A conversation about the value of brand in inspiring, aligning and driving growth

The project began as “DigitalDent”, backed by Alantra Private Equity, with the aim of bringing together a broad network of dental laboratories across Spain under a shared vision. As its ambition grew, so did the need to bring structure to the story, connect teams and communicate the project’s full potential to the market.

That is how AIVORIQ began: a brand created by BrandFor to highlight the strength of bringing different laboratories together under a single identity, as well as their ability to drive innovation and digitalisation across the sector. A fully integrated brand creation process, with the laboratories involved at its heart every step of the way.

We spoke to the AIVORIQ team, Íñigo Sánchez (CEO), Gonzalo López-Cerón (COO) and María Dorado (CMO), about the brand creation process and the role the brand has played in building the project.

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Without the brand, we couldn’t tell the story we wanted to tell.
We had no common thread.

Gonzalo López-Cerón

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Without the brand, we couldn’t tell the story we wanted to tell. We had no common thread.

Gonzalo López-Cerón

WHEN BRAND BECOMES ESSENTIAL

When did you realise that the brand was going to become a key asset in driving the project forward?

At first, the brand was not the priority. The focus was on integrating laboratories, understanding their different realities and building trust before proposing a common identity. Before communicating externally, we needed to listen internally and recognise the individual value of each laboratory. The brand could not feel imposed. It had to become an asset that fitted naturally into the project and that everyone could feel part of. That moment came as the project began to grow and it became clear that simply explaining which laboratories were part of it was no longer enough. We needed to communicate the potential of what they could achieve together.

Each laboratory has its own history, reputation and way of working, but the group needed a common thread: a shared idea capable of bringing structure to the story, connecting teams and expressing a collective vision. That is when the creation of a new brand became increasingly relevant.

We needed an identity capable of presenting the project to the market for what it was truly becoming: a group with a shared ambition and a distinctive proposition.

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We didn’t want to fall into the usual codes of the dental sector.

Íñigo Sánchez

KEY ELEMENTS IN THE BRAND CREATION PROCESS

Once you decided to create the brand, what was the main challenge from a strategic point of view?

The challenge went far beyond creating a name or a visual identity. It was about giving shape to a business ambition, a culture and a shared sense of purpose. There were two fundamental priorities: the brand had to make everyone feel part of the project while, at the same time, differentiating itself radically from the usual codes and expected language of the dental sector. AIVORIQ needed to build a territory of its own.

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It is a name with depth. It grows on you over time, as you give it meaning and content.

Gonzalo López-Cerón

AIVORIQ: A POWERFUL NAME WITH AN IDENTITY OF ITS OWN

The name AIVORIQ completely breaks with the codes of the sector. What was the initial reaction?

The name was unexpected. It wasn’t what people would normally associate with a company in the dental sector, but that was precisely what gave it the ability to open up a different territory. At first, it wasn’t an immediate or obvious name, but it had depth, layers and a story behind it.

AIVORIQ grows as its meaning is explained. It brings together ideas of intelligence and innovation, a reference to ivory, and a distinctive sound that sets it apart from more generic names.

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The strategy has given us a credible and relevant narrative: it helps encapsulate and communicate who we are.

Íñigo Sánchez

BRAND STRATEGY: A UNIQUE BALANCE OF EXCELLENCE, INNOVATION AND VOCATION

The brand strategy we developed, expressed through the tagline “Together. Beyond.”, sought to build a shared culture. How has that narrative helped you internally?

One thing we were very clear about was that we didn’t want to create yet another narrative around digitalisation, because the whole market is already talking about it. The aim was to highlight the vocation of the dental technician, a figure that has traditionally remained largely invisible. AIVORIQ wanted to change that perception by celebrating the craftsmanship, precision and pride behind an essential profession.

The narrative we have developed has helped us encapsulate who AIVORIQ is and where we want to go. Together. Beyond. works as a clear and memorable idea that connects directly with the ambition of the project: bringing laboratories together to go beyond what each could achieve independently. Everyone knows the concept, and it has become an element that creates the sense of identification and connection we were looking for among all our partners.

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Visually, the new brand has helped us find a balance between technical detail and excellence, without losing the human and innovative dimension.

María Dorado

A VISUAL IDENTITY THAT BREAKS WITH CATEGORY CODES

The dental sector tends to rely on highly clinical codes. What has a more human, contemporary and aspirational expression brought to the brand?

The challenge was to find a balance between showcasing technical excellence, making the work behind every product visible, and building a brand that felt innovative, elegant and distinctive. Throughout the process, two equally necessary perspectives emerged: the technical perspective, focused on product detail and precision; and the brand perspective, aimed at elevating the narrative and making it more human, aspirational and powerful.

Without hiding its technical essence, the brand needed to help us talk about vocation, craftsmanship and professional pride. We are finding a way to resolve that tension between product, technique and brand by making those ideas tangible.

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The brand helped make visible a profession that often remains behind the scenes.

Íñigo Sánchez

CULTURAL IMPACT AND INTERNAL ADOPTION

How has the brand been received internally? What role has it played in the group’s culture and among the laboratories?

The brand has not only helped structure an external narrative; it has also helped honour the individual history of each of the laboratories within the group. The corporate film was conceived as a tribute to the profession, making many people feel seen, recognised and proud.

At laboratory level, the key to bringing them into this shared project was ensuring that the brand never came before the relationship. First came presence, listening and genuine interaction with the laboratories. Empathy, respect and clarity have been fundamental throughout the integration process.

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The brand is helping us open up new conversations and connect with new partners.

Íñigo Sánchez

THE COMMERCIAL POWER OF BRAND

What role is the brand playing from a commercial perspective?

When it comes to attracting new laboratories, the brand is making a significant difference. Previously, explaining the project meant listing the different laboratories that formed part of the group. Now there is one word that guides and brings structure to everything: AIVORIQ. From a customer perspective, there is still a journey ahead, because a brand is not built overnight.

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The key is clarity. Something as critical as a company’s brand cannot be improvised. Respecting each phase is key to ensuring the brand is understood, embraced and lived.

Gonzalo López-Cerón and María Dorado

CLARITY, GUIDANCE AND BOLDNESS: THE KEYS TO BRAND TRANSITION

What advice would you give to someone building a brand from scratch through a similar process?

The first thing would be to respect each stage of the process. A group brand cannot be built overnight: it requires a transition. First, there needs to be a phase focused on awareness and understanding. Then comes a stage in which the brand is embedded and lived internally before being fully expressed externally.

Another key learning is the importance of internal reflection. Without a clear roadmap, it is difficult to know when one phase ends, when the next begins and how to manage the timing. When building a brand, improvisation can come at a very high cost.

And finally, you need clarity from the outset and the right support throughout the process.

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The easy route would have been to choose an obvious name and a flatter identity. A brand like AIVORIQ requires more explanation, but it also has a greater ability to build value.

Íñigo Sánchez

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It’s better to be brave. I’d rather go slightly too far than end up looking like everyone else.

Gonzalo López-Cerón

What impact do you think being bold enough to stand apart, rather than taking the easy route, has had?

Building a distinctive brand requires boldness. In highly codified sectors, many brands end up looking too similar to one another. We could have kept a more descriptive name that was easier to understand, but that would have limited its ability to differentiate. A brand like AIVORIQ requires more explanation. But it also offers greater depth, greater ambition and greater potential to grow.

Being bold does not mean making decisions without thinking them through. It means analysing first, defining a clear strategy and, from there, having the courage to make decisions that are not obvious.

After the entire process, how would you summarise the value the brand has brought to the project?

The brand has enabled us to communicate what AIVORIQ was and what it wanted to become. It gave the project a shared language, a common narrative and a clearer way of explaining itself both to the market and to its teams. Above all, it helped bring something into view that had previously remained in the background: the talent, vocation and excellence that exist within dental laboratories.

AIVORIQ brings a more aspirational, contemporary and engaging way of talking about a profession that is deeply technical, but also deeply human.

BrandFor x AIVORIQ. A brand designed to give the business shape, direction and a story, while unlocking the value of coming together.

The AIVORIQ process demonstrates that a brand is not simply a name, a logo or a visual identity. It is a strategic tool for structuring a vision, aligning teams, building culture and creating differentiation in the market.

In a sector dominated by clinical, functional and largely unemotional codes, AIVORIQ chose the harder path: building a brand with a character of its own, capable of talking about innovation without losing sight of vocation; of celebrating technical excellence without sacrificing the human dimension; and of bringing different realities together under one shared ambition.

Because sometimes a brand is not created simply to change how a company is perceived from the outside. It is created to help everyone within it come together to build something bigger.

Together. Beyond.