Since 2024, CoFound has been working with AUTEL’s China subsidiary to enhance its brand identity system while retaining the Group’s existing logo. At the same time, WeChat was established as a key brand communication platform for the Chinese market, supported by long-term content planning and ongoing management.
From Chinese typography standards, supporting graphics, imagery, and other brand identity guidelines to practical business and marketing applications—including business cards, corporate presentation decks, company brochures, and exhibition materials—CoFound developed a systematic approach to address AUTEL’s communication needs in China. The result is a cohesive brand language that preserves AUTEL’s Italian heritage while adapting effectively to both the Chinese and broader Asia-Pacific markets.
Over more than two years of close collaboration, AUTEL has developed a more professional and consistent visual identity. Through the restructuring and continuous operation of its WeChat Official Account, the brand has also steadily increased its visibility within China’s industrial dust collection market, building a stronger foundation for future expansion across China and the Asia-Pacific region.
Founded in 1980, Autel S.r.l. is headquartered in Sassuolo, one of Italy’s major industrial hubs, approximately 20 kilometers from the Ferrari factory. Rooted in the region’s long-established manufacturing culture, AUTEL has accumulated more than 45 years of technical expertise.
Today, the company has extensive global project experience across industries including cement, steel, power generation, gas turbines, new energy, waste incineration, chemicals, and 3D printing. Supported by international product certifications, AUTEL has grown into a leading provider of integrated solutions for the cleaning, control, and monitoring of industrial baghouse filtration systems.
In 2009, AUTEL established a joint-venture subsidiary in Shanghai—Aotai (Shanghai) Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd.—as a strategic base for serving China and the Asia-Pacific region, providing sales, technical support, and after-sales services across these markets.
With more than 45 years of industry experience, AUTEL had already built strong customer relationships and a mature brand presence in Europe. As the company expanded in China, however, its existing communication model needed to adapt to a different media environment, customer behavior, and content ecosystem centered around WeChat.
For AUTEL China, the challenge was to preserve the strengths of its European brand while developing a more localized approach to brand identity, content planning, and market communication. This was especially important as the local team shifted from a primary focus on sales and technical services toward more systematic brand development.
CoFound therefore worked across both brand identity and content strategy. We refined Chinese typography, supporting graphics, imagery, and practical applications, while also developing annual marketing plans and clearer guidelines for collecting product, testing, shipment, and technical content.
Through ongoing content planning, exhibition campaigns, and technical storytelling, AUTEL’s expertise was gradually transformed into structured communication assets that strengthened both brand visibility and sales support in the Chinese market.
The brand identity optimization was developed without altering AUTEL’s existing Group logo or primary brand color.
The core concept, “Driving the Future, Sustaining a Cleaner World,” was inspired by the Group’s filtration division slogan, “We design INNOVATION to improve the quality of air,” reflecting AUTEL’s long-standing commitment to air quality, technological innovation, and environmental sustainability.
AUTEL’s “Made in Italy” heritage was also developed into a dedicated visual element that could be used alongside the brand logo, strengthening the visibility of the company’s country-of-origin advantage and Italian manufacturing expertise.
The overall visual system balances a cool, industrial and technology-driven aesthetic with colors inspired by the natural environment. Directional and flowing graphic elements communicate forward momentum while creating a clearer visual connection between technical expertise and sustainability.
A forward-moving arrow was developed as a distinctive supporting graphic, creating a highly recognizable visual system with strong flexibility across applications—from product imagery and technical communications to industry-specific content.
The color palette retains AUTEL’s established green as the primary brand color, complemented by red as a functional accent for key information. Additional blue-green tones in varying depths expand the palette while maintaining existing brand recognition and reinforcing visual associations with cleanliness, technology, and the environment.
Once the brand identity system was established, AUTEL China extended the visual guidelines across a wide range of applications, including exhibition branding, corporate presentation decks, company brochures and leaflets, business cards, corporate photography, and social media platforms.
For B2B industrial brands, customers often develop their understanding of a company through multiple touchpoints. Their first encounter may take place at an exhibition, followed by a sales presentation, company brochure, product information, or social media content. When these materials lack a consistent visual system, the overall brand experience can easily become fragmented.
By applying consistent colors, graphics, imagery, and layout principles, AUTEL gradually established a more cohesive brand experience across different communication scenarios. Whether through large-scale exhibition graphics, formal corporate presentations, or everyday product and company materials used by the sales team, the brand can now communicate its expertise through a unified design language.
Extending the identity system into practical sales and marketing applications has also helped transform AUTEL’s long-established Italian manufacturing heritage and industrial dust collection expertise into recognizable and understandable brand assets for the market.
In 2025, CoFound helped AUTEL China reposition its WeChat Official Account, refining its visual system, menu structure, and content strategy to better support long-term brand communication.
Around 60 articles are published each year, covering industry insights, applications, quality management, product updates, exhibitions, and other topics relevant to B2B audiences. Quarterly performance reviews also help refine future content directions.
Exhibition communication is integrated into the annual plan, with coordinated content before, during, and after each event to extend visibility beyond the show itself.
Through this ongoing collaboration, AUTEL China achieved a 150% year-on-year increase in WeChat followers. In 2026, the partnership expanded to WeChat Channels, introducing short-form video as another way to communicate products, technologies, and company updates.
Over time, the partnership has expanded from brand identity development into a more integrated marketing collaboration. AUTEL’s technical, sales, and marketing teams now work more closely to turn product expertise, company updates, and market activities into consistent external communication.
Annual marketing planning has also become more structured, with clear campaign schedules and communication priorities. For major exhibitions, content is coordinated across the pre-show, live-event, and post-show stages, helping extend the impact of each event and maintain stronger visibility among customers and industry audiences.
Internal technical training has further supported content development, giving CoFound access to deeper product and application knowledge and enabling more accurate, professional communication. As these efforts continue, AUTEL is building stronger market recognition and trust across China and the Asia-Pacific region, while giving its sales team more consistent brand and content support for business development.
Liu Xuehua
General Manager, AUTEL China
