The challenge

Keymer wished to be seen as the first choice in handmade clay roof tiles.

However, their existing website had some limitations so we were approached as a website agency to explore improving the website experience.

The objective of this website project was to improve the perception of an already powerful brand and widen its reach within a younger, more tech-savvy demographic. This would establish Keymer’s prestige in a market saturated with cheaper and less authentic imports, whilst increasing its market share and volume of Keymer tiles sold.

This was against the backdrop of a very challenging supply chain, suppressing capacity and increasing pricing. Expectations needed to be carefully managed to avoid harming the brand’s reputation.

During discovery, we suggested, as brand positioning agency, that to achieve Keymer’s objective, the brand proposition should be explored to understand whether the existing brand identity could actually achieve this.

The approach

We approached this project using our 3 step process:

1. Immersion and persona development – What we already know / review on existing Keymer marketing ambition/what do our audience thinks.

2. Brand strategy – How do we need to position ourselves in the market? This was achieved through a workshop exploring the cultural, audience, competitor and brand insights to develop the brand.

3. Brand identity and communications – How will our visual language change to support this? Development on new branding informed by the brand strategy – how does the new brand impact the look and feel of our channels and content?

The results

The brand

We began by proposing several designs that answered this brief, with the final chosen route having its foundations in heritage as deep as Keymer’s.

The logo design is based on the first original English typeface, Caslon (designed in 1722). Inspired by this we created a beautifully handcrafted design, integrating Keymer’s tile shapes, to inspire, influence and create a brand-new British typeface and logotype for Keymer to take them into the next decade.

Colours were inspired by products in use as well as the British countryside, to shake off the previous earthy tones. Marrying both Minion and ITC Johnston (another British classic), we created a Brand Toolkit and Guidelines which oozed the missing ‘high-end product’ feel.

The website

The key to the website was to create a site that appealed to the next generation of architects. Simple and effective user experience to access product information, services offered by Keymer and case studies.

A late addition was to have the ability to ‘shop’ for samples. UX was designed to easily allow users to add products to a ‘shopping cart’ and checkout. All these elements would ultimately allow the Keymer marketing team to track website use and engagement.

Photography

A two-day location photoshoot was arranged at the Ewhurst Factory in West Sussex. The concept was to capture the Keymer tiles being made by the team of tile makers within a real environment. Natural light, Keymer employees and a working factory added to the drama of the imagery.