Vale

New:  Logo, and communicative name truncation
(The legal name is unchanged)

Launched:  November 29, 2007

Story in brief:
You never heard of CVRD either, did you? It is Brazil's  largest company. And by acquiring Canada's Inco in 2006, it became the world's second largest mining company (to BHP Billiton).  Vale's rebranding  is intended to break it out of anonymity,  instantly to become a proudly "a gigantic Brazilian company present everywhere," in the CEO's words.  Other goals were to replace the somewhat brutal, almost militaristic look of a once state-owned company with a more open public personality, and "to bring together all employees in one family."

To most of us, it looks like a name change; "Vale" reads like the English word that it is (for valley), used creatively as a name. But in parts of Brazil, 'Vale' was already the everyday communicative name of "Companhia Vale do Rio Doce" which elsewhere in Brazil, and in the U.S. and Asia, was called CVRD and in Europe, was known as Rio Doce.  Clearly this was dysfunctional branding, and CEO Roger Agnelli fixed it.

The beautifully simple symbol, a "V" monogram, evokes a landscape, and Brazil in its colors.  Agnelli sees in it a heart, mining and geographic elements, the green of nature and the gold of wealth.

Asked how much this cost, Agnelli  said both "too much" and "cheap," considering the opportunity "to unify the company, to give this new face to its vision, to give a name that can be used as the last name of all employees... we are investing in pride, motivation, vision. It is a huge investment."

Credits:
C.E.O. - Roger Agnelli
Exec. Dir. Corp. Affairs - Tito Martins
Positioning, naming counsel and design - A joint effort of Cauduro Martino  (Sao Paolo) and  Lippincott NY

First Impressions:
Excellent name decision, and design execution; it has all the marks of a transformative rebranding, both internally and to the world. In fact, I rate it the best use of rebranding I have seen, by a corporate leader, in 2007.

Other Comments:
A minor concern:  In Brazil and elsewhere Vale rhymes with "valley" (the preferred pronunciation) or "valet"  while in English it rhymes with "veil."  (But if that disparity is recognized, it can be lived with.)

Martien Heijmink, among others, sees a close match (very close) to the appealing colors of ABN Amro.   Resemblance noted, but not a major issue; 
I don't think it’s reasonable to claim ownership of colors, beyond one's market category.