Brand Change of a Global Player

After Linde AG took over BOC in 2006, the newly formed company “The Linde Group” emerged as the worldwide market leader for industry, process and specialty gases and became one of the most profitable engineering companies.
In early 2007, the board gave us the order to plan and execute the worldwide brand change, and we are still working for this client today.

We were set the task to manage the global brand change as well as consolidate and optimize all brand relevant processes in the areas of branding, communication and marketing.

Our Linde consulting team is the central interface to the customer, and they are controlling the entire implementation process on a daily basis. We have been the sparring partner for 100 Linde countries, and in the first eight months alone, we handled more than 1,300 requests.

Within the scope of the project, the brand strategy was communicated into all areas of the company, and all stakeholders and measures concerned were coordinated. The challenge was to roll out the new corporate design consistently across all communication channels, media, corporate divisions, locations and countries with their in part locally grown and well-known brands, in order to sustainably safeguard the new corporate appearance.

Beside the overarching change management including the accompanying change communication, the task portfolio comprised the analysis, concept and process optimization as well as the finding of solutions for the most diverse, individual corporate requirements, like e.g. concept and implementation of system solutions for signage, tank labeling and vehicle labeling.

In order to sustainably assure a globally homogeneous presence of all corporate brands, a central, web-based working platform was the medium of choice for the company in order to carry out the daily brand work. We conceived, developed and implemented the Linde Brand management Portal as the central information, communication and working platform.

We deliver support by means of:

• Developing the implementation strategy
• Concept and execution of change communication programs
• Situation and needs analyses for communication measures, processes and IT systems
• Regional training sessions for employees as well as coaching the brand ambassadors
• Implementing the global brand architecture and sales brands
• Global execution of the brand identity program
• Support services via helpdesk/hotline as well as corporate design checks and application design
• Concept of execution of central sourcing and production processes
• Process evaluation and reporting
• Implementing:
  • Labeling and signage programs for buildings, tanks, facilities and the entire vehicle fleet
  • Office communication material
  • Packaging concepts
  • Shop and tradeshow concepts
  • B2C concepts for the channel communication
• Implementing the Linde brand management portal as the central information, communication and working platform

Our 4-phase model is continually present in daily work and is continually fine-tuned according to the respective state of the project development.

Phase 1: Create structures

The working focus in this phase aims at creating a solid basis for the brand change:

• Identifying relevant contact persons and interest groups of the company as well as their requirements for the future brand management
• Taking into account the prerequisites for the brand architecture when preparing the implementation concept regarding the structural and systemic representation
• Precise planning of all change management activities (implementation roadmap)
• Concept, planning and coordination of all internal and external communication activities

Phase 2: Analyze processes

During this phase, the existing processes in the areas of branding, communication and marketing are analyzed and – if possible – consolidated and standardized. The central goal of the analysis is to identify potentials for process automation and efficiency increases.

Phase 3: Safeguard effectiveness

It is a major concern of brand management to achieve a globally consistent brand presence across all corporate divisions (internally and externally) in sync with corporate design rules and regulations, and to execute the brand change as effectively as possible.

Beside providing overarching consulting services and coordinating all service providers concerned during the entire implementation process, the following measures also help achieve this target:

• Transferring the corporate design tool media and applications (e.g. campaigns, signage etc.) by means of developing application-specific standards
• Consolidating and standardizing communication material in order to achieve the maximum possible design consistency and to concentrate on the relevant communication material
• Identifying possibilities for automated creation and production of communication material
• Providing support services like corporate design checks, advising the countries during the brand change, handling of production/sourcing logistics and technical support (user Hotline)

In order to sustainably assure a globally consistent presence of all corporate brands, a central, web-based information, communication and working platform, which had been individually tailored to fulfill all requirements, was provided for handling the daily work. Thanks to centrally controlling all processes in branding, communication and marketing via the Linde brand management portal, it is possible to conduct the brand management in a way that saves resources while being efficient and sustainable at the same time.

Phase 4: Increase efficiency

During the fourth phase, the focus is on measures for efficiency increase in the operational business, especially the reduction of operating expenses. Against this backdrop, a steady analysis of processes and the utilization of communication measures is being conducted (in order to identify possible synergies and savings potentials at an early stage), as well as the continual evaluation and optimization of general workflows in branding, communication and marketing. It is the goal to automate business processes as far as possible and thus to stabilize them in order to achieve more transparency and flexibility in business operations.

Respective measures comprise e.g. the consolidation and standardization of processes are communication measures as well as an automation in the creation of communication measures by means of modern web-two-print technology which, as an integral element of the Linde brand management portal, allows collaborative workflows. The central archiving and availability of all data – like images, videos, marketing and communication materials – via innovative “search-and-retrieve” functionalities assures that the respective know-how can be made available at any time precisely tailored to the respective requirements and across the entire corporation.

Thanks to the optimal systemic networking global of all stakeholders via the Linde brand management portal for planning, controlling an executing all branding and marketing activities, management has the possibility to get information on a daily basis, up-to-date and comprehensive, about the state of planning processes, the utilization of applications or the use of existing resources. All brand activities can be followed up, evaluated and controlled. Progress and quality of the brand implementation can be assessed at any time and serve as the basis for continued extension and the optimization of processes and tools used in the Linde brand management portal.

The Linde Group is a world leading supplier of industrial, process and specialty gases and is one of the most profitable engineering companies, with about 50,000 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The company is divided into three divisions: Industrial Gases and Healthcare, Engineering and GIST, providing end to end supply chain solutions for customers across the globe.