FAQ: Legacy Monsanto Transition

Yes, but changes should be made when practical. If there are still high amounts of materials/packaging or the scope of all changes will be costly, discuss or address this topic with your regional marketing leadership. Please act wisely, it is recommended to update brands when new advertising materials are produced.

No. Regional and country marketing teams will be responsible for the implementation of the new branding guidelines. In case of questions, please contact global branding/marketing communication or global digital for help.

While our company is Bayer, the Monsanto legal entity structure remains in place until the legal entity consolidation process is completed. Depending on the country, this process may take up to several years.

Until the completion of consolidation is communicated, no changes should be made to legal entity names on product registrations, permits, agreements or other legal documents etc. When these legal entity changes are complete, all employees of the legal entity will be notified along with instructions and guidance on necessary changes.

However, trademark legals and other legal requirements will be updated and include the Bayer name. As always, it is important that all materials are reviewed by your country/region legal or trademark counsel to ensure compliance with updated wording and legals.

As always, check with your region/country legal and trademark counsel to review how this should be done.

All Bayer employees should use the Bayer e-mail signature, unless they are customer-facing for one of the Level 5 seed or Climate FieldView brands. See Bayer Identity Net Guidelines.

Comprehensive guidelines for Social Media can be found in the Digital Guide in the Identity Net.

All Level 1 – 4 brands can and mostly should be listed in a product overview of the Customer Website. To increase cross-selling opportunities for a diligent and consistent User Experience, interlinking from Customer Websites to product microsites should be offered.

Best practice for interlinkage is to embed branded logos and teaser content on a landing page within the Customer Website. The landing page provides descriptive content and navigates customers, if desired, to the individual brand websites or bundled product brands microsites outside of the combined portfolio Customer Websites.

Individual brand websites or bundled product brands microsites for commercial brands are permitted but not mandatory.

Please act wisely, we recommend you to update your banners when new banner or advertising material needs to be produced. As there is a high amount of advertising material, please address or discuss this topic with your regional marketing leadership.

All Level 1 herbicide brands will be displayed with the appropriate Bayer Cross endorser brand. Herbicides displayed with a Bayer Brand Tag are part of the Crop Science combined portfolio on Customer Websites and must follow the Customer Website UX Design Guidelines.

Guidelines for all Level 1 brands can be found on the Identity Net Digital Marketing Customer Website.

Yes. As they belong to our portfolio, they are part of the ‘brand list’ under the Bayer Cross.

For all Level 1 brands, you will find guidelines on the Identity Net Digital Marketing Customer Website.

Guidelines for digital Brand Tag usage can be found on the Identity Net Digital Product Branding website.

Please act wisely, we recommend you to update your websites as soon as their life cycle is over and new Level 1 websites need to be developed. As there can be many different websites, please discuss or address this topic with your regional marketing leadership.

Guidelines for Level 1 digital ads can be found on the Identity Net under the chapter “Advertisements, Poster and Brochures” as well as “Roll-up Displays and Billboards”.

Please act wisely, we recommend you to update your digital ads when new digital advertisements or advertising material need to be produced. As there is a high amount of digital advertising material, please address or discuss this topic with your regional marketing leadership.

This depends on the objectives of the campaign. Using “Bayer” in copy for Level 1 brands is recommended, but not always mandatory. If the word “Bayer” helps create more relevant traffic or helps uplift the campaign, then it can be included.

Bayer Brand Tags for all “Level 1” herbicides are being created by global brand marketing and will be available on the MarCom Intranet website and ImageBank.

No, all Crop Science legacy brands will remain as created. Also Arize^® will keep its brand design for reasons of consistency and continuity.

“Level 1” herbicides with the Bayer Brand Tag may be included individually or as part of a group of Bayer Crop Science brands. The Bayer Cross is part of these herbicides’ Brand Tags.

Yes. As they belong to our portfolio, they are part of the ‘brand list’ under the Bayer Cross.

For all Level 1 brands, the new Brand Tag will be part of the new label design. “How to apply” guidelines can be found on the Identity Net under the chapter Basic Packaging Design Elements.

There are other changes coming that will include legal entity change, trademarks etc. The inclusion of the new label design (Level 1) is recommended with the next production/printing cycle to support a consistent look and feel across all touchpoints.

For all Level 1 Crop Protection products, “Smartline” packaging is a good option. A final decision on this question will be made by the global packaging team.

Bayer Level 2 seed brands (DEKALB^®, Asgrow^®, Deltapine^®, Seminis^®, De Ruiter^®) can appear as individual brand sites or as bundled product brands microsites by promoting the value of the brands. Since the product brand is at center stage, the brand logo should appear in the prominent left side of the naming area, followed by the Bayer Cross on the right side in the header.

Individual seed brand websites or bundled product brands microsites for prominent endorsed global seed commercial brands are permitted but not mandatory.

If Level 2 seed brands are part of the Crop Science portfolio on combined Customer Websites, the UX Design Guidelines must be applied. Best practice for interlinkage is to embed branded logos and teaser content on a landing page within the Customer Website.

The landing page provides descriptive content and navigates customers to the individual brand websites or bundled product brands microsites outside of the combined portfolio Customer Websites, if desired.

More information can be found on the Identity Net Digital Marketing Customer Website.

Yes. As they belong to our portfolio, they are part of the ‘brand list’, endorsed with the Bayer Cross. However, some of our most valuable seed brands are in the Level 2 category and a separate brand website might be required in addition.

The decision about integrating Level 2 brands into the overall Crop Science Customer Website versus a separate brand website should be taken by the regional marketing teams. A decision tree is provided to help facilitate this action.

For all Level 2 brands you will find guidelines on the Identity Net Digital Product Branding Website.

Please act wisely, we recommend you to update your digital ads when new digital advertisements or advertising material need to be produced. As there is a high amount of digital advertising material, please address or discuss this topic with your regional marketing leadership.

The changes for Level 2 brand websites will be minor. However, please act wisely, we recommend you to update your websites as soon as their life cycle is over and a new brand website needs to be developed. As there is a high amount of websites, please address or discuss this topic with your regional marketing leadership.

Guidelines for digital ads can be found on the Identity Net under the chapter “Advertisements, Poster and Brochures” as well as “Roll-up Displays and Billboards”.

More direction on applying the new branding guidelines for Level 2 digital ads can be found on the Identity Net under the chapter “Advertisements, Poster and Brochures” as well as “Roll-up Displays and Billboards”.

The Bayer Cross will appear on advertising for Level 2 seed brands, even if the seed brand appears with trait brands.

If shown, the trait brand logo appears as usual with no changes. Logos for trait brands are Level 5 and do not carry a Bayer Cross endorser.

Example: While the VT3PRO^® trait logo does not have a Bayer Cross endorser added to it, this Level 2 seed brand is the “lead” brand if the trait logo is featured within a DEKALB^® advertisement, and the Bayer Cross is part of the material (whether website, advertisement, event, brochure etc.).

There are other changes coming that will include legal entity change, trademarks etc. The inclusion of the new label design (Level 1) and the Bayer Cross or Bayer logotype (Levels 2 and 3) is recommended with the next production/printing cycle to support a consistent look and feel across all touchpoints.

If the seed brand is Level 2, you can start immediately. The inclusion of the Bayer Cross on the front side and Bayer logotype on the back label for Level 2 seed brands is recommended with the next production/printing cycle to support a consistent look and feel across all customer and marketing touchpoints.

In some countries, the legal entity change may require a further change of the legal information in the future – but it is not recommended to wait unless there is significant cost reason for this.

It is important that seed brand packaging is consistent with all other marketing touchpoints that will include the Bayer Cross and Bayer logotype endorsement as defined.

Only “Level 2” seed brands (DEKALB^®, Asgrow^®, Deltapine^®, Seminis^®, De Ruiter^®) can appear at events featuring an overall group of Bayer Crop Science brands, which will also include the Bayer Cross.

Other non-endorsed seed brands should not appear in overall Bayer Crop Science booths or displays. This is an important point for marketing teams in multi-brand markets (U.S., Brazil, Argentina and Mexico), where Bayer markets seed for one crop under multiple brands.

Care should be taken to understand the new brand guidelines and determine which limitations exist on which brands, and how this impacts the seed brands that can appear as part of a portfolio of products under the Bayer master brand and in Bayer-branded exhibits.

NOTE: In Mexico only, a decision is still pending on which seed brand will receive the Bayer endorser. At this time, neither Asgrow^® nor DEKALB^® will show the Bayer Cross endorser and should remain in separate exhibits.

Yes. As they belong to our portfolio, they are part of the ‘brand list’ under the Bayer Cross.

Branded dicamba herbicides (Xtendimax^®, Xtendicam^® and Dicamax^®) may be promoted as part of an Xtend Crop System family with a Bayer Cross. All dicamba brands may be listed in a product overview of combined Customer Websites. To increase cross-selling opportunities for a diligent and consistent User Experience, interlinking from Customer Websites to product microsites should be offered.

While trait brands are not endorsed with the Bayer Cross when licensed out to other companies in the industry, trait brand marketing and websites by Crop Science will include a Level 3 Bayer Cross endorser as the company brand behind the trait brand sponsoring the message.

Individual brand websites or bundled product brands microsites for commercial brands are permitted but not mandatory.

Yes. As they belong to our portfolio, they are part of the ‘brand list’ under the Bayer Cross. The only brands that would not be included are the Level 5 seed brands like Agroeste^®, Sementes Agroceres^® etc.

Please act wisely, we recommend you to update your digital ads when new digital advertisements or advertising material need to be produced. As there is a high amount of digital advertising material, please address or discuss this topic with your regional marketing leadership.

There are other changes coming that will include legal entity change, trademarks etc. The inclusion of the Bayer Cross on the front and the Bayer logotype on the back label for Level 3 dicamba brands is recommended with the next production/printing cycle to support a consistent look and feel across all customer and marketing touchpoints.

No. For level 3 products, ‘Smartline packaging’ is not an option.

Yes. As they belong to our portfolio, they are part of the ‘brand list’ under the Bayer Cross. The only brands that would not be included are the Level 5 seed brands like Agroeste^®, Sementes Agroceres^® etc.

Branded glyphosate herbicides (Roundup^® brands, RT^® brands, Faena^® brands) can be promoted as individual brand websites or bundled product brands microsites without any Bayer-endorsed branding.

However, all Level 1 – 4 portfolio brands can and should be listed in a combined Customer Website product overview. To increase cross-selling opportunities for a diligent and consistent User Experience, interlinking from Customer Websites to product microsites should be offered. Individual brand websites or bundled product brands microsites for commercial brands are permitted but not mandatory.

Yes. As they belong to our portfolio, they are part of the ‘brand list’ under the Bayer Cross. The only brands that would not be included are the Level 5 seed brands like Agroeste^®, Sementes Agroceres^® etc.

Yes. As they belong to our portfolio, they are part of the ‘brand list’ under the Bayer Cross. The only brands that would not be included are the Level 5 brands like Agroeste^®, Sementes Agroceres^® etc.

No Bayer Cross should be used on white- or private-label Crop Protection brands. White-label and private-label brands usually require only legally necessary producer and/or registration owner. Their naming and positioning is not part of the Bayer Crop Science portfolio. They do not include the Bayer Cross.

No. For Level 4 Roundup^® or other branded glyphosate products, ‘Smartline packaging’ is not an option.

The Monsanto logo will have to disappear on packaging. The established Roundup^® look and feel will be retained as part of the global brand standard. Only a smaller-sized Bayer Cross logo will be on packaging. See Level 4 guidelines for Roundup^® brands.

Yes. As they belong to our portfolio, they are part of the ‘brand list’ under the Bayer Cross. The only brands that would not be included are the Level 5 seed brands like Agroeste^®, Sementes Agroceres^® etc.

It depends. If it is a presentation focused only on Roundup^® or other branded glyphosate, use the commercial brand PowerPoint template, without the Bayer Cross endorser.

If Roundup^® is part of an entire Crop Science portfolio presentation that features Roundup^® or other branded glyphosate as one of the portfolio, it should have a Bayer template and Bayer Cross endorser.

Level 5 product brands may be promoted on individual brand websites or bundled product brands microsites, as long as they do not carry Bayer branding or the Bayer Cross. Level 5 product brands that are multiple/third party brands will not be included in the combined portfolio of the Customer Website and will not be available on Customer Website product overviews.

However, Acceleron® and Climate FieldView can be part of our combined portfolio presentation on Customer Websites endorsed with a Bayer branding.

Level 5 trait brand logos do not carry a Bayer Cross or Bayer name, as they are licensed broadly across the agriculture category. However, in Bayer Crop Science originated marketing, advertising and communication materials for Level 1 – 4 Bayer Crop Science brands, the trait brands may be positioned with Bayer and the Bayer Cross may be used on the website.

Acceleron^® and Acceleron^® BioAg can be part of our combined portfolio presentation on Customer Websites endorsed with a Bayer branding. At this time, the decision about integration into the Customer Website versus a separate brand website can be taken along the decision tree in line with the regional commercial.

However, all combined portfolio brands can be listed in a product overview within the Customer Websites. Product brands that refer to individual or bundled brands microsites can also be listed in the Customer Website product overview.

In some regions, Acceleron^® and Acceleron^® BioAg brands may appear in prominent endorsed seed brand websites such as DEKALB^®, Asgrow^®, Deltapine^®, Seminis^® and De Ruiter^®, when the seed brand is the “lead” brand.

If Acceleron^® and Acceleron^® BioAg are promoted on an individual brand website, no Bayer or Bayer Cross branding should be used.

A decision on the future master brand strategy will be taken following the team strategy session in June. No changes to the legacy brands should be made at this time.

Till then, Bayer SeedGrowth will continue promoting our offers via dedicated microsites and as part of our combined offer.

At this time, marketing materials and advertising for Level 5 product brands such as Climate FieldView will be created as individual brand websites without any Bayer branding and without Bayer Cross. As future “tailored solutions” and digital farming business strategy are determined, using the Bayer endorser will be reviewed and updated guidelines will be provided.

Yes. Just as Climate FieldView would have been featured on legacy Monsanto websites, the Climate FieldView brand can be included to communicate that our products/services and Climate FieldView are aligned and work together. However, Climate FieldView materials etc. should not be positioned as “Bayer Climate FieldView”.

As noted in the new Brand Guidelines, brand architecture decision on Acceleron^® and SeedGrowth will be taken after a business strategy session in June.

Non-endorsed Level 5 seed brands may not appear in Bayer exhibits with Bayer endorsement. These include Channel, US Regional Brands (Gold Country^®, Hubner^®, Jung^®, Kruger^®, Lewis^®, Rea^®, Specialty^®, Steward^®, Stone^® and Fontanelle^®), CB^®, Agroeste^®, Sementes Agroceres^® and La Tijereta^®.

If these Level 5 seed brands participate in the show, they may not do so as part of the Bayer exhibit, nor appear in conjunction with the Bayer brand.

Only “Level 2” seed brands (DEKALB^®, Asgrow^®, Deltapine^®, Seminis^®, De Ruiter^®) can appear at events featuring an overall group of Bayer Crop Science brands, which will also include the Bayer Cross.

This is an important point for marketing teams in multi-brand markets (U.S., Brazil, Argentina and Mexico), where Bayer markets seed for one crop under multiple brands. Care should be taken to understand the new brand guidelines and determine which limitations apply to which brands, and how this impacts the seed brands that can appear as part of a portfolio of products under the Bayer master brand and in Bayer-branded exhibits.

NOTE: In Mexico only, a decision is still pending on which seed brand will receive the Bayer endorser. At this time, neither Asgrow^® nor DEKALB^® will show the Bayer Cross endorser and should remain in separate exhibits.

The exhibit may show our trait brands and logos in our booths, exhibits and marketing/advertising materials, particularly our global seed brands endorsed by Bayer. Trait brands/logos may appear as part of the suite of solutions offered with Bayer products – especially our endorsed seed brands.

The seed brand is considered the lead brand. Therefore, if the trait is appearing with a “Level 2” seed brand such as DEKALB^®, Asgrow^®, Deltapine^®, Seminis^® or De Ruiter^®, the trait is simply included with those materials, or the trait materials can appear in the exhibit with the Bayer endorser seed brands and can carry a Bayer Cross endorser.

Yes. Just as Climate FieldView would have been featured in legacy Monsanto trade shows/booths – it communicates that Bayer Crop Science products/services and Climate FieldView are aligned and work together.