Does $93 US Advertising Campaign Enhance or Dilute bp Brand?

It has been reported that bp has spent nearly $93 US for the advertising campaign that attempts to improve its image in the wake of the Gulf oil spill. Now that is some serious mad money. No not Jim Cramer, but some serious Dan Draper caaaysh. Those who know me understand that I am not always the first to advocate spending a ton of money on advertising. Why? Because advertising, usually expensive traditional advertising, like television is what people think they should do and what marketing people tell them to do.

When advertising supports an organization's brand platform and helps increase awareness then I am all in favor. In the case of bp I have mixed feelings. One the one hand that $93 million would make sense in the hands of those who were affected by the spill and for habitat renewal. On the other hand bp had to do something to sustain its brand. Every Sunday evening Dan Draper reminds us that people like to spend a lot of money on advertising, but because I am not a part of the Mad Men club, I would vote for the former strategy.

What would you do if your organization's brand was at risk due to a crisis of this proportion? I will say that I think the bp campaign is very professional and in good taste. Especially using local bp employees. Now those are real brand champions and an authentic approach.

Rex Whisman

BrandED Consultants Group

Magenta Star

In 2007, the 35-year-old Norwegian company Statoil merged with the oil and gas division of the 102-year-old Norsk Hydro, to form StatoilHydro, an energy and oil company with presence in 40 countries focusing on the production of oil as well as the consumer distribution of oil through various gas stations — with different brand names, some of them still named Statoil — around the world. Today, as it prepares to become a stronger global player, StatoilHydro officially went back to the Statoil name and adopted its new identity designed by Scandinavian Design Group. I emphasized 'officially,' because the logo and name changed had actually been announced back in April of this year but the web site had not yet implemented the new logo.

" Our new logo, the star, is inspired by the starry skies of the north. It symbolizes our highest aspirations: continued focus on the Norwegian continental shelf, international growth, and active and targeted work to develop effective new energy solutions," Reidar Gjœrum, Senior vice president Corporate communication in Statoil explains.

'Along the way we carried out thorough research among the world's 100 largest energy companies. We found most to be quite conservative in their descriptive symbols and communications. We wanted to differentiate ourselves by making a courageous decision. It's important that we stand out in an international arena and stay faithful to our desire to lead the way,' he continues.

'By choosing the magenta-coloured star as our new symbol, we make explicit our origins and our desire to cross new frontiers on our journey forward. We're also making a clear statement that the world can still look towards the north to discover future energy solutions.'
— Press Release

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Even though I am not 100% convinced by the final execution I do think this is a very strong identity with an even stronger rationale and story behind it. It is just not a gratuitous abstract symbol and the color is not just a random choice. The color alone is such a bold move, going where few corporations are willing to go these days and it's surprising how well the logo looks in both white and black, although it looks best against the latter, emphasizing the star concept. The icon, of course, loses a lot of its strength when rendered flat as seen in the uniform below, becoming more of a leafy shape. The typography is nice and interesting, a kind of evolved Rotis that balances seriousness with friendliness better than any rounded sans serif can. Overall, this is a great update of a brand with plenty of history. Some application images below and more can be found here.





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Thanks to Alexander Strand Kristensen and Martin Deutsch for today's tip.


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