New north east 'brand' unveiled

This is the new image for the north east

A new image has been unveiled to help promote the north east of Scotland, which has a skills shortage.

A team of London consultants has produced a new "brand" for the region at a cost of £150,000.

But their new slogan 'Aberdeen City and Shire - A Brighter Outlook' has already been criticised by the SNP MSP for the north east, Richard Lochhead.

He said the region was already "distinct and popular" and questioned whether the new brand was necessary.

Experts have been working since March on the makeover campaign, which is aimed at providing the area with what has been described as a "stylish and contemporary" image.

It was commissioned by bodies including Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, the Chamber of Commerce, Scottish Enterprise and some private firms - all of which will use the slogan.

The key values of the region are its independence, integrity, creativity and enterprise Karen Tolmie Scottish Enterprise

In addition, it is being displayed at Aberdeen Airport and will be available to any private business in the region that wants to boost its marketing effort.

Money came from the Scottish Executive's Better Cities Growth Fund.

Mr Lochhead said: "While the logo is eye-catching, I don't exactly find the new 'brand identity' of Aberdeen City and Shire to be particularly catchy.

Firms 'snubbed'

"Perhaps simply choosing from either north east Scotland or Grampian and sticking to the one descriptive term would have been more effective and cost a lot less.

"I cannot help but feel that snubbing local companies in favour of a London-based consultant is not the best start to an exercise aimed at improving the promotion of the region."

The economy of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire is generally buoyant, thanks to the oil industry and high worldwide oil prices.

Oil companies are among those facing a skills shortage

Karen Tolmie, of Scottish Enterprise, said: "People who live here enjoy it, people who work here find it very successful and people who come here to do business find it very rewarding.

"We want to make sure everybody knows about it.

"The key values of the region are its independence, integrity, creativity and enterprise.

"They are all very Scottish values. What we find in the north east is people are very proud of them and they really do demonstrate them."

Iceberg comparison

The same team of consultants, two years ago, came up with the slogan "Pride of Place" for the Shetland Islands.

Company spokesman Marcus Mitchell said: "A lot of the work of a good, successful location brand needs to come from below the water where most of the iceberg is.

"What that really consists of are the individual experiences people have, from a tourist to a business person looking at a proposition in a particular location."