design and R&D and extend through manufacturing to the processing of foods, drugs and the like. There isn’t a production line in sight.

It is early to say whether the new imagery and design will have a big impact on EEF’s business. According to McGregor, clients are saying they really like them. But, insofar as the imagery reflects the aspirations of members and comes with clearly thought through copy, it is hard to see how it can flop.

Roll out is relatively slow. EEF has a small marketing department and handles tasks such as the website in-house. While the image project was finished by March, the website will not be updated with the new design until October. It should provide a clearer view of what the organisation offers and better ways of engaging with non-members.

McGregor is comfortable with that time frame: “It is important that our members feel we are not wasting their money – particularly at the moment.”

Much depends on how EEF uses the new designs and images. So far the only new brochure on the website uses an array of secondary images such as a pile of Liquorice All Sorts, a laptop and a folding bicycle. The design makes a striking front page but isn’t using the really powerful primary images.

Meanwhile, EEF can’t be accused of not being thorough. Using guidelines from Rufus Leonard it has started a series of internal seminars for employees on how they should communicate the new image to client and the external world.

In any case EEF is happy with the new image. “It gives us the positioning we need to really grow the organisation,” says McGregor.

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