New image for Inland Revenue

The Inland Revenue is in the process of reviewing its umbrella brand identity. The move follows the appointment of the Revenue’s first marketing director Ian Schoolar last November.

The Inland Revenue is in the process of reviewing its umbrella brand identity.

The move follows the appointment of the Revenue’s first marketing director Ian Schoolar last November.

Schoolar, a former head of brand advertising at NatWest, is known to be keen to revamp the Revenue image, moving it away from perceptions of it as a menacing and repressive organisation, towards a more customer-friendly service provider.

The identity project is at an early stage. A decision on the direction it will take is not expected before the end of the month.

Despite the presence of an in-house design team, it is unclear whether the Revenue will approach an external design consultancy, says head of design Ken Brown, who confirms that the review is taking place.

Wolff Olins, which redesigned the Revenue logo in 1993, denies it has been approached regarding branding work.

“[Schoolar] has been brought on board to redo the brand. That is, the overall corporate identity,” says Brown. “I’ve had a meeting with him about it, but he’s got to get to grips with the organisation first. He is already considering it [the brand].”

Brown adds that changing the colour of the logo is a possibility.

The Revenue has recently announced that it is to drop Hector, the pudgily patronising brand icon for self assessment, after almost six years. It says that it hasn’t decided on whether he will be replaced, but it is unlikely given that he was designed to explain self assessment, a concept that is now widely understood by members of the public.

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