Latest / Building Brands with Fexingo: Identity, Reputation, and Long-Term Business Equity / How Glencore Built a Brand Nobody Sees
Transcript
- Lucas: There is a company that moves more physical goods than FedEx, earns more revenue than Microsoft, and has a market cap bigger than Goldman Sachs — and I bet ninety-nine percent of people walking down the street couldn't tell you a single thing about it. Luna: You're talking about Glencore. Lucas: Glencore. The Swiss commodity trading giant. And the thing that fascinates me — the reason we're doing an episode about it on a branding show — is that its brand strategy is essentially 'no brand at all.' Or at least, no public-facing brand. Luna: It's the anti–Trader Joe's. They don't want you to know who they are. Lucas: Exactly. But that's not an accident. It's a deliberate choice that's been central to their business model for fifty years. And it raises a really interesting question: Can invisibility be a brand? And more importantly, can it last? Luna: Before we go deep — I want to say something quick. A few listeners support this show directly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's genuinely what keeps the podcast ad-free and allows us to do episodes like this on companies that don't have a consumer marketing budget. So if these conversations have been useful to you, that's a simple way to keep them going. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small group that makes it possible for us to spend time on a story like Glencore — which, let's be honest, isn't going to sponsor an episode. So thank you to those folks. Luna: Alright. So Glencore. Let's start with what they actually do. Lucas: They're the world's largest commodity trading company. They source, store, blend, and ship physical commodities — metals like copper and zinc, energy products like coal and oil, and agricultural products like wheat and corn. They own mines, smelters, warehouses, ships. If you've ever driven a car, used a phone, or eaten bread, there's a decent chance Glencore touched the raw materials somewhere in the supply chain. Luna: But you'd never know it because their name doesn't appear on anything you buy. Lucas: Right. And that's on purpose. The trading business has always operated in the shadows. Margins are thin, competition is fierce, and information asymmetry is the whole game. If your competitors know what you're buying and selling, you lose your edge. So opacity is a feature, not a bug. Luna: But that opacity becomes a problem when things go wrong. Lucas: And they went very wrong. In 2018, Glencore paid over one and a half billion dollars to settle US corruption and bribery investigations. They had been accused of paying bribes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Venezuela. That's not just a legal problem — it's a brand problem. Even if your brand is invisibility. Luna: So how do you manage a reputation when your whole strategy has been to avoid having one? Lucas: That's the tension. After the settlement, Glencore had to start talking. They hired a new CEO, Gary Nagle, in 2021, and he began a very controlled public engagement. They started publishing sustainability reports. They announced a commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050. They even pivoted away from coal — sort of. Luna: Sort of is right. They said they'd cap coal production, but they're still one of the world's biggest coal traders. Luna: And they started talking about carbon trading, which is interesting because it's a natural extension of their core competency. They already move commodities; why not move carbon credits? Lucas: Exactly. In 2024, they launched a dedicated carbon trading desk. It's a small piece of their business, but it signals something: we can be part of the transition, not just the problem. That's brand work, even if they'd never call it that. Luna: So the new brand is 'responsible trader' rather than 'faceless giant.' Lucas: But here's the thing: they're still incredibly secretive about their operations. They don't break out earnings by commodity. They don't name their biggest customers. They don't disclose where specific shipments go. The information advantage is still the core of their competitive moat. So the question is: can you be both transparent enough to satisfy ESG investors and opaque enough to beat your competitors? Luna: And that's not just a Glencore question. It's a question for every B2B company that's being pushed toward greater disclosure. Lucas: Right. The commodity trading industry as a whole is under pressure. The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, which took effect in 2024, forces companies to report on environmental and social impacts. Glencore now has to publish detailed data on emissions, human rights due diligence, and supply chain traceability. That's a huge shift for a company that built its brand on being unseen. Luna: And it's not just regulation. Investors are demanding it. BlackRock and Vanguard own significant stakes in Glencore. They want to see a path to net zero. So Glencore has to manage two audiences: the trading counterparties who value discretion, and the institutional investors who demand disclosure. Lucas: That's a balancing act that very few companies have to perform. And it's why I think Glencore's brand story is actually more interesting than most consumer brands. Because consumer brands are built on recognition and emotion. Glencore's brand is built on a paradox: the less you know about us, the more valuable our service is to our clients. But the more you know about us, the more license we have to operate. Luna: So what happens if they can't resolve that paradox? Lucas: Then the invisible brand becomes a liability. If regulators force full transparency, the information advantage erodes. If they resist, they risk being seen as a rogue operator. The middle ground — controlled transparency — is where they're trying to live now. But it's fragile. Luna: Let's talk about a concrete example. The Democratic Republic of Congo. Glencore's subsidiary there, Kamoto Copper Company, has been a source of controversy for years. Allegations of child labor, environmental damage, tax avoidance. How do you brand yourself as responsible while your biggest operation is in a conflict zone? Lucas: You can't. Not fully. What you can do is acknowledge it and show progress. Glencore has commissioned third-party audits, published human rights reports, and invested in community projects. But the allegations keep coming. In 2025, a lawsuit was filed in the UK alleging that Glencore's DRC operations caused environmental harm. So the brand repair is ongoing. Luna: And that's the thing about invisible brands: when they do get exposed, the damage is worse because there's no reservoir of goodwill. Lucas: Exactly. Coca-Cola can survive a scandal because people have decades of positive associations with the brand. Glencore has no such cushion. If the public learns your name only in connection with corruption, that's all you are. Luna: So maybe the real brand lesson from Glencore is that invisibility is a luxury you can only afford if you never make mistakes. Lucas: And that's harder than it sounds. Because in a world of satellite imagery, leaked documents, and investigative journalism, staying invisible is nearly impossible. Glencore's brand today is not 'the company you've never heard of.' It's 'the company you've heard of for the wrong reasons.' And they're trying to change that narrative, one sustainability report at a time. Luna: But they're still not advertising. They're not on social media. Their LinkedIn page is dry corporate updates. They're not trying to be liked. Lucas: No. They're trying to be trusted. And that's a different game. Trust in B2B is built on competence, reliability, and compliance. It's not about warm feelings. It's about delivering on contracts and not breaking laws. Glencore's brand strategy is essentially: do the deal, don't get caught, and if you do get caught, pay the fine and promise to do better. Luna: Which is a strategy, but is it a brand? Lucas: I think it is. A brand is the set of associations people have with a company. For Glencore, the associations are: big, secretive, essential, controversial. That's a brand. Just not one you'd want to put on a t-shirt. Luna: So what can other B2B companies learn from Glencore? Lucas: Two things. First, invisibility is a choice, and it comes with trade-offs. If you operate in a commodity business where margins depend on information asymmetry, being unknown can be an asset. But you have to be prepared for the moment when you can no longer control the narrative. Second, when you do have to engage publicly, focus on the stakeholders who matter most — regulators, investors, large customers — not the general public. Glencore doesn't need to be loved by consumers. They need to be accepted by the people who set the rules and provide the capital. Luna: But the world is moving toward greater transparency. Even B2B companies are being held to consumer-grade standards on ethics and sustainability. Lucas: That's the real challenge. Glencore's model worked in an era when commodity trading was a closed club. That era is ending. The question is whether they can adapt fast enough. And I think the answer is maybe. They have the right incentives — ESG pressure, legal risk, investor demands — but they're fighting fifty years of culture. Secrecy is ingrained. Luna: So the invisible brand might have a shelf life. Lucas: I think it does. At least in its pure form. The future of B2B branding is likely to be 'transparent enough' — disclose what you must, protect what gives you an edge, and communicate honestly about your impact. Glencore is experimenting with that boundary right now. And whether they succeed or fail, it's a case study worth watching. Luna: I'm curious to see how the carbon trading desk evolves. That could be a genuine brand pivot — from dark matter to green facilitator. Lucas: It could. But it's a small part of their business. The vast majority of their revenue still comes from fossil fuels. So the brand shift is incremental. But incremental is better than nothing. And in a world where brand is increasingly about values, even incremental matters. Luna: Alright. So to sum up: Glencore shows that a brand doesn't need to be seen to be powerful — but it does need to be managed, especially when the spotlight finally turns on. Lucas: And managing an invisible brand is harder than managing a visible one, because you have to rebuild trust from scratch every time you're exposed. That's the real lesson. Invisibility buys you time. It doesn't buy you immunity.