Описание: Can new Haringey Councillors elected on 3 May 2018 learn from the gross mistakes of their predecessors? ________________ In October 2015. Haringey Council, the elected body running our London borough, wasted lb86,000 on an unnecessary new logo. It replaced two earlier logos based on the symbol for the TV mast at Alexandra Palace on Muswell Hill in north London. It's often called "Ally Pally". The playful nickname stressing that the building is not really a palace. It was "... one of oldest television transmission sites in the world. What was at the time called "high definition" (405-line) TV broadcasts on VHF were beamed from this mast from 1936 until the outbreak of World War II." The original logo (please scroll down) was black and a sort of custard yellow. Eight stylised zigzag lightning "bolts" represented the broadcast signals beaming out. That logo was modified in 2007, with colours changed to dark green, orange and white. The lightning bolts were flattened to the right - it was sometimes described as a "squashed spider". Haringey Council's 2015 version isn't actually a logo, but two words in different typefaces. The word 'Haringey' is in angular and jiggly lettering. Smaller and in capitals - 'London'. (Not that anyone would mistake us for the port of Harwich, or the North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate.) A New Brand Identity for Haringey Why throw away lb86,000 (then over $100,00 US dollars) at a time of savage national Government cuts affecting vital services? Why did our borough's elected "leaders" see a new logo as a priority? My own opinion is that we need go no further than "vanity of vanities; all is vanity". But let's consider one then leading elected councillor, named Joe Goldberg. Joe was the "Cabinet Member" for Economic Development. He explained in a public Council report that his JoeGo logo was part of a "New brand identity strategy for Haringey". Cllr Joe Goldberg described his profession as "brand strategist". So this might be an example of someone sharing their expertise. Alternatively it's reasonable to see it as an example of the insight of the U.S. philosopher Abraham Kaplan. Who wrote: "I call it the law of the instrument, and it may be formulated as follows: Give a small boy a hammer, and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding. It comes as no particular surprise to discover that a scientist formulates problems in a way which requires for their solution just those techniques in which he himself is especially skilled. " Joe Goldberg's own report offered a far more ambitious and upbeat explanation. He called it : "a new brand identity for Haringey which champions the borough and brings our identity in line with our modern values, ambitions and strengths." "The work includes a new visual identity (logo) for Haringey and brand strategy." "Brand identity plays a major part in securing confidence, attracting investment and retaining and recruiting a skilled workforce. The borough continues to change and improve at a fast pace. This paper proposes that now is the time for the council and borough to consider a new brand identity which strengthens and underlines Haringey’s unique role in London while reflecting the warmth and positivity of our communities." And so the report goes on. And on. With what seems to me, long vacuous burble. Sometimes teetering on the edge of magical incantation. But since I am deeply ignorant of both the science of brand strategy and its extensive body of professional knowledge, maybe I'm completely wrong. Dumped Rubbish and the Tooth Fairy But now consider the black and white logos recently added to litter bins. Imagine yourself walking or cycling or driving along a main road in Haringey. You spot a JoeGo plastic sign stuck on a bin. Next to it, a larger rubbish bin with graffiti tags. Both are keeping company with several bags of dumped rubbish. What might this kerbside collection tell us - if anything at all - about: "Haringey’s unique role in London while reflecting the warmth and positivity of our communities"? What does it say about: "our modern values, ambitions and strengths."? How does it "champion the Borough"? Or "Play a major part in securing confidence, attracting investment and retaining and recruiting a skilled workforce"? Maybe the problem is with me and my failure to believe in changing the real world through the magic of brand management. Just as I have a few doubts about Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy. __________________________________ § April 2018, GBP lb86,000 = approx USD $120,000) § The London Evening Standard newspaper 18 September 2015 described Haringey Council's "bizarre pitch" in justifying the need for the rebrand. "cash-strapped Haringey Council spent lb86,000 on a rebrand including a new logo that locals claim looks like it could have been made by a child”. "The council is spending the money in a bid to create an identity that “communicates who we are today”, despite only adopting their last logo eight years ago." "While planning lb70 million of cuts, including to services for vulnerable people, a bizarre pitch in council papers argues the re-branding is needed to show Haringey is 'more than just a place. It is an attitude'." A launch is planned for Monday at the start of a campaign seeking to promote the borough’s core values, one of which will be stated as: “We spend taxpayer money as carefully as we would our own.” Some lb20,000 of the budget is being spent on a film promoting the borough’s strengths. The controversy comes after Haringey hiked cabinet members’ special allowances by an inflation-busting 6.6 per cent in May. On its website the borough complains central government cut its budget by lb117 million since 2010, with a further lb70 million coming down the line. § Independent 19 September 2015. Council shells out lb86,000 on new logo as part of 'more than just a place' re-brand. § PR Week Haringey Council rebrand ridiculed... Article by Ian Griggs September 24, 2015. § LocalGov.co.uk 17 September 2015. lb86,000 for a new image: money well spent? Article by Mark Whitehead. § Discussion in Harringay Online community website. Haringey Council's new logo: Are you In? § Another example in West Green Road.
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