KEY POINTS:
The introduction of a new logo for Auckland City Council was all about polishing a tarnished brand.
Research in 2006 told new chief executive David Rankin that the council's reputation was "mediocre at best". Just one in 10 residents and businesses had anything positive to say about the council.
With this in mind, David Rankin and his executive team set about to improve the reputation of the country's largest council.
"Communicating and engaging with customers and citizens is essential if we are to be trusted and valued by the community," said performance organisation general manager Trish Langridge in March last year.
So what does David Rankin do? He sets up a secret project to rebrand the city with a new logo. A handful of councillors were only briefly shown draft images, the matter never went before a council committee and ratepayers were certainly not engaged.
Instead of following the normal democratic process, Mr Rankin went down the market research road of testing five different logos before ditching the old "bureaucratic" and "authoritarian" logo for the more "metaphorical" wavy blue logo.
This, despite negative perceptions of it lacking substance, being an obscure link to Auckland and looking like the Triangle Television logo.
The project was accorded even greater secrecy during the "highly politically sensitive" election season and presented to the new council as a fait accompli.
The roll-out was meant to be a "non-issue", but of course it wasn't. Trouble erupted over the sneaky way it appeared, the cost and the similarities with Triangle Television.
The council insisted it only cost $25,000 to produce the logo. A senior council source said the whole rebranding exercise cost $1 million. After prodding the council came back with a $329,200 figure. Official documents show their plans for greater spending.
And what does the new logo stand for? An organisation which is open and inclusive and trustworthy. That's what ratepayers get from executive power.
