The tech network for our region. But where is that?

“Firehaus were a trusted partner from start to finish – bringing real passion, expertise, and a clear understanding of how to shape and tell our story. The result wasn’t just a better brand; it gave us a stronger sense of direction and alignment across everything.”

Ben Shorrock, CEO

“Firehaus approached our brand and positioning challenge with passion and energy [...] it has provided us with a clearer sense of purpose and alignment internally and with our stakeholders.”

Nick Sturge MBE, Chair (and WECMA Mayor’s Business Advisor)

Context

techSPARK is an undeniable success, significantly impacting many businesses and individuals in its region, and is well-liked and respected by its peers.

They knew everyone had a general sense of what techSPARK does – they support tech businesses. But as they began to shape a radical new strategy, it became apparent that there wasn’t enough shared understanding to agree on a way forward when they got into specifics.

Firehaus were asked to review their current mission and vision, survey for perspectives, and help refine their positioning and purpose for better alignment within and outside the organisation.

Discovery

We undertook a detailed Discovery process involving internal surveys and interviews, and 18 in-depth interviews with businesses and regional organisations. 

We found that techSPARK's three core audiences all had quite different perceptions of what techSPARK was based on their differing requirements of the organisation. These perceptions flowed through knowledge of services offered, all the way to expectations of behaviour. What was appropriate for a ‘fun-loving networking provider’ differed significantly from what was expected from a ‘professional services organisation’.

But the most interesting and varied discovery was the definition of the region techSPARK operated within. For many organisations, this is just a matter of physical reach. Still, for techSPARK, it was deeply ingrained in the purpose everyone agreed on: They existed to ‘turn the region into a leading hub of tech recognised as nationally and internationally important.’

The problem was that no one agreed on the region.

The West, the South West, Bristol, Bath, the Western Gateway, and the West of England. Everyone had a different definition of where techSPARK began and ended, and it strongly influenced how they saw the organisation and its behaviour.

When building a brand, consistent behaviour is critical, but so is coherent behaviour. If a regional brand’s behaviour doesn’t make sense against preconceptions of that region, distrust ensues.

techSPARK needed to stop letting others define its scope and make the claim itself.

Positioning

To be continued. We’re working with techSPARK on their positioning right now and don’t want to spoil the surprise…