From Origin to Originality: The Repositioning of the Largest Renewable Energy Company in the Southern Hemisphere

Receiving the challenge of repositioning Eletrobras — a brand with more than 60 years of history — was both an honor and a tremendous responsibility. Since its privatization in 2022, the company, with over 7,000 employees, has been undergoing a major transformation in management, culture, and structure, integrating its five regional subsidiaries — Furnas, Chesf, Eletronorte, and Eletrosul. A company with a remarkable legacy, Eletrobras needed to adapt to a new global and market context.

At Tátil, we believe that every brand reinvention process is far more authentic and sustainable when it reconnects with its original vocation. It wasn’t enough to echo the global discourse of the utilities sector, where everyone claims to be a “leader in the energy transition.” True differentiation would come from looking inward — to the brand’s history — as a source of inspiration for its present and future.

We began with radical listening. We interviewed executives, board members, and specialists, and conducted a broad quantitative study with 2,073 people across all regions of Brazil, in partnership with Talks, while also diving deep into the company’s history. That’s how we rediscovered Eletrobras’ original vocation: to articulate and to structure.

Created as part of a national development plan, Eletrobras built a transmission system that became a global benchmark, integrated large generators, and operates some of the world’s biggest hydroelectric plants — providing the infrastructure that sustained the country’s growth. This history also created a powerful competitive advantage for the 21st century: Eletrobras is the largest clean energy company in the Southern Hemisphere.

Over time, however, this vocation became diluted, and the brand lost its prominence. According to our research, the name was well known but lacked meaning — often confused with other companies sharing the same “-bras” suffix or associated with political complexities. The result was a brand identity that no longer reflected the company’s true potential, leading to the discussion about changing its name. It was clear that signaling a deeper transformation was essential.

The new management brought a renewed appetite for a more dynamic and innovative approach, positioning the company as an agent of co-evolution with clients and partners — generating value through intelligence and solutions. If in the past the brand integrated plants and networks, today it articulates ideas and opportunities, helping to build a new energy ecosystem that is more open, agile, and responsible. “Catalyzing business with our energy” became the purpose that connects vocation and future — origin and originality.

And thus, AXIA Energia was born: the milestone of this transformation. A short, resonant name that carries its meaning at its core — from axis in Latin and axia in Greek — the force that connects, articulates, and generates value throughout the entire ecosystem.

The new symbol brings this idea to life: a modular, dynamic sphere that represents the scale and relevance of this company for Brazil and the world. Each module symbolizes people, clients, assets, and capabilities — all connected in a single movement.

This essence unfolds into a multisensory identity system — from digital behavior to sound branding, from experience guidelines to imagery that reveals encounters and connections — reflecting both the magnitude and the human dimension of AXIA. The color palette combines three shades of blue: navy for solidity, vibrant blue for energy, and blue-gray for sobriety and technology, balanced by off-white and illuminated by touches of yellow — the instant when an idea sparks to life. From this living and pulsating universe, the concept “The new comes with energy” was born, expressing the strength to create, transform, and move people toward the future.

For us, this project goes far beyond a rebranding. It represents the construction of a conceptual milestone — one that acknowledges and honors the history of everyone who helped build this great company, while projecting a brand that is original, forward-looking, and deeply aware of its responsibility toward clients, partners, investors, employees — and the future itself.

Fred Gelli is Founder and CEO of Tátil Design.
Lorena Castellan is Strategy Director at Tátil Design.