Thomas Cook reveals rebrand

By Phil Davies

The Thomas Cook globe and strapline “Don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it” are to disappear from today and be replaced by a new group symbol across all markets.

A ‘sunny’ shining orange heart is the new unifying Thomas Cook brand and will appear with a new strapline: “Let’s go!”

The image revamp is the third major strand to the group’s turnaround plan led by chief executive Harriet Green following the ‘high tech, high touch’ strategy announcement in March and group refinancing in May.

The new brand strategy was unveiled this morning.

The ‘sunny heart’ will replace the current ‘globe’ symbol on websites, and in Cook’s international stores, airline fleet and throughout its UK headquarters and overseas offices.

The group's many leading brands, such as Neckermann in Europe, Ving in Sweden, Condor in Germany and Elegant Resorts in the UK, will all connect with the ‘sunny heart’ in different ways.

Simplifying the brand proposition is a key element in the group's profitable growth strategy, building on Thomas Cook's already strong brand heritage and projecting its transformation into a single united business, the group said.

Green said: "At our Capital Markets presentation in March we committed to reduce our multiple UK brands from 30, to less than 10 consumer facing and B2B brands, eliminating confusion and making it easier for customers to interact with us.

“This major milestone in the transformation of our company, as we continue to develop our product offering and focus on our omni-channel approach, is much more than the rollout of a new logo.

“It symbolises how we are leveraging the combined power of the group to maximise our presence in the mind of customers, whilst helping to reduce cost."

Group chief financial officer Michael Healy added: "Having already piloted this approach in our North European businesses since November 2012, we have proven that it has heightened brand awareness, driven more website traffic, increased early and repeat bookings and improved conversion rates.

‘This unification has been developed internally and we are rolling it out appropriately for this stage in our transformation journey."

Green added: "What we’re announcing today is a renewed promise to our customers, our people and suppliers.  A promise that we’re putting them at the heart of our transformation it’s the essence of who we are.

'The unification of our brands under the Sunny Heart is three fold; it will make it easier for our customers to understand the full strength and end-to-end value of the entire Thomas Cook Group coupled with our full innovative offering of our services and products; it will show more clearly what differentiates us and how we provide a total experience along every touch point - from research, to booking, to anticipation, to the holiday itself; and importantly, it will clarify our customer promise– a complete range of inspirational experiences for our customers.”