Abstract:

This paper deals with the case history of a corporate campaign for Hoechst U.K., the British subsidiary of the German chemical company, Hoechst A.G. Before 1975, corporate advertising for Hoechst U.K. had been an adaptation of an international campaign developed in Germany. It had been confined to the press medium and was conducted at a low level of expenditure. Research conducted in 1976 indicated that awareness of Hoechst U.K. in Great Britain was at an extremely low level and, because of this situation, the company had virtually no image. Given the situation, the Hoechst management decided to consider a campaign specifically designed for the circumstances of Great Britain rather than adapting the Germany campaign. In January 1976, Lintas London received a brief from Hoechst in which the main objective of the proposed campaign was described as 'to greatly improve company image and awareness'. Specifically it was required that the campaign should present the company as a dynamic component of the United Kingdom economy. Emphasis was to be placed on the fact that Hoechst U.K. was a British company with British staff engaged in the production and marketing of a wide range of high quality products.