Full Power gets serious

The Brief

Genesis’ Gen35 strategy represents a long-term transformation of the business and its role in New Zealand’s energy system. The previous two reports had established the story: a transition towards more renewable generation while maintaining the reliability and security the country needs.

By 2026, that story had moved on. Genesis was making tangible progress on the future of Huntly, investing in battery storage and advancing its renewable generation pipeline. Our challenge was to show that progression clearly, building on the narrative of the previous two years rather than starting again.

At the same time, Genesis was preparing to launch a completely new brand identity. Developed primarily around its consumer proposition, the identity was bold, energetic and playful. We were developing its corporate expression while the brand itself was still evolving, finding the right way to bring that energy into a serious investor and stakeholder document.

The Solution

We built the report around Full Power, connecting Genesis’ new brand promise with the substance of its Gen35 strategy.

The strategic narrative had matured significantly over three years. Huntly was no longer simply the difficult legacy issue in the transition away from fossil fuels. Its role was becoming clearer as an essential enabler of that transition, providing the flexible generation and security New Zealand needs as more wind and solar generation enters the system.

Investment in battery storage, new agreements supporting Huntly’s future and the continued development of renewable generation all helped shift the story from where Genesis wants to go to how it is getting there.

Full Power gave us a way to bring those ideas together. At a corporate level, it speaks to an energy system that needs to respond when customers and the country need it. At a brand level, it connects directly to the new Life at Full Power customer proposition.

Visually, the challenge was one of calibration. The new identity is deliberately bold, straightforward and playful, qualities Genesis wanted to carry through into its corporate communications. We retained that confidence and energy, while introducing the discipline, structure and space needed for complex corporate information.

The new colour palette, typography, brand mark, graphic language and photography all play a role, supported by a strong information hierarchy and quieter moments where the content demands them.

In doing so, we were not simply applying a new brand to an annual report. We were helping establish how the Genesis brand behaves corporately.

The Results

Feedback on the report tells us that readers have a clearer understanding of Huntly’s role in Genesis’ generation portfolio, and why it remains critical to New Zealand’s energy security through the transition to a more renewable future.

The report also makes the progression of Gen35 increasingly tangible. What began as a strategic ambition three years ago can now be seen as an active programme of work, with investment in renewables, battery storage and Huntly’s evolution demonstrating the strategy in practice.

For Genesis, the report has also established the right corporate expression of its new brand. It retains the energy and confidence of Life at Full Power, but in a more measured, business-like register appropriate for investors and other corporate audiences.

It gives Genesis a strong foundation for applying the new identity across future corporate communications.