GfaW turned 10 years old this year! A lot has happened since we were founded. Not only have we now successfully established four different seals, but we have also been able to support numerous companies on their path to holistic sustainability. In return, we learn a little more every year through direct exchange with our customers and partners when it comes to the practicability of our sustainability claims and regularly adapt our standards accordingly. Our 10th anniversary also meant the expiry of trademark protection for our seals. Consequently, we asked ourselves whether we should not use this opportunity to anchor our many years of development in the design of our seals. Because here, too, we have learned a lot. The following was particularly important to us:
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an approximation of the seals to the corporate identity of GfaW
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make the character of a genuine quality seal clearer
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implement a simpler, contemporary design
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better implementation of the labeling requirements
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the uniform design of the seals to signal that all our standards are about holistic sustainability
With these (not so easy to implement) requirements, we contacted the green sector – the sustainability agency with whom we have been working successfully for many years. As a result, we were sure that we would not be disappointed this time either. And we were proved right: After just a short time, we received the new design proposals, which impressed us so much that we made the planned relaunch one of the items on the agenda at our AG meeting.
There were critical discussions, but at the end of the day all the companies gave the green light, both for the project itself and for the design implementation.
In the second half of the year, we therefore had a lot to do: finalizing the new designs, improving the content of our standards and officially registering the new seals.
For many, many weeks we feverishly awaited the end of the opposition period by the EUIPO, because during this time it was decided whether all the work might not have been in vain after all.
But of course we wouldn’t be reporting on this now if we had failed at this point. So before the end of the year, we were able to give our customers the go-ahead to print the seals in the new design with immediate effect 😊
There will be a 2-year transition period for the next two years, partly for sustainability reasons. So don’t forget the old seals too quickly 😉
We hope that the relaunch meets our expectations and rewards us with even more courage for sustainable change in the corporate world.
