What if the person most resistant to your rebrand is the one who needs it most?
That was the challenge facing Michael Thirkettle, CEO of McBains, the international property and construction consultancy. Michael understood the power of brand. He just didn’t trust the people who sold it. Too much flowery thinking. Too many off-the-shelf answers dressed up as insight. Not enough substance.
It took hard evidence, a frank conversation, and a well-earned challenge to change his mind.
The moment that made the case
McBains had come a long way since its merger in 1993. Under Michael’s leadership, the firm had weathered a recession better than most and built a genuinely different way of working: integrated, collaborative, and behavioural rather than purely technical. They had strong values. A loyal team. Good clients. So why rebrand?
The answer came from a survey sent to staff, clients and senior management. The results were mostly what you’d expect: professional, reliable, quality. But one finding stopped Michael in his tracks.
Around 60% of people gave McBains a seven or eight out of ten. They liked the business. They just wouldn’t give it a nine.
If your own people won’t fully commit, something is missing. And if clients are privately calling you “a hidden gem”, you’re not doing enough to be found.
Finding the nugget
Uncovering what’s missing is harder than it sounds. It means going back out to clients, management and staff, not with a questionnaire but with an open ear. Looking for the themes that keep surfacing. Connecting the past to the present.
At McBains, the answer was already there. It was in the way clients described their experience. It was in Michael’s own notes from 2003, when he first set out to change the industry. It was in the history of the firm itself. One of the original founders had essentially invented quantity surveying because he believed there was a better way to build.
The positioning that emerged was “Finding the Better Way.” Four words that captured 250 years of instinct and ambition.
Michael’s response? “Sounds like something you’ve taken off the shelf.”
It wasn’t. And when challenged to explain exactly where it had come from, David walked him through every piece of evidence, without notes, for ten minutes. That was the moment Michael became a convert.
Simple is harder than it looks
Once the positioning was agreed, the next challenge was articulating it. The first attempt ran to 12 pages. Michael sent it back. Not because the thinking was wrong, but because he couldn’t absorb it, remember it, or talk about it with passion. If he couldn’t do that, his 200 people certainly wouldn’t.
What emerged from that challenge was the McBains Code: a short, clear document that took the organisation from its purpose through to its values, ending with trust, honesty, respect and mutual support. Not a rulebook. A journey.
A rebrand people actually wanted
At the staff conference where the new brand was unveiled, Michael asked everyone to put their hands up if they embraced it. Out of 125 people, one didn’t. Their only concern: where had “Cooper” gone?
That’s not a bad result.
The rebrand coincided with a new office and a major investment, and together they took McBains to a new tier in the market. But Michael is clear about what drove it: “You can’t do it alone.”
Four things a rebrand sceptic taught us
1. Brand isn’t the visual. The visual should follow what you stand for. If you get the thinking right, the identity will feel inevitable.
2. Look for the nuggets, not the obvious. The insight that changes everything is usually hiding in plain sight, in how clients describe you and what your people already believe. You just need someone to spot it.
3. Simple is a value, not a shortcut. If your CEO can’t explain the brand from memory, it isn’t done yet. Make it simple enough to live by.
4. The CEO is the brand keeper. Without leadership engagement from the top, a rebrand stays on paper. With it, it changes how an organisation thinks, hires and grows.
So, if you’re on the brink of a rebrand, and you want to make sure it’s built on something real, get in touch.
