Lloyd Northover to brand Didcot

The South Oxfordshire town of Didcot is to be branded by Lloyd Northover, as part of the Government’s vision for the economic development of the area.

The consultancy, which was tasked with branding Belfast last year, won a four-way unpaid creative pitch against a selection of local and international design groups.

South Oxfordshire District Council set a brief for the £100 000 project, outlining objectives including the creation of an ‘strong and imaginative’ brand, as well devising concept designs for ‘feature gateways’, physical manifestations of the brand that could take the form of public art or a building.

‘The feature gateways will be a key part in the branding work and development of the town. One of the things we stipulated is that they should be seen from the A34 and key roads leading from London, Oxford and the surrounding areas,’ says Suzanne Malcolm, economic development manager at South Oxfordshire District Council.

Lloyd Northover is expected to deliver the identity, concept feature gateways, a three-year marketing plan and a set of guidelines by March.

Malcolm explains that the selection panel chose Lloyd Northover because of its in-house architectural and research skills, as well as a number of its staff living in the town.

The Government, according to Malcolm, has earmarked Didcot for planned growth and economic development as a scientific, research and innovation centre because of its transport links, affordable housing and business network for the science sector.

‘Didcot has some challenging image issues, but there is a lot of history there with the railway and power station. It’s a fast-growing town, with a fairly new young population,’ says Malcolm of the task ahead of Lloyd Northover.

The consultancy is currently liaising with Didcot residents, schools and businesses to research the town’s ‘image issues’ in more depth.