HYDRO REBRANDS TO SIGNAL COMPANY CHANGE
11 December 2003 - Hydro Aluminium

The company’s logo and visual identity have been modernized as part of an extensive process to clarify and strengthen the Hydro brand. The new logo will be the official Hydro symbol from the New Year and Hydro’s offices and plants will be rebranded in the course of the year.

Various versions of a Viking ship have been the key element in Hydro’s logo since its origins in 1905; the existing version has been used for the past 20 years. Hydro’s fertilizer business will continue to use the Viking ship symbol in its new logo and marketing once Agri is listed as a separate company next year.

“A new Hydro is emerging, and it was time to take a new, fresh look at our symbol as part of a process to define more explicitly both our identity and direction. Through the new symbol, we hope to build on the best of our past to support Hydro’s strategies for the future,” said Cecilie Ditlev-Simonsen, head of Corporate Communications at Hydro.

During the past few years, Hydro has gone through massive changes, doubling its oil and gas production, doubling and transforming its aluminium business and becoming a much more international company with two-thirds of its employees based outside of Norway. Following a portfolio review, Hydro decided earlier this year to concentrate on developing Oil & Energy and Aluminium going forward, while establishing Agri as a separately listed company.

Hydro defines “brand” as the promise it makes to strengthen stakeholder relations, based on its identity and value creating potential. There are three pillars of the Hydro brand: A mission, a set of institutional talents across the business areas and common values. Hydro’s mission is: “Hydro creates a more viable society by developing natural resources and products in innovative and efficient ways.”

“Hydro has an amazing history of achievements in terms of business results, courageous investments, innovative solutions and a strong culture. It’s time we make a more conscious effort to communicate what makes Hydro Hydro and how we make a difference to customers and society in general,” Ditlev-Simonsen said. “Strong brands can charge a premium, have credibility when expanding into new business areas and manage to attract and retain investors as well as talented employees.”

Hydro’s new logo and overall design principles have been designed by Gene Grossman of Siegel & Gale, a U.S. brand consultancy. Grossman has directed corporate identification programs for world-class brands such as Coca-Cola, Exxon, Texaco, Hilton Hotels, Dell Computers and Lockheed-Martin.

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