KEY POINTS:
Auckland has a new logo to promote itself to the world - a lava-coloured letter A frayed at the edges.
The $174,000 orange and red logo has no tagline, just the word "Auckland" to provide a broader promotional image than City of Sails.
The project is intended to represent the whole of the Auckland region and is separate from Auckland City Council's controversial new wavy blue logo, which was presented as a fait accompli to the new council last year at a cost of at least $329,000.
The new logo emerged from the Metro Project action plan launched nearly two years ago to transform Auckland into an internationally competitive city. The need for a strong Auckland brand was identified as long ago as 2002.
Metro Project chairman Michael Barnett said the brand had been developed in a coherent and consistent way that talked about Auckland - its spirit, its personality, its heritage and all the possibilities on offer.
Heart of the City chief executive Alex Swney said the long-awaited new image needed to be much more than just a logo, as witnessed by the success of Absolutely Positively Wellington and campaigns by cities such as Melbourne to lure tourists.
"Our only hope is that it is compelling enough to attract the support that these other brands have delivered when they have been rolled out."
The logo will be used by Tourism Auckland from tomorrow and seen at Saturday's netball test between New Zealand and Australia at Vector Arena.
The Metro Project logo was developed by brand consultants Designworks, which has worked on brands for Air New Zealand, Tui, L&P and Monteith's.
Of the $174,147 cost, $62,222 came from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and $111,925 from ratepayers through the Auckland Regional Council.
The business arm of the ARC, Auckland Plus, has been implementing the Metro Project action plan.
Mr Barnett, who is deputy chairman of the ARC and Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive, said there had never been a better time to develop a new brand. The Rugby World Cup was on the horizon and the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance was looking to reshape local government.
"A strong value proposition is a 'must have' for any region wanting to compete internationally."
Jane Berney, an Auckland University of Technology lecturer in advertising creativity, liked the punchiness of the typography, but wondered: "Could this be something my cat threw up?
"The 'A' element - Rangitoto rising out of 'Auckland' - seems to me to be more about deconstruction and hairs in the lens cap than heritage and spirit."
