New British Gas brand identity.

I have just seen the new brand identity from CHI & Partners for British Gas. I have also read many reviews and comments about in on several blog sites. My initial reaction is not great I'm afraid, but I feel it's not fair to be to negative without seeing the brief CHI was given by the client which should reveal what was the business and brand strategy for this logo. You will see for yourself that there are comments such as. " Not very British looking" " Looks like a GCSE project", "Typeface is dreadful" etc.. but what I find interesting is the underlying message behind this new identity. Firstly I think my initial reaction from many BG customers will be...'Why on earth are BG spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on this rebrand now when our bills are increasing by the month. The new vehicle wraps throughout the country will alone be astronomical. I can't help but think this new branding could have waited several more years until Britain was kind of back on it's feet again financially and our collective emotions weren't as gloomy. The actual stand alone logo itself for me looks a bit cheap (unlike their prices) especially the intended flame. Using blue and green gradients in a logo has been done to death and looks very naive. Hard to believe the creative director passed this.  The negative space within the flame is not an attractive shape at all and to bring in a hint of green smacks of jumping on the environmental band wagon, which to me they didn't really need to do. We as a population understand what BG's product is and what it does to our environment through our consumption... we don't need this feeble attempt to make us feel better about BG.  This leads me onto this strap line or brand promise if you want to call it that. "Looking after your world" again I'm not sure this will not come back to haunt BG in the future if something does go wrong (think BP). I personally don't need a utility company to look after my world. For a company like BG to settle for something this uninspiring and slightly mick taking for it's brand badge is quite incredible. How tightly tied were the agency's hands on this brief I wonder?  The actually typeface itself is not to bad, but yet it still falls short of the mark in aspirational terms for me. (Feel free to comment all you type designers). I was lucky enough to have worked on a BG project 'Happy to Help" in 2002/3 which I helped create the identity, so this project has interested me on a personal level. I'm not sure how the customers will react to this brand change, but I do know there will be comments made about this in every design and brand magazine and web forum around the globe and alas I feel the majority will not be positive. If you have any feedback or would like to a add your comments then please do so.

Hamish takes the lead.

Fantastic talk this morning from Hamish Taylor at the Energus building in West Cumbria. Great to see some familiar faces there to. Hamish touched on many things that determine the strengths of great leadership. He told stories of some great moments when he was part of P&G, British Airways and more recently Sainsbury's banking. I personally liked the fact that he stressed upon the importance of revealing the 'soft insights' into what the real benefit for customers are from a brand, product or service. This is something we at the Brand Group have been asking our customers and talking about for some time now. Let's hope the penny finally drops and the Managers and CEO's of the Cumbrian organisations who were listening today take this on board going forward. This insight comes through emersing oneself into a customers situation and their desires/needs. It also creates enthusiasm which gets people on board and ultimately drives sales through the roof. All because of listening to what customers want and not shouting about how good your company or your products/services are. It's also about clear communication which excites and moves people, not just bullet points and business speak that's dull as dishwater of which no-one takes a blind bit of notice. This is the only way great Cumbrian businesses can make their brand something to be loved and have real meaning for people...thus ending the continual struggles of being just a commodity that noboday truly cares about internally or externally. So go get some 'soft insight' into your next board meeting and make a real change. You can also speak with us or any member of our Group for advice. We're here to put your business where it really should be, in people's heads and more importantly - their hearts!

Paul