Priscila Lena Farias / Anna Calvera Marcos da Costa ... - Blucher

Corporate identity in a global market: the challenge of the Jotun company
scheme might also have had influence on the decision. 5 Dark
blue may have been preferred to black because of the negative
associations that colour evoked in the Arab world, or because of
its reference to the sea, the home of the penguin. Since then a
visual identity program has been developed, with the penguin as
the core element. In 2010 it was updated and the penguin made
slightly more stylised. The job was done by Metro Design, a small
studio situated in Sandefjord.
The slogan “Jotun protects property” has been used on a standard
basis during the last couple of decades. It points at the firm’s
customer orientation and its offer to take care of their assets.
Whenever presenting the firm the motif of the penguin is extensively
used, mostly in the form of photographs that underlines
its resemblance with human beings. Even Jotun’s set of values,
loyalty, care, respect and boldness, is put forward as if derived
from the animal. This gives the impression of care for human life
and accordance with nature. This almost naïve approach appeals
directly to people’s feelings and creates personal identification
with the firm and its products.
Since the turn of the century, when globalization had become
the buzz word for most business development, Jotun has been
presenting itself solely as a global firm. No reference to its local
or national origin is being made. The global engagement and
competence is seen as a value in itself and sufficient to meet the
needs of all market segments.
In spite of the global outward identity, the firm is still deeply
rooted in the city where it was founded. The penguin motif constitutes
a parallel to that of the whale, which was often used in
connection with the whaling industry. Also the penguin had been
used in that connection. The colour of blue was frequently chosen,
since the city is situated by the sea. It is also nicknamed
“The blue city by the Oslo Fjord”, with reference to its political
conservativeness. Consequently, property, and the protection
of it, is a major priority, which is reflected in Jotun’s slogan. The
use of internal or local staff for the highly professional task of
designing logo and visual identity program points at a certain local
preference. Many of the board of directors have their origin in
the region, and the Gleditsch family is still playing a major role in
the management, now represented by its third generation. These
facts are not put forward when the firm is presenting itself. It
seems to be regarded as something that could stand in the way
for branding itself as a global firm.
3. The corporate identity of Akzo Nobel
Jotun’s probably greatest competitor, Akzo Nobel, is the world’s
biggest firm in the field of protective coatings. It has 60.000 employees
in all parts of the world and covers all product categories
and market segments. It has defined a corporate identity that is
quite different from that of Jotun. It is clearly related to the firm’s
history, as well as to its ambitions for the future. Having its origin
5 ALMESTRAND 2010.
in the Netherlands in the 18 th century, Akzo Nobel has gradually
developed into a huge conglomerate of firms by purchasing other
companies in various parts of the world. It is therefore a global
firm in a literal way that Jotun is not.
The name contains a reference to its founding company as well
as to the famous scientific researcher Alfred Nobel, who had ties
to two of the purchased companies. The present logo was originally
designed in 1988 by the legendary Grand Old Man of visual
corporate identity, Wally Olins. In 2010 it was redesigned by one
of his former studios, the world spanning Saffron bureau, in collaboration
with Pentagram and the illustrator Martin Rijven. The
rebrand was awarded with a placement on the shortlist of the
Transform Award for rebranding and brand transformation that
year. 6 It consists of the torso of a man with his arms stretched
out. It is a modern paraphrase of the classic Greek “Metric relief”,
symbolising metric systems based on the human body.
The only colour is blue in various shades. 7 In this way the logo
demonstrates an emphasis on scientific research and rational
thinking, as opposed to Jotun’s more customer oriented and
sentimental approach. The slogan ”Tomorrow’s answers today”
supplies the identity with a dynamic drive and the ambition to be
in the forefront of solutions for the future. The identity contains
subdivisions by country, with separate sets of values etc. The
subdivisions make it easy to implement national adaptations to
the products.
Compared with Jotun, Akzo Nobel has a more flexible, but also
a more complex identity than Jotun. For a firm of this size it is
quite natural. But even more important is the fact that it reflects
the firm’s factual identity to a higher degree than that of Jotun,
where there is a weaker correspondence between communicated
and factual identity. This probably constitutes a competitive
advantage.
4. The success of Dubai
International expansion has been on Jotun’s agenda since the
post war era. Its first foreign production plant was put up in Libya
in 1962. In 1975 it was replaced by an enterprise in Dubai. 8 The
young nation had recently discovered oil and opened for foreign
investments. Simultaneously it had started a modernization process
and created a market for Western goods. Consequently,
Jotun was given exceptionally good conditions for its work. Since
the start it has been a success, both as regards production and
sales. Jotun has even been chosen as the supplier of paint for
several of Dubai’s iconic landmarks, among others the Burj Dubai
and the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
The favourable climate for foreign enterprise is not the only reason
for the good results. Since the start the involvement has
been built on personal relations and cultural empathy. When
initiating the engagement Jotun hired former representatives
6 www.identityworks.com/reviews/2008.
7 www.akzonobel.com/uk/aboutus (2012).
8 BRYN 1998.
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