Story in brief:
We last reviewed Bausch & Lomb in 2004, when then-CEO Ron Zarrella used a ‘lightpath’ symbol to express the company’s newly narrower focus on eye care products (like contact lenses). Just six years later, we are seeing another reinvention of B+L. What happened?

Virtually everything is substantially new, including the company’s owners and leadership. In 2006, there was a spot of bother (having to do with fungal infections and "Re-Nu," a key eye-care product). The stock tanked, putting B&L in play. In 2007 it was bought by private investors Warburg Pincus, who soon replaced Zarrella with Gerald Ostrov (who had led Johnson & Johnson’s Worldwide Vision Care businesses). Two years of rebuilding followed in which Ostrov strengthened the company’s pharmaceutical and surgical offerings, in effect expanding upon its focus on lens-related eye care to become (more credibly now) an "eye health" company.

The latest rebranding, thus, can be seen both as a broadening of scope, and as a discrete but visible call for fresh attention and respect. As Ostrov put it, “Our new corporate identity reflects the ongoing evolution of Bausch + Lomb as we make strides in growing our business…”

Having recruited Carol Panzer (also from J&J) to head up "corporate advertising & market intelligence," Ostrov had charged her to review the company's entire brand portfolio. Carol retained strategist Fran Gormley, who had previously worked with her on J&J initiatives; and Fran, having worked with Paula Scher on a Citi project, then proposed addition of Pentagram to the brand team.

Looking at drugstore shelves, Scher was dismayed to see how cluttered and chaotic packaging has become, in eye care and other categories, pharmaceutical as well as OTC . She saw an opportunity to restore some design clarity reminiscent of the best work of the 50s and 60s (as for CIBA Geigy). So Pentagram responded with a comprehensive view of the potential redesign of Bausch & Lomb, brands and all, in support of a more coherent and impactful corporate whole. Redesign of the corporate brand itself thus was a logical extension (and organizing concept) of redesign of the category brands, and was embraced by management as a logical reflection of the company's evolution.

Appropriately, redesign of the "Re-Nu" brand would lead the way, and its launch would also require the reveal of the new corporate branding. Reportedly many more product and media redesigns are in the Pentagram pipeline, and new ads are coming, so we can expect to see a continuing reveal of this corporate rebranding throughout 2010.

For maximum flexibility and marketing utility, the new corporate identifier is configured both as a wordmark and as a supplementary initials-based "B+L" symbol – an unusual tactic. (While consumers know the company by its full name, the medical community is more likely to use the initials.) Pentagram "seriously redrew" the sturdy Nobel typeface to provide the cool, confident wordmark (and a secondary 'house font' as well). The previous ampersand was replaced with a '+' mark for its universal association with 'health,' as well as for distinctiveness.

B+L noted its rebranding publically in a January 6 press release (graciously crediting Pentagram), but with no other fanfare... no announcement ads or launch ceremony (employees had been pre-notified in November). According to Mike McDougall, VP Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, management prefers to see this corporate rebranding not as a tool for change but as a reflection of change already achieved, and not as a significant event but as a low-key (and low cost) evolutionary process.

C.E.O. - Gerald M. Ostrov
C.B.O. - Carol Panzer, VP Corporate Advertising & Market Intelligence
Identity strategy - Fran Gormley (Greenwich Marketing)
Identity design - Pentagram; Paula Scher, with Lisa Kitschenberg

First Impressions:
Strategy: You can have it both ways, stimulating as well as reflecting change. This institutional rebranding seems to me by any measure a watershed event in the company's renewal, and an occasion for celebration. It demonstrates the ability of an identity change, if not the admitted intent, to help redefine institutional direction, encourage global teamwork, and restore a more positive image trajectory, as well as to turbo-charge marketing initiatives. Its leaders, planners and designers alike merit recognition for a job well done.
Design: Note the significant change in design strategy, from FutureBrand's 2004 logo-dominated identity to Pentagram's more comprehensive visual-system approach, anchored in a more reserved and coolly institutional logo (with a European aura). This can enable a game-changing upgrade in market presence; its effectiveness over time, however, will depend more heavily on the company's commitment (and ability) to sustain the required breadth and depth of design quality.

Corporate Brand Matrix ratings:
0% structural, 100% strategic, 0% functional (est.)
(Full report in process.)

and

2004 by FutureBrand

Packages carry both wordmark and icon
(see more at Pentagram)

CEO Gerald Ostrov

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