AkzoNobel has announced the launch of a new corporate brand. Symbolizing the company’s fundamental transformation and determination to lead change, it embodies AkzoNobel’s clear ambitions for the future and a passionate commitment to deliver Tomorrow’s Answers Today.

As well as a subtle name change and a revitalized, powerful logo, a new brand architecture has also been introduced, along with updated company values and a new brand philosophy. Together it creates one, distinctive global brand and supports AkzoNobel’s highly focused strategic vision.

“This is the new AkzoNobel. We are one company, with a powerful new global brand that will propel us into a new era of competitiveness and opportunity,” says CEO Hans Wijers. “Our new brand concept typifies our desire to create new ideas. To stay one step ahead and continually seek out new and better answers for our customers. It means we think about the future, but we act in the present.”

Wijers adds that the introduction of Tomorrow’s Answers Today is central to the new brand. “It is the heartbeat of the transformed AkzoNobel. It drives our creativity, our product development and lies at the core of all our activities. It will focus our efforts on further strengthening our position as being the world’s largest paints and coatings producer and one of the leading global suppliers of specialty chemicals.

“What does that concept mean exactly? It means we believe that what is good for our customers today is not necessarily good enough for them tomorrow. So that constant search for answers is what drives us. It focuses the whole company and inspires us to achieve great things for all our stakeholders, and for ourselves.”

The decision to retain AkzoNobel as the company name was a strategic one — based on extensive research —which indicated that the name commanded too much value, heritage and respect for it to be discarded. Therefore, ICI will be discontinued as a corporate name.

For more information, visit www.akzonobel.com/news/pressreleases/2008/akzonobel_launches_new_brand_strategy.aspx .