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People know about brands and what they represent. We all carry a weighty catalogue of brand identities around in our heads such that we can make what we believe to be the right consumption choices on each and every occasion. Think of a lawnmower, a beer or a daily newspaper and your initial choices just pop up without much effort, don't they?

We also know how sensitive brands can be to criticism. Witness Baroness Thatcher covering up a British Airways (BA) logo with her husband's handkerchief. No matter that BA had spent millions developing its then-new tailfin identity, or that research had shown BA customers (ie international customers and not, by and large, those from middle England) liked it. A public condemnation by Maggie was all that was needed for faith to subside and, eventually, BA had to do a swift about-turn.

Remember, too, BBC journalist John Humphrys' destruction of the Consignia branding over several weeks on Radio 4's 'Today' programme. Consignia was only a holding company, managing Royal Mail, The Post Office and ParcelForce, all of which do exactly what they say on the tin (sic). It hardly mattered what the non-trading holding company was called ('Red 'n Green Mail Machine' would have been fine by me) because our John was determined to sort them out.

Result? It's now called The Royal Mail Group!

Memorable and invulnerable branding
A brand, then, has to be both memorable and invulnerable – a pretty tall order – and this is the task we set for ourselves at the National Security Inspectorate (NSI) some six months ago. To deliver a brand which will reach out to a national audience, and become the natural choice for everyone who needs to purchase security and fire services with confidence from approved companies.

We needed to add to the catalogue already in peoples' heads one new image, and have it stay there. Popular, fresh and solidly reassuring. Remembering all the while that, in the 21st Century, security is a critical consumer choice.

Nobody wants to throw the baby out with the bath water. We already enjoyed one of Britain's most recognised security brands – ie NACOSS – and duly decided at the outset that only an extraordinarily captivating alternative would wrest us from this safe ground.

With NACOSS came the Owl, equally recognisable and well-established, but we had to ask ourselves if we could do something more exciting or challenging with the logo element.

And then there's our name – the NSI. Was this the name to be on everyone's lips? Or was there, perhaps, a catchy mnemonic out there which could supplant it?

From now on, end users need look no further than the NSI brand to measure confidence in a given security company’s performance

We started with the name. NSI is the amalgam of NACOSS and the Inspectorate of the Security Industry (ISI), invested with two years' of brand equity. We looked at literally hundreds of alternatives, from arty acronym to designer designation and beyond. In the end, there was no better description of who we are and what we do. Exactly what it says on the tin!

We then considered sectoral definitions. Ideally there would be none but, in practice, people need to know what kind of company they're dealing with and, most importantly, there has to be a correspondence to the scopes for which companies are approved.

Not too difficult this: Systems for electronic security systems (with NACOSS being retained as a unique quality assured definition), Guarding for the manned guarding services sector, Fire for the fire sector and so on. Simple, clear and understandable.

Quality assured, product certified
Next, the levels. Again, in the complex world which we inhabit there's a big difference between a 'quality assured' and a 'product certified' company, and this needs to be reflected in the message to the consumer.

With the entry level, Enrolled, we operate three levels and we needed to define these in a way in which everybody will immediately understand. We tried many different methods – stars, parts of the logo, weights of print, etc – but ultimately you cannot get any more simple, clear and understandable than Gold, Silver and Bronze. That is the choice we've made.

Finally, there was the logo. At the NSI, peoples' eyes were blurred from looking at wavy lines, idiosyncratic graphics and, ultimately, wise old owls. Our Owl, already well established in the marketplace, had the authority and gravitas which no other concept could match. There's a combination of wisdom, vigilance and – if it has to put its talon down – good old-fashioned menace (which makes our Owl rather unique). An outright winner.

Approved Company recognition
However, there was something else. Our Approved Companies have to work long and hard to meet our standards, which are by far the best in the industry. Something was missing in that effort/reward dimension – the recognition of achievement.

Companies we inspect are proud and pleased to have been successful, and we realised that if we recognised that success in a new and refreshing way this pride in achievement would in turn be communicated to their customers. Thus medals – the real ones are being made right now – will be awarded to recognise those achievements, and to hold up on high the best of the British security industry.