Evolution not revolution: Unlocking 138 years of brand equity for Henry Boot

This now well-known quote by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is simple and straight to the point. And spot on in my opinion.

If we think about the theory of ‘brand equity’, it simply asks two questions: Do people know about your brand, and if they do, what do they think about it?

But let’s be clear: a brand is not just your logo. Really, your brand only exists in the minds of your customers or your stakeholders.

Seth Godin, the American author, entrepreneur and a great marketing thinker, also put some fine words to the truth about what a ‘brand’ means. He said: “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product, service [or company] over another.”

More words than Bezos, but again, it’s dead right.

So what is the ‘brand’ of Henry Boot? And why did we need to change it at all? All brands start with a story. And our story is one rich in history, in legacy. A story about family and of impact.

It all starts in 1886, with a farmer’s son called Henry, starting out small with a single handcart and the will to succeed. From humble beginnings, he creates a business that would one day be responsible for building the UK’s largest portfolio of homes in the inter-war years. Our business built floating harbours in France to aid the D-Day landings. Our former colleagues constructed Pinewood Studios, the home of James Bond and Star Wars, along with countless infrastructure projects around the world, from Paris to Saudi Arabia. In 2024, our business is 138 years old.

So why rebrand? Well, if we think of a brand as an asset of the company, like all other assets it needs to deliver value. It needs to be invested in, and put to work. It needs to evoke an emotional connection with its audiences but above all it needs to be purpose-driven and support the long-term commercial goals of the business.

We knew our brand image could work harder. So we started with research, and lots of it. 

That included competitor analysis, perceptions analysis, 1-2-1 interviews with external stakeholders, customers and partners, a communications audit and, most importantly, brand workshops with Henry Boot people from right across our group of businesses.

Our research told us that our brand awareness wasn’t great. We discovered that some of our target audiences weren’t sure about who we were and what we did. For the stakeholders that were aware of us, overall, the feedback was positive, but some didn’t understand (or even know about) all the different businesses within the Henry Boot group. Others couldn’t see how they fitted together. And we realised that while our reputation was good, our profile was a bit dated. So we needed a rebrand to help us address those challenges.

What were people saying about us? It was inspiring and enlightening to hear from our own people. "We empower people and that leads to better decision-making and passion for what we do,” said one colleague. Another talked of our drive to “do your best, a culture of getting stuff done.”

And what of those outside the business? One that sticks with me, from a development partner, is: “The best thing about them – they actually want us to do well because then they’ll do well. That’s rare in our industry.”

The research allowed us to create our brand framework, the bedrock of our communications: what’s the emphasis of our brand, what’s the purpose, positioning and what values drive our people to succeed.

Themes started to emerge. It was clear we were strongly linked with the concept of ‘Creating Impact’, which anchors our brand emphasis: the positive impact we have on people, on places and on the communities in which we work.

Our ‘positioning’ followed. It’s the value we deliver for everyone and it’s super simple: we are ‘where great places start’. It’s in our DNA. We’ve been ‘transforming land and spaces since 1886’. Next, we defined our ‘purpose’ and finally our ‘values’ - the ideals and the behaviours that guide our people.

From a visual perspective, we knew our identity was a bit dated. The Henry Boot logo has changed over time, but we’ve had the current design since 1988. It didn’t really say ‘contemporary’ and ‘progressive’ and neither did it communicate ‘impact’.

It was time for a change. But as an evolution of a heritage brand, not a revolution. We didn’t want to lose that connection to our past and the origins of our story, as this is what makes us unique. So the new brand identity doesn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Our new look may take its inspiration from the past, from a corporate identity dating to 1915, but it’s now presented in a more impactful way. It’s now a ‘badge’ that builds on our legacy, yet looks to the future.

It speaks more now to a business that is firmly focused on its impact on its people, on places, on our partners and the planet. A brand to tell the story of a company responsible for some of the most transformational projects in the UK today, delivering impact across our three sectors of urban development, residential and industrial and logistics.

Our refreshed brand is one that is rich in storytelling. It’s more relevant and distinct and above all it resonates with all our Henry Boot people. After all, great places start with them.

We hope you like it too.