Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson dramatically intervened last night after The Mail on Sunday revealed that the British Army was 'wasting' millions of pounds of taxpayers' money to scrap its famous 'Be the Best' motto – because top brass say it is elitist.
An official document leaked to this newspaper also revealed that from January, the Army was to drop its historic crest, depicting a set of crossed swords, a crown and a lion, after expensive image consultants deemed the cherished emblem 'non-inclusive'. . . .
. . . Last month The MoS revealed that nearly 200,000 personnel will not get the one per cent pay rise in April 2018 that they were promised in the autumn Budget. We reported how defence chiefs must save £9.8 billion to afford essential military equipment. The decision to spend huge sums on a rebranding exercise will also cause anger among hard-up junior troops who are forced to spend Christmas in damp, rat-infested military accommodation.
The MoD last night confirmed it had hired top advertising executives to reassess the Army's public image. Industry experts had said the year-long project, which included extensive market research, is likely to have cost about £1.5 million. The cost of replacing these signs – as well as the reprinting costs for logos and letterheads – could run into millions of pounds.
The project is the brainchild of General Sir Nick Carter. His team also wrote the document The Army Brand, which was circulated among senior officers last month. It attempts to justify the removal of the Be the Best slogan from all Army documentation and imagery, saying: 'Be the Best was a recruitment strapline from 1993 and has appeared on Army branded material ever since. But it was never a researched or defined brand.
'Market research in May 17 found that Be the Best did not resonate with many of our key audiences and was considered dated, elitist and non-inclusive. The ECAB [Executive Committee of the Army Board] therefore agreed that its use should be phased out as soon as affordably possible. The retirement of Be the Best will commence immediately with all planned refreshes of Be the Best branded material cancelled in favour of brand compliant products.'
. . . Responding to the plans an officer told The MoS: 'The Army's own research has consistently shown support for the crossed swords over the Union Flag as the Army's main logo. Also, Be the Best was an aspiration and instilled pride. It was certainly better than 'This is Belonging' – the tagline used in recent Army recruiting TV adverts. . . .
