New Corporate Design for the Merck Group is Effective Worldwide as of Today -
EMD Established as Umbrella Brand in the U.S. - Clearer Distinction Made With
Merck & Co., Inc.
DARMSTADT, Germany, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Merck KGaA today underscored
its corporate vision with a new and unmistakable brand design. The new Merck
corporate design consists of a redefined typeface in Merck's traditional blue
combined with colorful graphic elements to create a unified whole.
"Even though we have more than 34,000 employees in 52 countries and annual
sales approaching EUR 7 billion, Merck has been one of the world's best-kept
secrets because more than 300 brands have been diluting our image," said Prof.
Bernhard Scheuble, Merck's CEO. "With the new corporate design we are
introducing today, the world will see one unmistakable face for Merck."
In North America, Merck will immediately unite its operations under the
umbrella brand name of EMD. Both brand names -- EMD and Merck -- will be
configured using the same design guidelines, ensuring for the first time that
Merck will be recognized as one and the same company on both sides of the
Atlantic.
"This new appearance underscores the values that have characterized our
company for more than 330 years," Prof. Scheuble explained. "At the same time,
it displays the changes we are making to ensure a promising, attractive
future. The new corporate design is intended to show the world that we are
building on the experiences of past generations, with appreciation for their
pioneering and team spirit, while meeting the challenges of the future with
courage and decisiveness."
The strategic goal of the company is clearly defined -- Merck will be
Number One worldwide in its core businesses through innovations created by
talented, entrepreneurial employees. "Already, we are a world leader in
several fields -- in Chemicals with effect pigments and liquid crystals, in
Pharmaceuticals with treatments for Type II Diabetes and with our outstanding
pipeline of oncology projects," Prof. Scheuble stressed during a press
briefing in Frankfurt. "These core businesses are the best examples of our
vision. They are propelled by constant innovations of talented and
entrepreneurial employees. We want to establish these values permanently in
the consciousness of our customers and employees."
The new vision is also the starting point for a new, worldwide brand
redesign. For the first time, Merck will have a clear arrangement of the wide
variety of enterprises and product labels that have developed over its long
history. Activities which are characterized to a large degree by research and
innovation, will support the image of the enterprise and occur logically under
the Merck or EMD brand. Thus, the French Pharma subsidiary Lipha, which
became part of the Merck Group through a 1995 acquisition, will in the future
carry the name Merck.
However, we will not change all our brands. The worldwide laboratory
distribution business, that has been operating as an independent enterprise in
the U.S. since January 2001, as a purely commercial venture for Merck will no
longer have a connection with the Merck or EMD brand names. With a view to
its eventual stock exchange listing in the U.S., the strong and independent
brand "VWR" was created and is now established as a world market leader in the
Life Science laboratory distribution business.
EMD - The New Brand for Merck in the U.S.
Merck has a number of businesses in the U.S. and has most recently
established a presence there in ethical pharmaceuticals. The new brand design
"EMD" will be the umbrella label for pharmaceutical and chemical activities in
the growing U.S. market because the rights to the "Merck" name in North
America belong to the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., which in the rest of
the world is known as MSD. Merck KGaA's North American ethical
pharmaceuticals business will be represented by EMD Pharmaceuticals in Durham,
North Carolina, while chemicals will be represented by EMD Chemicals in
Hawthorne, New York, and EMD Biosciences in San Diego, California.
"We will develop EMD in the U.S. into a strong new brand reflecting the
vision and values of the parent company," said Matthew Emmens, who joins the
Merck Executive Board in Darmstadt effective today. He will be responsible for
ethical pharmaceuticals worldwide after building up and heading EMD
Pharmaceuticals in the U.S. for the past two years
"The new corporate design reflects the management changes underway at
Merck," said Dr. Walter Huber, Head of Corporate Communications. "The
redesigned typeface with the traditional Merck blue represents the basic
principles and unique culture of our company. The additional new elements in
warm bold colors signify our voyage into a new era, which will be shaped by a
constant stream of new ideas, innovations and intelligent alliances." Openness
towards other countries and cultures, fascination and courage are also terms
that could be associated with the arrangement and movement of these colorful
elements, Huber added.
Merck developed the new brand design, which was based on the design last
revised in 1996, with support from Landor Associates, a consultancy
specializing in corporate identity and brand design. The visual appearance
and the underlying branding concept were validated through representations to
many countries and cultures. It was approved in September by the Merck
Executive Board. Merck will begin the worldwide implementation of the new
design this month. An advertising campaign for the new corporate image is not
planned at this time. Development and implementation costs are not being
announced.
Merck Does Not Equal Merck
With the introduction of the new brand design, Merck in Darmstadt
(http://www.merck.de) will be easier to distinguish from the U.S. pharmaceutical
company, Merck & Co., Inc. in New Jersey (http://www.merck.com). The historic roots
of both companies are the same and began in Darmstadt, Germany, 30 kilometers
south of Frankfurt. This is where Friedrich Jacob Merck bought the Engel
Apothecary Shop in the year 1668 -- more than 333 years ago. In 1827, Heinrich
Emanuel Merck began the industrial-scale production of alkaloids, plant
extracts and other chemicals. (The "EMD" name stands for Emanuel Merck,
Darmstadt.) Following successful export to the U.S., a branch was founded in
New York in 1891. This branch was confiscated by the U.S. government during
World War I and in 1917 became the independent company Merck & Co., Inc. The
two are no longer commercially associated with each other but still share the
same name -- "Merck." Merck KGaA owns world-wide rights to the name except in
North America, where it uses EMD. Merck & Co., Inc., uses the name in North
America and MSD in the rest of the world.
Notes:
The new brand design for Merck and EMD can be downloaded from the Internet
(http://www.merck.de - click on Media/Investor Relations) in both color and black and
white. It also is available on CD-ROM, which can be ordered by calling our
Media Relations Office at +49 6151 72 5000.
Headquartered in Darmstadt/Germany, the Merck Group generated sales of EUR
6,7 billion in 2000 in the fields of Pharmaceuticals, Specialty Chemicals, Lab
Products and Lab Distribution. Founded in 1668, the Merck Group is represented
today by more than 200 companies in 52 countries and employs 34,300 people
worldwide. The company groups its operating activities under Merck KGaA, in
which E. Merck, as a general partner, holds the Merck family's 74 percent
equity interest in Merck KGaA. The Merck Group strongly believes that
promotion of its employees' self-initiative and self-responsibility,
application-oriented research and development and close customer relationships
in the markets are the keys to long-term corporate success.
SOURCE Merck KGaA
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Related links:
http://www.merck.de
http://www.merck.com
CONTACT:
Phyllis Carter of Merck KGaA,
+49-61-51-72-50-00
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