- Real progress
"Real Progress" was a strapline, brand and theme of the
Green Party of England and Wales in the 2004 European Election and the 2005 General Election. It was hugely important in changing public and media perceptions of the Green Party and was hailed as such by commentators including theBBC andThe Times . It was the subject of a Guardian editorial simply entitled "Real progress". It was conceived by the Publications Co-ordinator on theGreen Party of England and Wales#Executive 25 year oldMatt Wootton in late Summer 2003. It was first used in a leaflet at the Green Party's Autumn Conference in Lancaster in 2003. The "Real Progress" phrase was based on a theme initiated by External Communications Co-ordinator 2000-2004 Dr Spencer Fitz-Gibbon. By the end of the year Wootton had employed graphic designer Jim Killock to unify the words Green Party and "Real Progress" in a single "badge" and the "lozenge" was born, which Wootton and Killock considered clunky (see [http://www.mattwootton.com/Green%20Party%20photos.html Wootton's homepage] ).The "Real Progress" rebrand was also a house style change, using a new set of colours, according to Wootton's website, inspired by the colours used on the website of the
Swedish Green Party The rebrand utilised a designer typeface - the first time the Green Party had used one - which was chosen to be the modern-looking [http://www.fontshop.com/fonts/downloads/fontfont/ff_profile FF Profile] which was chosen for its progressive, clean and slightly quirky qualities.
The rebrand was first launched to the media at the Spring Conference 2004 and made was covered by the BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3501428.stm] and
The Times . The Times article [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1041016.ece Greens to drop sandals for suits and soundbites] demonstrates the importance of the rebrand to the Green Party at that time, with the party apparently eschewing "beards, sandals and nut cutlets" for "sharp suits, a new colour scheme, a corporate logo and an “upbeat” range of “commonsense” policies."Although not an essentially research-based rebrand created using qualitative feedback, Wootton and Killock (Killock joined the Executive the next year) went on to become the party's two leading advocates of research and demographics.
A series of Guardian articles are below, demonstrating the impact of the rebranding.
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1167246,00.html Greens push towards June elections][http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,,1168182,00.html Green Day]
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/eu/story/0,,1165290,00.html Guardian editorial Leader]
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1163291,00.html Greens rebranding to attract June votes]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
