Maersk A P Moller | Online Branding

Maersk
off course
by VG
February 24, 2003

Type www.maersk.com into your browser and within a few seconds you will be greeted with a warm "Welcome to the A.P. Moller Group." A.P. Moller, a Copenhagen-based company, is an international shipping group with a fleet of over 250 vessels, including container vessels, tankers, car carriers, supply ships, special vessels and drilling rigs.

As a corporate website, Maersk.com is designed nicely. The main issue is that of identity. The site informs you about the A.P. Moller Group, which is better known under the brand Maersk, but was founded as Svendborg, which deserves the following clarification posted on the site: "While the A.P. Moller Group is named after its founder A.P. Moller, the Maersk name originates from A.P. Moller's grandmother, Kiersten Pedersdatter Maersk, and can be traced back to the beginning of the 16th century. Today, the Maersk name is used as a part of the trading/company name by several business units in the A.P. Moller Group, conveying the special kinship that ties together the diverse range of activities." This is a rather confusing approach to branding.

Nonetheless, the website is a clean, well-organized design, which could successfully promote a corporate image (if that corporate image wasn't so confusing). The front page of this bilingual site is a well-integrated hybrid HTML and Flash design, with the navigation menu on the top. In Flash, one-inch tall squares pop on and off, framing pictures and descriptions of Maersk's numerous activities. Conceptually, it is the same layout used throughout the site.

On the click of a button, the Flash animation turns into an audio-visual presentation. It is nicely delivered, but blandly institutional and again somewhat confusing from a brand strategy viewpoint.

*Due to the constantly changing environment of websites, some reviews may no longer reflect the current website for this brand.


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