CUBICO
How can a new identity power a business?
After deciding to focus solely on commercial banking activities, the Santander Group wanted to move its successful renewable energy and water platform into a separate entity. Their portfolio in this area had delivered consistently good returns, increasing from $20m to $2bn. As they grew, so did their team – expanding from five to 35 people across nine countries in just a decade.

THE CHALLENGE
This team had all the strengths associated with the Santander brand.
But it particularly shared an entrepreneurial ‘can do’ attitude, driven by belief in the business. A powerful subculture had emerged, so they decided to stay together – backed by Santander and two Canadian Pension Funds as shareholders. Our challenge was to create a new name and brand identity for them, ready in time for their launch.
Where do you find the inspiration to create a new brand?


OUR APPROACH
We met for the first time in London on a Friday lunchtime. By the following Monday we were flying to Madrid for a briefing and immersion session with the senior management team.
Over the course of a few weeks, we developed several names. ‘Cubico’ was the preferred choice. Derived from the word for ‘cubed’ in Spanish, it reflects the power of three. This alludes to the three areas of the business (water, solar and wind power) and the fact there are three shareholders behind it.

We developed a dynamic logo that reflected the nature of Cubico’s investments through colour.
Dark blue represented water, bright blue was illustrative of the sky, orange stood for solar power and off-white reflected the cleaner, purer, more sustainable world Cubico is working towards. The impactful use of photography showcased the power of nature, offsetting the graphic style and helping to tell the story.


THE RESULT
It was a hectic time satisfying a number of stakeholders from different continents while remaining true to the spirit of our foundations. The team managed to get under our skin and provide us with a brand which really helps us to tell our story and build our business.
- RICARDO DíAZ / Managing Director, Cubico
In essence, we acted as the team’s marketing department – supporting their relocation to London and producing everything they needed for their launch. This included everything from writing their brochure and designing the stationery, to producing their website.