EMD Millipore Receives 2012 REBRAND™ 100 Global Award

• Company earns distinction REBRAND™ award for re-branding initiative

April 16, 2012, Billerica, MA — EMD Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has been named one of the world’s most effective rebrands in the 8th annual 2012 REBRAND™ 100 Global awards. This recognition is the highest achievement for excellence in brand repositioning, and is the first and most-respected global program of its kind.  The goal of EMD Millipore’s rebrand initiative was to support strategic branding during the merger and to define the brand’s positioning, vision, mission and promise that combines the best of both organizations.

“Achieving the REBRAND™ distinction reinforces the commitment of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and EMD Millipore to solidify the strengths of two well-respected brands to create a new identity that conveys the stronger combined force we now have to support our customers,” said Amanda Turton, Vice President, Communications, EMD Millipore.  “We are proud that EMD Millipore has received the REBRAND™ 100 Global award, alongside such prestigious companies as Cisco and UBS.  Our brand is an important symbol of our commitment to pioneering innovation, deep customer collaborations and trusted reliability.”

In June 2010, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a pharmaceutical and chemical company based in Darmstadt, Germany, acquired Millipore Corporation, a leading organization with global headquarters in Billerica, Massachusetts, that develops and supplies tools and technologies to the life science industry. This powerful combination represents the best of both organizations, resulting in EMD Millipore offering the broadest range of products, technologies and services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and academic professionals to optimize laboratory productivity and manufacturing processes.

Each year, a multidisciplinary mix of industry experts convenes to jury this annual competition.  Before and after representations of the transformed work with written summaries are reviewed to select winners.  Some review criteria ensure entries:

• had a clear evolution or transformation in meeting strategic objectives;
• exceeded expectations and/or incorporated an element of surprise;
• spurred an emotional connection in the target audience; and
• were intelligently executed and capable of implementation across media

A rebrand is defined as the repositioning, revitalizing, restructuring, or redesign of some or all of an existing brand’s assets to address strategic goals. Rebrands launched anywhere in the world between January 2009 and September 2011 were eligible.  Among these were enterprise-wide efforts, changes in brand components, brand extensions, and brand implementation initiatives.

The goal of the EMD Millipore rebrand project was to support strategic branding during the merger and define the brand’s positioning, vision, mission and promise.  After which, the new look for the EMD Millipore brand was developed.  All brand elements, including the logo, design principles, typography and imagery were examined.  The focus was on conveying the new, powerful brand, without compromise.  EMD Millipore implemented the new look throughout all of the company’s sites and countries.  The organization developed style guides, messaging, in-house training and a brand hotline to provide a seamless transition to all employees to understand the standard and usage of the new global brand.

The 2012 winners represented over 28 countries and 34 industries.  They ranged from One Foundation from Global Ethics Ltd, Pfizer, National Music Centre of Canada, and Cisco. In addition to in-house teams, small agencies, and representatives of multinational corporations and non-profits, competing firms included Interbrand, SNK, Lippincott, Siegel+Gale, and Brandient.

About EMD Millipore
EMD Millipore is the Life Science division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, offers a broad range of innovative, performance products, services and business relationships that enable our customers' success in research, development and production of biotech and pharmaceutical drug therapies. Through dedicated collaboration on new scientific and engineering insights, and as one of the top three R&D investors in the Life Science Tools industry, EMD Millipore serves as a strategic partner to customers and helps advance the promise of life science.

Headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, the division has around 10,000 employees, operations in 67 countries and 2011 revenues of EUR 2.4 billion. 

About REBRAND™ and the REBRAND® 100 Global Awards
REBRAND™ is the world’s leading resource for effective brand transformations.  The REBRAND 100® Global Award is the first and most respected recognition for repositioned brands.  Featured in such media as The Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, Bloomberg Businessweek, various magazines and books, the annual competition has entry deadlines in late September.  The full 2012 winners showcase is at www.rebrand.com.