the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)

Agency: Redactive

Client: the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)

Award: Best Membership, 2024: Gold

Brief

As one of the world’s largest professional organisations for engineers and technicians, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has a strategic commitment to ‘inspire, inform and influence the global engineering community, supporting technology innovation to meet the needs of society’.

Its primary audience is the IET’s 156,000 global membership. However, its influence and impact must reach far beyond the diverse mix of students, apprentices, professionals, associates and academics it serves.

Playing a major role in achieving this is the IET’s owned media brand – E&T – which until 2023 had been run by an in-house team since its inception. But early last year the Institution recognised E&T was failing to deliver – across every platform and channel – and had become disconnected from the IET’s organisational strategy and brand.

Printed magazine
While the IET’s flagship publication Engineering & Technology magazine was relatively well-respected by members, the format and design had become jaded. It needed to work harder to educate, inspire and most importantly to communicate the values of the Institution.

E&T website
Outdated, underperforming and overlooked by the majority of IET’s membership, the E&T magazine website (eandt.theiet.org) was no longer fit for purpose. With site traffic indicating that only one in six IET members used it.

Rich media
The Institution was already distributing videos via its IET.tv channel. But these tended to be factual, longer-form technical explainers. It wanted to bring engineering and technology to life in digital formats that would confound members’ expectations of how such information was typically delivered – and leave them wanting more.

A change in direction
In spring 2023, after a competitive pitch, the IET made the seismic shift to outsource its entire content and publishing operation to Redactive Media Group.

The agency was tasked to deliver a cutting-edge multimedia strategy. Still with a printed magazine at its heart. (Albeit now with the ambition to become the best engineering and technology in the world.) But instigating a digital transformation to include a revamped website, podcasts, newsletters and video.

The overarching vision was to put the IET’s voice at the centre of engineering and technology discussion the world over. With the strategic objectives:

• To educate and inspire members

• To better communicate the values of the Institution

• To attract audiences beyond IET membership

• To improve IET’s global reach

• To drive traffic to the relaunched E&T magazine website

• To incorporate more rich media

• To reinvigorate interest in the E&T job board

All while also reducing the investment required in its owned media brand.

Solution

The transformation kicked off with the creation of a bold, modernised brand identity for IET’s media portfolio – ‘E+T’.

Then the new multimedia strategy focused on optimising every channel to do what it does best – the magazine giving space to in-depth and impactful features, news becoming the remit of always-on digital channels and newsletters; and rich media integrated throughout.

The revamped print magazine was restructured to promote the values of the Institution. Split into four key sections that align to IET’s internal messaging pillars: Inform, Influence, Inspire and Grow. Delivered in a far more analytical journal with cutting-edge design and newsstand flair.

Increasing the print publication’s pagination from 64 to 100 pages allowed a frequency reduction from nine to six issues a year. A valuable cost saving to be invested in other formats and channels.

E+T website
To replace the existing website, a modern content hub was developed to make more of the existing and fresh content. Better serving users while enhancing the value of IET membership through a gating strategy.

More than 30,000 pages of content was migrated from the previous content management system to Drupal 9 and the taxonomy was restructured to mirror the Institution’s site – with redundant terms removed and new categorisations added.

New front-end templates incorporate engaging features such as pullquotes, calls to action, social media sharing, plus versatile advertising opportunities.

The website is now integrated with the IET’s job board, E+T Jobs, and an RSS/XML feed of latest ‘Featured jobs’ is displayed on the home page. Supported by dedicated career content and easy navigation to E+T Jobs site.

Selected news content remains freely available – inviting users to register to access more. Registered users can access some, but not all, content. But the most valuable content – typically in-depth features, technical articles or analysis – is only available to members. This demonstrates the additional value members gain from joining the IET, giving them further reason to join or renew.

All the more remarkable is that the new E+T website rebuild was achieved in just three months rather than the recommended six. Simultaneously with the portfolio rebrand, magazine relaunch and rich media content production.

Rich media
As part of the media brand’s reimagining, Redactive launched two digital sub-brands for video and audio. E+T: Deconstructed videos distil intricate concepts into compelling narratives – delivering a fresh take on the world’s most impressive modern engineering feats. A recent production on the Thames Tideway Super Sewer achieved 27,000 views in just one month.

Off the Page podcast episodes are hosted by the editorial team, and follow up a topic from the most recent print edition. Their popularity inspired the Critical Targets podcast series, with all seven episodes released the same day. Bringing in thought leaders to discuss core sector challenges, such as ED&I and sustainability.

Digital content is promoted throughout the E+T content ecosystem. Also distributed through a twice-weekly e-newsletter, which features the latest news and provides a gateway to drive traffic to all other E+T media platforms.

Results

A readership survey by the IET (Sept 2024) revealed that 79.6% of respondents consume the printed magazine – with over two-thirds (70.8%) rating it highly as a member benefit.

Nearly a third said they have renewed their IET membership as a result of reading E+T magazine.

There has also been a significant positive shift in engagement following the relaunch:

• 90.8% read every or most issues (previously 74.9%)

• 50.4% read all or most of each issue (previously 45.0%)

• 75.8% spend over half an hour reading each issue

• 2 out of 5 read E+T in more depth than other professional magazines

Across all channels, around three-quarters expressed high satisfaction with E+T content:

• 74.7% rate the printed magazine good or excellent

• 71.3% rate the digital magazine good or excellent

• 74.6% rate the online articles good or excellent

And E+T magazine is clearly adding value to members’ professional lives:

• 80.5% claim they trust E+T content

• 80.0% claim E+T helps them broaden their understanding of wider issues

• 46.2% say it supports their professional development

E+T website and enewsletter
Since the new E+T magazine website launched in November last year, the increase in engagement been spectacular:

• Users have increased significantly from 20,000 per month on the old site to 81,285 per month (July 2024)

• Site engagement is up by 39 per cent

• A quarter of visitors are now from outside the UK – an increase since the relaunch

And following a rigorous testing programme – design, copy and subject lines – enewsletter demand and interaction has also rocketed:

• +55.8% increase in sign-ups

• +211.8% increase in click throughs

Rich media
To date, four E+T: Deconstructed videos have been produced achieving 13,550 average views per video. A considerable uplift compared with previous E&T magazine YouTube videos (the most successful of which only reached lower double digits).

Also remarkable is the 69% average percentage viewed of the most-viewed E+T: Deconstructed video – outperforming the rule-of-thumb 50% (required to get into the YouTube algorithm recommendation system).

Building on their success, further video series now include E+T: Expert Engineering – a bite-sized look at fascinating projects such as the Taj Mahal, an episode that has attracted 23,039 views with 80% average percentage viewed. While E+T: A Quick Word short videos are just one minute – with one expert answering a single question. Perfect for social amplification.

Also resonating with the broader engineering community, the most popular Off the Page podcast has attracted 1,671 YouTube views and 2,721 downloads. While of the seven Critical Targets podcasts the most popular has been accessed by 1,751k viewers on YouTube alone.

E+T jobs
In a challenging time for recruitment, E+T jobs is performing well against the market. Activating innovations such as sponsored webinars and exclusive events to give the competitive edge.

With all objectives being met, E+T is proving a voice to be reckoned with in the engineering world – far beyond the IET’s membership base. What’s more, E+T’s spectacular transformation and engagement success has been delivered while reducing IET’s investment in its E+T membership content strategy by a staggering 46%.