Our thoughts on Boris The City of Casey's Boris branding exercise stands as great example of how to kick-start your intranet's existence and maintain its visibility in the long term. While the character itself may not be to everyone's taste, or a fit for every organisation's culture, the underlying concept is strong and there's no doubting the character has personality and his presence catches the attention of employees. In fact, the use of personal or character names on the intranet, as opposed to functional names such as 'The Hub', appears to be increasing, as organisations seek to differentiate their sites. Useful is usable Furthermore, the brand is supported by useful applications including the award-winning Staff Locator (a Gold Award winner in the 2007 Intranet Innovation Awards), the staff directory, the trading post (bBay) and more. If Boris was simply a brand for a site that was of little use then users would soon lose interest -- no matter how fresh the graphics. But because of the usefulness of the site, Boris serves as the glue, providing cohesion and a virtual buddy who will help get the work done. Minimal resources One of the most impressive aspects of this project, recognised in the 2007 Intranet Innovation Awards, is the size of the intranet team. All the work involved was undertaken by just two staff members who also have the City's main website to maintain and develop. Despite this, Boris employs Web 2.0 (AJAX) technology and can boast of being constantly up