Novo Nordisk will market itself under the single name Novo, adopt the slogan “Lasting Health Starts Now” and turn its Apis bull logo to face right.
The Danish pharmaceutical company confirmed the rebrand to Ritzau, as DR reports. Employees at the company, which makes the weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, were to be informed of the changes on Monday.
The new slogan is in English and reads “Lasting Health Starts Now”. According to material distributed via Ritzau, the wording frames lasting health as something that begins today through visible, incremental progress.
The company is also adjusting its logo. The Apis bull, an Egyptian god symbolizing fertility and strength, will in future look to the right. The bull has been part of the logo since the company’s beginning and will remain there.
The material distributed via Ritzau states that Novo Nordisk A/S remains the legal name of the group globally. The shorter name applies to how the company presents and markets itself.
Employee survey behind the changes
Chief Executive Mike Doustdar told Ritzau that much remains as it was at the more than 100 year old pharmaceutical company. He said the culture rests on a heritage that he and his colleagues care about preserving, and that the company should not be afraid to reinvent itself, as it has done several times before.
Per DR, the changes follow a large survey among the company’s 67,000 employees. Staff answered questions about how they perceive Novo as a company and which qualities it lacks or could drop.
Doustdar said the result is not only an expression of how he or the rest of the management view the company. According to him, employees also expressed a wish that the company move in a better direction while holding on to its history.
He has been chief executive for a little over a year and has worked for the company for almost 35 years. DR notes that the 10 sentences currently describing how employees should act have been rewritten into four principles.
Strategy to be presented in London
The company has also revised its business strategy. What that revision involves will be presented at its capital markets day in London on September 21, according to DR.
Novo Nordisk is one of the largest listed companies in Denmark and a frequent subject of coverage on Danish stock markets. Its treatments include Ozempic and Wegovy.
