The Agency of Meteorology has reversed course on its very expensive demand to not be nicknamed the “BoM” and now says Australians may refer to the bureau “whatever manner they desire.”
For the $220,000 makeover of its name and logo, which also involved market research and banner development, the agency hired external consulting companies.
The bureau had asked on Tuesday that it be called by its full name rather than the BoM, citing its fear that using several names for their organization would cause confusion in light of the “growing incidence of severe weather occurrences.”
But after the branding was widely mocked, the agency has finally given in to pressure.
A BoM representative informed Daily Mail Australia, “The community is allowed to refer to the Bureau in whatever manner they desire, including referring to us as the “BoM”.”
Individual media entities are responsible for establishing their own style standards.
Just two days after making its first announcement, the forecasting service provided an update.
Despite being published under a Twitter handle that included the abbreviation “BoM,” the media release stated that “with an ever-increasing number of severe weather events, it is more crucial than ever that the Bureau of Meteorology’s insights, wisdom and information are shared, understood, and acted upon.”
The Bureau of Meteorology requests that media outlets change their editorial style to ensure that references to the organization are made by its full name, the Bureau of Meteorology or the Bureau for short, and not by BOM or the Weather Bureau, in order to support this purpose.
Tanya Plibersek, the environment minister, slammed the earlier remark.
On Wednesday, Ms. Plibersek stated, “My attention and the BoM’s focus should be on weather, not branding.”
Australians will decide what they name it — the Bureau of Meteorology, the BoM — in their own imaginations.
The rebranding and subsequent backflip baffled 2GB radio personality Deborah Knight, who labeled it a “total disaster.”
What a bunch of b*****ks, she said.
What purpose did this whole exercise serve? It’s a whole joke.
Stop spending money on pointless consultants and thought bubbles, and for the love of God, just get the prediction right!
Three of the Twitter identities the agency hoped to use weren’t reserved when they originally announced the redesign, it turned out.
Within minutes following the BoM’s announcement on Tuesday, naughty Australians started creating accounts using the suggested usernames.
A guy took over the accounts “TheBureau AUS,” “TheBureau NSW,” and “TheBureau ACT,” nicknaming them “Australia’s Little Bureau” and “Human Guy People Man.”
The Bureau WA, a parody account, delivered the most severe takedown.
Our first goal is that you stop referring to us as “the BOM,” even though we are aware that half the nation is under water and that we should be ready for all the cyclones that will strike Western Australia this year. They tweeted “#TheBureau”.
The broad parodying of the branding did not stop with the Twitter accounts; parody groups, journalists, and well-known Australians also made fun of it on the website.
Journalists distributed the release, perplexed because it came from profiles that plainly said “BOM AU.”
“The weather service: Do not refer to us as the BOM.” Also the weather bureau,” a Twitter user said beside an image of the ‘BoM’ in their account.
Another person responded to the BoM’s tweet by writing, “The Bureau of Meteorology is urging journalists not to refer to the organization as “BOM” (whose website is bom.gov.au and whose app is named BOM Weather).
Even some tweets making fun of the redesign were “liked” by the BoM’s official Twitter account.