Sodexho Alliance (PARIS:SW) (OTCBB:SDXAY) unveiled a new brand
identity at its Shareholders´ Meeting held today in Paris. As the
reference for Quality of Life services, the Group is renewing and
revitalizing its brand to reinforce its single global brand strategy
and support its transformation from a Foodservices to a services
company. Sodexho Alliance has been renamed Sodexo and a more
contemporary, dynamic visual identity will be deployed on the 29,000
sites where the Group operates worldwide supported by a three-year
action plan.
"The new visual identity represents a key stage in our
development," said Sodexo CEO, Michel Landel,. "This evolution of our
brand is a major step in the life of our company, designed to make
Sodexo´s brand a reference, enhancing its visibility and its value and
helping us grow and progress toward our shared vision to become the
premier global outsourcing expert in Quality of Life services."
"Sodexo´s single, global brand is part of our DNA," said Clodine
Pincemin, Sodexo´s Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications.
"The Sodexo brand represents the promise of quality, innovation and
continuous improvement, that the highly professional skills and
expertise of our teams enable us to deliver to our clients and
customers. In modernizing our brand and increasing its impact, we want
to enhance the value of the brand for the benefit of all of our
stakeholders. This project was launched more than one year ago by a
working group comprised of communications professionals from our major
regions and business activities. To ensure successful deployment, we
will closely manage the deployment process relying on Sodexo´s 342,000
employees around the world as our ambassadors of the brand and its
values."
A new global image, a streamlined, dynamic brand
Three major changes have been made as part of the brand evolution:
-- The word "Alliance" has been dropped from the company´s legal
name to accelerate the deployment of Sodexo´s single global
brand strategy throughout its operations, business segments
and host countries.
-- The letter "h" has been deleted from the name to support the
Group´s strategic transformation into a Services company.
Because the "h" is often associated with the hotel and
foodservices business, particularly in Europe, the change
emphasizes the Group´s accelerating development in Facilities
Management services. In addition to increasing the brand´s
scope and impact, the simpler, more dynamic name has been
found to be easier to pronounce and spell for people around
the world.
-- The logo has been streamlined and given a more contemporary
graphic design that rejuvenates and revitalizes the brand. The
typography is simpler, livelier and more compact. The star,
long part of the Group´s visual identity, has been transformed
from five stars to one. The single star symbolizes the
performance and energy of Sodexo teams directed toward a
common objective. This star differs from other stars, just as
Sodexo stands out from its competitors. Finally, the bar of
the letter "x" is curved, like a smile--a red streak reaching
upwards toward the Sodexo star and a symbol of the countless
gestures of attention performed daily by Sodexo teams to "make
every day a better day."
SODEXHO ALLIANCE, founded in 1966 by Pierre Bellon, a world leader
in Food and Facilities Management services in most markets, with more
than 342,000 employees on 29,000 sites in 80 countries. For Fiscal
2007, which closed August 31, 2007, SODEXHO ALLIANCE had revenues of
13.4 billion euro. Listed on Euronext Paris, the Group´s current
market capitalization today was more than 6.0 billion euro.
