When British Petroleum (BP) merged with Amoco in 1998 to form BP Amoco, the British petroleum company enlisted the help of Landor for their rebranding. This was huge because previous acquisitions of Arco and Castrol equated a Fortune 10 company, with over 100,000 employees spanning over 100 countries.

The idea: “performance, environmental leadership, innovation and progressive ideas.”

The advertising executives described the new prospect as,

Landor recommended that the name BP be kept, that the new BP present itself as being greater than British Petroleum, and that BP become a single global brand. The Helios mark was developed, symbolizing the newly merged company. Bright and bold, the identity evokes natural forms and energy that represent, respectively, BP’s position as an environmental leader and its goal of moving beyond the petroleum sector. These concepts were then extended to a series of programs that included development of retail stations, corporate environments, signage, marketing, and merchandising. In 2003, BP ranked no. 69 in BusinessWeek’s most valuable global brand. In 2010 it was named one of the most relevant identities of the decade by the blog Brand New.

The logo was considered the one of the brightest productions to come out of Landor San Francisco by some and also a horrendous twist of “greenwashing” by others.

It was near perfect advertising.

Landor was praised for creating what made the Mad Men famous in the 1960s — the art of illusion, belief and creating perception in advertising.

In fact, in 2008, logo enthusiasts [Read more...]