Council spent over €150k in consultancy fees for branding

SOUTH Dublin County Council spent over €150,000 in consultancy fees to explore the branding of the organisation.

The local authority stated this followed clear evidence that the council’s “existing identity was no longer serving the organisation, staff, or the public effectively.”

Cllr Madeliene Johansson (PBP) asked the council for a report and total cost of the re-branding at April meeting.

In response, SDCC said it commissioned external brand strategy expertise following a procurement process, resulting in the appointment of Image Now Consultants Ltd.

The value of this contract was €151,475 (excluding VAT).

“In advance of this investment, the council undertook extensive consultation as part of the Corporate Plan development and a wider examination of how SDCC is perceived.

Engagement involved more than 1,000 participants drawn from across the county, including residents, elected members, staff, businesses, community and voluntary organisations, the Public Participation Network and a range of national agencies.

The feedback was consistent and highlighted several underlying issues.

“While people expressed strong attachment to their local communities, many were unclear about the county or local authority area in which they live.

‘There was also limited public understanding of the scale and diversity of services delivered by SDCC, particularly in areas such as libraries, parks, and enterprise supports.

“At the same time, the council’s visual identity had become inconsistent and fragmented, weakening recognition and creating challenges in digital and public-facing communications.

‘The colours and design language in use had little relevance to the county itself and no longer reflected how South Dublin has changed.”

A brand team has been established to coordinate the roll-out of the council’s new brand identity, catered for via the allocation of €150,000 in the annual budget.

“It should be noted that this new brand identity replaces multiple stand-alone project identities with a single, coherent master brand.

‘This will reduce future design and website costs while improving transparency, consistency, and accountability for the public.

“Against the backdrop of an annual revenue budget exceeding €422 million and a capital programme of €1.7 billion, this represents a modest and proportionate investment in improving how the council communicates and delivers for the people of South Dublin County,” said SDCC.