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The Challenge
Chemstations is a leading global supplier of chemical process simulation software, but its brand image wasn’t conveying its market position or effectively capturing “share of mind.” Although its product, CHEMCAD, is well known within the industry, the connection to Chemstations wasn’t always being made by chemical engineers—the company’s target audience. Established customers, however, regarded both the company and CHEMCAD as superior to the competition because of the software’s easy-to-use interface and Chemstations’ best-in-class technical support. Operationally, the company’s goal was to grow from $6 million to $10 million in revenue over five years, but Chemstations wanted to retain its ability to deliver personalized customer service without being misidentified as a consulting firm. The main challenge was to rebrand Chemstations so as to capture the company’s true size and scope, while creating an image consistent with its unparalleled integrity, expertise and commitment to customer support.
The BrandExtract Solution
Our thorough brand assessment identified Chemstations’ reputation for engineering expertise, development of a technologically advanced, yet intuitive software platform and relentless dedication to customer service. The company was positioned to grow, but needed to clearly differentiate itself from the competition, strategically communicate its message both regionally and internationally, and convey the true value of the company and its product.
To accomplish this, BrandExtract began by designing a logo that portrays how Chemstations helps advance an engineer’s success through process simulation software that seamlessly fits into an engineering environment. A new position—“Engineering Advanced”—and a new brand system were developed for marketing materials, advertising and the Chemstations Web site, which was redeveloped to enhance user experience, surface key messages and reflect the brand position.
Custom illustrations used in marketing materials and on the Web site visually communicate the company’s personality and ingenuity, as well as CHEMCAD’s features, while speaking universally to customers throughout the world. The conversational tone of the marketing messages, brochures, ads and Web site content retains technical information and relates well to engineers without losing the branding message.
The Results
Positive response to the rebranding among existing and potential Chemstations customers is reflected by a surge in Web site activity following the brand launch. In the four months post-launch, the number of users visiting the downloads section of the new Chemstations site increased 60 percent—a clear indication that users are taking a higher interest in downloading CHEMCAD. This is also seen in the 22 percent increase in the number of users who have contacted the company to receive a free trial of the software.
