Marketing experts give Cook rebrand cautious thumbs up

By Juliet Dennis

Marketing experts gave a cautious welcome to Thomas Cook’s decision to rebrand the company with a new heart logo and 'Let’s Go' strapline.

There is no doubt such a large scale change – which sees the globe logo and 'Don’t Just Book It' strapline disappear – is high-risk, according to Brighter Group chairman Steve Dunne.

“After all your logo is the personification of the brand; the symbol that the customer becomes familiar with and, if it is doing its job properly, reassures and reinforces everything about the brand in their eyes,” said Dunne.

The challenge to keep pace with change is one many traditional retailers face, added Branwell Johnson, acting editor of Marketing Week magazine.

He said: “Thomas Cook has the same problem as many legacy consumer retail and service brands in trying to transform itself into a 21st century powerhouse – it has to shed all its cumbersome baggage in terms of an overstuffed brand portfolio and the associated costs and truly grasp new changes in customer behaviour and technology. “

Thomas Cook’s director of sales, marketing and ecommerce Mike Hoban said the decision to rebrand now was deliberate. “I would rather make the decision now when the brand is in a strong place than leave it until it is too late like Woolworths. Too many brands have disappeared on the high street because they didn’t respond to changing customer dynamics,” he said.

Both Dunne and Jonhson said it was too early to tell how successful the rebrand would be but they cautiously welcomed the change.

Dunne said: “Only time will tell if Cook has got it right but it feels like a good move to me. The heart symbol will resonate powerfully with consumers and the warm colour and hint of sunshine gives it a holiday and special feel at the same time. Certainly the 'Let's Go' strap line is positive and a call to action.”

Johnson added: “It's too early to say whether Thomas Cook has done enough to ensure long-term business survival but it is surely a sign of confidence that it is now prepared to introduce a new visual identity and slogan.

“In themselves, these changes might not mean much to business analysts concerned with share price and quarterly earnings and observers often lambast companies they see tampering with their logos and lines as rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.

“But such changes can indicate a return of the swagger and energy a big business should project and when deployed correctly and not just as a “fig-leaf” for other failings they can both signal and support a company's root and branch overhaul of business strategy. “

Danny Rogers, editor-in-chief of the Republic Group of magazines including Marketing, Campaignand PR Week, admitted he was unsure about the strength of the new heart logo, which he compared to other “umbrella” branding attempts such as Tui Travel’s smile and Wall’s ice-creams’ heart logo. “It’s not a new idea,” he said.

But he hailed the investment in consistent, long-term TV advertising as a smart strategy to effectively build the brand as more consumers watched TV through a variety of digital channels.

The ultimate challenge for the company was to ensure  the new brand identity was backed up by a better holiday experience, he added. “Is going on a Thomas Cook holiday noticeably better than going on other holidays? It needs to feel as if it is.”

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.”