Here at Hey Me, messaging is at the heart of our business. Before we embark on any work with a client, we always kick off the project with a messaging workshop. Conducted through a blend of sessions held remotely or in-person, we take the time to sit down with clients to find out who they are and what they do. This enables us to craft content and brand messaging that helps them to stand out. 

Once we discuss and take in the conversations, we develop and finesse their brand messaging, providing customers with a handbook detailing how best to describe their business and services, in a meaningful and powerful way. 

We then harness this material to inform strategic communications planning before we embark on our communication activity. Our success using this process over the years has contributed to getting brands out there to new and untapped audiences, proving that this method works, and that it works well. 

Building brand alignment 

A key example of this in action came back in 2023, when we began to work with renowned rail industry manufacturer, the HIRD Group. The brief was to align the parent group’s messaging with its child companies – HIRD Rail Services (HRS), HIRD Rail Development (HRD), Trough-Tec Systems (TTS) and HRD BV. 

Building and aligning five new websites 

As a result of the successful messaging project, Hey Me were tasked with delivering a brand-new website to help unify the HIRD Group as a whole. In the past, there was customer confusion around which HIRD company did what, so we tackled this by using our newly developed strategic brand messaging that clearly defined the identity of the Group. We also outlined the specific functions of each respective company, whilst simultaneously uniting all the separate entities of the group through one bold strapline, that would later become the HIRD Group’s mission statement. 

Following the impact of HIRD’s refined messaging, we were tasked with re-designing and rewriting all four of the HIRD individual company websites, alongside creating and designing the brand-new parent website, where all HIRD services can be accessed under one roof. 

The individual brand websites within the Group are now cohesive in that they share a similar design ethos and brand messaging, while also being accessible through the overarching Group website.  

The aim when rewriting the website content was to ensure the brands across the Group aligned, bringing about clarity and clearer message for their customers. It was also important to highlight their many USPs, including their environmentally friendly and innovative products and high-end manufacturing processes.  

The services Hey Me provided: 

• Project management. 

• Audit of websites currently in use.  

• Designing wireframes to supply to digital creative agency ‘Formed’ to build the sites. 

• Interviews with MD and management team at HIRD. 

• Factory site visits to fully immerse ourselves in the HIRD world. 

• Developing copy for the five websites from company history, achievements to detailed information on products and services. All packaged in a clear and concise manner for customers to understand. 

• A social media campaign to increase awareness about changes leading up to the launch day of the new sites. 

Unifying content across distinct brands: 

The biggest challenges we faced with the project was to write unique and engaging copy across all websites, ensuring it wasn’t too similar. It was also important that we created a sense of synergy throughout the individual websites. Much of the content writing involved interpreting very technical information and re-packaging it in a more commercial way. 

We were proud to deliver the project on time, exactly to the client’s specification. We were overwhelmed by the level of positive feedback we received from the rail industry, fellow marketing practitioners and most importantly our client, as reflected in the below testimonial: 

“I would say, culturally, internally, Hey Me’s services have helped us all. We’ve now got a visible link between us all. We used to have disparate websites and different domain names – now we have that link, and it’s something tangible and something we can use as a team.  

“From a practical sales perspective, it’s very easy to then send links from each website to prospective customers and to cross refer to customers who might use different products and services from different companies.” 

“I’m happy working with Hey Me as I know when I need something written in a certain style or tone, Hey Me can always achieve that.” 

Lucy Prior MBE, Business Growth Director at Trough-Tec Systems Ltd. 

 

We would also like to say a big thank you to the team at Formed for designing five incredible websites. It was such a pleasure to work with such a professional, efficient team and we look forward to collaborating again soon. 

If you’d like to see our work in action, please visit: https://www.heyme.co.uk/services/  

 

ENDS