Beeline

Beeline believes in life on the bright side. We aim to help people delight in the pleasure of communications, and to always feel free anytime and anywhere.

Beeline is the trademark of VimpelCom Group which provides voice and data services through a range of wireless, fixed, and broadband technologies. Founded in 1992, VimpelCom was the first Russian company to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. As of 2008, its total number of active subscribers in Russia and the CIS was 57.8 million.

Goals

Stand out and raise the bar.

Set a new standard for modern Russia.

Renew customer understanding.

Become the market leader.

Build a sense of pride and belonging.

Process and strategy: In 2005, the Russian mobile communications market was approaching saturation, especially in Moscow. The principal players were competing for the leading position in the market and there was no clear point of differentiation between them. The competitive audit revealed that marketing and branding in the mobile communications sector was focused mostly on technology rather than people. Wolff Olins was engaged to create a new brand identity that would build an emotional bond with consumers in order to retain loyalty. The other prerequisite for the new brand was to provide an outward-looking, more modern face that would help the company prepare for regional and international expansion. The competitive audit also revealed that the market in general was cluttered and noisy. The opportunity for Wolff Olins was clear—create a brand that could stand out and cut through the noise. The brand team worked closely with Beeline’s marketing team in Moscow to deliver a brand that was bold and that delivered maximum impact. Creative solution: Inspired by the company’s strategy, Wolff Olins developed a working platform to focus the work. “Beeline inspires me to live life to the fullest” was the idea used to drive all aspects of the creative work visually and tonally. The solution was not just a logo but a complete and coherent language that was flexible and universal, that captured the imagination of different audiences across Russia and that transcended cultural and social barriers. Visually, it was an invitation to see life with imagination, illustrated by the use of black and yellow stripes in an individual and ownable way. The new tagline, “Live on the bright side”, informed the tone for the new brand’s personality. Brightness, friendliness, simplicity, and positive emotions would be the new attributes the revitalized brand would embrace. A new brand identity system, communications style guidelines, and an image library were created to get the company ready for the launch. Wolff Olins was also commissioned to create the launch campaign. Results: The new brand had a big impact in the market and the business. By the end of 2005, revenues at Beeline were up by 40%, market capitalization had also increased by 28% and ARPU (average revenue per user) was up by 7%. Since relaunching the brand, Beeline has independently been ranked as the most valuable brand in Russia for four consecutive years. During this time the company has expanded its operations to neighboring countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia, and Armenia, as well as countries further afield as Cambodia. Beeline has also extended its product portfolio from mobile to data, fixed line, and mobile TV services.

BP has transformed from a local oil company into a global energy brand. We need to reinvent the energy business, to go beyond petroleum.

The 1998 merger of British Petroleum and Amoco created one of the world’s largest oil and petrochemical groups, providing its customers with energy for heat and light, fuel for transportation, retail services, and petrochemical products.

Goals

Develop a brand identity that would unite BP Amoco’s employees from two merged companies.

Signal to the world that the merged company is a new strong global brand.

Align the company’s business with its external expressions and its internal culture.

Create an online resource and other tools to ensure that actions are aligned with BP’s core values.

In a global marketplace, branding is crucial in attracting customers and business. It is not just a matter of a few gas stations or the logo on pole signs. It is about the identity of the company and the values that underpin everything that you do and every relationship that you have. Lord John Browne

Former Group Chief Executive BP

Process and strategy: Landor Associates began by reviewing BP Amoco’s existing research and conducting new research on the equity of the existing brands. Landor used a rigorous process to affirm what makes the brand unique, compelling, and differentiated. This included one-on-one interviews with senior managers and culminated in an off-site workshop called Brand Driver. During this workshop senior managers and marketing executives worked collaboratively to substantiate the core values and attributes of the new brand. It led to the affirmation of the already emerging values (performance, innovation, green, and progressive) and a commitment to transform the organization and transcend the petroleum sector.

Creative solution: Landor developed a brief that distilled BP’s brand essence for its creative team. After assessing the strengths and weaknesses of numerous naming options, Landor made a strong recommendation to retain the BP name, based on its significant equity, high-quality perception, and global heritage. The theme “Beyond Petroleum”, developed by Ogilvy & Mather, was recommended as a central concept to unify all actions, behaviors, and communications for the BP brand. It signaled a BP imperative to go beyond conventional ways of thinking and doing. Landor designed a series of visual strategies. The CEO and senior management chose the helios strategy, which tested strongly against the qualities of progressive, forward-thinking, innovative, and environmental. The helios trademark shifted the paradigm of how the petroleum industry should look and feel. Results: Ensuring that 100,000 employees in 100 countries understood how to align their actions with BP’s core values was key to the new strategy. Landor developed a series of employee workshops to engage employees in the new vision, and to engender discussions about ways to live the brand in their daily lives. The Brand Centre, an online resource for guidelines, demonstrates how the brand is used throughout BP and helps each employee play a part in building the brand. BP’s ongoing commitment involves annual surveys to monitor the brand’s impact externally on business performance, and relations with consumers and communities, and internally on brand perception, employee morale, and job satisfaction.

Branding is not about checking the box and moving on. Brands are living, and breathing—they need to be embraced, monitored, and adapted. Andrew Welch

Landor Associates

BP has 28,500 service stations and over 90,000 employees worldwide.