Branding agency Depot WPF rebranded international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Hong Kong.
Situation
Long Sheng Pharma was founded in China in 1995 as a structural department of Chinese state-owned holding for the production and trade of chemical and pharmaceutical equipment, pharmaceutical raw materials and products of the petrochemical refining. For 20 years the company has evolved into an international concern with offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and Moscow, and hundreds of business partners in more than 40 countries.
Key activities of Long Sheng Pharma are delivery of pharmaceutical substances and finished pharmaceutical products, pharmaceutical machinery and packaging material from China, India, Korea for the enterprises of Russia, CIS countries, Europe, Latin America and Africa, as well as the services of registration of pharmaceutical substances and medical products.
As long as the company has worked basically in Asian region, the tone of its marketing comunications and identity successfully solved local business needs. However as the holding company enters new markets and expands the network of international partners there is a need to update the visual communications.
Task
The Depot WPF team task was to update the B2B-brand Long Sheng Pharma, build a balanced brand architecture and make communication complied with international status, authority and dynamics of the company.
"As you know, Long Sheng Pharma — a Chinese company, and its head offices are located in Beijing and Hong Kong. But our clients and governmental customers are mainly outside China, in Europe, in Latin America, Africa and Russia. Also a substantial part of Long Sheng Pharma business is concentrated in China, India and South-East Asia, — says Director of Marketing and Business Development Long Sheng Pharma Alexander Lahmotko. — The company’s mission clearly reflects the purpose of our cooperation with international markets: We are a business link connected Asia with the rest of the world. We wanted to express our mission in the new corporate identity, that should make a point of
our inter-temporal changes, modernity, technology. We wanted to be closer, more understandable to our customers, employees and those who works in offices outside of China. In some way, we had to move away from the traditional Chinese straightness graphical approach without losing authenticity. On the one hand, there was a need to emphasize the international aspects of our business, but stay clear to our partners in Asia".
We helped Chinese companies to look at themselves without reference to Asian roots, — says Creative Director of Depot WPF Alexander Zagorsky. — Long Sheng Pharma product quality was better than its visual presentation, that was particularly noticeable in the work with major Western partners. We have updated the brand of this innovative international company in accordance with its actual status. New identity still contains light, intelligent reference to Asia. But there is also one more thing that is particularly interesting in this project. Today, when Russia is actively looking towards Asia, we began looking at the world with the eyes of Asians".
Solution
The modern pharmaceutical company is a complex business in which all processes should be organized in clear and logical way. Everything shoud be tidily arranged and each operation is to be carried out at certain moment, because inaccuracy in this kind of business can have an impact on human health.
"New identity of Long Sheng Pharma reflects this rigid structure by the modular grid that connect all style elements. Usually designer make invisible guides, but, in our case, they are specifically demonstrated, " — says Art director of the project Alexander Voronkov.
The logo based on one of chemistry and medicine basic symbols — a schematic representation of the benzene ring. Spesific adaptation of this symbol lets viewers see it in a new light. Thus, there is a diplomatic reference to the Chinese culture. National context ceased to be the main part of the identity.
"There was lack of clarity, directness, even rigidity in previous identity. We wanted to implement these features in graphical codes that are common and can be understood by the pharmaceutical industry, — says Manager of marketing communications at Long Sheng Pharma Elena Melnik. — We would like the elements of the logo — grapheme and the company name — to become a balance between traditional Chinese culture and high-tech pharmaceutical industry".
