Analysis: Policy - Connexions - A new approach to brand identity

"When all the elements of our brand identity work together, they become instantly recognisable as Connexions. That is why our brand identity is a vital part of our organisation. It has a value and, like anything else of value, we need to protect it."

These words feature in a detailed guidance document issued by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) for Connexions partnerships when the initiative launched in 2001, to ensure consistent use of the brand.

But since the publication of Youth Matters last year, the protective "brand guardians" within the DfES have increasingly taken a back seat. The Government has placed the fate of the brand in the hands of individual local authorities. And this month, it announced that one of the brand's core elements, the Connexions Card, had outlived its useful life (YPN, 14-20 June, p2).