BHP stresses Australian roots in new ads

According to Mining News Pro - BHP has launched the second phase of its $10 million ‘Think Big’ ad campaign this week to emphasise the company’s global ambition and supply of essential resources.

The first of BHP’s broadcast ads, entitled ‘Think steel’, focuses in particular on the company’s global steel contribution and Australian roots.

Last year, BHP launched the first phase of its ambitious Think Big campaign, dropping the ‘Billiton’ part of its name that had existed for 16 years in reference to a merger with the South African company of the same name in 2001.

The launch of the second phase of the campaign is to focus on steel, iron ore, coal and electric vehicles (EV), with copper as the primary component to help power the EVs.

Regarding the company’s marketing campaign, BHP chief external affairs officer Geoff Healy said that the second phase would continue to “tell the story of how the people of BHP develop and deliver the resources that underpin global development and support Australia’s economy.”

BHP’s annual general meeting is to take place in Adelaide on November 8, 2018, where the rebranding of the company’s name and the dropping of ‘Billiton’ will be taken to an official shareholder vote.

The meeting will also decide on the re-election of several company heads, including chief executive officer Andrew Mackenzie, who took a pay cut in 2016 largely due to the Samarco dam disaster in Brazil but then doubled in 2017 following improved profitability.

In the fiscal year ending June 2018, Mackenzie took home a $1.7 million base salary and short-term bonus of $2.4 million, up $100,000 from the previous year and reaching a total of $4.65 million.