Fresh Paint
AkzoNobel launches new brand strategy
AkzoNobel has launched its new corporate brand—Tomorrow’s Answers Today.
In addition to the subtle name change and new logo, a new brand architecture
has also been introduced, along with updated company values and a new brand
philosophy, according to the company.
“This is the new AkzoNobel. We are one company, with a powerful new global
brand which will propel us into a new era of competitiveness and opportunity,”
said CEO Hans Wijers. “Our new brand concept typifies our desire to create new
ideas. To stay one step ahead and continually seek out new and better answers for
our customers. It means we think about the future, but we act in the present.”
Wijers added that the introduction of Tomorrow’s Answers Today is central to
the new brand. “It is the heartbeat of the transformed AkzoNobel,” he said. “It
drives our creativity, our product
development and lies at the core of
all our activities. It will focus our
efforts on further strengthening our
position as being the world’s largest
paint and coatings producer and one
of the leading global suppliers of specialty chemicals.
“What does that concept mean
exactly? It means we believe that
what is good for our customers today
is not necessarily good enough for them tomorrow,” he added. “So that constant
search for answers is what drives us. It focuses the whole company and inspires
us to achieve great things for all our stakeholders, and for ourselves.”
The decision to retain AkzoNobel as the company name was a strategic one,
based on extensive research, which indicated that the name commanded too
much value, heritage and respect for it to be discarded. Therefore, ICI will be discontinued as a corporate name, the company said.
“The new brand is about creating brand equity, not destroying it,” said Wijers.
“Our studies confirmed that there is considerable value in the name of
AkzoNobel. It is well respected throughout our industries and is synonymous
with trust and quality, so there was no reason to change it. Our strategy now is
to combine the strong AkzoNobel business-to-business reputation with the former ICI’s excellent consumer brands reputation. This will create a powerful
brand with significant global reach and incredible potential for growth.
“The logo, however, has changed. It was already a very strong and distinctive
asset, but it has been made more relevant for the 21st century and now has a
greater sense of power and energy,” Wijers continued. “It is an embodiment of our
Tomorrow’s Answers Today positioning.” The chairman added that the logo will
now be used to endorse all the company’s brands. The ICI logo, meanwhile, will continue to appear on relevant products during the forthcoming migration period.
Also central to the whole positioning of the new AkzoNobel are its five new
company values, which provide the bedrock on which the new brand is built.
Launched at a special event held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the new
AkzoNobel brand will be rolled out globally during the next 18 months. A worldwide advertising campaign is also scheduled to start shortly.
possible to produce paint in Denmark at
competitive prices.
“I’m sorry that stopping production at
our Lyngby plant will affect so many of
our valued colleagues, but unfortunately
we have no choice if we are to compete on
the global market,” said Pierre-Yves
Jullien, CEO of the Hempel Group.
“Fortunately, the timeline enables us to
help those affected in the best possible
manner.”
BASF TO STRENGTHEN ITS
AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS IN INDIA
BASF has made plans to expand its
offerings for the automotive industry in
India with investments in plants and
technology. The company will build a
new engineering plastics compounding
plant at its existing site in Thane, which
is expected to come on stream by the second half of 2009.
BASF has also set up a computer
aided engineering (CAE) lab in Thane
where its engineers design and optimize
new engineering plastic parts in close
cooperation with customers.
In addition, BASF Coatings commissioned a new refinish color lab at
Mangalore in February 2008, and is
expanding its e-coat facility, which is
expected to be completed by end of 2008.
Also underway is the expansion of
BASF’s catalyst plant in Chennai. The
plant will triple its capacity by 2009.
“Automotive is one of BASF’s most
important target industry segments and
our second-largest source of sales after
the chemical industry,” said Dr. Wolfgang
Hapke, president market and business
development Asia Pacific. “In 2007,
BASF derived over 13% of its total global sales of € 58 billion from sales to the
automotive industry.”
“Production figures show that Asia
is the fastest growing region in the
global automotive industry, with car
production increasing by eight percent
last year; in India it has been growing
at an average of 15% per year over the
last few years. Innovations in the auto-
