Saatchi & Saatchi to overhaul Royal Navy's image

Gordon MacMillan, brandrepublic.com, Tuesday, 30 September 2003, 9:00am,

LONDON – Saatchi & Saatchi has won the task of revamping the Royal Navy's image to create a more consistent brand identity, following a long-running review of the senior service.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, the Royal Navy has paid Saatchi & Saatchi around £100,000 to revamp the famous white ensign following a review.

The review was begun last year by COI Communications' strategic consultancy arm in order to improve communications throughout the Navy's units worldwide and help boost recruitment.

The process began in 2001 when the Navy signed up the COI to undertake a global audit of its entire corporate communications activity, including internal communications, marketing and recruitment. The result was a strategy proposal containing recommendations for overhauling the Navy's entire marketing spectrum, including advertising, PR and design.

The review found that the Royal Navy did not present a very coherent image. Saatchis told The Royal Navy that its image needed refreshing and the logo, which has the white ensign flag fluttering and slightly drooping with the words "Royal Navy" underneath, needed replacing.

The Navy felt that the fluttering white ensign did not get across the full range of service's capabilities.

The new logo features the ensign still fluttering, but it no longer droops. The only other change, the paper reports, is the replacement of a neutral background with a blue one.

According to a Royal Navy spokesman: "The ensign in the new logo has more of a 3D effect."

The revamp of the Navy's image follows the launch of an integrated recruitment ad campaign by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R to attract ambitious and talented recruits.

The cinema TV and campaign, supported by radio and press, aims to establish the Navy as a "global guardian".

In one spot called "gunner", a gathering of world leaders ask who is going to stop a civil war "destabilising a whole region". The leaders turn to a young navy gunner in the centre of the room who is then transported to the heart of the action, helping shoot down a rebel rocket. It features the endline: "The Royal Navy. Be part of something".

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com