The unveiling of Astron Energy’s new logo and corporate colours, as well as the design of its forecourts, is another important step in the company’s ambition to become the next biggest fuel brand in South Africa.
Astron Energy is South Africa's second-largest petroleum network with over 850 Caltex-branded service stations in SA and Botswana. The existing service station network will be rebranded in the new corporate colours in a phased manner over the next few years.
In a recent announcement, Astron Energy was awarded first place for customer service in the Petrol Stations Industry in the 2021 Ask Afrika Orange Index, a leading consumer survey to establish which companies provide the best customer experience in South Africa.
Astron Energy Interim CEO, Braam Smit, said, “The rebrand is a milestone moment for us on our journey to reimagine and reinvent ourselves. We have been a trusted player in fuels for over a century. We are looking forward to stepping confidently into the future and welcoming all our customers to our exciting new-look forecourts and experiences.”
The brand’s bold new colours were specifically chosen to allow Astron Energy to stand out in a largely undifferentiated market that tends to stick to the traditional colours usually associated with fuel brands.
850+ retail sites, the Cape Town refinery, the lubricants manufacturing plant in Durban, 15 terminals, 180 commercial and industrial sites, as well as corporate facilities will all be rebranded.
“Astron Energy is the future of fuel and the rebrand creates the ideal platform to enhance our service offering through innovations and exciting products which are designed to speak to an ever-changing consumer landscape,” Smit added.
The brand change will also see service stations place careful emphasis on the basics, including bathroom facilities and lighting, as part of rejuvenating the overall customer experience.
Astron Energy general manager for marketing, Cambridge Mokanyane, said, “The rebrand provides the platform to build out the customer experience even further and to build on the success of the latest Ask Afrika Orange Index win. We have put an enormous amount of work and imagination into our fuel and non-fuel retail offerings and look forward to launching future products and innovations into this fresh, energised and vibrant space.”
“A significant change to our motoring or fuel landscape comes around once every few decades and this is really something to be excited about as we look forward to the first forecourt rebrand in the new year,” Mokanyane said. “Our country has been through tremendous challenges as a result of the pandemic and a struggling economy, so it will be wonderful to go into 2022 with a sense of freshness and revitalisation.”
In August, the company announced that Astron Energy would become the overarching brand across corporate, commercial and retail, and will be the public face of the company at all forecourts and other key sites.
The name change and rebrand follows the 2018 change of ownership of Astron Energy and its exit from the Chevron group of companies. Since then, Astron Energy has been operating the Caltex brand under a licence agreement. The new corporate brand identity now sees all operations consolidated under a single, unifying brand.
Smit concluded, “We will continue to offer customers high-performance fuels, quality products and great service delivered by excellent people, as well as exciting new offerings and experiences as part of our new look. We’re looking forward to the rebrand and the enormous potential it holds.”
