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Successful design and branding will be a key factor in the provision of the next generation of public services. The public are demanding better, more efficient and dynamic services. We have to live up to these new expectations, the Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, said today (March 28).
Addressing a dedicated seminar on design and branding of public services at the Public Sector Reform Conference 2008, Mr Tsang said, "Successful design is about teamwork, engaging fully the stakeholders, in particular the public. People are increasingly demanding services that are tailored to their specific needs. They do not want to adjust their lives to suit the services that are available."
"For public services, it is no longer good enough to meet the demands of the community by simply applying pressure to existing models and squeezing more productivity out of the system. We need to go beyond the current box. The mindset must change. And design can offer a solution," he continued.
Mr Tsang said effective branding was crucial to the successful introduction of the next generation of public services.
"Branding can galvanise support for a public service among the community. It can communicate the goals and aspirations of a new initiative or programme. And good branding represents the overall strategy, which is to be implemented from the top level right up to the frontline, " he said.
Mr Tsang revealed that the conference was part of an overall campaign to revitalise the Hong Kong Brand so that the brand could continue to reflect a general consensus on the direction that we want to go, as well as represent the long-term aspirations of the Hong Kong people.
The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Frederick Ma, expressed the same views while delivering the closing remarks at the conference. Noting that developing an effective brand is much more than just producing a new, superficial visual logo, Mr Ma said, "It is everything about the organisation and its products and services. It involves the whole corporate strategy.
"While applying branding design may be an internal exercise, public engagement is crucial to ensure that clients will develop ownership and identify themselves with the vision, aims and achievements under the brand, " he said.
Design, branding and innovation are becoming essential elements in future public service delivery. Mr Ma said he hoped that this fact would be fully recognised after the conference. He also encouraged participants to practise the new thinking process, engaging design and branding and filtering it down in their organisations.
Over 600 senior civil servants and invited guests from the private sector, NGOs and academia attended the seminar in which four distinguished speakers shared their insights on branding and design. The speakers were Sir George Cox, former Chairman of the United Kingdom Design Council; Professor John Heskett, Chair Professor of Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design; Dr Paul Temporal, Group Managing Director of Temporal Brand Consulting; and Mr Clement Kwok, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited.
Ends/Friday, March 28, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:33
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