Aleix Bou | CD / CW
Freelance Creative Director and Copywriter from Barcelona
Freelance Creative Director and Copywriter from Barcelona
From Gas Natural to Naturgy
The first project I had to undertake for the energy company Naturgy, formerly Gas Natural, was a reputation-building campaign after they faced a significant reputation problem. (If you want to know what I'm talking about, just google Gas Natural and abuela. Humongous problem!). We believed that with the upcoming energy crisis and the number of people at risk of vulnerability, and energy poverty, we had to engage in a different type of communication. One that focused on helping and understanding customers. Taking responsibility for the company and transforming it into a much more approachable entity, rather than a cold and distant multinational. In other words, an energy company that spoke your language. Thanks to this campaign, in a mere two months, Gas Natural successfully regained the status of being the energy company most valued by their customers.
Shortly after, I had one of those experiences that enrich you as a creative but take a toll on your social life. As part of its modernization process, the company decided to change its name suddenly. The name change would be effective in a month, and the campaign had to be on air within that timeframe. When we received the brief, our creative minds shut down. Well, not just our minds, but everything else, because for this campaign, we turned everything off. Even the Barcelona cable car was out of service for a few days after our shoot.
Once the issue of the name change was resolved, we took a moment to pause and determine how the new brand would communicate and distinguish itself from all other energy companies. The tone had already been set with "Hablemos el Mismo Idioma" ("Let's Speak the Same Language"). We believed that was something we shouldn't change as it had worked so well. Now, we needed to find a distinctive visual code that set us apart from the competition. So, we became the first company in the Ibex35, the 20 largest companies in Spain, to transition from real imagery to illustration. The entire company adopted this visual style, both for internal and external communication. Through these campaigns, in just one year, we achieved a brand awareness of 70%, solidifying the new brand as one of the most powerful in Spain.