B2B Marketing

Azelis is Europe's fastest growing distributor of speciality chemicals, polymers and related services. It was formed to meet the different local needs of customers and suppliers across Europe and was established in 2001 through the merger of Novorchem in Italy and Arnaud in France.

Challenge

The Azelis business model is unusual and unprecedented in the chemicals distribution market; it has no headquarters and each of the constituent companies operates under its own company name with its own management team. This presented significant challenges to overcome: perceptions of it being a loose association of uncoordinated businesses with duplication of costs, conflicting objectives and unfocused management. We identified a number of communications objectives. Firstly, to help clearly define the Azelis brand and position it as the preferred route to market for suppliers. Secondly, to ensure that the value of the country brands supported rather than detracted from the value of the Azelis brand and finally to support Azelis to attract and grow new business.

Solution

We worked with the CEO and his senior team to define and articulate the Azelis brand values and key messages. Given the geographic spread of the Azelis Group, significant work was required to firstly engage employees and then to drive a common culture throughout the organisation. In parallel, an externally focused communications programme was devised and implemented comprising corporate and marketing communications materials and a pan-European PR campaign engaging trade and technical media across nine industry sectors. Work is ongoing.

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