StormBrands has created brand strategy, identity and design for WE Talks, an open-access digital-content platform from The World Energy Council. For almost 100 years, the Council has attracted some of the world's most experienced hands, brightest minds and biggest hearts to its global mission on energy matters. And as the vital role of access to more and better energy in everyday life impacts everyone globally, the Council created WE Talks to be a fresh, inclusive and inspiring space for energetic conversations. The digital platform invites leaders from all walks of life, sectors and regions to engage in conversations about energy transition and what it means for humanity.
"The World Energy Council approached us because it was looking to take its proposition to a broader church and engage beyond the traditional heartlands of the energy sector," said Jonny Westcar, CEO, StormBrands. "It wanted to be recognised as progressive, inclusive and innovative. We partnered with the Council to create an accessible digital platform that communicates that intent to everyone interested in the energy debate."
It is important that WE Talks stands in its own right. StormBrands' naming strategy achieves this by connecting WE Talks to the parent brand, but dropping the word 'Council' for a more inclusive and informal feel. Graphic elements have also been taken from the core brand but give new purpose and punch. For example, an existing graphic device called the 'Line of Transition' was reconfigured to communicate change and progress. The once static vertical stripe has been given a new lease of life and now works as an audio wave, to segue from one subject to another, reflecting conversation and subject matter.
WE Talks' tone of voice emphasises conversation, and the colorways have been updated using RGB palettes that are more suitable for use across multiple digital channels. "WE Talks is a strategic evolution for the Council," Westcar explained. "The Council understood that, to increase relevance moving forward, it needed to engage people through multiple channels, including social, in order to get the message around innovation and sustainability out into the public domain. WE Talks makes it possible to do that, particularly in a world where digital access is now a critical factor given physical interaction is restricted."
StormBrands has hit a sweet spot between established and new, making WE Talks less institutional and more human, less dense and more digestible.
