Cuerva

Since 2021, we've accompanied Cuervá, the Granada-based energy company, on its journey to take energy to the next level. We began our collaboration by reinventing its brand identity to reflect its current reality and potential after 80 years of history. We continued adapting Cuervá's digital home to that renewed brand universe and the company's new chapter. All these changes would deliver significant momentum for Cuervá, but they also posed a challenge for the team. The new brand was rich in detail and nuance. Making it their own, day-to-day, replacing the previous identity, would require some complexity.

To empower the team from that first moment of adaptation, giving them the best possible brand management experience, we saw the brand center as a valuable and sustainable solution. Our more-than-partners understood that this specific online platform, which centralizes brand management, would help everyone through this transition, allowing them to own the new identity at both strategic and tactical levels with greater agility and less friction.

One design system, two platforms

So we got to work. The project developed in parallel with their new web build by our Product and Tech teams, which allowed them to work with the same design system across both platforms. Perfect timing. The CMS would also be shared between web and brand center: DatoCMS. This streamlined its design and development, but also the editing tasks that Cuervá's teams perform in that single ecosystem to this day.

During the reference research phase for the web, we appropriated a fundamental insight to develop it, which also guided us in creating this new Cuervá tool: tech websites tended to simplify information and navigation. An essential point for the brand center, which would be a daily-use resource for the team and collaborators.

Architecture as a solution

To achieve that simplicity, we ran workshops with employees to develop usage flows based on user type. The brand center is a single entry point for many use cases, so navigation would be key to tailoring the experience as much as possible to different needs. What do people working in Design need? And sales? The finance department? Or new employees during their onboarding? The tool would be the first touchpoint for newcomers with the Cuervá world: the experience had to be up to par.

The logo pack, typography, corporate dossier, presentation template, project template, video call background, instructions for collaborators implementing the logo… There were many tactical elements we had to make available to the team, but it was also important to surface the company's strategic tools and the new identity guidelines. After the research phase and work with the team, we could determine the architecture, how information would be organized, and even identify needs for templates or formats we'd later include in the brand center. Each user could choose their own path to easily find the right resources: refresh strategy, write, design, create a digital product, or explore the platform's possibilities.

The result? Fluid, intuitive navigation to make the people working daily with the Cuervá brand a little happier.

The center of the brand universe

The web experience shines with the adaptation of the brand universe and, of course, the same process was carried out in the brand center. A platform consistent with that Cuervá essence that, thanks to the Design System, we could work on consistently, optimizing time and resources to publish and iterate. Colors, typography, images, the asterisk… All the elements of the visual identity integrated into the brand center, where they coexist with the brand voice, present in every message of the tool and in the materials, like videos, tutorials, guides… An immersive experience the team dives into daily, but also external collaborators who interact sporadically with the brand. Consistency, ease of use, intuitive navigation, and information clarity are essential for each and every different type of user.

After nearly two years in operation, the brand center has proven to be a valuable tool for empowering people in the application of the Cuervá brand. Having new resources organized, with practical information about their proper use, and available to the entire company at any time and from anywhere, has been one of the keys to turning the rebranding adaptation process into a very positive experience. And, no less important, it has allowed us to align actions and communications in this new phase, transmitting the new brand coherently and sustainably across all touchpoints, both physical and online. In this way, Marketing and Communications teams can focus on their high-value tasks, without needing to spend time on mechanical tasks like correcting incorrect implementations.

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A tool for the future

At Soluble we continue supporting Cuerva in that purpose of going further, applied to their brand. In the case of their brand center, that translates to the audit we conducted at the end of 2023. The new brand is in a more solid stage, following the initial adaptation. We gathered feedback from the team members, we know they feel proud and reflected in it, and that the brand center is very useful in their day-to-day. But we always question what can be improved, and with the data we've collected, we've identified some friction points that are new challenges to move forward.

The goal? To keep supporting them with design, technology, and activation to achieve a more solid, aligned, and empowering brand experience. For a brand center that makes the Cuerva team a little happier in 2024.