The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) is the peak body for local government in Queensland. They are a not-for-profit association setup solely to serve the state’s 77 councils and their individual needs.

LGAQ engaged BBS to lead the strategy to create a new brand and narrative for a new entity resulting from the merger of LGAQ’s five commercial entities (LGAQ Total Solutions, Local Buy, Propel, Resolution Information Technology, and LGIS).

BBS’ role involved developing a comprehensive stakeholder engagement program across LGAQ and the entities; a brand development project (including creation of the new brand strategy, name and visual identity); and a marketing and communications plan to roll out the new brand internally and externally.

The stakeholder engagement process needed to address serious concerns amongst internal and external stakeholders about the need for the change and the impact on future employment, future service delivery and organisational viability.

To address these issues, BBS resourced the project with engagement and marketing communications specialists and:

• Engaged at senior decision-maker level to achieve strategic agreement, including the LGAQ and LGE Boards
• Engaged and informed staff across all five entities and LGAQ in the merger’s new brand, its benefits and opportunities, managing concerns and misconceptions
• Informed and built interest with mayors, councillors and CEOs of councils; and reassured them the merger would not disrupt or change the services they receive

We ultimately delivered a new brand that expressed the collective value of the former separate entities and created a narrative which supported the establishment of a new value proposition and internal alignment for the newly merged team.