Completely transformed from what it was four years ago, the Bombardier company now wants to “modernize” its image. The business jet manufacturer presented a new logo to its employees on Wednesday, to breathe new life into its brand. A new logo with a tapered silhouette.
Bombardier was until now without a symbol. She gets one. Its name: the “ Mach ”, as the unit of measurement for the speed of sound. A nod to the Global 8000 aircraft model, which will be released next year, and whose speed flirts with the sound barrier.
“On our board of directors, we have a former senior executive from Nike. When I showed him the logo, he told me: “We had swoosh, what’s yours called?” », says Ève Laurier, vice-president of communications, marketing and public affairs at Bombardier.
In interview at Duty ahead of the unveiling, the woman who led the plan to overhaul Bombardier’s brand image explains the importance associated with it.
“We have made an incredible transformation in the last four years and when we looked at the polls, whether in Quebec but also in Canada, we saw that there was still a lot of confusion around the brand. A lot of people think we still do ski-doos,” she emphasizes.
However, Bombardier has given up on snowmobile production for a while. This former division was sold in 2003 to become a separate company: Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP).
A name that remains intact
Nearly two decades later, weighed down by financial problems, Bombardier slashed other divisions. In 2020, the company announced that it would definitively dispose of its commercial aircraft division – the famous C Series – by selling it to Airbus, then its railway division, sold to Alstom. Its third division, that of business jets, remained intact.
“We’ve never had a problem with trust outside of Canada, but here, there have been so many changes in recent years that we said to ourselves that it was really time to reaffirm who we are. is and what we do”, summarizes Mme Laurel.
To turn the page once and for all, the company even considered changing its name. “To be super transparent, all options were on the table,” admits the vice-president. “But ultimately, it became very clear that the family heritage of our brand is part of our DNA. So we crystallized it to our greatest happiness,” she adds.
All the same, the typography of the name changes. The raw and emblematic letters of the company name give way to finer letters, to evoke the luxury of the range of products offered. The capital B, for its part, is put forward to emphasize the family heritage of founder Joseph-Armand Bombardier.
A mishandled Quebec emblem
Mehran Ebrahimi, professor in the management department of UQAM, and director of the Aeronautics and Civil Aviation Observatory, welcomes the retention of the company’s name. “For a long time in Quebec, Bombardier was the symbol of a certain revenge of French Canadians in the field of high technology. It is an emblem of Quebec inc. which has, however, shown signs of weakness in recent years,” underlines the professor.
“People have developed a love-hate relationship with Bombardier. In 2017, people even took to the streets to contest the increase in executive compensation, at a time when Bombardier was in major difficulty,” adds the expert.
Today, Bombardier has started to regain favor with public opinion. Most recent report Reputation from the Léger survey firm, which ranks companies according to their reputation among Quebecers, bears witness to this. Out of 377 companies, Bombarder was established at 223e rank in the last year, when she “frequented the last ranks [du palmarès] just a few years ago,” notes Léger.
The company has also recovered financially, underlines Mr. Mehran, who highlights the company’s breakthrough in the defense sector, the increase in its international after-sales services, as well as its innovations as part of the “Ecojet” program to reduce the carbon footprint of its jets.
Hats off to the employees
The great transformation of recent years has been trying for employees, recognizes Ève Laurier whose arrival within the company, in May 2021, coincides with this period. But since then, the commitment has taken off with a bang, she says.
“Our employees have a great attachment, a great pride in working for Bombardier,” she expresses. The company’s new slogan, “The meeting of heart and know-how”, also pays tribute to the company’s teams.
The company will present its financial results for the first quarter of the current financial year on Thursday and hold its general meeting of shareholders.