好色先生TV

Designer Steve Edge doesn鈥檛 really fit in at the average construction industry shindig. Among the grey suits, cornflower blue shirts and paunches, Edge鈥檚 flowing blond locks, floral print jacket and bright fuschia socks look a tad out of place. Yet this is the man many of the industry鈥檚 largest companies go to when their image needs a tweak - or even an overhaul - and he鈥檚 been doing it for nearly 20 years.

While his combination of colourful clothes, wacky ideas (he used to ride a horse to meetings in King鈥檚 Cross when he was younger), and even more colourful conversation (peppered with 鈥渕ates鈥� and an assortment of four-letter words) run the risk of falling into a parody of the creative brand consultant, there has been no shortage of top construction names prepared to take him very seriously. While he has worked with the likes of George Lucas, Christian Dior and Cartier, his construction client list alone is a virtual roll call of the sector鈥檚 most important players, including Argent, Brookfield, Countryside, Kier, Mace, Wates and Willmott Dixon. In 2009 he met with 好色先生TV to explain why companies facing the recession had to invest more in marketing and image in order to counter collapsing sales. Now, as the sector leaves recession and business picks up, 56-year old Edge makes the case that branding and image are more important than ever. So what do the sector鈥檚 firms need to be doing in the current environment?

鈥淲hen competition gets great, you鈥檝e got to really be seen and fly your flag higher than your next door neighbour,鈥� Edge says. In his thick East End accent he flows swiftly into another metaphor: 鈥淭he premiership that all those boys are in, it鈥檚 one point that makes the difference.鈥�

His start in the sector came in his mid-thirties with Skanska, 鈥渁bout 20 years ago鈥� when he was called in to improve the presentation of the firm鈥檚 bid documents. The breadth of his client list gives him a unique position to judge the success or failure of the sector鈥檚 efforts with image and branding, and what the industry had in place at the time left him less than impressed. 鈥淚 was always agog, mate, that when I was looking at all these bid documents, that you turn to the back with the CVs and there鈥檚 some silly bloke standing in front of a hessian background, taken in 1970; and some dodgy looking bird outside a nightclub that鈥檚 badly lit.

鈥淭hey [the contractor] stick those photos in thinking it鈥檚 going to help them build this huge building with all this money. And they [the client] look at this team and think 鈥榶ou鈥檙e having a laugh, aren鈥檛 you?鈥欌��
Edge worked both to improve the images, but also to break the firm鈥檚 pitch down to 鈥渟poon-feed鈥� information to clients, in a way designed to make it 鈥渁 pleasure鈥� to go through their bid. 鈥淚nstead of being informational, it鈥檚 about being inspirational,鈥� he says.

Of course, his advice now goes far wider than bid documents - having since worked on projects like the entire rebrand of Kier - with his company, Edge Design, offering a range of branding and design services.

When Edge talks about his passion for design, you believe him. He speaks with real affection of Argent鈥檚 regeneration scheme at King鈥檚 Cross, where he is working on branding one of the buildings, because of the difference the developer has made to such a dilapidated area.

But despite the good stories construction firms often have, he says many are still getting their communications wrong, commonly making things far too complicated for people outside the company in question to understand. 鈥淎 lot of people throw five balls at people because they are communicating all different stories, different messages, and everybody drops all those balls because they can鈥檛 catch any of them,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen we work with a brand, once we get it right, we throw one fucking ball.鈥�

Edge does still get called in to work on bids, and while he acknowledges the standard has improved immensely since he first started working with construction, some - 鈥渢o this day鈥� still have the look and feel of those from 20 years ago.

He adds that the acquisitive nature of many firms can also land them with 鈥渂ig sprawling spider diagrams鈥� of how the firm works, 鈥渘one of which really communicate on an effective level鈥� to those outside or inside the business.

Indeed, he adds that when he worked on rebranding Kier鈥檚 various divisions to Kier Group, one of the issues the firm was seeking to solve was that staff didn鈥檛 know the full range of services the firm provided, in part because the branding was confusing, something which actually stopped people cross-selling to clients. Edge argues having a central name and visual identity has improved staff鈥檚 understanding about what the firm does.

That said, he adds that firms need to be able to communicate the breadth of their services at the same time as having an overarching brand identity. He says: 鈥淧eople think it鈥檚 obvious that if we do this, then we also do that. Well, how many times do you go to a restaurant and if it鈥檚 not on the menu, you don鈥檛 ask for it?鈥�

Edge says one area where firms aren鈥檛 leveraging their brands well enough is on site-based advertising. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the world鈥檚 greatest advertising space in capital cities,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t is getting there, but it has not been used to its full extent.鈥� He adds that he鈥檚 got a few 鈥渋nteresting formulas鈥� himself, but he鈥檚 not willing to go into more detail.

Construction brands should be as prominent as McDonald鈥檚, he argues, and known as experts in their fields. Social media has given them the keys to do so but too few have taken the opportunity.
Certainly from Edge鈥檚 perspective, the job is far from over when it comes to improving construction鈥檚 image and branding. But no doubt this whirling dervish of creativity will have an influence on where the sector goes in that regard over the next decade.