StatoilHydro ASA is changing its name to Statoil ASA with effect from today, and simultaneously adopting its new visual identity.
The group is taking the opportunity to clarify its future ambitions and strategy. Chief executive Helge Lund will be leading a global town hall meeting on Monday 2 November which can be followed simultaneously by all employees from Beijing to Calgary.
The groups almost 30,000 employees will be giving the new vision and identity a content through various activities in the time to come.
The new visual identity is based on a constellation of stars seen against the Nordic heavens, which has been refined to a guiding star as Statoil’s new symbol.
This star represents the group’s history, pioneering spirit and ambition to be a leader in efforts to find better solutions for meeting growing energy requirements in a responsible way.
Its configuration as a three-dimensional object is motivated by Statoil’s strong technological history and strategy.
Tests show that the star evokes a wide range of associations, from innovation and dynamism to drill bits and wind turbines. This fits well with the group’s business today and tomorrow.
The colour chosen for the new logotype is magenta, which can clearly be seen in the Nordic evening sky. It will also help to give Statoil a distinctive identity and visibility in the global market.
All parts of the group will use the new identity with the exception of its service station network, which retains its existing Statoil logotype.
This reflects a view that this part of the business competes well on its own terms, with its separate requirements and target audiences.
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StatoilHydro
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The new Statoil identity is certainly ‘Pretty’ and an expression of modernity but why is it only corporate business to business users get to see it? Why is it retail customers who are by far the biggest audience have to put up with the old oil drop that says ‘We are an old fashioned, uncaring oil company’? Logic would point more to the reverse, i.e. ever more demanding retail customers are according to market research and actual trading figures choosing to place their custom with brands more aligned with their own values.
No doubt there are many compelling reasons to update the corporate identity of Statoil, to herald the dropping of Hydro from the name, to galvanise the workforce, to communicate dynamism to investors and so on but as Statoil admit, it is the $100,000,000 required to change the retail identity applied to 2000 filling stations that is the real problem. If that is the case then Statoil may have been better advised to opt for BP’s strategy when changing from the shield to the helios sun symbol where expensive physical changes to the retail outlets was minimised in some cases to just changing the logo panels and not the fascias. This option is not immediately open to Statoil since the new identity is a pink / red colour which is totally at odds with the orange blue existing colour palette.
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