Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) is one of the world’s largest urban fire and rescue services and is the busiest in Australia. From a brand perspective, however, it faced myriad issues around perception, purpose, understanding and engagement across both external and internal audiences.

Externally, there was a marked misunderstanding among the public, communities and stakeholders about the role and purpose of the FRNSW, while internally, staff had little engagement and no demonstrated sense of purpose.

At the same time, the funding model for the agency was under review. FRNSW was concerned that changes to the funding model would raise ill-informed questions about what services FRNSW provided within the community, and that staff may not understand the full story of proposed changes.

Additionally, externally and even internally, the organisation was being incorrectly referred to as the fire brigade – a major issue given the extensive range of work the organisation undertakes throughout the community and businesses every day. In essence, much of what people associated with the brand didn’t reflect the actual role and position of the FRNSW and its work.

To change this, Brand Council conducted extensive research and uncovered existing community, staff and stakeholder perceptions to understand what should be done in order to create better alignment of staff internally and greater understanding of who FRNSW is and what it does.

Brand Council was able to engage a diverse workforce and bring them together under a common purpose in a real and tangible way, educating and positioning the organisation among external audiences and creating a new brand identity to move FRNSW into the future.

For information about Brand Council, visit brandcouncil.com