Kuoni has revealed its first rebrand for 15 years, which includes a ‘wow’ yellow logo that it hopes will attract a broader customer base.
Managing Director Mark Duguid said the yellow was ‘a feature colour, designed to be bold to get standout’, and to ‘inject a sense of playfulness’. There’s also a ‘sale’ red, and its marketing materials will include more people.
Kuoni hopes that the new branding will appeal to customers – especially families – who might previously have dismissed Kuoni as ‘expensive’, ‘a little bit stuffy’ or ‘slightly old fashioned’.
“That is not how we are, so we need our branding to reflect that,” added Mark. The new look will be aired on TV for the first time during Kuoni’s turn-of-year campaign, which will be announced next week.
Taking inspiration from other heritage brands such as Veuve Clicquot and Selfridges, both of which use bold yellow in their colour scheme, Mark said Kuoni was aiming for a more ‘contemporary’ feel.
Prior to the rebrand, extensive customer research carried out by Kuoni revealed that while it is ‘very well known’ for special occasions and ‘tracks very well’ for trust and quality, it has an ‘exceptionally low score on value’.
“That is one of the reasons for the rebrand, we are repositioning, representing the business because we are perceived as luxury and we have presented ourselves very much as luxury, but actually what the research showed us is that we presenting ourselves as more luxury than we actually are,” said Mark.
“We are not an out and out luxury brand like Carrier, we are a bigger operator with a broader range of products, so the intention is to retain that specialness because those metrics of quality and reputation are incredible, money can’t buy those, but to be more accessible.”
Kuoni adopted a new commercial strategy in Peaks 2024 and has been lowering prices throughout this year by adding cheaper destinations such as Turkey and the Dominican Republic, renegotiating contracts and reducing its margins, which, it says, have enabled it to compete with online competitors such as BA Holidays and Virgin Holidays.
“By having a more contemporary brand identity we can present ourselves as more accessible and more affordable, but you have to be more affordable as well,” added Mark.
Kuoni’s biggest price reductions have been in the ‘really competitive’ beach destinations such as the UAE, Europe and the Caribbean. “We are tracking not just B2B competitors but B2C competitors, so the likes of BA Holidays and Virgin Holidays, and if you think of the aggressive margins they go out with that gives you an idea of our price reductions,” said Mark.
“I am not committing to us being the cheapest, but we are absolutely tracking the full market and that benefits travel agents because we are tracking B2C operators that would normally be very difficult for agents to compete with.”
Trade sales are Kuoni’s biggest growth area, added Mark, with bookings from agents showing ‘healthy double digit’ increase this year, following an expansion of its trade team from two to six members and the introduction of flexible commissions last January. In some months of 2024, its trade sales have been in treble digits, said Mark.
The team has been to ‘every trade conference’ this year, he said, adding: “We are reaching many more agents than we ever have before. Our mix with the trade is growing, deliberately.
“Our targets for next year’s trade sales are very ambitious, but we are confident we’ll reach them. Even though we have reduced prices, we are paying out more commission and our conversions are up.
“We have had feedback from travel agents and we know that they are finding us much more affordable and more competitive. The new brand is part and parcel of that, you can’t just rebrand alone, there are other strategic actions as well.”
As part of the rebrand, Kuoni has reintroduced the globe to its logo, to reflect it is a worldwide operator. “You can expect us to be adding more destinations, with new ones to be revealed next year,” added Mark.
