Expert praises Novo’s rebrand as solid and well executed

Novo Nordisk is now Novo, with a redesigned name and logo that a communications adviser has described as “good, solid work”, DR reports.

Sune Bang, an independent communications adviser with more than 30 years of industry experience, said the changes were not a revolution but a “classic tightening” and simplification of the pharmaceutical company’s visual identity.

The company has also introduced the slogan “Lasting health starts now”, which means “Varig sundhed begynder nu” in Danish. Bang said the slogan signals a new reality for the market.

Novo bull looks forward

The Apis bull in the logo, which symbolises fertility and strength in Egyptian mythology, now has a shorter tail and fewer colours. Its most noticeable change is that it faces forward in the direction of reading.

Bang interpreted the change as a sign that Novo wants to focus on future opportunities in the new market rather than look back at its former market share in diabetes medicine.

“It expresses some of the commercialisation that Novo is currently undergoing,” Bang said. He added that the company was becoming more of a brand than a business because it would increasingly sell directly to consumers, rather than only to the healthcare industry.

The Apis bull, a sacred animal in ancient Egypt, has been part of Novo’s logo since 1923.

Although “Nordisk” has been removed from the company’s name, Bang said Novo had retained its identity. He also said dropping the word could be interpreted as an accommodation to the United States, where “Nordisk” may not be especially strong in the global market.

Part of a broader shift

Bang said many large companies had overhauled their brands as consumers’ attention spans became shorter. He cited Hennes and Mauritz becoming H&M and Pepsi Cola becoming Pepsi, and noted that Novo’s biggest competitor, Eli Lilly, uses Lilly as its brand name.

The visual changes may also reflect an internal transformation, he said, as chief executive Mike Doustdar seeks to change how the company operates organisationally, financially and commercially.

Søren Løntoft Hansen, a senior analyst covering Novo for AL Sydbank, agreed that the shift was significant because the obesity market is more consumer-driven than the traditional medicines market. Patients now go to doctors themselves and ask for treatment, whereas previously the process worked in the opposite direction, he told Ritzau.