Authorities Just Love Re-Branding - At Taxpayer Expense...
The dramatic news of the change in name for the Brecon Beacons to Bannau Brycheiniog took all by surprise. This post was to be a simple re-posting of an old blog with a few minor updates. But oh the authorities love spending your money and they move, decade after decade, to change and alter and so to confuse and diminish.
I will not comment in detail regarding the move by the authorities in Wales to hinder Welsh Tourism growth but I will plainly state that I will not be using Bannau Brycheiniog or Eryri or Yr Wyddfa. Why? Because those not from Wales, and indeed most who live in Wales, do not use these names for the National Park locations or for the highest mountain in Wales. Re-branding using the Welsh language names is a marketing disaster, at least in the short to mid-term. Perhaps in fifty years time Snowdon will be internationally known as Yr Wyddfa, but, that hasn’t really worked out well for Chomolungma, has it?
And we have to call out the bureaucrats that on their inflated wages and in their comfortably safe jobs feel secure enough to deliver change by dictat, like the little Hitler’s I have in the past compared them to. I say this as the Brecon Beacons National Park delivered the change as a surprise, even to the sitting MP for Brecon and Radnorshire!
Reasons to Re-Brand
A flurry of publicity over a day or two
To virtue signal about climate change (The term Beacon refers to fires and that apparently is against National Park green policies, which are unscientific, costly, and a distraction from good land management)
Reasons Why the Re-Branding is Nonsensical
Zero consultation - not even the local MP was informed and she heard about the name change on the morning’s news
The Change of name from an internationally known destination to something that is for most people unpronounceable will be damaging to tourism businesses in the area
The change follows on from a rebranding by the BBNP of the National Parks identity, at great expense, in 2013. All this work has been done at taxpayers’ expense whilst the infrastructure of paths and visitor conveniences are as poor as they could be
Costs to tourism attractions and local businesses who use the National Parks identity as a selling point and will now have to rebrand their websites and publicity materials
The loss of a sense of place - the association most have with the area is of an association with the Brecon Beacons. A news item detailing a festival, for example, taking place in Bannau Brycheiniog, or for that matter on Yr Wyddfa, will for most be meaningless and readers will not be able to place the event geographically without resorting to personal research, which we must all agree, most will not undertake
Cost - the last re-branding was in 2014 (BBNP) and this followed a re-branding in 2013 (PCC). Who pays? You pay. Who benefits? The managers at the BBNP and PCC benefit as this ‘work’ justifies their salaries
The following is a commentary on wastage by authorities in their effort to justify their own existence, using valuable taxpayer-funded resources along the way. In 2013 Powys County Council contracted a design agency to re-brand the Brecon Beacons as a destination for them. In 2014 the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority contracted a design agency to re-brand the Brecon Beacons for them.
I can find no outcome of the work undertaken for Powys County Council but this is the outcome of the work undertaken for the BBNP
Stunning stuff, don’t you think?
This is a repost from 2013 but I think still relevant and more so given the news to me that both authorities re-branded within a year of each other, doubling the expense and confusing visitors with two separate outcomes.
FROM 2013: A couple of weeks back I was called by the BBC News-desk who were after a comment regarding Powys County Councils’ decision to fund a re-branding of the Brecon Beacons. Unfortunately, I was not available at the time and so the nation didn't have the chance to hear what I had to say... But it would have been this...
Powys County Council have consistently proven to the tourism operators who live and work in the Brecon Beacons that their promotions of the area have had little benefit to business and that they, as council officers, have small understanding of the needs of tourism. This is evidenced by high High Street rateable values, expensive brochure advertising and poor maintenance of existing infrastructure such as leisure centre facilities.
The funding of a new marketing initiative that aims to re-imagine the Brecon Beacons National Park is something that seems popular amongst bureaucrats - recently done at great expense in the Valleys where the phrase 'Heart and Soul' cost a staggering £24,000, as a new tag for the area - is something that needs to be questioned.
Is this further evidence of 'Castle Building'? Is this money well spent especially when one considers that there are two authorities for the area, the council and the national park? Isn't the Brecon Beacons National Park already well 'branded' by the national park authority? And what is it with the need to brand everything? An area as diverse as the Brecon Beacons is not do-able in a soundbite. You cannot gain the essence of it from a drive-by.
Again, and I'll keep banging on in this fashion. PLEASE... let's take control of the purse strings away from the authorities and place that power into the hands of the trade associations. The businesses that live and work in the industry are far better placed to promote the area than the grey suits who are looking at leaving a legacy...
MANCHESTER AGENCY RE-BRANDING THE BEACONS
MANCHESTER creative agency Vivid has been appointed by Powys County Council to lead its latest branding project, according to trade website Prolific North.
The project will involve the development of a new brand identity for Powys County Council Tourism and the Mid-Wales and Brecon Beacons area.
The new brand will be rolled out across all tourism-related marketing and promotional activities carried out by Powys County Council’s tourism team.
Funding for the project has been provided by the Sustainable Tourism Powys project.
Julie Lewis, tourism and marketing manager at Powys County Council, said: 'Powys County Council Tourism Team are excited to be working with Vivid on a brand for the Mid-Wales and Brecon Beacons area.
'We hope that many local tourism businesses and communities will join us in highlighting the special and unique features of this beautiful part of Wales, helping to create a visual identity which is both representative of the tourism offer and strongly appeals to potential visitors.”
Rachel Emson, Vivid’s managing and brand director, added: 'We’re absolutely delighted to be working with Powys County Council on this exciting new venture; it’s an honour to be tasked with creating a new brand identity for such a vibrant and beautiful area of the UK.
'We’re raring to go and can’t wait to deliver a brand identity that reflects the unique character of Mid Wales and the Brecon Beacons. We’re confident that we can create a sustainable brand that truly serves the inhabitants, and encourages visitors to the area.'
The project is due to be delivered in the summer.
