V I S U A L S T R AT E GY G U I D E
ENGINEERING THE FUTURE
V I S U A L S T R AT E GY G U I D E
01 ENGINEERING THE FUTURE
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. 窶認rederick Douglass | Abolitionist and Statesman.
ENRON
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
CONTENTS
10
OUR HISTORY
12
1.2 Enron’s Time Line
18
1.3 Past Brand Competition
20
1.4 Related Companies
22
OUR FUTURE
26
2.1 Mission Statement
30
2.2 Who we Were
32
2.3 Who we Are
34
2.4 Audience
38
2.5 Competitors
54
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
1.1 Brand Overview
A META STORY
A brand is more than the tangible components that makes it. It’s real value lies in an intangible world, the feeling it emanates from it and an abstract construction in people’s minds. That collective opinion creates a brand, rotted on the subconscious, it comes from a biological need to belong. Globalization made it seems as if people from all over the world were to become a large unified group. Even now, as technology advances, we keep taking down barriers, but in reality we are creating more. This occurs because as individuals, we feel the need to be part of something larger, we need boundaries that establishes what we stand for. The more we connect, the bigger the need to be identified from others. A meta story is the narrative or feeling that a brand gives beyond the services or products provided by them, is really about how people incorporate certain values and stories into their own. How to define oneself trough a bigger tribe and becoming something else, something more relevant. Loyalty beyond reason that some brands have created, depend on such feelings.
ENRON
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
OUR HISTORY 1.1 BRAND OVERVIEW 1.2 ENRON’S TIME LINE 1.3 FORMER COMPETITORS 1.4 RELATED COMPANIES
ENRON
12
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
BRAND OVERVIEW
1.1
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 20,000 staff and was one of the world’s major electricity, natural gas, communications and pulp and paper companies, with claimed revenues of nearly $111 billion during 2000. Fortune named Enron “America’s Most Innovative Company” for six consecutive years. At the end of 2001, it was revealed that its reported financial condition was sustained by an institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud, known since as the Enron scandal. Enron has since become a wellknown example of willful corporate fraud and corruption. The scandal also brought into question the accounting practices and activities of many corporations in the United States and was a factor in the enactment of the Sarbanes– Oxley Act of 2002. The scandal also affected the greater business world by causing the dissolution of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm. Enron filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York in late 2001 and selected Weil, Gotshal & Manges as its bankruptcy counsel. It ended its bankruptcy during November 2004, pursuant to a court-approved plan of reorganization, after one of the most complex bankruptcy cases in U.S. history. A new board of directors changed the name of Enron to Enron Creditors Recovery Corp., and emphasized reorganizing and liquidating certain operations and assets of the pre-bankruptcy Enron. On September 7, 2006, Enron sold Prisma Energy International Inc., its last remaining business, to Ashmore Energy International Ltd. (now AEI).
BRAND OVERVIEW 1.1
Enron’s headquarters in Huston, Texas. 13
Enron’s original logo designed by Paul Rand.
ENRON
14
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
In 1990, Enron’s Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Skilling hired Andrew Fastow, who was well acquainted with the burgeoning deregulated energy market that Skilling wanted to exploit. In 1993, Fastow began establishing numerous limited liability special purpose entities (a common business practice in the energy sector); however, it also allowed Enron to transfer liability so that it would not appear in its accounts, allowing it to maintain a robust and generally increasing stock price and thus keeping its critical investment grade credit ratings. Enron was originally involved in transmitting and distributing electricity and natural gas throughout the United States. The company developed, built, and operated power plants and pipelines while dealing with rules of law and other infrastructures worldwide.
IT ALSO ALLOWED ENRON TO TRANSFER LIABILITY SO THAT IT WOULD NOT APPEAR IN ITS ACCOUNTS, ALLOWING IT TO MAINTAIN A ROBUST AND GENERALLY INCREASING STOCK PRICE AND THUS KEEPING ITS CRITICAL INVESTMENT GRADE CREDIT RATINGS.
BRAND OVERVIEW 1.1
Jeffrey Skilling , former CEO of the Enron Corporation. 15
Andrew Fastow, Enron’s Chief Operating Officer.
ENRON
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
Enron’s headquarters main entrance. 16
BRAND OVERVIEW 1.1
Enron grew wealthy due largely to marketing, promoting power, and its high stock price. Enron was named “America’s Most Innovative Company” by the magazine Fortune for six consecutive years, from 1996 to 2001. It was on the Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” list during 2000, and had offices that were stunning in their opulence. Enron was hailed by many, including labor and the workforce, as an overall great company, praised for its large long-term pensions, benefits for its workers and extremely effective management until the exposure of its corporate fraud. The first analyst to question the company’s success story was Daniel Scotto, an energy market expert at BNP Paribas, who issued a note in August 2001 entitled Enron: All stressed up and no place to go, which encouraged investors to sell Enron stocks, although he only changed his recommendation on the stock from “buy” to “neutral”. As was later discovered, many of Enron’s recorded assets and profits were inflated or even wholly fraudulent and nonexistent. One example of fraudulent records was during 1999 when Enron promised to repay Merrill Lynch & Co.’s investment with interest in order to show profit on its books. Debts and losses were put into entities formed “offshore” that were not included in the company’s financial statements, and other sophisticated and arcane financial transactions between Enron and related companies were used to eliminate unprofitable entities from the company’s books.
Fortune Magazine special edition cover 2001.
17
Fastow creates Chewco, a partnership, to buy the University of California pension fund’s stake.
Enron shares reach high of $90.
Lay hires Jeffrey Skilling to lead the company’s effort to focus on commodities trading in the deregulated markets.
Houston Natural Gas merges with InterNorth to form Enron.
Enron begins trading natural gas commodities and assets.
19 9 7
2000 19 9 0 19 8 9 19 8 5
1.2
ENRON’S TIME LINE 18
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E ENRON
1 5 6 G FA
4 5 R Y4 7
E Y6 4 I 9
R I T4 X 4
8 1 U 6 Y 5
P 9 1 A Z C
1 E 4 T 6 8
1 2 0 P N B
ENRON’S TIMELINE 1.2
19
2001
2050 (DECEMBER)
2001
2001
(NOVEMBER) (OC TOB ER)
2001
2001
(OC TOB ER) (AUGU S T )
Enron reborns.
Enron goes bankrupt, thousands of workers laid off.
Enron restates its third-quarter earnings and discloses a $690 million debt is due Nov. 27. Stock plunges below $1.
Securities and Exchange Commission launches inquiry into Enron finances.
Enron announces $638 million in third-quarter losses.
Skilling resigns; Lay named CEO again.
ENRON
20
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
FORMER COMPETITORS
1.3
BRAND FORMER COMPETITION 1.3
21
Enron was an energy company with a large variety of products and services in different markets. It had competitors not only in the energy field, but also in transportation, petrochemicals, plastics, steel, shipping and more.
ENRON
22
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
RELATED COMPANIES
1.4
ANCILLARY INDUSTRIES 1.4
23
Power can take different shapes and meanings, whether is power to access information, power to protect goods and people, or power to physically have a better performance. Here there are companies that also provide security and technological advances.
ENRON
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
OUR FUTURE 2.1 MISSION STATEMENT 2.2 NEW HORIZONS 2.3 WHO WE WERE 2.4 WHO WE ARE 2.5 AUDIENCE 2.6 BRAND NEW COMPETITORS
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. —Arthur C. Clarke | Science writer and Futurist.
ENRON
30
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
MISSION STATEMENT
2.1
Enron reborns in the year 2050 with a focused vision to not make the mistakes of the past. In a environment full of new technological possibilities, Enron will provide power to different sectors of society, from big influential groups to individuals. Enron will still be an energy company, but with a completely different approach. Long gone are the fossil fuels, renewable energy runs the world and Enron will control most of it by owning most of the energy grids in the world. Enron will also take the lead on developing last generation prosthetics and pioneer in 3d printing fully functional organs for the health sector. Enron will also use Its power and influence to be part of secret projects with governments and big corporations, dealing with weapon development, surveillance, privacy violations, and programs for military forces training.
ENRON WILL STILL BE AN ENERGY COMPANY, BUT WITH A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT APPROACH.
M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T 2 . 1
31
TO PROVIDE POWER TO DIFFERENT SECTORS OF SOCIETY
ENRON
32
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
WHO WE WERE
2.2
Enron tried was considered one of the most valuable companies in the world, their reach extended too much, even beyond their own control. Their lack of transparency is still remembered as one of the biggest corporate scandals in the history of the U.S. No element of their old corporate look has place in their re-branding. Despite that fact, It is important to identify the previous feeling of the brand to successfully re-launch Enron as something way superior.
WHO WE WERE 2.2
33
ENRON
34
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
WHO WE ARE
2.3
The new Enron is more ambitious and dominant, and this time there is more room for control. It will be more powerful and intimidating, with a modern look and a wide market, without going to far into other industries. Enron will portray confidence with a degree of obscureness. Few know what Enron is really working on, but there is no doubt that it will become one of the most influential companies in the world.
WHO WE ARE 2.3
35
ENRON
38
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
AUDIENCES
2.4
Enron target audience can be divided in three categories: government, business and society. Based on the mission statement, Enron will be providing power in one way or another to each of this segments. Behind the ambiguity of a word like power, there is great potential to grow and conquer.
GOVERNMENT
POWER
SOCIETY
BUSINESS
AUDIENCES 2.4
39
ENRON
40
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
AUDIENCES 2.4
C A R T ER THE SENATOR 58 YEARS OLD
Obsessed with national security; supports high budgets for weapons and defense. After several years of contracts and favors, he is in good standing with the military. He believes that power determines righteousness and morals; therefore, uses loopholes in laws and other unmoral tactics to evade normal procedures that would otherwise be an obstacle for his interests. Willing to hide information from the public believing his position gives him the right to do so. Favors industries of doubtful courses of action for the revenues that produces even when the population is negatively affected. He trusts that absolute surveillance is the best way to protect the population from threats of different natures. In reality he is only interested in enforcing more control over the population. Constantly gets in the way of new laws to impose more regulations to big corporations and their activities.
41
ENRON
42
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
AUDIENCES 2.4
M A DIS ON
She has built a career out of representing big corpo-
THE LOBBYIST
power and money driven person.
rations and other influential entities. Therefore, is a
40 YEARS OLD She has behave unethically to make extra money for herself, while working as a bridge to deal with bribes and other obscure practices between the organizations she represents and the government. Her husband works as a high executive of a big company in the public services industry, thus her family is considered wealthy. Her kids go to a prestigious private school, living the life of the 1% of the population, she has raised them to be as unsympathetic to others needs as herself. She prides herself of having a perfect family, which is seen as an example for the community in general. Considers herself a Christian, but her behavior far trespasses the boundaries of what is considered a noble and kind person. Despite appearances, her career is more important than her family. Like her husband, she is a workaholic and her personal life is merely a facade to give her a good standing with the people of her social circles.
43
ENRON
44
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
AUDIENCES 2.4
DAV ID THE CLEAN ENERGY INVESTOR 34 YEARS OLD
He believes in the bright future of renewable energy and how profitable will become in the upcoming years. Based on that, he has tried to make his life as sustainable as possible at the same time as being part of groups of investors that are trying to expand the market. He strongly opposes companies and technologies that are still trying to make some revenue out of fossil fuels. He trusts that technology has the means to solve most problems of the world. He is a very tech-savvy person that keeps up with the latest trends in gadgets for different aspects of his life. Having a stable financial situation, while not being wealthy and a good education, has developed in him an altruistic personality. Since he was in middle school, he felt the urge to contribute something to society, leading his life to be involved in science. He has kids, and he wants them to learn about science and technology from an early stage, feeling it would open their minds to take on a similar path as his father. He wants to leave a positive and powerful legacy behind him, for his kids and people in general
45
ENRON
46
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
AUDIENCES 2.4
M AT T
He recently started his own business but feels very
THE SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
have the means to have a steady growth.
insecure and exposed to failure. He would like to
30 YEARS OLD He feels that he cant keep up with current market models and technologies. He has never been very into technology and now he realizes how unwise It would be to not change It. He feels most banking systems are unreliable, charging to many fees out of nowhere and other inconveniences. As someone economically unstable he feels asphyxiated and wishes there was a more trustworthy entity that could push him forward. His new challenge as owner has given him to many responsibilities and to little time to spend with his family. Understanding is part of the sacrifices he needs to make to achieve success, he feels guilty about the lack of attention he has been giving to his loved ones. His lack of motivation on life lead him to get stuck on a dead end job, making him feel small and powerless as he reached his 30s. Thus, feeling the need to give meaning to his life by starting his journey to financial independence. He has good instincts and ideas but is afraid his lack of funding will sink his dreams before they even start. He is afraid that making his new life public to friends and other family member will put to much pleasure on him, making him to avoid social media.
47
ENRON
48
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
AUDIENCES 2.4
F R A NK
He is an old fashion head of the family that works a
THE OVERPROTECTIVE DAD
uses to spend some time with friends and family.
lot but has achieved some financial stability, that he
46 YEARS OLD He follows what the media says too much, what makes him paranoid. For that reason he is one of those gun owners that feels security is a priority. He wishes he had the means to know his family whereabouts on a constant basis, to the point that he tends to have conflicts specially with his teenage daughter and her social life. He also has a tendency to invade privacy, for what he feels fine knowing the government might be going to far with surveillance. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. He completely relays in the government. As a citizen born in privileged circumstances he has never felt the government has done anything wrong or unfair. Prominent supporter of fire arms possession. He takes part in clubs, conferences, hunting and much more. This activity has become one of the main parts of his life. He has a strong patriotic spirit in a very distorted way, almost kneeling to fanaticism, making him proud of his country economical and political power despite the negative consequences for others and the doubtful methods needed to make it happen.
49
ENRON
50
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
AUDIENCES 2.4
DER ECK THE WAR VETERAN 35 YEARS OLD
After finishing his service in the military forces, he had a hard time adopting a civilian life. He constantly feels frustrated; He misses the battlefield since is the only place he has ever felt useful at. Being a weapon enthusiast, he finds some comfort in practicing shooting range and being part of firearms communities. The enthusiasm and pride he feels for having been part of the military forces, has made him realize that he doesn’t want other career path. His combat experience is all he needs, but he would like to try a new approach. He tends to be an aggressive person with doubtful morals and ambiguous principles. In the meantime he feels working in a security company as a bodyguard is the closest he can get to the profession he likes. Like many veterans, he has been psychologically affected. Which makes him develop a need to go back to a life of survival and brotherhood. He has no strong opinions on politics, he doesn’t care at all. He is a self-centered person with no regard for other people’s lives or the current issues having impact in his country.
51
Power is the right of those with the capability to claim It and use It. —Garrett Miller | Political scientist, Economist and Sociologist.
ENRON
54
V I S UA L S T R AT EGY G U I D E
COMPETITORS
2.5
COMPETITORS 2.5
55
Enron’s new market will be composed of companies on the fields of robotics, security, energy, defense and health technology. The new Enron will be able to compete in all this fields by creating a strong synergy within itself. This fields will support each other in order to grow and absorb competitors to eventually become the only provider of this services.
All content for Enron Visual Srategy Guide was collected, conceived, written and design by Juan Manuel Corredor: www.juanmcorredor.com www.behance.net/juan_corredor juan.m.corredor.b@gmail.com
D E S I G N C O N S U LTAT I O N
Hunter Wimmer, GR 604 Nature of Identity Academy of Art University.
COPYR IGHT ﾂｩ2016 JUAN MANUEL COR R EDOR
The images in this book are used in accordance with the Creative Common License. This book is a non窶田ommercial work produced as a student project for educational purposes, and as such is considered a derivative work under the Fair Use Clause of U.S. Copyright Law.