The construction and engineering consultancy sector has invested seriously in brand. Strategy decks, design agencies, visual systems. The work that came out the other side is technically accomplished – and almost interchangeable.
We measured it. Seventy-five firms, scored across seven dimensions of brand voice. The numbers turned out to be sharper than expected.
Four firms in five make claims so similar to their competitors’ that the firm name can be removed without anyone noticing. Genuinely distinctive positioning – the kind that fails the name-swap test – turns up in barely one in seven.
Most telling: the firms that invested most heavily, with the best-known agencies, often perform worst on the metrics that decide whether language differentiates. Polished visual systems sit on top of verbal identities that could belong to anyone.
The full report sets out the seven-dimension methodology, the findings across the sector, and the ten firms that buck the trend.