Protergia is the largest privately owned energy business in Greece. They currently provide electricity and gas to 500,000 homes and businesses in a country of ten million people. In 2023 we started on a journey to strategically reposition Protergia as the supplier of choice.
A forward-thinking strategy
The Greek energy market is different to the UK’s, where the ‘Big Six’ have roughly equal share of the market. Greece has a state supplier with a 60% market share, as well as a host of much smaller independents. Protergia has been on an acquisition drive and is now 2nd place for market share, so the opportunity to present a real alternative to the Big One was unmissable.
We wanted to qualify Protergia’s new position as the customer champion that can tempt customers away from an unhappy experience with their existing supplier who’s either too big to care or too small to make a difference.
A BrandWorld built for you
The main inspiration for the BrandWorld is the sun, our ultimate source of brightness. We saw the sun as a perfect visual metaphor for the brand, not only does it allow us to produce energy, but is warm and optimistic. The Protergia Sun then became the visual foundation of all BrandWorld elements, starting with the brand property. The sun is a dynamic, flexible element that allows us to cohesively brand across channels and formats.
Our core thought of “Brighter ways for you” for Protergia is all about offering a positive alternative that’s warm and welcoming; one that’s smarter and focussed on your needs – turning necessity into a desire.
Whether it’s a big and bold in campaign territory, to a subtle glow in more formal instances, the sun can easily help communicate the brightness, warmth and positivity that Protergia has on offer.
The logo includes a graphic interpretation of the sun, an iconic shorthand that can be used through the brand. The word mark is based upon the font Codec Warm by Zeta fonts, with crafted letter form creating a unique identifier for the brand.
We developed a warm and distinctive new colour palette. Leading with orange not only aligned with our strategy, but allowed us to differentiate from the sea of blues with our main competition.
A new iconography style brings a touch of humanity and warmth to the brand. The rounded nature of the linework links back to the logo to strengthen the joined-up approach.
Our photography style captures the positivity of the the sun. Imagery of our customers are captured during golden hour, taking on the warm orange hues of the Protergia sunshine gradient.
It was important to create an identity which embodied the positivity and warmth behind the strategy. Every element, from the warm and personable typeface, to the distinctive Protergia sun asset considered this.
Physical retail is also an important part of the customer experience in Greece, where customers can pay their bills in store and talk to advisors who can help demonstrate new technology like solar, smart meters or electric car charging.
Our brand character Gia (which is phonetically akin to ‘hi’ in Greek – γεια! ) takes shape from our sun symbol within the wordmark. Gia is here to guide Protergia customers along their energy supply journey – from chatbots within the Protergia app, to TopTips on social media platforms.
Working with SomeOne to create Protergia’s new identity was an incredibly creative journey. We were able to craft a brand that not only reflects who we are but also showcases our vision for the future: a world where the energy industry delivers the best possible outcomes for consumers.
The brand was brought to life for the first time at the Protergia Brand Launch – a monumentous event held in the Port of Athens. The blue lit event slowly turned Protergia Orange as the new brand was revealed, with subtle details such as staff ties switching from old brand Protergia Blue to new brand Protergia Orange.
The new strategy, visual identity and advertising campaign were introduced to the Greek press, employees and industry peers, then followed by energy themed cocktails and celebration.
The event was streamed live and can be viewed here.
The new campaign, created by The Newtons, can be viewed here.
We’re thrilled to have partnered with an agency that pushed us to challenge our thinking and truly capture our aspirations for our customers. Through this collaboration, we’ve uncovered our limitless potential and distilled it into a modern brand identity that aligns perfectly with our vision.
SomeOne:
David Law — Founder & Executive Strategy Director
Rich Rhodes — Executive Creative Director
Fi Casey — Design Director
Ryan Parsons — Designer
Flo Campbell — Designer
Beth Baines — Head of Account Services
Iz Gillott — Account Manager