Editorial

Old logo of CILIP showing full name

Out with the old…

New logo with "The library and information association" as words to right

.. and in with the new

NB. Please note that this editorial has received a few edits, shown as text in square brackets, as more information from CILIP and others came in after the post was originally posted.

Without any publicity at all – no press release, no statement, nothing – CILIP have undergone a complete rebranding, with a new logo that retains the CILIP acronym but without any other indication of what CILIP actually stands for. Instead, the words “the library and information association” (in lower case) are put to the side of it. The absolute secrecy in which this was done is doubtless because of the bitter feeling (and pig’s ear) caused by the attempt a few years ago to change its name to (gosh, it’s still painful to type it) ILPUK. That abortive rebranding exercise [would have] cost £35k but we don’t know how much this new one has cost [I’ve been assured this cost a lot less than last time as this was done in-house – Ed]. The fact that CILIP have done it without any consultation, or publicity, at all is. well. a tad bit dictatorial in a democratic association and presents a worry mark for the future. [ I understand the log was sent out to member networks for discussion but that, obviously, quite a few did not see it – or I’d have known about it beforehand].

Well, that’s the “cons” bit. But the truth is, I actually quite like the new logo (apart from the neither-here-nor-there slope on the end) and if it replaces the impossible to say “Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals” (or whatever it was) then fine. So that’s good. Because if they’d done this without consultation and the rebranding had been anything like as bad as ILPUK, there’d have been hell to pay. So, Nick et al, you may have got away with it this time (but that remains to be seen at time of writing) but try something like this again, or get too complacent with the changes you make without telling anyone, and the reception may not be so soft next time. CILIP have painfully rebuilt a lot of goodwill over the last couple of years but this will have taken the shine off it a bit. Consult next time. Or at least let the information professionals have some information about it.

Here’s the official response I got from CILIP when I asked them about it (I checked the Action Plan: there’s no mention of a rebranding in it I can see):

“First impressions count and presentation matters. We can be doing and saying all the right things but if our presentation doesn’t have impact and make the best impression we won’t connect with the audiences that matter; the students deciding which career to pursue; the people in this sector who haven’t joined yet; the national and local politicians; the employers and the organisations we want to partner with. “CILIP’s 2016-2020 Action Plan sets a fresh vision and mission for CILIP and our community. It reconnects us with our Royal Charter and sets the path to create a stronger, more visible and influential organisation with a clear and independent voice to champion to interests of the information, knowledge management and library sector. We are committed to promoting and representing the sector, to do so we need the right presentation and visuals to support our evidence and messages, and create a strong impact with the right audiences.

The new brand is part of a wider programme to improve the impact of our work for the sector that stems from the Action Plan. Other parts of this programme include securing greater political influence, gaining support from famous people for libraries through our posters, running campaigns such as highlighting #Amilliondecisions that information professionals support across the healthcare sector every day, developing a more open and inclusive approach to membership and doing more to showcase the value and impact of the sector. The new brand launched on the 28 February and we are currently communicating this and rolling it out. It’s an important part of our Action Plan to create a stronger organisation that champions and represents the information, knowledge management and library sector.” CILIP

And here’s a quote from a parody account on Twitter which has come to life again over this rebranding:

And here’s what happened when I asked people on Twitter (I think you’ll need to vote yourself to see the result but as of 8.10pm it was 59% don’t care, 34% “should’ve consulted” and just 7% “did the right  thing):

Do also read Phil Bradley’s blog post below.

In other news, I understand that the news from Dudley that GLL is now taken over the service somehow as a staff mutual was a bit confusing. It turns out the press release from the council was, ahem, confusingly phrased and that there was a competitive process for running Dudley, one of which options was as a staff mutual – which lost – and one of the others was from GLL, which won. At least that’s what I’m told at the moment. If anyone else can shed some light on this (and won’t risk losing their jobs from doing so), do let me know

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