IPS brand update in preparation for summer
- Details
IPS is a well-established operation, known by many for its large hire stock of LiteDeck staging and outdoor roof structures, alongside technical equipment hire ranges. However, when starting the process of redeveloping the company website, it quickly become apparent that some customers referred to the company as Impact, some as Impact Productions and many other variants.
After much discussion, and despite the original IPS logo being on literally thousands of items, the decision was made to refresh the logo, and adjust the company name accordingly. This process has also lead to the three key areas of the business being now defined as Staging & Structures, Technical Production and Trade Hire. Working with a local branding agency, the new logo was developed, and the website has subsequently also been updated to ips.co.uk. Although at a glance the changes appear not hugely dramatic, as neatly summarised by business manager Karl Saunders, “Sometimes just a simple change can make everything clearer.”
Staging and structures is one of the most well-known elements offered by IPS, and despite the changing market, summer 2018 is already looking to have the most number of confirmed bookings in the history of the company. Increasing numbers of customers are also choosing to have some element of technical production added too – either in the form of lighting, LED screens or power distribution, and some going for a full production solution. Staff numbers and skillsets are increasing to reflect this, with a continued training program ensuring technicians and suitably qualified and experienced.
Lighting and sound equipment Hire was the original basis for IPS, and supplying good quality hire equipment is how managing director James Mason started out. This element of the operation has now been retitled Trade Hire to reflect the increasing proportion of business to business hires on the books, with James mentioning “the new logo is a fresh and updated look, whilst also being a bit more discrete to help our many sub-hire customers within the industry”.
A continued series of bold investments have seen over 200 IP rated fixtures added to the IPS hire inventory in the past few weeks, with customer demand and industry trends continuing to shape the ever-growing equipment stock. Outdoor lighting was the focus of the IPS stand at the Leeds tradeshow, and the water feature housing the latest IP rated Prolights fixtures attracted a lot of attention.
Launched at what was a very successful PLASA show for IPS, the redesign has attracted a lot of positive feedback already, and the new logo will be phased in over the coming months. The IPS website (Ips.co.uk) and email addresses have changed - however all phone numbers and office and warehouse addresses remain the same.
(Jim Evans)
