The development of a unifying brand to promote physical activity in Western Australia

Issue addressed The Western Australian Premier's Physical Activity Taskforce required the development of an overarching brand name to tie together the various programs and campaigns that promote physical activity in Western Australia. It had to convey a sense of ‘activity’ and be used in conjunction with the logos and brands used by a range of different government departments and other organisations. This article details the process employed to develop and test this brand. Methods Five options were selected from 125 brands generated by four advertising agencies. These were reproduced on cards, in colour, both alone and alongside logos from current campaigns promoting physical activity The brands were shown to 250 people in a street intercept interview. A structured questionnaire was . used to assess respondents' interpretations of each of the brands, and how well each fitted with three existing campaign logos. Results Reactions to each of the five brands were varied, with three being misunderstood more often than they were correctly interpreted. A decision was made to combine the two remaining options. This brand was then executed in eight different graphical styles and the preferred option voted for by members of taskforce communications subgroup. Conclusions The research demonstrates that the brand Be Active WA is likely to be understood by the majority of Western Australian adults and that it has good fit with existing campaign logos. So what? Although brand and logo development are common activities in health promotion, there are few published accounts of objective formative evaluation processes used to establish such brands.