By Moana Ellis, Local Democracy Reporting
New figures reveal that the “total costs” of the Whanganui District Council’s logo redesign and rebranding are significantly higher than originally disclosed.
Information obtained by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union (NZTU) shows the council’s rebranding project cost $116,899 – nearly double the $61,800 design figure previously cited.
“The council has tried to downplay the cost of this rebranding,” NZTU investigations coordinator Rhys Hurley said.
The council had earlier said $61,800 (excluding GST) was paid to Auckland design agency Extended Whānau for brand strategy, design and templates.
Following a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) request, the new total disclosed includes $33,125 paid to a brand advisor and $10,192 to a toi Māori arts advisor.
Other costs were $1592 for front-door branding and $919 for website changes by a United States provider.
The updated total is more than $55,000 higher than initially presented publicly.
Hurley said the council had understated the scale of the project and ratepayers were “on the hook for far higher” costs than initially disclosed.
The rebrand has also drawn scrutiny over how it was justified.
Council officials said the change was needed in part because up to 20 different logos were in use, but the NZTU said many of those relate to individual facilities – such as pools and the opera house – rather than core council branding.
The council has said consultation found many residents could not recall its logo or clearly identify its role, and only about 20 percent of 600 respondents to a community survey viewed the existing crest logo positively.
“These showed that there were gaps in community understanding of the council’s work and responsibilities and that the council’s brand recognition needed to be strengthened,” the council said.
But Hurley said around half of respondents either broadly supported keeping the coat of arms or explicitly opposed a change if it would incur a cost.
He was also concerned that councillors did not directly sign off on the rebrand.
“Decisions about a city’s identity should not be made by unelected officials,” Hurley said.
In a response to the NZTU, the council said that although the decision to create “a new, more usable brand” for the council was not made by elected members, they were engaged and informed as key stakeholders throughout the process.
The Whanganui Residents and Ratepayers Association also raised concerns last month about the rebrand’s cost and decision-making processes.
New council chief executive Doug Tate told Local Democracy Reporting he had heard strong community feedback about the brand refresh and was taking it on board.
“My role as chief executive is to … learn from it, and make sure our community gets clear, straightforward information on the decisions we make.”
Tate said the work to develop a new council brand was initiated toward the end of 2023 by then chief executive David Langford, when the council was engaging with the community on a refreshed strategy for Whanganui.
“This piece of work was intended to be a positive step forward.
“It was an organisational response to an organisational need – not a governance matter.”
As such, and because it required no additional budget, it did not need to go to councillors for formal approval.
Tate said the mayor and councillors had “unfairly taken some heat” over the project.
But he said people should expect the council to be upfront on costs, clear on process, and focused on value for money.
“In my short time I’ve been here, it’s clear people expect council to do the basics well and to respond to the times our community is living through.
“My focus is working with Mayor Andrew [Tripe] and councillors to deliver on that – and on the wider priorities our community expects from us.”
The council has published a detailed Q&A on its website.
It lists cost figures, including the difference between the initial design work and related business-as-usual costs reported through LGOIMA responses.
The brand work was about much more than a logo, the council said.
“It provided a clear identity, developed with staff, which reflects our organisation’s culture and values, is clear and efficient to use and can be applied across all our diverse activities over time.”
All costs had been met from existing budgets and this would continue as the rebrand was gradually rolled out over two to five years, replacing materials only when required.
“No additional budget has been allocated for this work.”
The project would not affect rates.
On procuring the design agency, the council said it had searched specifically for a provider with a track record in brand strategy and development because “we needed a lot more than a logo”.
“We conducted an initial online evaluation of existing creative agencies within and outside of Whanganui and then approached a shortlist of three that met our criteria.”
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