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“Oh, you’re the guys who make the tapes!” This is a reaction BASF employees around the world still get when they introduce themselves—at least from the older generation who remember what magnetic tapes are (BASF sold the magnetic tapes business in 1997).
Of course, 10 years ago, this perception of BASF as the “tape guys” was even stronger. As a result, BASF saw a strong need to work on its brand perception in order to make sure that its target groups understood what the company actually does and stands for.
Why bother, you may ask? After all, BASF is a business-to-business company, selling to the chemical, automotive, construction and a number of other industries but, with very few exceptions, not directly to consumers. The reason is very simple: The company needs the acceptance of its stakeholders, i.e., our business-to-business customers, neighbors of its production sites, government officials and opinion makers from all parts of society in order to effectively operate the business.
So in 2003, BASF relaunched its corporate brand. In fact, for the first time, BASF defined a corporate brand positioning. The corporate design was revised, the logo was changed and “The Chemical Company” was added to the logo. This was a courageous decision at the time—and even today, as a number of chemical companies continue to consider it safer to not be associated with an industry that still has certain reputational challenges. BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, however, deliberately and proactively states what it does: chemistry. BASF’s new global image campaign is driving just that point: We create chemistry. And, for the first time, BASF is running a global image campaign. Following are some of the key steps BASF took to implement this new global brand in the Asia/Pacific region.
1. Connect the Asia/Pacific regional team closely with global headquarters.
BASF in Asia/Pacific has a regional brand management team that is the link between the global brand management team and the regional corporate and marketing communication community. Its responsibility is to provide the global team with input from employees in the region about developing branding concepts and policies, as well as implementing the corporate brand in Asia/Pacific. The Asia/Pacific brand manager is a member of the global brand expert community, which is coordinated by the global brand management team and comprises brand experts from all the regions. This community is closely connected through regular telephone conferences as well as web and personal meetings.
2. Include Asia/Pacific elements into the global brand positioning.
The development of BASF’s current brand value proposition was derived from a global brand status analysis, as well as a global internal survey on BASF’s self-perception. The new brand proposition was then consolidated in international workshops, integrating BASF’s target brand identity and future strategic orientation with global market and stakeholder needs. Of course, stakeholder needs and perceptions vary across the world. Surprisingly though, when the results of a global brand driver analysis were compared with results from the analysis in China, three of the top five brand drivers were the same—but ranked at different levels of priority. This made it relatively easy to define a global brand position that reflected the needs and perceptions of those in the Asia/Pacific region.
3. Incorporate regional characteristics into the brand in Asia/Pacific.
While the BASF logo, claim, corporate colors and corporate design need to be consistent all over the world, trade fair designs, visuals, graphics, and give-aways offer opportunities to cater specifically to the needs of those in each region. The localization of certain elements of the brand campaign is visible in the implementation of the new global image campaign that BASF launched in March 2010. For example, the tagline idea “We create chemistry” could not be translated literally into Chinese, Japanese or Korean. The theme of creating connections had to be adapted, and this became “harmony,” “relationships” and “love,” respectively. Also, out of the global set of ad versions, the ones chosen to run in China were the ones showing how BASF’s innovations yield quick results and how BASF is relevant in everyday life. The versions chosen to run in China included: “Kids Love Chemistry,” “Noses Love Fresh Paint” and “Sticky Loves Wet.” These were chosen because the Chinese audience responds to easy-to-understand messages that show tangible benefits.
4. Empower the Asia/Pacific employees to become brand ambassadors.
As the visual elements only reflect the surface of the brand, the company emphasized helping employees worldwide to internalize the new brand value proposition, as well as the attitude reflected in the new corporate image campaign. In Asia/Pacific, the importance of the brand was underlined by the fact that it was included as one goal of the Asia/Pacific Strategy 2020: to strengthen brand awareness and sharpen the brand profile. And while the brand management team is the driver for this goal, it is clear across the organization that this is a goal that can only be achieved if every BASF employee across the region fully lives the brand. To support this change process, when the new image campaign began employee activation workshops were held in the major Asian countries, targeting the main brand multipliers—i.e., marketing and sales, human resources and communication. The brand story has also become an integral part of the new-hire orientation program.
5. Ensure continuous development of the brand.
Because Asia/Pacific is the fastest growing region for BASF, new ideas from the region about the brand can be expected in the future. As competition in the region becomes stronger and local companies discover the value of developing brands, the perceptions and needs of the local stakeholders will have a stronger influence on BASF’s brand development in the years to come. What exactly this will mean, it is too early to tell.
Christian Schubert is vice president of corporate communications Asia/Pacific for BASF, based in Hong Kong. |
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