A discussion on our experiences in brand building for local government

BR@#D!is not a fouR letteR woRD

If a brand is a customer’s

understanding of your products

and services.

Do you know what your audience understandsabout you?

So what is a brand?

What have you created?- Every organisation has a brand whether they have carefully

constructed it, or allowed it to grow on its own

- It’s more than a logo

- It’s your reputation

- It’s what people say about you when you’re not around

- Your brand is generated by what you say and what you do as well as by how you present yourself to the world

- All successful brands have a central idea that guides the energy and provides a self belief system for the people in your organisation

- A brand is not something that sits in a report, it’s something you need to be obsessive about

Woody Allen once said:

“90% of success is turning up

on time...”

The magic for brands is in the other 10% woody!Image and perception are value drivers for every organisation; Without an image there is no perception.

- Your brand image is a key communicator of what you stand for

- When you’re asleep at night, your image continues to ‘talk about’ your brand

- We call your logo, corporate colours and typefaces as they appear on signage, publications, vehicles, events, etc. your visual language

- We call the visual language that makes up your image your Brand Identity

Logo +

Visual Language

= Brand

Identity

Your logo is the point of entry to your brand- Your logo (or brand mark) is the cornerstone of your

brand identity, it is the foundation upon which you build consistent and meaningful visual language for your brand communications

- Visual language includes; typefaces and type styles, brand colours, photographic or illustrative imagery, and associated visual elements such as patterns and textures

- It is our role as Brand Image experts to create unique brand properties for our clients, distinctive visual language they can own and that provides a stand-out presence in their market

The best brand identities are memorable.Recognition is immediate, across cultures and customs.

Sub-branding, Co-branding,

Schmo-branding

Sub-brandingCo-branding- Brand Architecture is the way your brand, sub-brands and the

brands of your products, services, departments and events relate to each other

- More importantly how they communicate this relationship to their audiences. Do the people who live and work in your cities understand the relationship between Council and your events, facilities, parks maintenance contractors, local laws officers, etc. ?

- A unique element of local government is the complexity of brand architecture. Typically we find a web of sub-brands and brand relationships with facilities, events, services, contractor relationships

- All the pieces are part of the picture that make’s up your brand

You have to manage your brands from the inside out

Central Idea

CorporateStationery

FacilitySignage

FacilitySub-brand

Website

Brand Identity

CorporateForms

CorporatePlan

B2B Comms/Programs

HR/TrainingPrograms

AdvertisingStyles

Annual Report

VehicleLivery

Staff Uniforms

CorporateEnvironment

Streetscape/Environment

RetailPrecinct

Co-brandingGuidelines

Co-brandingCollateral

Co-brandingSignage

Newsletter

CorporateSignage

BoundarySignage

Templates/Presentations

PromotionalItems

Publications/Brochures

BoldGestures

BrandRituals

Faxes /Memos

IdentityGuidelines

ImageLibrary

ServiceSub-brand Event

Signage

EventSub-brand

EventCollateral

ServiceCollateral

FacilityCollateral

Central Idea

CorporateStationery

FacilitySignage

FacilitySub-brand

Website

Brand Identity

CorporateForms

CorporatePlan

B2B Comms/Programs

HR/TrainingPrograms

AdvertisingStyles

Annual Report

VehicleLivery

Staff Uniforms

CorporateEnvironment

Streetscape/Environment

RetailPrecinct

Co-brandingGuidelines

Co-brandingCollateral

Co-brandingSignage

Newsletter

CorporateSignage

BoundarySignage

Templates/Presentations

PromotionalItems

Publications/Brochures

BoldGestures

BrandRituals

Faxes /Memos

IdentityGuidelines

ImageLibrary

ServiceSub-brand Event

Signage

EventSub-brand

EventCollateral

ServiceCollateral

FacilityCollateral

You have to manage your brands from the inside out

Building a brand sounds like a really

painful process... Why would we

bother?

The value of brand to local government organisations- As many of you would know, the Municipal Association of

Victoria met in February this year to discuss the development of a campaign strategy to enhance community understanding of the importance of Councils in the provision of local leadership, infrastructure, services and advocacy.

- When it comes to a compelling rationale for developing your brand image, the initial conclusions from the MAV campaign strategy reinforce what we’ve been talking about with our clients for years;

- Image and perception are value drivers for every organisation; Without an image there is no perception.

You get the picture

We certainly weren’t surprised that a number of the key objectives set by the workshop were directly brand related:

- Raise awareness of Council’s role in providing leadership for local communities

- Increase understanding of the importance of community infrastructure and Council’s significant role as guardians of that infrastructure

- Strengthen Council’s branding

- Increase visibility of small scale capital works/asset maintenance and we’d add to that visibility of contractors working on behalf of Council

- Raise awareness of Council’s role in providing valued community services.

- Use emotional imagery and language to connect Council with valued services

- Strengthen council’s branding at service points

- To raise awareness of the excellent employment and career opportunities on offer in local government

- Evoke personal relevance to messages about local government’s roles and functions.

- Use inclusive language that helps communities ‘own’ their council ie ‘your council’, ‘our community’

- Use emotional imagery to depict the roles of councils

One of the natural laws of business is that in lieu of any structured brand identity every otherwise intelligent employee becomes a designer.- The number of hours we witness spent across our client’s

organisations on the constant re-creation of presentations, templates, letters, brochures, flyers, newsletters and internal communications is astounding

- This activity not only diffuses the professional presentation of an organisation’s image, but costs thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars each year in lost productivity

- A well executed brand not only creates more productive and profitable organisations, but the consistency of brand message and visual language absolutely maximise the return on your communications investment

So what do we know?Since 1995 we have developed a particularly affinity with, and understanding of Local Government through our work with;

The City of Dandenong, The City of Glen Eira, The City of Melbourne, The City of Port Phillip, The City of Stonnington, The City of Whitehorse, The City of Whittlesea, and The City of Yarra,

We spend a lot of our lives working with organisations on their brands. As a group our Local Government clients are faced with a particularly unique set of challenges;

- Non-corporate organisational cultures that is resistant to the types of changes that are part and parcel of branding projects

- A complex web of stakeholders

- Confusing brand architecture relationships, often with an additional layer of contractual complexities relating to service providing contractors

- The natural tension of Community involvement

- The impact this has on rationalising non-essential spending for projects such as branding

- Challenging project budgets

The greatest roadblock to brand-building is getting a complex organisation to execute a simple idea.

There’s more than one way

to skin a cat

Best Practice is only best practice when it gets results.– The process of branding needs to be pragmatic. If we don’t

engage the right stakeholders at the right times, the whole project can end up a waste of time and energy. Often in Local Government, the idea of creating a Brand seems too huge a task to contemplate. Who in their right minds would embark on a process that would require corporate and Councillor approval of such substantial change?

– In our experience, a flexible approach to building a brand piece-by-piece has proven to be a methodology that suits the nature of Local Government organisations.

Ten Tips for building Local Government

brands

01. Get on the Same PageThe earlier in the process key stakeholders develop a shared understanding of the brand and a central thought for its expression the better.

As part of our branding process we run client workshops that pinpoint an over-arching idea that guides the energy of the organisation and provides staff with a shared self belief system.

When we fail to think strategically about our brand messages, we create a brand that will fail to achieve its goals.

02. Never Blame your ToolsOrganisational tools save time, energy and are the key driver of a consistent and professional brand image; Templates and guidelines -easier, time saving, cost saving.

03. Blocks aint Blocks- Strategically select your brand building blocks

- What will provide easy wins?

- Which are the most popular communications tools?

- Which are the pet projects for key stakeholders?

- Which are the pivotal expressions of the brand? ie. a swim centre sign rather than a garbage collection flyer.

04. Maximise return on investment.All brand Comms aren’t Born Equal

Select key statement documents

- Already budgeted for

- Define the key theme through an agreed central thought

- Provide the opportunity to speak in the visual language of your brand

Work out which actions provide your brand most leverage - Apply the 80:20 rule and leverage like hell.

05. Characteristics suited to successfully steering a branding project (without losing your marbles)

- Focus- Discipline- Strong Communication Skills- Empathy- Effective Management Skills- Flexibility- Creative Problem-solving- Insight

06. ConsistencyOne Look - One Feel - One Voice

07. Get Runs on the BoardThe road to hell is paved with good strategy.

Important to build momentum. As consistent applications of a new brand image appears, acceptance and enthusiasm follow.

If nothing changes, nothing changes.

08. Demand FocusYou can’t be everything to everyone.

A brand that tries to be a little bit of everything ends up being a lot of nothing.

09. Crack that WhipOn brand! / Off brand! Do you know the difference?

All brands require constant steering.

Have you committed the resources to maximise the return on your branding investment?

10. FYIBranding is at its best an inclusive process. Be strategic about how and when you engage those people who will be responsible for bringing your brand to life.

When you find your central idea, ask people how they’ll help execute it. You’ll be surprised by the amount of energy you release.

Bottom line;Good brands build

organisations. Ineffective brands

undermine success.