The Madrid City Council’s General Directorate of Innovation has entrusted Cink Venturing’s communications department with rebranding the Madrid Innovation brand, which represents the city’s municipal innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Madrid Innovation is a strategic tool promoted by the Department of Economy, Innovation and Finance of the Madrid City Council, aimed at fostering, developing and raising the profile of initiatives in technological innovation, entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer.
Under this umbrella brand, various spaces, programmes, and leading public centres coexist, including: Madrid Innovation Lab, International Lab, La Nave, Puerta de Innovación, Sandbox Madrid, Puentes de Talento and Madrid InGame.
This project forms part of the process of evolving and strengthening the Madrid Innovation ecosystem with the aim of establishing a consistent and recognisable identity for all assets associated with municipal innovation.
Cink Venturing took on the strategic and creative rebranding project in this context, developing a strong, recognisable and cross-cutting brand that reinforces Madrid Innovation’s positioning as the leading brand and institutional benchmark for innovative entrepreneurship in Madrid.
El ecosistema municipal de innovación del Ayuntamiento de Madrid estaba conformado por diferentes marcas asociadas a centros y programas especializados, cada una con una identidad visual consolidada y una comunicación propia.
Sin embargo, esta evolución independiente había provocado una pérdida progresiva de visibilidad de la marca madre, Madrid Innovation, dificultando la identificación del ecosistema como una red conectada y alineada bajo una misma narrativa institucional.
Ante esta situación, la Dirección General de Innovación identificó la necesidad de impulsar una estrategia de rebranding que permitiera recuperar la jerarquía de marca y reforzar el sentimiento de pertenencia a un ecosistema común.
Los objetivos que se querían conseguir eran:
Teniendo en cuenta estas premisas, Cink Venturing, fue el responsable de desarrollar el manual de comunicación y Kit de marca para unificar todas las marcas secundarias del grupo y dar un mayor protagonismo a Madrid Innovation. La iniciativa debía responder a las necesidades de la Dirección General a la vez que no perjudicase a la imagen y comunidad ya construida por las marcas de los espacios y programas públicos.
The Madrid City Council’s municipal innovation ecosystem consisted of various brands associated with specialised centres and programmes, each with its own established visual identity and communication strategy.
However, this independent evolution has resulted in the parent brand, Madrid Innovation, gradually losing visibility, making it difficult to identify the ecosystem as a connected network aligned under a single institutional narrative.
In response to this, the General Directorate of Innovation developed a rebranding strategy to restore the brand hierarchy and reinforce the sense of belonging to a shared ecosystem.
The objectives to be achieved were:
Facilitate recognition of the parent brand among the various target audiences.
Conclusions for improvement and next steps. Formulation of strategic conclusions to guide the next creative process.
The goal was to reinforce the values already associated with Madrid Innovation and translate them into a more contemporary, cohesive and recognisable identity that could position itself as the central hub of the ecosystem.
The proposals were designed with the following in mind:
After selecting the winning proposal and making adjustments suggested by the client, we created the global brand identity and adapted it for each location. We developed implementation guidelines to ensure consistency across all locations.
We developed implementation guidelines for the locations to ensure they retain their existing identity, which makes them recognisable, while operating as a sub-brand under the Madrid Innovation umbrella.
The project concluded with the creation of a comprehensive brand kit designed to facilitate the correct implementation of the new identity. This kit included:
Cink Venturing’s work enabled the General Directorate of Innovation to adopt a refreshed visual identity that is consistent with, and aligned to, the evolution of Madrid’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The rebranding has strengthened Madrid Innovation’s positioning as a leading institutional brand by improving cohesion among centres, enhancing the ecosystem’s visibility and creating a more recognisable shared narrative.
Madrid Innovation has evolved from functioning as a secondary brand associated with various independent spaces to establishing itself as a strategic umbrella capable of articulating a shared identity.
The proposal was positively received by municipal representatives during the process, who highlighted its conceptual coherence, technical quality, and ability to adapt to institutional needs.
The rebranding has now been fully implemented, strengthening the image of the Madrid City Council’s innovation ecosystem and establishing Madrid Innovation as a benchmark in entrepreneurship and urban innovation.
