The UK subsea market is now worth £8 billion and with UK technology, expertise and experience unparalleled, the UK’s supply chain is envied around the world..

With so many companies and individuals now involved in the sector, it has been crucial for industry champions, Global Underwater Hub to provide thought-leadership, information, networking, training and education within the sector.

Design Inc are proud to be ‘semi-submerged’ so to speak, in the subsea world for the best part of two decades. Fully supporting GUH with all their marketing activity and delivering their corporate & event branding, membership marketing, publications, advertising and websites.

Newsletter publishing

GUH News (originally Subsea UK News) began life as a newsletter with a circulation of less than 1000 and then, after a significant rebrand in February 2012, a much more dynamic, relevant and advertising-friendly magazine.

Several redesigns later, the latest being to become GUH News – Design Inc is still involved in all aspects, from the design of the creative cover through to the handling, formatting and styling of all the supplied content whether that be editorial or advertising. The publication typically takes a couple of weeks to turn around during which time PDF proofs are supplied to the client for comment and supplied advertisements are flight checked, although sometimes we are often called upon to work with the advertisers to create their message.

Today, the publication is distributed both electronically and in print to its subscribers, all GUH members. Furthermore, it is circulated at major subsea events worldwide, to governments and universities with a reach of close to 70,000.

“We have been using Design Inc’s design & publishing services to produce the GUH News magazine since its first edition. They have been instrumental in helping transform it into the professional, leading publication in the subsea sector that it is today.”
Dan Fearon, Communications Coordinator

Exhibition marketing

Since 2007, Design Inc has provided GUH with branding & marketing support for Subsea Expo – Europe’s leading live showcase for the underwater sector. This has included the event branding, website and advertising campaigns as well as many on-the-day assets including; exhibitor manual, signage & wayfinding, floorplan graphics, video, seminar & conference backdrops and digital screens.

With a continuous year on year growth in visitor numbers and exhibitors the show more than ever reflects the contribution made by subsea engineering to the UK economy and exports. This contribution is also showcased at the annual Subsea UK Awards – the industry’s leading annual awards dinner – typically held on the first evening of the 3-day exhibition. Design Inc has also been there to support GUH with the marketing of this even, responsible for its branding, website, even the trophy designs.

The annual three-day exhibition, conference and gala awards dinner recognises and celebrates the UK’s £8billion underwater industry, organised by the sector’s leading trade and development body Global Underwater Hub, welcomed in excess of 6,000 visitors over its three-day run with more than 60 countries represented on the list of attendees. The event’s audience having now grown from 200 delegates and 40 exhibitors attending the first show in 2004.

Over 150 companies and organisations from across the industry supply chain exhibit at the Aberdeen event, including delegates from Australia, India and the United States.  While a packed conference programme with 85 speakers includes keynote presentations and forums on major industry talking points, including marine renewables, data and digital, subsea production systems and robotics and autonomous operations.

“The 2024 Subsea Expo event has surpassed all expectations. We have attracted more delegates, more international visitors, more exhibitors, more speakers and more young people than ever before, underlining the importance of our sector to the UK and to the global underwater industry.”
Neil Gordon, Chief Executive of GUH.

Targeting a sustainable future

Subsea Target is a major initiative to facilitate the movement of new and transferable skills into the subsea sector. The campaign and resources are designed to encourage either movement of skilled workers into Subsea roles or enable workers to obtain the necessary skills to enable into the subsea sector where a shortage is currently felt and predicted to increase. Enabling workers to move into Subsea from other engineering disciplines of from study.

Design Inc supported GUH with the branding, marketing and advertising of this initiative, delivering a campaign that reached out to five key audiences:
  Those already in similar industries
  Job changers
  Graduates
  School leavers
  Those currently in education

The branding and campaign focused on the metaphore of a target with the messaging & education focused on moving the key audiences once step closer to the centre of the target – ie a role within the subsea sector.

Following the brand and campaign creation, we moved onto the development of an educational website, exhibition graphics, advertising and info packs.

The outcome was very well received by both our client and the key subsea companies who had signed up to support the initiative.

 ‘We’re delighted with the Subsea Target branding – it hits the mark perfectly.”
Trish Banks, Operations Manager