Kicking off our 2023 Leaders Insights series, Gillian Bergin shares the story behind our new Tech Industry Alliance logo which not only symbolises our new identity but encompasses our shared aspirations, values and what we want to be known for.
Gillian Bergin ( Chairperson, it@cork) and Manjit Gill ( Chairperson, KerrySciTech) pictured last summer at the launch of the Memorandum of Understanding between it@cork and KerrySciTech to form umbrella brand Tech Industry AllianceThe story of the TIA logo
They say, “a picture paints a thousand words”, and when it comes to your company logo, that’s quite true. Your logo must speak for you in your absence, so investing in a well-designed logo, underpinned by your organisational values and purpose, is time and money well spent.
Over time, employees and customers develop an emotional attachment to their brand and logo. This is a good thing; it creates identity and loyalty for their products and services. When two organisations merge, it’s important for both to see themselves emotionally and physically in the new brand.
In 2022, it@cork and KerrySciTech came together under a new umbrella brand called the Tech Industry Alliance (TIA) . This is the story of how the brand and logo came about.
When two become one
One of the first concerns we faced was losing the “Cork” and “Kerry” connection in our name. But with most of our member companies having customers and employees based all over the world, we knew we didn’t want our brand to be tied to just one or two places. Instead, we wanted a logo to symbolise a brand that could resonate both locally and globally, by representing growth, innovation and prosperity.But as we know, all change is a journey of emotion and resistance to change often comes from a sense of loss. If your new brand can retain the valuable identity of both organisations, whilst also presenting a sense of new beginnings, then you are off to a powerful start.
A nod to the past, an eye on the future
For anyone familiar with the it@cork and KerrySciTech logos, you will see elements of them immediately in the new TIA logo.The “T” and “I” came from the it@cork logo. Note the way the “T” has its arm around the “I”, intentionally symbolising people, and the important role of support, networking, connection, and collaboration that TIA brings to our members.
We also knew that we wanted to be known as an Alliance as it is our shared belief that only through working together and collaborating with colleagues, members, stakeholders and the wider community, we can co-create an extraordinary region and propel the South-West as one of the world’s top places to live, work, innovate and thrive.
Member-Centric
Central to everything we do, are our members, which come from every sector and industry imaginable as digitalisation continues to transform organisations and society across the globe. We have members based in every corner of Cork and Kerry and beyond (hello Limerick, Waterford and Maltese members!). To represent these, we used the different-sized bubbles which were a key element in the KerrySciTech logo, to portray our entire membership base, from single entrepreneurs and small start-ups, all the way to large indigenous and multinational companies.
Having this broad membership base of companies and organisations of all sizes and types of tech-producing, tech-enabled businesses, and support organisations such as digital hubs and professional service organisations, enables Tech Industry Alliance to join the dots and facilitate knowledge sharing and co-creation right across the entire South-West business ecosystem.
Core Values
The colours of our logo represent Diversity and Inclusion, a key strategic focus for Tech Industry Alliance but also part of our shared values which underpin all our programmes, activities and how we operate. In fact, our values of Inclusion & Collaboration; Impact and Industry driven; Integrity and Diversity; Innovation & Co-creation were carefully considered and captured in the logo design process and have also shaped our vision “to empower a world class technology producing and technology enabled business ecosystem which will deliver growth, new opportunities, economic impact and prosperity for Ireland’s South-West region”.
So there you have it, the story behind our new logo. We hope that by shining a light on the meaning behind its many elements, you will see how we have created a logo and brand that will represent us well in the years to come!
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