When it was born, almost a century ago, in 1929, it gave itself a name very appropriate at the time: Cepsa, an acronym for Compañía Española de Petróleos SA. The oil industry was then one of the most flourishing and technologically advanced. having this name in the very name of the company gave it an extra touch of modernity, avant-garde and positive reputation. Cepsa was a private company, and the rival with which it wanted to compete in its sector, the semi-public company Campsa, born two years earlier, in 1927, also had oil in its first name: Campsa was the acronym for Compañía Alrendataria del Monopolio. of Petroleos SA
Today, almost a century later, the word oil He no longer has these positive attributes. In the current collective imagination, oil is more associated with pollution, environmental deterioration and climate change. Oil now taints even brands and reputations.
Last week, Cepsa announced that it had been renamed Moeve. The company’s CEO, Maarten Wetselaar, explained the reason for the change: “To tell the world that we are transforming into a different type of organization, Moeve, in which most of its profits come from sustainable activities at the end of this decade. . The new brand, Wetselaar added, “reflects our strong commitment to being a reference for the energy transition in Europe, particularly in the field of green hydrogen, 2G biofuels and ultra-fast electric mobility”. Sustainability, energy transition, green hydrogen… New terms with a positive reputation among today’s public are replacing those that are already hackneyed.
In the names of other major oil companies operating in Spain there are still traces of oil. Repsol was born as a brand in 1968 and initially referred to an engine lubricant manufactured by the company, which was then called Refinería de Petróleos de Escombreras. BP is the acronym of the old name, British Petroleum, created in the 1950s. It was born as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, in Iran, in 1908. Galp, of Portuguese origin, is the heiress of two companies created after the Carnation Revolution of 1974: Petrogal and Gas of Portugal.
Will one of them give up on the future? p oil whistleblower, to look for names more in line with the new values of society? It’s possible. Or not, you never know. Each brand has its own life, and the perceptions with which the public receives them, the attributes they transmit, evolve for better or for worse. And if there is one thing that absolutely all large companies do, it is to measure these perceptions, these attributes to the millimeter. But if one of them, Cepsa, has already moved, chances are the others are already wondering what to do.
