Pentagram to prepare Michelin for road test

Pentagram has won the task of helping to turn Michelin into a global lifestyle and consumer products brand.

Pentagram has won the task of helping to turn Michelin into a global lifestyle and consumer products brand.

It has been appointed by Michelin Lifestyle and The Licencing Company, which was itself appointed to develop a brand extensions programme last June, to create a new branding system for Michelin.

The process will involve design, art direction and production of comprehensive style guides. Pentagram will begin work immediately.

Michelin is best known for tyres, tourism (through the Michelin maps and guides) and gastronomy (through the Michelin star system). Its ambition is to create a global consumer products brand using the brand name and the Michelin man icon, which is called Bibendum.

“The Michelin brand name is an asset in itself,” says Patrick Lepercq, director of Michelin’s brand extension initiative.

Pentagram partner John Rushworth says: “This is an extraordinary opportunity. There is so much leverage in the Michelin brand, from front-end technology to tourism to the heritage of Bibendum.

Bibendum was recently voted the top corporate logo of all time by a survey conducted by the Financial Times.

Michelin’s move mirrors the reinvention and extension of brands such as Caterpillar, which has gone from being a manufacturer of heavy-duty construction plant to a casual clothes and footwear retail brand.

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