Kier Group plc case study

Project: Copywriting and editing for a new Kier website

Kier needed…

As part of a major brand refresh, Kier wanted to update all of their web content. As one of the UK’s largest construction, services and property groups, Kier has a broad array of content, covering everything from civil engineering and property development to recycling services.

Kier had developed a new brand strategy, as well as a bold new design for their website. They wanted a copywriter to help their communications team produce 150+ of pages of fresh content to match their new brand and fit the new page templates.

Work included…

Stakeholders from each Kier division had provided raw content for their respective sections of the website, but the content needed to have a single tone of voice, in keeping with the brand guidelines. It was my job to apply a uniform voice and style to the content and fill in any gaps left by the stakeholders.

Before I could edit any content I needed to learn more about Kier’s diverse capabilities. So the first step was a series of stakeholder interviews, conducted by telephone. After interviewing 15+ stakeholders, I had a much richer understanding of Kier’s key strengths and the interests of their customers.

Following the stakeholder interviews, it was time to start writing. I began by re-writing a few pages of web content according to the brief. Kier then had a chance to review my first effort and provide feedback. A few tweaks were required to the first test piece, but these were easily resolved and I could then begin editing and writing 100+ pages of web copy.

Results:

Much of the original copy I provided to Kier was right first time. Several sections required amendments following stakeholder feedback, but this was well organised with the help of Kier’s communications team and promptly completed.

By working closely with Kier’s communications team we were able to produce the desired content by the stated deadline. The content provided also met the primary goals of being consistent, on-brand, and representative of Kier’s current capabilities.

Feedback from Kier:

“Leif quickly grasped what we wanted to achieve despite a vague brief and a lack of source material. The major challenge on this project was the broad subject matter of the content covering all areas of our business from house building to facilities management. However, Leif took the time to learn about the services we offer and spoke to a large number of stakeholders to gain a better understanding of their business and, ultimately, what they wanted to achieve. Within days Leif was beginning to turn around quality copy that, on the whole, was ‘right first time’ needing only minor amendments. The whole process was totally fuss free and Leif was a pleasure to work with.”