DD: Social Media - Our Brand

Our Brand

UKIP's brand is its biggest asset. This is true in many commercial fields, but it is absolute in politics. If the brand equity - the 'good name' and associations that it has built up over the years - is damaged, the effect on us is immense. You can see this in action every day.

So, we have to be very careful who defines the meaning of our brand; who represents it, and what attributes they, deliberately or accidentally, are adding to it.



Brand Control

UKIP exists through the efforts of its members, branches, officers and candidates, and we fully appreciate them. However, in the era of unlimited personal access to massmedia publishing, we must be able to control how our brand is represented to the world.

So, the UKIP brands - United Kingdom Independence Party, UK Independence Party, UKIP, Ukip and the UKIP logo - may not be used by anyone who is not specifically and personally authorised to do so, as follows.

• The UKIP brands may not be used to denote that any communication whether online or offline, is from, endorsed by or on behalf of the party, without the party's permission.
• The UKIP brands may not be used to form all or part of the name, profile, description, visual identification, tag, strapline, username, avatar or designation of any web page, website, Twitter account or any other self-publishing or social media site, without the Party's permission.
• While people may express support for UKIP, they may not state or imply that they speak for UKIP unless specifically authorised to do so.
• The party's permission will be granted only by the Party Chairman or his designated deputy. Authorised users will be informed of their authorisation, and this will be reviewed regularly. Unauthorised users seeking authorisation should apply via the chairman's contact page.



Our brand and its usage

Our brand properties are:

1. United Kingdom Independence Party
2. UK Independence Party
3. UKIP
4. Ukip



The first is a formal statutory description, not the name to be used. When referring to ourselves in full, our 'long name' is UK Independence Party.



Our 'common name' is UKIP. We use it in all upper-case (capital letters) at all times.



'Ukip' is an acronymic which has been created by the media. It is often resented by members, but it should be remembered that it is only because our name has become a recognised acronymic (ie a set of initials which can be pronounced as a word) that we are now in the dictionary, and are able to register 'UKIP' with the Electoral Commission as a single word.



Representing the brand

Party members authorised to use the brand - and indeed those who are not - will be expected to operate within the party's Rules at all times, and with the interests of the party at heart.



In particular, those using online 'social media' must follow the party's Social Media Rules of Engagement.



The new self-published social media provide the opportunity for immense progress by UKIP in getting our message out to a wide audience, recruiting members and supporters, and winning elections. They also provide the potential for catastrophic damage to be caused to the party.



Please play by the rules, and understand that it takes discipline to win.