We did just let our Community decide about our new Company Logo ??

Yep, you heard right. We literally?just let our community decide which logo to take for our company in the future. Why? Because we are a community driven company.?

In our survey a couple of weeks ago we asked you to vote for the logo of your choice. And vote you did! 18,462?people participated in the survey – more than in any other community survey before – and decided the look of the new Sono?Motors brand logo. Incredible!

There were three variants to choose from, and the clear winner was:

The new logo of Sono?Motors is a logical continuation of the previous one; an evolution, so to speak. While retaining all the good things about the previous logo – minimalist design, a sun symbol, simplicity – the update adds some energy and vitality. The typography is very similar to the current logo; however, we did soften those sharp edges a bit. It looks friendlier now, more inviting.

And of course, the Sion will also bear the new logo. Thank you so much to everyone who shared their vote with us. We want to continue as an enterprise which actively involves its community and values your opinion, not just concerning the design of the Sion but the brand as a whole.

Sono as a Community Driven Company

Ever since Jona, Navina and myself founded Sono in a small garage here in Munich (Germany), we have pursued an approach to product design which is different from that of many traditional car manufacturers. With the crowdfunding campaign started by us in 2016, interested parties, reservation holders, and backers have been included in various design-related decisions from the start. The motto: “Sion. A Solarcar for everyone.”

When we told Navina in 2016 about the project, Jona and I had already spent four years building the first concept car completely on our own. That was when we had the idea to try crowdfunding. Through crowdfunding, we wanted to find out whether there were people out there who shared our vision. Fortunately, we found exactly those people. In total, we raised more than 800,000?euros, exceeding our own expectations by far. At the time, that was a lot of money for us (and still is today). That was the start of Sono Motors.

Without the enthusiasm of the many people who provided financial backing to that (back then small) project by making a reservation, Sono would not exist in its present form. Therefore it went without saying for us that these people should also have a say in the design of the Sion in some form.

A completely new approach to vehicle development

Even as we designed the first prototype back in 2017, we kept involving our growing community through surveys. That way, we received a lot of suggestions and ideas about the further development of the Sion. Our team worked a few very intense night shifts in order to translate all those suggestions into the model.

But that was only the beginning. During the subsequent test tours across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, and France, we not only collected more and more feedback but we also established close connections with our reservation holders that are still going strong. We developed a feeling for which aspects mattered to the community and which ones didn’t. More than 18,000 people have test-driven our prototypes so far, and their feedback has shaped the development of the Sion.

Like we did now with the question about the new logo, we have always directly involved our community in the past few years with the help of surveys. Should the Sion be a five- or six-seater? What color should the car be: black or white? What color rims should we use? How much charging power? What type of headlights? What are the requirements of the infotainment system? The real-time data we receive from surveys makes it possible for us to rethink the automotive design process and to directly incorporate the community feedback in the development.

A completely new approach of a supervisory board

Of course, we weren’t always able to incorporate everybody’s wishes and ideas. But still the community’s opinion has been a key influence not only on the design but also on Sono as a company. That was also one of the reasons why we decided to create a job within the company which represented our community. After putting out the call, we received around 400?applications for that post, and the community ultimately chose Sebastian?B?ttger as their representative.

After our IPO last November, Sebastian was also appointed to the Sono Supervisory Board, where he represents the community and its interests. He is also a frequent guest?in our live streams, posing community questions to our experts. Sebastian’s voice is very important, and he is a valuable sparring partner within the company.

This community approach has resulted in the following actions:?

• We publish every 2 weeks a 30-50 page long development report (link) with all progress and hurdles we have. #transparency
• We have our detailed development timeline on our website (link).
• We have built a community website
• The community has created a world map of where all reservations are coming from.?
• There is a Facebook group with 4,500 members.
• There are always Sundays so called "Sono News" (great read!), where Sebastian & volunteers summarize all news about Sono on a weekly basis (link).

So, why am I telling you all this?

Well,?

1. in case I haven't mentioned it yet: We just let our community decide about our new company logo ??
2. A community driven approach leads to an extremely high net promoter score (NPS). Ours is ~ 60 for reservation holders, which is way above industry average.?Thus, it also leads to more sales.?
3. I believe in a world where all companies should be more transparent and look at their customer not just as a customer but as a community.?