Something the government got right, a history lesson
gov.uk is yet another example of wishful thinking leading to vanity publishing disguised as transformation and thought leadership.
Branding remains firmly in the mind of the beholder, whatever lipstick you put on a pig.
However government did get something spectacularly right, but they couldn't cope with the branding they saw so they scrapped it.
Back in the days of Inland Revenue, (a brand so strong that even today, some 12 years after it disappeared, you can still hear HMRC being called that) they developed (in-house for about 50p, according to someone) Hector the Tax Inspector - homage to everyone's image of a civil servant, complete with little briefcase.
The "brand" was scrapped for internal vanity reasons despite it being an effective communication tool. (example)
Although Hector "died" in 2001 he survived in articles about taxation long after - last seen by me in about 2012. (example)
And therein lies the counterfactual with all this online glitz and glam - it you want to produce fluff bathed in incense while listening to whalesong - the El Reg Consulting Boutique might have vacancies but that's not what effective delivery of public services is all about.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
