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It might be a drop in the bucket compared with the cost of Auckland City Council's new logo, but Metrowater's new "branding" - a circle of blue water drips - is attracting a flood of criticism.
The new logo is thought to have cost $20,000 and, to portray a "grown-up image", Metrowater has let its old one - a leaky tap - go down the drain.
It is the second ratepayer-owned organisation to upgrade its logo. The city council is thought to have spent close to $1 million to swap its City of Sails logo for a triangle.
The Auckland City Council is still negotiating with Triangle Television, which has a similar blue wavy triangular logo and has protested about the double-up. Triangle's CEO, Jim Blackman, said last night the logo was designed 12 years ago by a student from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design and cost about $500.
Even though Metrowater's bill is smaller than the city council's - executives will not reveal the exact amount - the logo has created an unwelcome ratepayer splash.
It has hiked the cost of water twice in recent times, by 9.1 and 9.6 per cent, and the average household water bill has gone from $800 to $1000 in 18 months.
Metrowater strategy and marketing director Linda Danen said the new logo had been phased in since July and would save money because it has less colour and was cheaper to print.
Graphic designer Dave Clark, who has been designing corporate logos for 30 years, said upwards of $20,000 was not unusual for a new image - but $1 million is was excessive.
"People will always ask 'Why did you need a new identity?' I think those questions need to be answered more thoroughly."
