15 June 2007
The Council of Ministers has decided to proceed with the implementation of the
new Jersey
brand.
At the Council meeting yesterday, Chief Minister
Frank Walker
gave Ministers a full report on the views expressed at the recent public meeting, at a States members meeting, and views received from a number of individual Islanders. He informed Ministers that there were sharply contradictory views but that the weight of public opinion has been to continue with all the major elements of the brand with the exception of the logo.
Ministers considered a range of options including continuing without the logo, holding a competition amongst local agencies to design an alternative and proceeding with the brand in its entirety. They concluded that the best way forward was to continue with the brand in its entirety but to review its success after two years. Ministers were also advised that there will be substantial levels of work for local agencies, printers and others as it is rolled out.
Chief Minister Senator Frank Walker said today: ‘I sympathise with those people who will feel disappointed because they personally dislike aspects of the new branding package, but I believe the Council of Ministers has made the right decision. This whole exercise was designed to promote
Jersey
’s strengths to the rest of the world. The two rounds of independent market research undertaken in the U.K. has told us emphatically that the new branding will do that and Ministers felt it would be wrong to ignore that advice. Now, it’s up to the brand to prove itself, and we’ll be reviewing its performance after two years.”
He added: ‘I made it very clear to Ministers that, although I did not think we should, it was not too late to step back. We agreed that we should go ahead as planned, and we believe that the brand will prove to be a strong investment for
Jersey
. Ministers also felt that it would have been impossible – even if we’d gone right back to the drawing board – to come up with a new logo which would have pleased everyone.”
gov.je