Do you believe this logo design is actually worth £1 million?
Yes, this is owned by the city of Edinburgh, Scotland and was created by the infamous London-based agency Interbrand as part of its “Inspiring Capital” branding campaign in May, 2005.
Initial cost of this 3-year project was worth £800,000 and another £120,000 was added during the actual campaign.
According to a news article, the city council intends to drop this expensive logo by spring. Apparently, its plans to increase awareness and encourage people to visit, live, work and study in Scotland’s capital did not pay off.
The logo represents the city’s “sense of energy” and its famous images like the Arthur’s Seat, the Festival fireworks, and Forth Bridge. In fairness to Interbrand, they had done all requried steps in creating a good brand. These include:
- Research. Interbrand talked with tourists who visited Edinburgh to get the overall impression.
- Brand Development. It conducted series of workshops to know the unique selling point of Edinburgh
- Concept Testing. It ran 16 in-depth interviews, 7 focus groups, and a public exhibition to know which brand position would work best.
- Launch and Monitoring. Progress is monitored based on different metrics like number of visitors and business investments in the city.
Although there are some claims this campaign is successful, the city council is still waiting for supporting evidence.
