Introduction

Breaking Ground for Your New Brand

Whether you’re a small contractor just getting started, or a marketing professional looking to freshen up your company’s image, branding is one of the most important investments you can make for your business.

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But doing it right takes more than just putting logos on your equipment or ordering new business cards. It takes strategy, clarity about your goals, and buy-in from the people who know your business best.

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Partnering with a branding and marketing agency like FieldWrk can help you achieve your goal of building a strong, memorable brand. If the agency you hire is serious about building your brand, one of the first steps in the process will be a brand workshop.

Preparing for Your Brand Workshop

A workshop brings the right people together to dig deep into what makes your company unique. It uncovers strengths, pain points, and what sets you apart from your competitors. The brand workshop lays the foundation for everything that follows, from the messaging you put on your website to the values you instill in your people.

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Even if you’re partnering with another agency (we’ll try not to take it personally), setting yourself up for a successful workshop is critical. This nine-step guide lays out what to do before a FieldWrk workshop begins to make sure you get the most out of the process and the brand we build together.

The brand workshop lays the foundation for everything that follows, from the messaging on your website to the values you instill in your people.

Step one:

Assemble Your Workshop Team

Your brand should be authentic to your organization and the people who power it. Think of it as an extension of your company’s personality. Your brand should reflect how you communicate, the beliefs you stand for, and your promise to customers.

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Most importantly, your brand should reflect your organization as a whole — not just the executives guiding it, but the people running it in the field. At FieldWrk, we recommend bringing a mix of individuals to the workshop. Ideally, a group of 5-10 total people: 

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• Leadership/decision-makers who can set the vision
• Trusted operational managers who know the day-to-day
  
• Potentially a new employee for a different perspective

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This means pulling some people off the jobsite, but the insights they bring are invaluable. The more voices you include, the stronger, and more authentic, your brand will be.

Step Two:

Identify (and Prioritize) Key Challenges and Goals of Your Brand

Every company comes into a workshop with something they’re hoping to solve — whether it’s a branding issue, a recruiting challenge, or just the sense that your messaging doesn’t quite reflect who you are. That’s good. In fact, that’s the point.

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Before the workshop, take some time with your team to talk honestly about where you’re struggling and what you’re aiming to achieve. That might include:

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• Business development: You want to stand out and win more work
• Recruiting: You need to attract the right people to grow your team
• Brand image: Your materials are outdated, or just don’t feel like “you”
  
• Culture: You’re trying to define what it means to work at your company

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Start by writing everything down, then circle the 2–3 most important goals you want to walk away with. You don’t need to have all the answers — that’s what the workshop is for — but being clear on what matters most will keep the process focused and productive.

Step Three:

Schedule and Arrange Site Visits

There’s no better way to understand your company than seeing it in action. Site visits give us the chance to experience your work up close — not just the finished product, but the people, the process, and the pride behind it.

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We usually recommend choosing 1–2 active job sites that represent your bread and butter. Ideally, they’re within a 45-minute drive from your main office. We’ll bring our own PPE, don’t worry. What we really want is to walk the job, meet your people, and get a feel for how your team operates.

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Make sure there’s a point of contact on site who knows we’re coming, and that any project owners or GCs are cool with us being there. We promise to stay out of the way (mostly).

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And if site visits aren’t possible, we’ve got a backup plan. Gather some information and any existing photos you’ve taken of signature projects. We can still gather great insights from talking through them in person at the office.

Step Four:

Select Employees for One-on-One Interviews

Some of the best insights come from private, one-on-one conversations. Choose up to six employees, ideally a mix of field and office roles, who can share honest perspectives on what it’s like to work for your company.

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Each interview takes about 15 minutes, and is 100% confidential. Set aside a quiet, private space for us to meet with them during the workshop days.

Step Five:

Gather Existing Brand and Marketing Materials

Before the workshop, gather anything that shows how your company has shown up over the years, both visually and from a messaging standpoint. This could include:

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• Logo files — current and past versions
• Brand guidelines (even if they’re informal)
• Biz dev brochures, old proposals, pitch decks
  
• Swag, vehicle wraps, apparel, signage
  
• Company history documents, old photos, anything you’re proud of (or not)

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The good, the bad, and the outdated all tell a story. The more you share, the better we can build a brand that honors where you’ve been and sets a strong course for where you’re headed.

Step Six:

Start Brainstorming What Makes You Different

Take a little time with your workshop team before we arrive to kickstart this conversation: What truly sets you apart from your competitors? It doesn’t have to be something flashy. Sometimes, it’s your culture, your work ethic, your reputation for doing the right thing.

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We'll help you refine this during the workshop, but starting to think about it now will put you ahead.

Step Seven:

Clarify Target Audiences (and Competitors)

We’ll need to know who you’re trying to reach and who you’re competing against. We’ll do our own research prior to the workshop, but nobody knows your audiences better than you. Questions to think about include:

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• Who do you do business with now?
  
• Who would you like to do business with?
  
• What do your best clients value most about you?
  
• Who are your toughest competitors?

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Being clear on these audiences helps us make sure the brand we create together is crafted to speak directly to the right people.

Step Eight:

Block Your Calendars

The workshop runs across two mostly full days, and it works best when your full team is present. We know people may need to step out for jobsite calls or urgent issues, but we ask that everyone block their calendars as much as possible. Your full participation makes a huge difference. Plus, we’ll bring breakfast!

Step Nine:

Get Pumped!

Building your brand is a major investment in the future of your business. The workshop process might feel a little out of your comfort zone at first, and that’s normal. But it’s also exciting.

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You’re building something bigger than a logo or a website. You’re creating a brand that captures who you are, what you believe, and where you're going.

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Let’s get pumped, and get to wrk.