TravelManagers Australia launches its fresh brand identity and strategy via Principals

Branding agency Principals has recently been tasked with creating a new brand identity, logo and tagline for national travel network TravelManagers Australia, which has been launched this month.

The new look and feel has been designed to capture the spirit of TravelManagers’ personal travel manager’s (PTMs) passion for travel, together with the knowledge and expertise that can only come from a network who share an average experience of 16.5 years in travel.

TravelManagers tasked Principals to create the new brand strategy and identity that would sit across the company’s Australia-wide network of 460 plus PTMs.

Principal started with an extensive research process to understand the TravelManagers business and brand. This included interviews and focus groups with clients and PTMs, as well as an online survey to all staff, and analysis of the travel market more broadly.

Says Ed Elias, strategy consultant, Principals: “We wanted to create an identity that really captured the passion, dedication and responsiveness of the personal travel managers themselves.”

The key insight resulting from Principals’ research was that TravelManagers business is built on the close relationships that exist between each personal travel manager and each of their individual clients.

Says Chrissy Tayfield, marketing manager, TravelManagers: “Through this feedback we recognised early on that our previous logo was too industry stereotyped and didn’t reveal enough about TravelManagers and what we offer. The brand wasn’t reflecting the complete experience clients were receiving and it was time to change that.”

The new logo is all about the individual relationships every PTM has with each of their clients. The logo isn’t a plane or something that suggests a purely transactional relationship as you have come to expect from traditional travel agencies. Rather, it’s a Clover mark that demonstrates a personal touch. Each leaf is a heart, which represents our PTMs passion for what they do. The different leaf colours represent  the individual personalities that distinguish one client from another. A four leaf clover is rare and special, and you feel lucky when you’ve found one. That’s how clients feel about TravelManagers’ PTMs.

Says Tayfield: “Our new strap line ‘As individual as you are’ really epitomises the uniquely individual service that each client receives from their own PTM. The new identity captures the fact that relationships are our business and perfectly positions our PTMs as delivering an exclusive service experience that people aspire towards.”

The new brand identity was officially launched on 1st January when clients saw the previous logo and tag line replaced on collateral such as business cards, stationery, ticket wallets and luggage tags including a radical redesign of TravelManagers’ website delivering a brand new platform. The website now provides visitors with many user friendly features and streamlined navigation that is optimised for all screens – desktop, mobile and tablet. This allows for consistency across multiple devices and includes a search function for prospective new clients to find PTMs by postcode, suburb or special interest.

Says Tayfield: “For us a rebrand isn’t just about changing the name and logo. We have in collaboration with our PTMs introduced a new service charter ‘Inspiring Excellence’ that gives the brand much more depth and meaning than a mere change of logo and has been designed to give reassurance to prospective new clients. The brand also includes increased prominence of being part of House of Travel, one of the largest travel agencies across Australasia.”