Ceredigion County Council has released a glossy rebranding scheme for its six towns. The big idea? “Six towns, six themes, six steps.” That’s right — 666! Not exactly ideal branding in a county where chapel bells still ring on Sundays.
Extract from Ceredigion Spirit Guide (Ceredigion County Council)
Here is the real issue: Aberystwyth already has a brand. The Town Council paid for it. Locals helped shape it. In fact, Aberystwyth Town Council the Council already started two separate brand projects just last year—on top of previous branding efforts by Menter Aberystwyth, which they also finance.
Now, the county wants to plaster over that work with a one-size-fits-all slogan. Fonts, colours, icons — all meant to bring “cohesion,” but really, it’s branding for branding’s sake. Worse, the “Spirit Guide” says decisions should now “match the brand.” What does that even mean? Should bin collections get a colour palette? Should pothole repairs be filtered through a mood board?
Rebranding is fine — when it’s needed. This is a top-down facelift that forgets who it’s really for. The people of Aberystwyth — and every town in Ceredigion — deserve better than slogans and symbols. They deserve support for what really matters: funding for services, investment in communities, and respect for the local pride that already exists.
Real pride doesn’t come from “Manuka Bold” — it comes from being heard, respected, and invested in.
You can download Ceredigion’s spirit guide on this link: https://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/media/rpnpwqpl/ceredigion-spirit-guide_eng_final.pdf