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New brand architectureUnity in diversity

Encarte ArqMarc FINAL ING.indd 1 3/22/13 10:07 PM

THE USE OF A COMMON BRAND FOR ODEBRECHT BUSINESSES MEETS A NEED DICTATED BY DECENTRALIZED AND DIVERSIFIED OPERATIONS IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE.

A major change is underway in most Odebrecht

Group Businesses: they have adopted a new logo,

and some have changed their names.

This move is a result of the Group’s new brand

architecture, which has adopted the single-brand

model: the holding company, Odebrecht S.A. and all

Group Businesses will bear the name Odebrecht and

use the same logo.

The individual companies’ brands are set apart by

the wording that identifies their sector, market or

business activity. For specific reasons, Braskem and

the EEP - Estaleiro Enseada do Paraguaçu shipyard

have not adopted the new model for the time being.

The use of a common brand for Odebrecht

Businesses meets a need dictated by decentralized

and diversified operations in several countries

worldwide.

This special insert to issue #165 of Odebrecht

Informa magazine presents part of this story

and the guidelines for the creation of the Group’s

new brand architecture, recounting how it

was designed and how it is being applied.


“The essence of our identity is our culture”

INTRODUCTION

Marcelo odebrechtPRESIDENT AND CEO OF ODEBRECHT S.A.

Marcelo Odebrecht, President and CEO of Odebrecht S.A. introduced the Odebrecht Group’s new brand architecture at the organization’s General Meeting on December 19, 2012, at the Iberostar hotel in Praia do Forte, on the north coast of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. About 900 people attended the meeting, including Shareholders and Group Members.


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During his presentation, based on five major themes

that cut across the entire organization (People,

Productivity, Synergy, Image and Sustainable

Growth), Marcelo explained what Odebrecht’s new

Brand Strategy represents in the segment on Image:

“It is the sum of what we are, what we believe and

how we act. It is therefore our identity.” And he

warned: “We need to communicate our identity,

whose essence is our corporate culture, practiced by

knowledgeable people. We must never communicate

what we are not.”

He stressed the role of qualified communication with

the communities in the countries and regions where

Odebrecht’s companies work, and presented figures

that reveal the increasing interaction of the Group’s

people and businesses with their local environments.

These numbers included the growing number of

mentions of Odebrecht in the Brazilian media, which

rose from 3,100 in 2010 to 11,300 in 2012. “We are

increasingly in the news,” he concluded.

He also underscored the diversified and capillary

operations of the Group’s companies and the

significant growth of new types of clients, such

as users of urban transport and sanitation (water

and sewer) services and buyers of commercial

and residential real estate. As a result, he drew the

attention of the Group’s leaders to the global impacts

of local actions: “Today, international news agencies

provide immediate responses to local events.

Everything we do can represent a boost or a hit to

the international image of our brand.”

The Leaders (CEOs) of Odebrecht’s Businesses

displayed their new logos on their presentations at

the Annual Meeting. Only Braskem and EEP have

kept their original names and logos.

Marcelo Odebrecht at the Group’s Annual Meeting: highly qualified communication with the communities where Odebrecht is present


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Márcio Polidoro, the officer Responsible for Corporate Communication at Odebrecht S.A., headed the process of building the Group’s new brand architecture. In this interview, he answers five questions from Odebrecht Informa about the project he helmed.

What led Odebrecht to adopt a new brand

architecture?

Márcio Polidoro – We needed visual reinforcement

of the sense of belonging to the same organization,

for the Businesses and people. Moreover, we

also needed to demonstrate the organization’s

commitment to each of its companies. We also

needed to express alignment of beliefs, values,

vision, goals and priorities in an organization

that operates in a decentralized manner and

with broad geographic scale, but with the same

entrepreneurial culture. We believe that this new

model meets all those requirements.

What is the main change implemented through

the new brand architecture?

Márcio Polidoro – From now on, the holding

company, Odebrecht S.A., and all its businesses

will be called Odebrecht and use the same logo –

except for Braskem and EEP.

How is each business distinguished?

Márcio Polidoro – Through a unique description

associated with the Odebrecht brand. These

descriptions reflect what the brand is all about.

Their goal is not to create value, because that’s the

role of the brand. The description should be plain

and simple, so as not to distract attention from the

brand and make it easy for people to understand

the activity in question.

Why was the single-brand model adopted?

Márcio Polidoro– Because it was the most

appropriate one for an organization that is

distinguished by a unique corporate culture. The

single brand not only identifies us but sets us apart.

It spotlights the entire Group without detracting

from its parts, because they are all echoed in a logo

with the same design.

What is the main advantage of this new model?

Márcio Polidoro – It reinforces the concept of

a diversified organization, facilitates external

perceptions and brings the visual expression of

our organization closer to what we really are,

eliminating the fragmentation caused by multiple

logos without a unified design and color.

Creating more value

INTERVIEW

Márcio PolidoroRESPONSIBLE FOR CORPORATE COMMUNICATION


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The name Odebrecht appeared in red

for the first time in the signature of the

Engineering & Construction business

In the beginning, the Group’s logo was

a symbol made up of the initials of

Construtora Norberto Odebrecht (CNO).

A Changing Brand

Then, the name Odebrecht was

replaced by the acronym CNO.

At the time, multiple logos

coexisted within the Group.

Next, the names Odebrecht and

Construtora Norberto Odebrecht were

adopted and the logo was reduced.

The new logo, introduced in

2013 for all Group Businesses,

incorporates the color red and

the font of the previous two brands

The green Odebrecht logo appeared in the

1980s to represent the Group. The holding

company, Odebrecht S.A., adapted it from

Construtora Norberto Odebrecht’s logo.


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Odebrecht hired the British firm Interbrand, which

has operated in Brazil for 10 years, to design its

new brand architecture. Rio native Laura Garcia,

the firm’s Brand Strategy Manager, was assigned

to direct the project, which took over a year to

complete. Laura and her team visited the Group’s

jobsites, industrial plants, concession companies

and offices in Brazil and other countries. “We started

out by trying to understand Odebrecht, with its

decentralized operations and unique culture, which

is rare in other companies,” she says. “Only then

could we begin to arrive at the best visual solution

for expressing the challenge we were presented

with.” In this interview, Laura Garcia discusses

the process of creating Odebrecht’s new brand

architecture, the guiding premises for that process,

and the results achieved. She believes that, due

to the changes now underway, the Group will gain

a new level of recognition. “Odebrecht is a major

company that needs a major brand.”

What was the challenge you were presented with?

laura Garcia – Odebrecht has an entrepreneurial

philosophy that embraces the decentralization of

its businesses. Therefore, each company created

and managed its own brand. But this did not lead to

an overall brand perception. The challenge we were

presented with was to help Odebrecht solve this

dilemma.

How did you conduct that process?

laura Garcia – We realized that one of the two

parts of the dilemma would have to give way. What

prevailed was the premise that Odebrecht needed

How the new brand was born

Laura Garcia: process guided by the idea that the brand is an asset that must be managed to make it understandable to stakeholders

INTERVIEW

laura GarciaBRAND STRATEGY MANAGER – INTERBRAND


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“OUR GOAL IS TO SEE THE ODEBRECHT LOGO APPLIED THE SAME WAY EVERYWHERE”

to establish its image as a group, and to do that, it

would have to adopt the same logo, what we call

a monolithic brand architecture, which required

centralized management of this issue. It wasn’t

easy, because the culture of decentralization is very

strong at Odebrecht. We discussed it extensively,

but in the end the organization’s leaders understood

the proposal and adopted the suggestions.

In the early stages of your work, what most

caught your attention about Odebrecht?

laura Garcia – What impressed us most was the

organization’s strong personality, which stems

from the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology.

In all the countries we visited, we found people

whose language is consistent and on the same

page, with the same proactive stance and sense

of responsibility for their business, and a can-do

attitude. We realized that all that had to be

expressed in the new logo.

After that immersion, how did the work proceed?

laura Garcia – We put together a set of perceptions

and, working closely with the client, established the

basic premises of the project, guided by the idea

that the brand is an asset that must be managed

with a view to ensuring that its stakeholders

understand it. Another decisive vector was

the idea of building a general perception of an

entrepreneurial organization that operates in

different businesses and countries. To do so, we

needed a single logo that could withstand structural

changes. A logo that could be managed centrally in a

decentralized organization.

How did the visual expression of these concepts

develop?

laura Garcia – We had a reference, which was

the Engineering & Construction business’s logo.

Based on that, we sought to strengthen that logo’s

best features, which was the use of the color red,

an expression of strength and achievement. We

inverted the red and white and created elements

that make up and highlight the new logo. We

also brought in more elements to create a visual

system that resulted in the Brand Territory, a

website for Group members that explains the new

brand architecture and contains the manual for its

applications by all the companies [that use it].

What is the standard used for the descriptions

accompanying the logo?

laura Garcia – We needed to resolve a key issue,

since some companies’ segments are based on

expertise, and others on markets or regions. Thanks

to the client’s decision to change the names of some

companies so they start with the name Odebrecht,

we arrived at a satisfactory solution. So then we

established that the descriptions that accompany

the logo should reflect the company’s specialty

(Agroindustry, Infrastructure, Environment, Real

Estate Development, etc.).

As a result, we made significant progress toward

achieving our goal, which is to see the Odebrecht

logo applied the same way everywhere, thereby

expressing the understanding that we’re talking

about the same organization.


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Companies are already using thenew logo

FEEDBACK

Group companies are already changing their logos on the basis of the organization’s new brand architecture. Odebrecht Informa obtained feedback from three of the officers responsible for introducing the new logos. See what Odebrecht Agroindustrial Communication Manager Andressa Saurin, Odebrecht Oil & Gas Communication Manager Bárbara Nitto, and Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias Marketing Director Sergio Kertész have to say about the changes underway.


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Andressa SaurinOdebrecht Agroindustrial“In our case it’s a total transformation, because

we’re changing the company’s name and logo. It’s

a huge job, but I’m very happy because I always

thought that we should take the name of our parent

brand. In fact, here at ETH we have always been

Odebrecht, because we always seek to apply the

Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology to the

fullest extent. The only thing that’s changing now

is that our name reflects all that. To launch the new

name and logo, we created a campaign titled ‘Today

we are more.’ Precisely because we already were

Odebrecht on a daily basis. Today we are more,

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“OUR MAIN FOCUS WAS ON INFORMING OUR MEMBERS ABOUT THE CHANGES FIRST. MOST OF THEM LIVE IN SMALL TOWNS IN THE MIDWEST OF BRAZIL”

Andressa Saurin (background), with Fabio Rimoli, Fernanda Kato, Karina Lara and team leader Genésio Couto (foreground)


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FEEDBACK

because we have Odebrecht in our name, on our

name tags, uniforms, and business cards. The color

red that is now on Odebrecht Agroindustrial’s logo

is the color of accomplishment. It has always been in

our blood.

“Our main focus was on informing our members

about the changes first. Most of them live in small

towns in the Midwest of Brazil, where Odebrecht

Agroindustrial is the largest employer. We had to

give them our full attention, since they mobilized

their lives to work at ETH, were groomed at ETH,

brought their families to ETH, stopped receiving

the Family Grant to work at ETH, and suddenly ETH

changes its name, colors, it becomes something

else. All this could be confusing, so we are giving

them our full attention. In addition to a series of

internal communication programs, our CEO Luiz

de Mendonça and the leaders of our agroindustrial

hubs got to work, interacting with local mayors and

communities to explain the change. We also used

radio spots and commercials on local TV channels.

“This isn’t a change that happened overnight.

We started on the February 5th, but it will go on

throughout 2013. Changes in the identity of our

units will follow a schedule that will include several

steps, from painting ethanol tanks to changing our

signs on roads in the Midwest. Everything else will

be done through a comprehensive communication

program. Our Members breathe change with pride,

pride in belonging not only to the company they

work for but to a much larger organization, which

further strengthens our journey towards our

Vision for 2020.”

Bárbara NittoOdebrecht Oil & Gas“I think that the use of a single brand is really

the best way forward for Odebrecht. It is easily

recognizable for everyone and expresses the same

stance, the same culture of a single organization

whose operations’ goals and objectives are on the

same page.

“At Odebrecht Oil & Gas, we have kept our name

but changed the logo and eliminated the initials

OOG. We won’t have any problems making this

transition. Like many other Members of the former

OOG, I always introduce myself as Odebrecht. The

brand has always come first, followed by the Oil &

Gas segment. In other words, we will keep doing

what we had been doing already.

“All of our nearly 3,000 Members were informed of

the changes on January 28th. We sent out an email


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message to all of them to explain the changes. We

put up banners on the oil rigs and in our offices. We

left a mug with the new logo and an informative

message on everybody’s desk. And we provide the

artwork (e-mail signatures, brochures, business

cards, computer screen backgrounds, a visual

identity manual, letterhead and a PowerPoint

presentation template) for the new logo so

everyone could make personal use of it.

“There will be a transition period, which is normal for

such changes. We’re going to be thrifty and use up

the materials on hand before having them replaced.

It makes no sense to throw them all away. We’ll

replace them gradually. Changing the logo on the

oil rigs may take a little longer, because it has to be

done when the platforms are anchored (’docked’ as

we say here). They can only be painted when they’re

not operating.”

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“WE WON’T HAVE ANY PROBLEMS MAKING THIS TRANSITION. WE’VE ALWAYS INTRODUCED OURSELVES AS ODEBRECHT”

Bárbara Nitto with the mug gifted to all Odebrecht Oil & Gas Members


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Sergio Kertész Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias “Making the decision to switch to using a single

brand was very important. But what will ensure

that the new brand works is its implementation, and

always taking care of it on a daily basis. This process

is just beginning. And it will only go well if we keep it

up every day.

“Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias [Real Estate

Development] is a company that speaks directly to

the end consumer, and has a relatively large number

of clients with different profiles. We must make

sure that these clients understand the purpose of

the change, and don’t think that the company is

any different from before, or that the people they

know will not be there anymore. This is an important

alignment between our teams and our clients, and it

will bring us even closer to our main brand.

“We will work with and change more than 90

items, from name badges, cards and stationery to

electronic environments, such as the company’s

intranet and website. We’ve changed the physical

environment of the office and the physical

environment of our construction projects. We’ve

revised our signaling and signposting manual, and will

replace fencing, uniforms, and overhead signage. We

had a unique identity that was well known in Brazil’s

main cities, and we’ve made sure that we won’t lose

that. Our challenge is to take the energy that was

channeled into consolidating and developing a brand

and translate it into this new version.

“For our clients, the impact will be relatively small,

because they believe in and trust the Odebrecht

brand. But we have to make it clear that our

personality is still the same; that the focus on

our pillars – differentiation, sustainability and

selectivity – is still there. The way we develop

products, taking care of all stages, remains exactly

the same. What we have now is complete alignment

with our parent company, Odebrecht, both in terms

of our visual identity and our name.”

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“WHAT WILL ENSURE THAT THE NEW BRAND WORKS IS ITS IMPLEMENTATION, AND ALWAYS TAKING CARE OF IT ON A DAILY BASIS”

Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias members wearing the shirt with the real estate development company’s new logo: clockwise, Domitila Carbonari, Amanda Zaragoza, Rafael Lomelino, Leonardo Maia, Fernando Bammerberger, Juliana Cerresi and Sergio Kertész


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