Out with the old

Osborn Engineering had
been in business for
116 years, and Gene
Baxendale knew it was time to
make some changes.

To get started on updating the
firm’s image, the engineering
and architecture firm last fall
began a strategic planning process, through which it identified
a need for rebranding itself.
While the firm had a sports practice area that had been designing sports facilities since 1909,
there was nothing in the company’s name to highlight that niche.

“We decided to celebrate the
success and build upon it, so we
pulled that out as a separate
division,” says Baxendale, the
firm’s president and CEO.

The department now operates under the name OSports-Osborn Sports and Recreation
Architecture.

The firm also shortened its
name from The Osborn
Engineering Co. to Osborn
Engineering and developed a
new logo to update its look.

“We’ve always been known for
engineering, but we wanted to
re-emphasize it and update our
image to a more modern look,”
Baxendale says.

To make sure the company
was headed in the right direction,
Osborn hosted focus groups with
clients to test out several potential names and logos before
making a final decision.

“Most people knew the company for a long time, so this
helped us get some outsider
feedback and a fresh look to see
if we were on the right track,”
says Christopher Wynn, director
of design with OSports-Osborn
Sports and Recreation
Architecture.

Once you’ve identified the
changes you are going to implement, you have to communicate
them to employees and get feedback from clients. To do that,
Baxendale set up workshops
with employees to discuss the
strategic plan and vision.

“We tried to keep them
involved and up to date on the
rebranding and how we were
going to make it happen,”
Baxendale says. “We explained
where we were, where we wanted to go, why we wanted to do it
… and then how we were going
to make it happen.”

Sharing information with
employees engages them in
the process.

“If you’re not sharing, they’re
not going to know what is expected of them and what the
goals are,” Baxendale says.

While he says most of his 70
employees favored the changes,
Baxendale sat down with those
who were still unsure to explain
the changes and the benefits
more thoroughly.

“You’re never going to get
100 percent buy-in [initially]”, he
says. “We explained why we
were doing it and what direction
the company was going. Eventually, everyone bought in to it
because they saw the benefits.”

It’s also critical to get buy-in
from your clients.

“We went to our clients individually before we went public,”
Baxendale says. “We let them
know ahead of time what we
were doing and why we were
doing it. We wanted them to feel
important.”

Rebranding your company
doesn’t happen overnight, and
you need to give yourself
enough time to get it right.

“Create a project schedule that
allows sufficient time for the
process to work,” Baxendale
says. “Listen to your consultant’s
recommendations. Schedule
review sessions throughout the
project and allow ample time
for those reviews.”

The result can be new life for
your company.

“Sometimes, when you have a
brand that’s been around for a
long time, you take it for granted,” Baxendale says. “Rebranding allows you to take that fresh
look and communicate with
employees and clients.”

“It gave our firm the opportunity to think deeply about our
business. … It forced us to step
back from managing our day-today operations and allowed us
to understand the company intimately.”

HOW TO REACH: Osborn Engineering, (216) 861-2020 or www.osborn-eng.com

A helping hand

Rebranding isn’t an easy
process, but hiring a consultant
can make it a little less painful.

“You don’t go to the grocery
store and ask the clerk to take
care of your headache, you go to
an expert, somebody who’s
trained and knows what they’re
doing,” says Gene Baxendale,
president and CEO of Osborn
Engineering.

To find a consultant who best
meets your needs, ask your
peers for referrals. Look at a
firm’s work history and make
sure it not only has a good portfolio but also has positive recommendations from clients.

And finally, make sure the consultant is a good fit for you.
Although someone might have
the right skills, a good consultant should also be able to connect with you and understand
your business.

“Some people might be good
at what they do, but if they don’t
relate with you, they’re not going
to understand your ideas and
you’re not going to feel comfortable telling them things,”
Baxendale says.

When Baxendale began the
rebranding effort at Osborn, he
narrowed down a list of several
consultants, then brought in the
top contenders to learn more
about them and to let them learn
about the company.

“This face-to-face meeting
gave us the opportunity to interact with them and get a feel for
how we would work together,
which allowed us to establish a
rapport,” he says.