Marketing madness to blame for BoM rebrand fail

The BoM disaster is just one in a long line of marketing muck-ups dreamt up by branding consultants that take themselves too seriously.

The BoM asked people to stop calling it the BoM earlier this week, before backing down on the request. Picture: Supplied

In the middle of life-threatening floods, the Bureau of Meteorology released a very strange media alert this week.

A BoMshell, you might say.

It wasn’t about the levels of the Campaspe River or the record rain to come in the next 24 hours in the Mildura region.

No. It was about its name.

On Tuesday, the alert asked members of the media to use the organisation’s full name in the first instance and “the Bureau” in subsequent references.

Not BoM or the “Weather Bureau”, even though the organisation’s website is bom.gov.au and its emails end in bom.gov.au.

“With an ever-increasing number of severe weather events, it is more crucial than ever that the Bureau of Meteorology’s insights, wisdom, data and information are shared, understood and acted upon,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The BoM’s current logo will be replaced as part of the $220,000 rebrand but the public and media can continue to call the agency whatever they want.

It wasn’t quite as bad as the Scifi Channel’s new rebrand which saw it adopt a slang name for syphilis or the new London Olympics logo that looked like Lisa Simpson performing a sexual act.

But it was close.

Can you imagine?

“There are flood warnings out for 127 locations across the state and people in 55 towns have now left it too late to leave. Do you have time for us to first tell you about the refresh of our new visual identity?”

You would think an “ever-increasing number of severe weather events” would mean the BoM would put its branding revisualisation to one side and concentrate on the one job it’s there to do.

Not only did the media take no notice (except to lampoon the release), but people bought up the Twitter handles the BoM said it would be adopting and started sending spoof messages.

By Thursday the BoM had backed down, saying the community and media could call it what they wished.

The BoM people should know you don’t get to choose your nickname.

Just ask Daniel Andrews, whose “call me Dan” plan was a screaming failure.

You’d have just as much luck mucking around with the name of Jeff’s Shed (Melbourne Convention and Conference Centre), or the Cheese stick (Melbourne International Gateway).

It’s since emerged the BoM spent $220,000 telling people what not to call it.

We shouldn’t be surprised because government departments have long relied on rebrands to look like they’re doing something, and they are never afraid to drop millions on a new logo.

As in this case, things don’t always go to plan.

You know, like the new Australia logo which cost $10m and was launched in the middle of the pandemic and mocked for looking like a coronavirus cell (surprise, surprise).

Or the Women’s Network new logo that looked like a phallus and was withdrawn after it was mocked on social media.

The logo for the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Women’s Network was roasted online for its phallic appearance. Picture: Supplied

It’s up there with the Federal Agriculture Department which has had five name changes in a decade despite the same party being in power.

It’s now the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).

It used to be the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE).

Before that it was Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR)

And before that it was … you guessed it, DAFF.

The latest name change from DAWE to DAFF came about because the department lost its environment, water and climate functions.

These areas joined the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources to form the new Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).

You following?

Other new departments in the new federal government include the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, given the snappy acronym of DITRDCA.

And a few years ago, the Department of Finance that created a video showing how cool it is to work there.

The real problem was that it used real staff (a big no-no for any government department). The staff were shown exchanging casual banter such as ““Hey guys, I’m going to get a paleo pear and banana bread if you would care to join me” and spending a lot of time producing power point presentations to impress each other.

So let’s bear in mind that the BoM’s PR disaster is just one in a long line of marketing muck-ups inflicted on hapless public servants.

I am enjoying the fact that this giant howling disgrace of a campaign was the brainchild of a number of branding and reputation companies that take themselves terribly seriously.

There is something quite satisfying when a marketing agency that calls itself an “experience consultancy” and specialises in “campfire workshop facilitation” and “customer journeys” gets it so very, very wrong.

Let’s blame them, not the BoM.