We're very fond of our clients at sanofi-aventis. They're all lovely people and we produce some really nice work for them (via our chums at their agency Radical Departures). One project even won a major award. It's always a pleasure working with them.
Can I just have a go at their branding, though, which continually causes us grief?!
So, in 2004 the company was formed by the merger of French companies Sanofi-Synthélabo and Aventis Pharma. The resultant company was called Sanofi-Aventis. Sorry, sanofi aventis. No, sanofi-aventis. No capitals. And a hyphen.
Can you see what the problem might be? Apart from the simple infuriating fact that design agencies seem to get a kick out of ignoring the laws of English grammar and spelling, the main problem is - if the company name has no capitals, what do you do if a sentence begins with the name of the company? Do you use a capital letter? To avoid this problem, don't start a sentence with the company name is the line we've been given. So, the company's own name is so broken that it can't be used at the beginning of sentences! What kind of insanity is that?!
Oh, and by the way, the sanofi-aventis logo has no hyphen. Don't get me started.
Stu ;-)
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