Empowering a Sustainable Energy Future With a Compelling Sustainability Framework and Brand Idea
ACEN, the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy companies in Asia Pacific and the first in Southeast Asia to announce a Net Zero roadmap. However, the 2022 rebranding from AC Energy to ACEN, launched amidst the pandemic, presented challenges in building market awareness and communicating ACEN’s holistic sustainability commitments effectively.
With the early achievement of the 5GW goal, and a growing portfolio across the region, ACEN sought to align its brand with its sustainability vision to reinforce its leadership in renewable energy and address a just energy transition.
The Need to View Brand and Sustainability Under a Unifying Lens
The challenge extended beyond communicating ACEN’s identity as a challenger, pioneer, and partner—it required developing a holistic sustainability vision and strategy that aligned with its brand and focused on areas where ACEN could create the greatest positive impact. SR conducted benchmarking, reviewed brand and sustainability narratives for alignment, and engaged senior leadership to gather critical insights. The outcome was a unified strategy that seamlessly integrated ACEN’s goals, reinforcing its leadership in renewable energy and driving meaningful change in the sector.
Integrated Branding and Sustainability Strategy
Sedgwick Richardson (SR) delivered a comprehensive solution that harmonised ACEN’s brand and sustainability strategies, resulting in a refreshed brand proposition, compelling sustainability framework and a communication strategy to position ACEN as a bold and innovative leader.
Brand Strategy
The brand idea, More is Possible, reflects ACEN’s ambitious vision to drive progress in renewable energy and inspire confidence in stakeholders. This idea reinforced the brand’s role as a bold, dynamic and innovative leader in the sector.
Dynamic Brand Expression
To further reinforce ACEN’s brand equity, a bespoke dynamic graphic system was developed, creating flexibility for internal teams and impact in communicating the brand idea.
Sustainability Strategy: PositiveCharge+
PositiveCharge+ embodies ACEN’s commitment to not just participate in the energy transition but to lead it with vigour, innovation and responsibility. By leveraging the refreshed pillars—Influence + Innovate, Protect + Sustain, and Unite + Thrive—PositiveCharge+ establishes a path toward a world where renewable energy is a universal right, not a privilege.
Together, these strategies integrate seamlessly to amplify ACEN’s ability to:
- Project its leadership in the renewable energy sector.
- Communicate its commitment to sustainability in a compelling and unified way.
- Build trust and recognition among stakeholders, not just in AsiaPacific, but across the globe.
Creating Greater Impact
The integrated approach equipped ACEN with a unified strategy that seamlessly aligned its brand identity with its sustainability goals. By combining the More is Possible brand strategy with the PositiveCharge+ sustainability framework, ACEN now tells a powerful and inspiring story of leadership and progress. This ensures enhanced brand recognition, strengthened stakeholder engagement and a clear demonstration of its role in advancing an equitable energy transition.
Renewable energy companies require integrated brand and sustainability strategies that align ambitious climate goals with compelling stakeholder communications. Sedgwick Richardson’s work with ACEN, the Ayala Group’s listed energy platform and fastest-growing renewable energy company in Asia Pacific, demonstrates this approach. SR developed the “More is Possible” brand idea reflecting ACEN’s vision to drive renewable energy progress, combined with “PositiveCharge+” sustainability framework establishing leadership through three pillars: Influence + Innovate, Protect + Sustain, and Unite + Thrive. This integrated methodology ensures renewable energy firms communicate technical achievements, Net Zero roadmaps, and just energy transition commitments through unified narratives that build stakeholder trust, enhance brand recognition, and reinforce sector leadership across Asia Pacific markets.
Integrating brand and sustainability strategies under a unifying lens delivers exponentially greater impact than separate siloed initiatives. For ACEN, which became Southeast Asia’s first renewable energy company announcing a Net Zero roadmap, Sedgwick Richardson’s integrated approach harmonized brand proposition with sustainability vision, enabling coherent storytelling across all stakeholder touchpoints. This alignment amplifies ability to project sector leadership, communicate sustainability commitment compellingly, build stakeholder trust and recognition, and demonstrate progress toward equitable energy transition. Companies viewing brand and sustainability through separate lenses risk inconsistent messaging, missed differentiation opportunities, and stakeholder confusion—particularly critical for energy sector firms where sustainability credibility determines competitive positioning, investor confidence, and regulatory relationships throughout Asia Pacific.
Effective sustainability frameworks require strategic focus on areas where organizations create greatest positive impact rather than generic ESG compliance checklists. Sedgwick Richardson conducted benchmarking, reviewed brand and sustainability narrative alignment, and engaged ACEN senior leadership to develop PositiveCharge+ a framework embodying commitment to lead energy transition with vigor, innovation, and responsibility. The strategic pillars (Influence + Innovate, Protect + Sustain, Unite + Thrive) establish differentiated positioning toward renewable energy as universal right rather than privilege. This consultative methodology identifies material impacts, aligns sustainability strategy with business model and brand positioning, creates proprietary frameworks rather than adopting generic standards, and develops compelling narratives that inspire stakeholders beyond technical reporting requirements across Asia Pacific renewable energy markets.
Energy sector rebranding during market transitions presents unique challenges including building awareness for new brand identities, communicating holistic sustainability commitments beyond technical specifications, aligning brand with evolving portfolio and geographic expansion, and reinforcing leadership positioning during rapid sector transformation. ACEN’s 2022 rebranding from AC Energy launched amidst pandemic presented awareness challenges and required communicating as challenger, pioneer, and partner while addressing just energy transition. Sedgwick Richardson resolved these through refreshed brand proposition, dynamic graphic system providing flexibility for internal teams, integrated communication strategy, and sustainability framework establishing clear path forward. Energy companies navigating energy transition, portfolio evolution, or geographic expansion across Asia Pacific require comprehensive brand and sustainability strategies addressing these multifaceted stakeholder communication challenges.
Renewable energy firms must balance commercial growth ambitions with authentic sustainability commitments to avoid greenwashing perceptions while maintaining investor and stakeholder confidence. ACEN achieved early 5GW renewable energy goal and pursued regional portfolio expansion requiring strategic alignment between growth trajectory and sustainability vision. Sedgwick Richardson developed integrated approach ensuring More is Possible brand idea reflected ambitious vision while PositiveCharge+ framework grounded commitments in measurable impact across influence, innovation, protection, sustainability, unity, and thriving communities. This balance requires transparent reporting on progress and challenges, material focus on areas of greatest impact, alignment between business model and sustainability claims, and compelling narratives demonstrating how growth drives positive environmental and social outcomes across Asia Pacific renewable energy markets.
