OW Bunker supplies ships with fuel oil or bunkers’. Having expanded internationally, with refuelling points in all the major shipping lanes, OW needed a global brand image.
OW competes with small local suppliers of bunkers and multinationals offering everything from bunkers to petrol. So the idea was to position the brand as the ideal middle way: a specialist with global coverage.
Independent research suggested that only 40 per cent of shipowners and charterers worldwide had heard of OW. The campaign was to double awareness to 80 per cent of its potential market.
Ships ahoy
The campaign focused on the three words which conveyed OW’s unique position: ‘global’, ‘independent’, ‘ specialist’, while the shipping ads were abound with pictures of ships and creative metaphors such as propellers and knots.
The campaign used OW’s product to communicate the firm’s message. Words, pictures and symbols were created out of fuel oil. The bold colour scheme and design was both highly distinctive and contemporary.
The new brand messages and corporate look formed the basis for redesigning the website while ads were placed in trade publications. Stationery was redesigned and corporate and regional brochures were created for existing and potential customers.
Result
“It was crucial that all our branches felt comfortable with our corporate campaign as well as with the regional brochures,” says Jim Pedersen, CEO of OW Bunker. “CBC created a brand identity that reflected our corporate outlook, international scope and professionalism in a way which resonated with employees.”
The follow-up survey results are not yet available, but the enthusiastic reception given to the campaign suggests that there for you’ will continue as an ongoing brand-maintenance programme.
