Defence & Maritime Engineering Brand Relaunch
Special Projects (registered as ECS Special Projects) is a UK engineering business working across commercial EOD, military, subsea and R&D. Operating for years across three disconnected identities and a cluttered legacy website, the business needed a single, commercial-first brand that reflected its engineering capability rather than one narrow category of its work.
Special ProjectsA Fragmented Brand That Undersold the Engineering Behind It
Special Projects had grown organically over a number of years, building up capability across commercial EOD, military work, subsea operations and R&D along the way. That growth had happened without a single, considered brand to hold it together, leaving the business spread across several disconnected web presences, each telling only part of the story. The result was a public identity that had fallen behind the reality of the business: a category association that reflected where the company started, rather than the breadth of engineering and product development it now delivers.
Fragmented identity
The business operated across ECS Special Projects, Cobra MDS and Low Order as three separate web identities, with no single site tying the group together or reflecting one coherent business.
A cluttered legacy site
The existing website had become an information board rather than a considered brand asset: dense, hard to navigate, and difficult for visitors to find what they needed quickly.
A narrower perception than the reality
The brand read as a mine-clearance and military specialist first, which undersold the R&D, product development and commercial EOD work that makes up a significant part of the business.
Consolidating Three Identities Into One Commercial-First Brand
We worked with Special Projects to unify its web presence, reposition the brand around engineering and R&D, and rebuild the site around clarity and qualified enquiries rather than free-flowing information.
Brand strategy & positioning
Moved the public-facing brand from ECS Special Projects to Special Projects (retaining the registered legal name where required), and shifted the narrative to lead with engineering, R&D and bespoke product development, commercial and practical in tone rather than overtly military.
Brand consolidation
Brought Cobra MDS and Low Order into the fold of a single site, with Low Order becoming an informational page rather than a stand-alone website, so the group presents as one business with one story.
Website design & development
Designed and built a new specialprojects.uk site around a simpler structure, strong imagery and short, benefit-led copy, built to get procurement teams and technical buyers to the right information within a couple of clicks, without the clutter of the previous site.
Social media strategy
Built out a proper LinkedIn presence around the new brand narrative, giving Special Projects a consistent voice and posting rhythm on the channel where its industry peers and prospects are most active.
Photography & video
Curated existing product footage and photography, including demo material that had never been properly published, to give the site authentic, real-kit imagery in place of stock and heavy reliance on renders. This included some project work alongside their industry partners, Atlantas Marine.
Early Traction Ahead of Full Launch
With the rebrand and website still in progress, the foundations already in place are showing early, measurable interest in the new direction.
Grew from a standing start to 15+ enquiries per month within the first three months of activity.
Gained around 850 new LinkedIn followers within the first two months, building engagement competitive with businesses many times its size.
Positive stakeholder response
The shift to a commercial, R&D-led narrative, including the direction "we engineer the next generation of EOD capability," was well received internally, giving the team confidence to take the new brand to trade shows and industry partners.
Foundations for measurement
Secured the specialprojects.uk domain, mapped a path to consolidate the Cobra MDS and Low Order domains, and put analytics tracking in place ahead of launch to benchmark performance from day one.
Useful lessons for businesses
Consolidation Builds Authority
Fragmented brands dilute authority. Bringing separate identities under one name and one site makes a business easier to find, easier to trust and easier to remember.
Positioning Shapes Perception
Leading with what a business is actually capable of, rather than the category it's best known for, broadens who takes it seriously, without needing to overstate anything.
Qualifying Enquiries Improves Their Quality
Gating technical detail behind a short, relevant question filters for genuine interest and gives the sales conversation a better starting point than an open download.
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