Powering a sustainable future

CATL

Overview

The rise of the new energy vehicle market has pushed Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) to the forefront of the stage. Although a top-notch company in the field, the name is unfamiliar to many outside of the industry. A domestic company based in the small city Ningde in southeastern China’s Fujian province, CATL is specialized in the manufacturing of batteries that power electric vehicles. As its business is not consumer facing, people raise their eyebrows when they learn about CATL’s position in the market.

Founded in 2011, CATL is a leading developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, with businesses covering R&D, manufacturing and sales of battery systems for new energy vehicles and energy storage systems. With the rapid development of its business, CATL has established a strong global presence. It has integrated breakthroughs in material and processing techniques, as well as innovations in intelligent management in battery manufacturing. By reshaping how people use energy, CATL has turned the battery into a cutting-edge hi-tech product.

Moving from backstage to spotlight, and evolving from a local manufacturer to a world leading hi-tech company, how can CATL build a more modern, international and sustainable brand image? The MetaThink team obtained a deep understanding of CATL’s company culture, technical capabilities, and product features. Combining this understanding with our insight of the competitive landscape, cultural trends, and stakeholder expectations, we defined the core values of the CATL corporate brand. Based on the core brand values, we developed a brand architecture and a three-year brand communication plan for the client, taking into consideration the market demand, the client’s business development plan, and industrial trends. Moving forward, CATL will be powering a sustainable future as a co-creator of new energy solutions.

Besides brand strategy, MetaThink offered to create an impactful visual identity system for CATL as a bold statement of the company’s view of the future of energy. We wanted to make people feel, using visual languages, that the battery is not an industrial product but an intelligent hi-tech being that evolves. We came up with the idea of a magic energy cube that functions like a beating heart. To support various digital media communication needs, we created a series of dynamic magic energy cube identities to be used in various works of online communications. Also, we captured the very moments of motion visuals and developed them into a static imagery for offline communication scenarios. This gave CATL a rich and consistent corporate identity.

The revamp of CATL’s visual identity system not only helps the company take a firm step into the new era, but also earned it a silver from 2020 Transform Awards Asia for the best visual identity from the energy and utilities sector.