BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Options for Branding the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Approve a tagline and logo to be used to represent the Santa Clara Valley Water District as part of a potential rebranding effort.
Body
SUMMARY:
On October 23, the Board of Directors reviewed six taglines proposed as part of a rebranding effort to help the community understand the work done by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, how it impacts their lives, and how the community’s and District’s values are reflected in this work.
The initial taglines presented to the Board on October 23 came out of an internal competition that resulted in employees proposing more than 120 taglines. Staff scored these submissions, narrowing the field down to 10. The District chief officers then narrowed that down further to the top three, which were then presented to focus groups for testing. Based on the focus groups’ feedback, staff developed three additional tagline options for the Board’s consideration.
At the October 23 meeting, Board members indicated a preference for the following two options:
Clean Water • Healthy Environment • Flood Protection
Clean Water • Healthy Creeks • Flood Protection
The Board also asked staff to evaluate an option using vertical bars rather than bullets to separate the three elements of the taglines:
Clean Water | Healthy Environment | Flood Protection
Clean Water | Healthy Creeks | Flood Protection
The Board requested that these be vetted by focus groups to collect more input. These choices were scheduled to be presented November 19 to external focus groups. These, along with logo options as well as colors and other visuals were also presented to staff in three internal focus groups the week of November 5.
The outcomes of the focus groups’ review will be discussed during the presentation.
New Logo
As part of the rebranding effort, staff has designed several options to modernize the District’s logo and to represent more of the work that we do. These logo options were also reviewed in the three internal focus groups and the two focus groups with local residents, and will be shared with the Board during the presentations.
New Name
As part of the rebranding effort, staff proposed using a nickname “Valley Water” to establish an easier, more distinguishable way to refer to the Santa Clara Valley Water District, while leaving the official name of the agency unchanged. The focus groups’ response to the shortened name Valley Water was overwhelmingly positive, including both groups initially suggesting Valley Water unprompted, and the board approved its use on October 23. As such, Valley Water has been incorporated into the options to visually showcase the pairing of those words with the potential logos.
Next Steps
Depending on the Board’s direction, staff is prepared to further refine any of the options presented if requested. Once the Board has given final direction, staff will begin establishing style and usage guidelines for the potential new brand identity, and develop a detailed rebranding plan to launch the new look and implement the change in stages.
Every effort will be made to be prudent with already existing District collateral or material, timing the implementation of the potential new brand when the replacement of that collateral or material is scheduled.
The rebranding will incorporate the creation of new District signage. Staff will move forward with legacy signage options for each Director in order to highlight completed capital projects in each District, and coordinate dedication events, slated in spring and fall of 2019.
Additionally, with regards to existing signage, staff has identified approximately 300 damaged signs that will need to be replaced in the short term due to the signs being in a dilapidated state. Staff intends to phase in the replacement of these signs by working with internal subject matter experts to prioritize signs based on severity of damaged condition, public safety messaging, and relevancy of information provided on the sign. Staff intends to have the prioritization as well as the estimation of replacement costs complete by the second week in January 2019. For new signage, staff is developing a District-wide signage management system with a standardized process for identifying and requesting new signs. These efforts will coincide with the District’s rebranding efforts. Therefore, all replacement and new signs will be aligned with the new brand identity.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Staff estimates the costs related to promoting and marketing the new district brand will vary from year to year. For Fiscal Year 2018-19, $200,000 is set aside in Project No. 60231002 (Communications) for a branding campaign which will be defined pending the Board’s actions. The costs related to the planned capital project legacy signage will depend on the projects identified, materials selected, site conditions and other related factors, including the specific project budget allocated for such expenditures.
In addition, future financial impacts could include specialized district logo materials that would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Regarding District-wide signage, staff will have estimates for the replacement of existing damaged signs by mid-January 2019.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA because it does not have a potential for resulting in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
*Supplemental Agenda Memo
*Supplemental Attachment 1: PowerPoint
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Rick L. Callender, 408-630-2017