One of Canberra's most recognised yet confusing brands, ACTEW Water, will abandon its name from early 2015 and rebrand as Icon Water in an attempt to distance itself once and for all from ActewAGL.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A spokeswoman for the publicly owned water and sewerage utility said the renaming process was launched a year ago after a review of changes within the organisation and years of public confusion.
"ACTEW Water has experienced ongoing brand confusion with ActewAGL for many years [and] we need to eliminate this brand confusion once and for all," she said.
"Given the changes in our organisation over recent years, the name ACTEW Water is no longer strictly relevant to what we do and who we are as a business."
This is not the first time the ACT's water utility has changed its name and branding at the expense of the taxpayer.
In 2012, ACTEW Corporation rebranded itself as ACTEW Water for $2.5 million. Then, earlier this year, ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said it was a "no-brainer" that the utility needed to change its name again.
"People think ACTEW is ActewAGL and ActewAGL is ACTEW," she said in February.
"There's a very clear [distinction] between those two organisations and we need to ensure the confusion around the name ... doesn't contribute to people's understanding of the way our energy [and water] utilities work."
The ACTEW Water spokeswoman said the rebranding, which engaged Civic-based agency CRE8IVE, would not be as costly as the $2.5 million exercise in 2012.
"The bulk of those costs were not for rebranding the organisation, they were expended on reintegrating the water and sewerage business back into ACTEW Corporation and the re-employment of about 340 staff," she said.
The spokesman said the budget for the current rebrand was likely to top $500,000, with around $220,000 spent on internal interviews and artwork and a further $300,000 to be spent on the rollout.
"This work is still being undertaken by the organisation, with more clarity expected in coming weeks with regards to costs," she said.
"We will take a pragmatic, prudent approach to the implementation to strike a balance between maximising the impact of the rebrand and minimising costs where we can."
A review of ACTEW Water operations by former Victorian competition commissioner Bruce Cohen released last year recommended the utility change its name, citing confusion could "exacerbate community concerns when issues arise that are the subject of public debate".
"While both ACTEW and ActewAGL enjoy high name recognition in the ACT, there is often confusion regarding the nature and scope of the roles and activities undertaken under each name," says the report.
ACTEW Water managing director John Knox said the name Icon Water was chosen after reflecting on the organisation's environmental, economic and recreational contributions to the ACT.
"Importantly, this rebranding process has provided us the opportunity to refocus the organisation for the next 100 years, ensuring we are relevant, focused and a trusted water and sewerage utility for the region," he said.
The new Icon Water logo, still being fine-tuned by designers, will be visible on service bills, cars and lanyards from early 2015 as the utility seeks to erase any reference to ACTEW Water.
"We anticipate that the bulk of the rollout will occur before June 30 but there may be some things that don't meet this timeframe," said the spokeswoman.
"Future decisions will be made with regards to the rollout aspects of the new brand and we plan to take a pragmatic and prudent approach to the implementation."
The spokeswoman said the rebranding process was important to ensure the organisation was "heading in the right direction and that our brand could in fact emulate our aspirations".
"A significant amount of work has occurred with the whole of our workforce through interviews and workshops to really explore deep into the culture and aspirations of our people," she said.
Mr Knox said the rebranding would not change the structure of the organisation's workforce or their commitment to providing services to the ACT.
"There aren't too many Canberrans that would not agree that we provide some of the best quality water in Australia, with satisfaction rates up at 95 per cent last year," he said.
