CPIA
Creating a brand identity to support quality & trust in audit, and confidence in capital markets
The Challenge
In the UK, a public interest entity (PIE) is an entity whose financial reporting has a significant public impact. The concept of a PIE was introduced against the backdrop of the financial crisis in 2008 that emphasised the need for greater transparency and accountability. In the UK, this laid the foundations for enhanced audit and governance requirements for listed entities, credit institutions, and insurance undertakings.
Audit is a vital part of good financial governance, to protect all stakeholders who use financial and non-financial reporting, as well as the public interest.
However, to drive positive change requires collective commitment. So, the ICAEW, along with ICAS and the big seven audit firms, supported the establishment of a new standalone entity called the Centre for Public Interest Audit (CPIA), a policy and research institute formed to improve audit quality across the profession. Their aspiration is to be the clear driving force behind a resilient and valued audit profession, which demonstrates integrity, transparency and accountability at its core.
A credible, evidence-led, respected, forward-looking organisation with its own voice, not afraid to ask difficult questions about audit quality and be able to make its own decisions standing alone from the ICAEW and the largest audit firms to drive real change.
Having reflected on the brief, lead strategist, Sally Tarbit told us:“The role and importance of audit is often misunderstood. But earning trust in UK audit is fundamental to building confidence in Britain’s corporate ecosystem and capital markets, and so the financial prosperity and health of the UK economy.”
Our Approach
We focussed on creating a trustworthy, distinctive brand identity that could position CPIA as distinct in style from the ICAEW and the big 7 audit firms. To do this, it required a comprehensive understanding of the visual identities of the public audit firms to identify no-go zones. This would inform the brand identity development approach and create a visual expression that clearly positioned CPIA as a standalone, respected authority.
Ryan Miller, Design DirectorCPIA gave us a real challenge in developing a brand that embodied trust, leadership, and reassurance from day one, yet still retained an element of positive disruption and refreshing change in the audit sector. All whilst being truly independent from everything else that had gone before it.
Our Work
The project was governed under the strictest of confidence, in collaboration with ICAEW, ICAS and key audit firms committee and executed under our accelerated brand identity development exercise compromising of an initial 2.5-week design sprint.
- Week one focussed on the creation of logo options and the early exploration of colour and typography style. The ambition by the end of week one was to have a single logo territory to take forward into the second week.
- Week two focussed on finalising the visual identity kit of parts (colour, typography, potential iconography, photography style, illustration style and graphic device). Stress testing in design communication examples to ensure that the brand identity worked holistically.
- The final week was used to address any final design comments received from stakeholders and concentrated on the stress-testing of the brand expression via the agreed design communication examples.
Once the brand identity was approved, we developed a set of guidelines which captured the kit of parts of the approved visual identity.
Elena Mosley, Operations DirectorWith a critical milestone to hit, the accelerated brand identity development approach worked effectively to create a highly-collaborative, engaging co-creation environment. The level of consultation with ICAEW and the ICAS and key audit firms committee was brilliant. We moved at pace, maximising focus. It was a great partnership for success.
Results
On 22 July 2024, Baroness Ford was appointed Chair of the CPIA. Talking about the CPIA, Baroness Ford said:
“Audit and assurance play a critical role in the UK’s capital markets and the importance of tackling the most challenging areas of the industry cannot be underestimated. Our ambition is to proactively identify both shortcomings and best practice in public interest entity audit to support a more robust, resilient, forward-looking profession, delivering value for and enabling confidence among all stakeholders. Our mission aligns with the UK government’s aim to strengthen regulatory powers and improve public entity audit quality via its upcoming Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill. The CPIA will look to be a supportive and constructive partner to the FRC as their remit transitions. I look forward to working closely with the CPIA’s Board and members to advance its goal of driving quality and trust in UK PIE audit, in turn helping to build confidence in the UK as a centre of financial excellence.”
Harpreet Panesar, Head of Student to Member Journey from ICAEWI wanted to properly thank you for the incredible work you did for us!! It was such a fantastic job, and you pulled it out of the box so quickly turning everything around for us. So just wanted to say a great BIG thank you for all your work on this project, you surpassed our expectations, and it was a pleasure to work with you.
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