About the brand
Why does South West England need a brand?
It's a good question. Research showed that people had no real feeling what South West England was all about. They mistakenly believed that it wasn't a good place to do business and that tourism here was not sophisticated. They were even confused about where the region was and how big it is. Attempts to market the region were inconsistent in what they addressed and how they looked, and there were no economies of scale between regional partners. This indicated the need for a brand identity for the region as a whole. A regional brand also fitted in with our objective of improving and promoting the South West's image overall.
How was the brand created?
Having established that we needed a brand identity, the next challenge was to encapsulate the diversity of South West England in words or images. We worked with Wolff Olins - one of the top branding agencies in the country - to achieve this. They conducted extensive research and held focus groups to test their creative concepts. It was a lengthy and involved process. Ultimately, "It's in our nature" was chosen as the core thought for the brand. This emerged as the most compelling message for every audience. Its intentional double-meaning conveys both the special attitude and creative spirit that people here have and the region's inspiring natural environment.
Taking this theme as a reference point, the branding campaign has evolved. The current advertising uses close-up images of people's faces to convey positive emotions and quotes from business people and visitors. Click here to read more about the ads and how the campaign crosses over from a business audience to a tourist audience.
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