ABOUT

The Brief

We worked with the Local Government Association (LGA) to create a brand new name and identity that properly encapsulates the transformative effect of the programme on graduate’s careers and the communities they’ll work in.

The LGA asked for our help to develop a new name, identity, design system and various brand assets and templates for promoting their graduate recruitment programme.

Mediums

Digital, Website, PowerPoint

Concept

LGA wanted a brand that spoke to the direction they were trying to move in: modern, fresh and impactful. It also needed to speak to more diverse audiences as they recognised this was an area they wanted to do better in and support those from lower-socioeconomic backgrounds and wider racial groups.

It also needed to appeal to multiple audiences including eligible applicants and professionals within local authorities who sign up to the programme and work with graduates.

Execution

We conducted a multitude of focus groups including prospective applicants, current scheme graduates and alumni and employment specialists within local authorities to generate a comprehensive review and research programme. We also carried out competitor analysis to gauge the graduate programme landscape.

Research revealed that audiences wanted a name that directly linked to the local authority element of the scheme, and demonstrated the real life change graduates on the programme make to communities.

Out of this, we developed the name Impact: The Local Government Graduate Programme, which plays on the "dual impact" of the programme: the meaningful impact that graduates have on councils and communities as a result of taking part, but also the positive impact on their careers.

After a few concepting rounds, including feedback from LGA, councils and potential candidates, we arrived at a design that uses energetic and dynamic shapes to encapsulate the meaning of Impact.
Multiple assets were designed including a new logo mark, identity, brand guidelines templates for the team to edit themselves, such as social media and PowerPoint, web banners and a brand new graphic device designed to reflect the idea of growth and impact. We also created some animated start and end frames to add to promotional videos as well as artwork for the campaign launch and event collateral such as careers fairs.

Results

The new brand performed incredibly well with the wider LGA team, potential candidates and council employment leads. Since the launch, LGA has seen record application numbers – almost 10,000 applications across both the generalist and finance streams and a 110% increase for finance in particular.