How much for that doggy? Electoral Commission reveals the price of Pup and their 2020 brand makeover

The Electoral Commission has revealed how much they paid for this year's re-design of their logo and branding - and their new dog 'Pup'.

Pup was revealed yesterday as the Orange Guy's new companion as the Commission began its push to encourage voters to enrol for the 2020 general election and two referenda later this year.

Voter turnout at the last election was about 79 per cent, and enrolment update packs will be sent out to about 3.27 million voters this week.

Auckland ad agency FCB took over branding duties for the Commission last year from Saatchi & Saatchi NZ.

When 1 News asked what the cost of the latest re-brand was to the Commission, they initially said that figure was "part of the overall production costs and we are unable to separate these costs out".

However, after further requests, the Commission did find a way to separate the costs, and revealed that Kiwis paid $13,000 for Pup, and a total of almost $100,000 for the 2020 branding refresh.

For context, the Commission spent about $38 milllion during the enrolment phase and conducting of the last general election in 2017.

The cost of the general election over the three-year cycle is almost $100m, the Commission said, which includes the public information campaign, but not referendums or additional measures for Covid-19.

"FCB undertook the work on the new design elements at a cost of $86,000," a Commission spokesperson confirmed.

"It included updating the Commission's logo, fonts, colour schemes and the guidelines for their use.

"The development of a more modern logo accounted for more than half this cost ($47,000) as the previous logo had been in use for more than a decade.

"These changes have been designed to broaden the appeal of information on enrolling and voting to a wider audience.

"Additionally, we spent $13,000 with FCB creating the animated model for Pup - now that's done, Pup can be included in the ads for the election.

"Pup is modelled on a Jack Russell and a Dachshund – inquisitive, smart and full of enthusiasm.

"Orange Guy and Pup will help voters with everything they need to know to make voting easy, and Pup adds a playful element to the ads."

Comedian David Correos will continue to voice the Orange Guy this year, continuing on from the 2017 general election and the 2019 local elections.

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