HENKEL REBRANDING ‘SOD’

Henkel Soad Project is One of 2013 REBRAND 100® Winners. Henkel Sod is a global company operating worldwide with leading brands and technologies in three primary business sectors: Laundry & Home Care, Cosmetics/Toiletries and Adhesive Technologies. Henkel purchased Sod, the detergent and home care division of “Shemen Industries” (“Shemen Industries” is one of the cornerstones of Israel’s manufacturing industry, going back to 1924).  The Sod brand and its products are some of Israel’s strongest and most familiar brands and have accompanied Israelis for almost a century.

In Israel, Henkel uniquely markets international brands alongside local brands that are developed and manufactured locally.
Founded in 1876, Henkel holds a leading market position globally, both in the consumer and industrial businesses and owns some of the most famous brands in category worldwide. The company employs more than 47,000 employees worldwide and counts among the most internationally aligned German-based companies in the global marketplace.

THE CHALLENGE

Henkel turned to Peddy Mergui Talking Brands with the goal of building an umbrella brand for Sod, its detergent and home care division. A brand that should be engaging, memorable, and identifiable and uniquely unifies the different product lines in the category.

Shouldering the task, our main challenge was to conceptualize Sod’s product innovation, freshness and desirability. In addition, we had to build a clear brand language without losing Sod’s exceptional position in the Israeli consumer’s mind. Sod is considered one of the well-known, loved and remembered brands in Israel.

THE SOLUTION

Our solution was very much tied to Sod’s brand strategy, developed by Henkel’s marketing department. Sod adopted a new strategy and parted with its old tagline “The secret of simple cleanliness”. The renewed tagline, “The secret is with the fragrance” served as our guiding line and starting point. This dramatic transition in strategy, one that sentimentally connects users with the product, based on the product’s smell and the emotion it evokes, is fundamentally different that the previous approach that was built around the concepts of efficiency and practicality. We felt that we have something strong to work with, and we approached the brand with all the responsibility and care it warranted.

We started by mapping the different needs of the category. Then we designed a matrix comprising three parts and placed the Sod logo in the center.  In the upper section, we emphasized themes derived from”Nature” to better demonstrate the meaning of “The secret is with the fragrance” (not unlike food packaging design, where a serving suggesting image emphasizes the dish’s appeal).

At the lower part of the matrix we opted to emphasize the technology behind the product, and the effectiveness of its active ingredients.

At this point we decided to look at the company’s logo. We chose to build a dynamic logo, fresh, with clean, smooth lines, rising upwards … We clearly felt that the logo’s original red color should not be changed, this in order to preserve the brand’s familiarity and customers’ attachment to it. Still, we chose to give the logo a more sensual red reflecting a stronger sense of passion.

During the project lifecycle, we designed over 55 products in five different categories. We were extremely moved when Henkel headquarters in Germany shared their satisfaction with us and told us that we succeeded to “create and build one of the clearer, most explicit and identifiable umbrella brands throughout the region”. We continue to work with Sod and build the brand line also for additional categories and further develop it as one of the more prominent brands in Israel.