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Case: LM Wind Power 2010


2010



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THE STORY

This is a second name change for a one-time furniture manufacturer, now "the world's leading component supplier to the wind turbine industry." As new contenders crowd into its space, CEO Roland Sunden came to see that a rebranding could consolidate, broaden and strengthen LM Glasfiber's leadership posture, signaling "a new powerful player." The key tools:
-  Retain communicative name "LM" but change descriptor (formal name) from Glasfiber to Wind Power;
-  Reconfigure and rename three defining units;
-  Design new wordmark, and unifying visual system.

Originally Lunderskov Moebelfabrik (Lunderskov Furniture Factory), in the 1950s the woodworking company changed its name to reflect leadership in a new material; remember those molded Danish modern chairs? Then in the 1970s it began to fabricate wind turbine blades. The arrival in 2001 of backing from one of Europe’s most successful private equity firms, Doughty Hanson, supercharged its growth.  Anticipating its rebranding, in 2009 the company spun out a new "Services and Logistics" business from its "Blades" business. Also in 2009, Doughty Hanson acquired Svendborg Brakes (whose turbine division is another leader in the wind power field) and added it to LM, constituting a third defining unit. (Svenborg Brakes however, on its own site, as of 2 November 2010 is still in transition, not yet co-branded or even endorsed by its new parent).

Having decided to keep "LM" and replace "Glasfiber" with "Wind Power,"  Sunden's team retained the Danish corporate branding firm Make to design the repositioned company.  A turbine-based symbol might have been expected; instead, Make proposed a wordmark (indeed an entire alphabet) composed of blade-like letterforms. The mark features LM (now-meaningless) only because it has to; the visually softer "Wind Power" now constitutes the preemptive heart of the identity.

Through color,  typography and other blade-echoing graphic forms, the new visual system extends the presence of the brand. The signature system is heading (one can assume) toward a monolithic "Wind Power: Blades, Brakes, Service and Logistics." A tag-line, "The Power to Deliver," underscores the service and logistics promise.


CREDITS

Make (Copenhagen)


CASE INFO

Submitted by: Tony Spaeth, 3/11/2010
Status: Estimated by Tony Spaeth
Category: General Industrials
Country (HQ): Denmark


MATRIX DATA

DRIVERS

  

TOOLS

Strategic driver: 100%   
Change direction
  Redefine industry or core competence
 20%  x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Typography
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Graphic devices
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Palette
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Formal/legal names
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Principal unit names or competence list
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Tag lines
    x  Identity system elements: Unit signature system: Monolithic
    x  Situation facts: Subcorporate facts: Defining units
    x  Change event : Medium visibility: Launch event
Broaden scope/scale/visibility
  Remove limiting category association
 20%  x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Formal/legal names
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Principal unit names or competence list
    x  Identity system elements: Unit signature system: Monolithic
    x  Situation facts: Subcorporate facts: Defining units
    x  Change event : Medium visibility: Launch event
Broaden scope/scale/visibility
  Enhance size perception
 10%  x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Formal/legal names
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Principal unit names or competence list
    x  Identity system elements: Unit signature system: Monolithic
    x  Change event : Medium visibility: Launch event
Broaden scope/scale/visibility
  Elevate public profile
 10%  x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Typography
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Graphic devices
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Palette
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Formal/legal names
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Principal unit names or competence list
    x  Identity system elements: Unit signature system: Monolithic
    x  Change event : Medium visibility: Launch event
Change internal culture
  Enhance pride & confidence
 20%  x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Typography
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Graphic devices
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Palette
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Formal/legal names
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Principal unit names or competence list
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Tag lines
    x  Change event : Medium visibility: Launch event
Change internal culture
  Transfer affiliation from unit to parent
 10%  x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Principal unit names or competence list
    x  Identity system elements: Unit signature system: Monolithic
Change perceived composition
  Redefine the defining units
 10%  x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Principal unit names or competence list
    x  Situation facts: Subcorporate facts: Defining units