IFF updates corporate image in time for the New Year

16-Dec-2015 - Last updated on 16-Dec-2015 at 17:13 GMT

IFF Global Headquarters in New York, NY (image via IFF)

This month the fragrance and flavors manufacturer rolled out a new look and new mission that puts innovation first and is meant to position the company as the go-to industry partner for profitable endeavors.

“The new brand will flex to include the Company’s recent acquisitions to highlight that they are part of the IFF family,” declares IFF in a media release.

Accordingly, the rebrand extends to Lucas Meyer Cosmetics, the active and functional ingredients company which IFF acquired this summer. Lucas Meyer is announcing the shift with a modest reference to the new logo colors: “Blue is the new Green.”

Sensory novelty

Summarizing the new brand position, Andreas Fibig, IFF CEO and chairman, explains, “our new brand provides a platform for telling the story of our innovative work and our smart, curious and passionate team members.”

The 126-year-old company takes great pride in being original and an early leader in new technologies. For instance, IFF partnered with Vapor Communications this October to develop the first digital fragrances.

“We believe the future of scent is in the digital world,” Nicolas Mirzayantz, group president of fragrances, told the press at the time. “The technologies developed by Vapor Communications will play an important role in our larger digital scent journey and build on IFF’s legacy of pioneering firsts,” he added, and Cosmetics Design reported.

Legacy meets posterity

The new branding language was clearly a work in progress even then. And is fully refined now: “IFF is a company that was built on a culture of exploration, and we have a long history of delivering groundbreaking firsts in the industry. Now more than ever, we want our outward face to reflect the values that we hold deep in our core,” says Fibig, in a media release announcing the rebrand.

The rebrand goes well beyond executive messaging. IFF has a new website, a refreshed purpose statement, is using new visual elements, and updated its company’s voice—“all of which will help to spotlight its vision, imagination and innovative focus,” declares the media release.

More partnerships?

The company will presumably be seeking new partnerships in and beyond 2016. The rebrand seems to have been executed with that in mind. “Becoming our customers’ partner of choice is to achieve commercial success for IFF and its customers over a sustained period of time. Branding is our first step towards achieving this goal,” says Fibig.

It’s something of a New-Year-new-you sort of resolution for the fragrance and flavors maker. “We believe our new brand will resonate with our own people, our customers, our partners and our shareholders,” he says, “and I see it as a driving force for our business success as we move forward in the future.”