AMSTERDAM: Royal Philips has unveiled a new brand positioning and tagline, “Innovation and You,” as well as an updated version of its shield icon.
Its global OneVoice Connect agency team, made up of staffers from FleishmanHillard, Ketchum, and Emanate, has supported the company on the initiative. The company also works with Ogilvy on digital assets and advertising, Carat on media buying, and Interbrand on brand consulting. Philips' in-house design team also collaborated on the campaign.
“The repositioning is about making sure Philips continues to stay relevant, and making sure we stand for the Philips of today,” said Richard Wergan, the company's EVP and global head of brand, communications, and digital. “We want to reposition the company around the fact that a people-centric approach to innovation is at the heart of the company.”
A digital storytelling platform will support the brand positioning by showcasing the Philips products that have a positive impact on people through video. Twenty-five “stories” told in 38 languages are featured on the platform, and Philips is using media relations and digital to drive consumers there.
“Content creation is at the core of this program we have put into the market,” said Wergan. “It is also a trend across the PR community and the understanding of how you can develop it and how you can manage it is key to success now.”
The company also used Twitter to publicize the news, focusing first on its internal staff by encouraging employees to tag themselves in a mosaic image composed of 50,000 pixels. It then revealed the image pixel by pixel.
First used in 1934, Philips' redesigned shield will play an important role in the brand's new identity, according to Wergan.
“Philips' shield was a great corporate icon, but it was last updated in 1968, and if we wanted to be able to communicate effectively in digital channels, and have it render effectively on those channels and in digital media, it needed updating,” he said.
The company's brand identity was last revamped in 2005. Yet Wergan said even that needed a more “contemporary” feel.
“In 2005, we weren't walking around with two iPhones, a BlackBerry, and a couple of tablets,” he said. “Certainly the communications world has moved on, so we had to make sure we had an overall identity that was really born in digital so that we could effectively carry our messages through those channels.”
In May, Royal Philips Electronics changed its name to Royal Philips. It was part of the company's decision last year to reshape its mission to make the world more sustainable and healthier, said Elvin Ong, regional corporate communications director for Philips in Asia.
