Finding the Right Chemistry

Merging into an industry leader

From its base in Rotterdam, Basell Polyolefins was a giant in the polymers industry—the world’s largest producer of polypropylene and polyolefin products, to be specific.

Siegel+Gale had successfully partnered with Basell Polyolefins to design a website that, first and foremost, gives customers easy access to critical technical information. The new site also creates an appealing and intuitive experience for a broader audience, cross-selling products to both customers and new prospects, and providing essential information about the company to the external community, including distributors, OEMs, partners, analysts and the media.

Halfway across the world in Houston, Lyondell Chemical Company was one of the largest manufacturers of chemicals, plastics and fuels in the United States.

When the two companies merged, they would become one of the world’s largest plastics, chemical and refining companies.

Siegel+Gale’s next challenge: forging an identity for this new powerhouse that captured the legacies of both companies as well as the current strengths of the integrated and balanced portfolio of products.

The essentials of expertise

We crafted a positioning, “Experts in Essential Materials,” which captures the intersection of the two companies’ complementary offerings. Our straightforward name—LyondellBasell—retains the brand equity of each legacy company and reinforces the strength of the merged organization. The underlying message is clear: no longer simply a commodity-based producer, the new LyondellBasell delivers essential materials to its customers with exceptional value; in turn, those essentials are used to make innumerable products stronger, safer, better.

The clean, confident logo and visual system translate the strategic platform into the language of experiences across the spectrum of communications—including, notably, the website.

Integrated communications lead the way

Internally, the new identity helped to harmonize LyondellBasell’s cultural differences by focusing on the common truth. Externally, the redesigned website proved to be a critical element of the company’s global communications strategy. According to Mark Mendelson, Head of LyondellBasell’s Business Communications: “Better meeting the needs of our customers and other key audiences was our top priority for the redesign. As our global business continues to grow, we must communicate in a relevant and meaningful way.”