Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive is a 200-year-old consumer products company producing many well-known household and personal care products, but over time it’s parent brand identity no longer represented the values, vision, and energetic spirit of the organization. This aging identity lacked the warmth and caring of the company, leading to the appropriation of brand elements from the more engaging product brands, resulting in a visual identity crisis.

Research shows that companies are increasingly being held accountable to act as leaders through what they say, do, and stand for. We repositioned Colgate-Palmolive as the “Servant Leader” who leads shoulder-to-shoulder with all walks of life and invites others to join them — celebrating their points of view by listening, learning, and sharing.

The symbol of an ampersand exemplifies this notion of a Servant Leader because it is inherently inclusive and never stops making connections. So we formed an ampersand out of a C and P — the company’s initials — for a brand mark that symbolizes the relationship between the company and the world it serves. We then evolved the color palette, retaining the equity of “Colgate red” but shifting to a more natural, sophisticated palette. The color-blocking geometry of the composition system ensures order across communications, from B2B corporate materials to consumer-facing impressions. The detailed, hyper-real style of photography embraces a spirit of joy while also evoking the precision of the company’s s attention to detail in its science. Overall the new system brings the parent brand to life with new energy and authenticity, as both a rallying cry at the corporate level as well as as support across its consumer brands.

Taken as a whole, the new brand identity elevates Colgate-Palmolive tone the standard-bearer of radical empathy, helps it take ownership of its role in the communities it serves, and tells its story of pursuing science in the name of love for its neighbors near and far on this planet we call home.

DESIGNER:
Woojin Chung

ILLUSTRATOR:
Xoana Herrera