REPLACEMENT PAPER

PAPER D

Purpose: For Decision

Committee: FULL COUNCIL

Date: 20 JULY 2005

Title: ADOPTION OF THE INSPIRE PROGRAMME, ITS ETHOS AND PRINCIPLES AND THE NEW ISLE OF WIGHT BRAND

BACKGROUND

1. With a fragile economic base, predictions from SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) that by 2012 the Isle of Wight will be one of the poorest performing areas in the South East and long standing economic issues; the Island needs to radically change its approach to economic development and regeneration.

2. It is not all bad news, in recent years the Isle of Wight Economic Partnership has achieved significant success in attracting both new inward investments and significant public sector investment; as well as assisting the growth of local businesses. However, the Island still suffers from a low profile within the private investment community, poor attainment within education and continues to trail some 25% behind the national average weekly wage.

3. The Island needs to attract more wealth into the local economy thus ensuring a more prosperous future for us all. We need to gain more self belief in our future, be more positive about our strengths and turn perceived weaknesses into new strengths, in short we need to ‘talk the Island up’, hence the need for the Inspire Programme.

4. The Inspire Programme has been developed by the Isle of Wight Economic Partnership in consultation with partners over the previous 3-4 years.

5. The ethos of the Inspire Programme is to:

“act smart, be positive & raise aspirations”

6. Inspire will coordinate public-sector spend and harness private-sector spend, under a set of key messages and brand values. As a result, the Island will benefit from harnessing the full value of many millions of pounds.

7. An essential theme that must be adopted is Quality, quality, quality. The Island has often spread its investment too thinly. Inspire will focus on key areas, with all agencies and departments working for a common purpose. This may mean we adopt a “less is more” principle, thereby concentrating effort and resource to the very best of our abilities and not settling for second best. Inspire and the new Brand will demand, quality design, quality materials, quality service etc etc.

8. In short, Inspire will drive the improvement of the whole Island product and improve the very fabric of the Isle of Wight and what we feel about it.

9. Inspire sets a challenge for us all, we need to remain focussed to ensure we achieve the right goals; as such, Inspire will require strong community leadership from both the Isle of Wight Council and the Isle of Wight Economic Partnership.

10. If we get it right, the Inspire Programme will act as a benchmark for the regeneration of other areas, putting the Island at the forefront of regeneration activity.

11. The 5 themes of Inspire are:

- A re-branding exercise for the whole Island

- A marketing and communications plan

- A programme to raise aspirations

- An education programme to Inspire people and build self belief

- A community engagement programme

12. Inspire will ensure the Isle of Wight is a…

“Vibrant, exciting and stimulating place to Live, Work and Play”

ACTIVITY TO DATE

13. Activity to date has concentrated on two areas:

i) Gaining buy in from key public and private partners

The Economic Partnership has consulted with a range of partners to gain buy in from all sectors. The consensus was that there was a need for change if we are to improve our position within the South East. This was highlighted when the Full Council approved the Inspire programme in January 2004.

ii) Development of the Brand “A Rallying Call”

14. The development of the Brand and its associated values was an important first step. It was our intention to create a Brand and logo that would act as a “Rallying Call”, and provide an independent identity behind which we could all gather.

15. Development of the Brand began in January 2005 with the establishment of a Brand Development Group. This group was made up of the key marketeers from the Island and included representatives from:

Isle of Wight Economic Partnership Isle of Wight Tourism

IW Chamber of Commerce LSP

Red Funnel Wightlink

UKSA Skandia

Liz Earle Cosmetics

16. The Group selected a brand development agency via a tender process from a shortlist of six companies (three Island based), and eventually awarded the contract to Corporate Edge, a London based agency.

17. Corporate Edge researched both on and off Island and initially developed the Brand Values the Isle of Wight should aspire to. This work was then condensed down and developed into themes to form a graphical representation or logo that would be used to promote the Island and the Brand awareness we need to achieve. This graphical representation is known as “Spirits Raised”

18. The development phase confirmed the following ‘core thought’ and highlighted four ‘brand values’

Core Thought “Natural Dynamics”

The ‘core thought’ highlights that through both our leisure and business activity we harness the natural environment, eg. Beautiful environment for all leisure activities plus industry sectors that include, aerospace, wind energy, marine etc.

Brand Values

Beautiful Stimulating Resourceful Connectivity

The first two values speak for themselves in as much as we all find the Island both a beautiful and stimulating place to live and work. “Resourceful”, highlights the Islanders willingness to be self sufficient and work around any obstacles. “Connectivity” highlights our accessibility to the mainland, London and beyond, (Southampton Airport accesses 50 destinations in Europe). It also highlights our telecommunications and broadband links, essential for any modern day business.

NEXT STEPS:

19 The next steps consist of the following key milestones:

- adoption of the ethos and principles of the Inspire programme by selected public and private sector agencies

- adoption of the Brand as either a primary or secondary mark (dependant on type of organisation)

- delivery of a style guide

- delivery of adoption guidelines

NB. Adoption of the Inspire Programme and the Spirits Raised Brand is not a right. Use of the Brand will only be granted under a license agreement to those organisations that demonstrate they fulfil the criteria laid down by the Brand Values and the ethos of the programme.

This in itself will present a challenge to most agencies but will also provide an incentive to each organisation to improve its delivery.

ADOPTION BY THE ISLE OF WIGHT COUNCIL

20 The Isle of Wight Council should both support and adopt the ethos and principles of the Inspire Programme and the ‘Spirits Raised’ Brand.

21. Initially the Council should adopt the ‘Spirits Raised’ Brand as their primary brand for all external promotional activity regarding the Isle of Wight. In time the Council should fully integrate the Inspire Programme and Spirits Raised brand into all areas of activity and communication.

22. The detail of how to fully adopt Inspire and the Spirits Raised Brand throughout the Council will be subject to further discussions and negotiations. To ensure the best use of finance and resource the adoption procedure should be organic rather than a big bang.

2020 VISION

23. To further enhance coordination of resource, the Economic Partnership, the IW Council and the LSP joined forces to develop the 2020 Vision for the Island, (subject of a separate paper). To ensure a consistent approach, Corporate Edge was commissioned to assist in the development of the vision:

2020 Vision

“A progressive Island built on economic success, high standards and aspirations and a better quality of life”

ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE

24. Due to the opportunities presented during June 2005 the Branding Group and the IWEP agreed to use this as ‘launch month’ for the programme and the Brand specifically. To date we have had a very positive reaction to the programme from all areas of the community and have already achieved significant success.

IW Rock Festival

Free banner space and promotional advertisements on large screen. Various aspects of Island Life were seen by approx 35,000 people every day, plus coverage on Channel 4.

Est Value: £100,000

Round the Island Race

Five High Schools entered in the High School challenge. This was seen as a major success by all of the schools, SEEDA and Sport England. Coverage included, BBC South, County Press and various yachting press.

Est Value: £40,000

Gypsy Moth IV launch

Coverage by all yachting trade journals plus BBC, Meridian and some broadsheets. This will continue for the next two years through channels such as Discovery, CNN and Fox sport.

Est Value to date. £50,000

NB. This activity will continue for approx 3 years

IW on Tour

We have purchased a very high quality exhibition stand to follow Gypsy Moth IV. This stand will cover Cowes Week and the Southampton and London Boat shows for the next 4 years

Est Value: £350,000

Cowes Week

As one of the Branding Group, Skandia have proven to be very supportive of the Isle of Wight. Their promotional activity throughout Cowes Week will include the new Brand.

Est Value: £50,000

FUTURE FUNDING FOR INSPIRE

25. The Economic Partnership has put a further bid to SEEDA, to gain funding for a further three years with a note requiring an additional two year extension. This funding, if approved, will attract £250,000 per annum for three years. This will be entirely new money for the Island to assist us in the positive promotion of the Isle of Wight.

26. The Council has indicated its willingness to support the project and has requested the Economic Partnership to bid in to the Council for additional funding. As yet no amount has been established, however, we anticipate this will be in the order of £30,000 - £50,000 per annum.

27. Once Inspire has proven itself, we intend to ask for contributions from those that will use the logo mark. This may be in the form of real cash or as an ‘in kind’ donation. We also anticipate making a small return from various merchandising opportunities.

STRATEGIC CONTEXT

28. The Inspire Programme is identified as a priority for the Island to assist in the attraction of new investment and to generate a self belief in a positive future for the Isle of Wight.

29. Inspire is seen as a priority by the IW Council, the LSP, SEEDA and is a mainstay of the Area Investment Framework.

30. Delivery of the Inspire Programme is essential if we are to deliver against the 2020 Vision developed by the Council and others.

31. The Inspire Programme shows a unique commitment from key players in both the public and private sectors to ensuring the well being of the Island for future generations. By raising our standards and attracting the very best, we will assist all aspects of the Island’s delivery, putting us in the very envious position of being able to live in such a beautiful and stimulating environment.

NB. This idea is not new; there are very clear parallels with New Zealand.

Back in the late 80’s, New Zealanders didn’t think much of their country and being so remote gave them severe economic difficulties.

This situation has now changed completely. They now believe they are the luckiest people in the world with a strong identity and future, particularly in tourism and customer service.

CONSULTATION

32. Consultation has been far and wide at both individual and organisational level. The following organisations have shown their support:

NHS Trust IW Chamber of Commerce

IW College LSP

IW Council IW Tourism

LSC SEEDA

Red Funnel Wightlink

Skandia UKSA

Liz Earle Cosmetics IW Youth Council

RCC NMCDT

Isle of Wight Economic Partnership

FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPLICATIONS

33. There is no fee to the Council for use of the Inspire programme and the ‘Spirits Raised’ Brand.

34. Dependant on the adoption strategy, there maybe limited budget implications for design and print work; however this is expected to be in line with your normal design and development process.

35. IWEP will shortly be bidding to the Council for future ‘matched’ support for the ongoing development and sustainability of the Programme.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

36. The Local Authority is empowered to adopt a shared brand where to do so furthers the Economic, Social and Environmental Wellbeing of the Island.

OPTIONS

Option 1: To approve adoption of the ethos & principles of the Inspire Programme and the use of the Spirits Raised Brand on all external communications promoting the Island, against an agreed adoption strategy.

Option 2: Not to approve adoption

EVALUATION/RISK MANAGEMENT

37. Isle of Wight Council has been a key partner in the development of the Inspire Programme and the Spirits Raised brand. The project has been identified as a priority within the AIF and the LSP Island Futures Strategy and will assist in the delivery of economic development & regeneration across the Island. The aims and objectives of the project are in line with the Council’s and therefore the project presents a low risk.

1. RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that Full Council

1. welcomes the work undertaken to date, led by the Isle of Wight Economic Partnership, to develop the "Spirits raised" brand within the context of the Inspire Programme, and also welcomes the endorsement of the brand by the Local Strategic Partnership

2. endorses the proposal by the Economic Partnership to encourage adoption of the brand across the public, private and voluntary sectors

3. invites the Cabinet to adopt the brand and determine how the Isle of Wight Council can best implement and promote the brand within the context of the wider Inspire Programme.

APPENDICES

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