Comment by Jeremy Skidmore: Rebranding long overdue

Thursday, 17 Oct, 2003 0

First Choice has set the rebrand ball rolling with the decision to give all its high street shops the same name as the tour operator.

They won’t be the last – how long will it be before the names Lunn Poly and Going Places are consigned to history?

Rebranding has made sense for years – it saves companies money because they only have to use one name on all their promotional literature and advertising and it gives firms one strong brand to promote to customers.

Most people don’t know or care that Bakers Dolphin and Air 2000 are part of First Choice. But they do want to book with a company they perceive to be big and secure. They’re more likely to feel this way if they see a brand name thrust at them at every opportunity.

But the whole rebranding exercise has taken a long time because companies have been worried that they would lose business from rivals if they had the same name for their tour operator and retailer.

The concern was always: would Lunn Poly agree to sell a First Choice holiday when there was a First Choice shop across the road?

Of course the climate has changed and although First Choice are being coy about their relationships with rivals, they have obviously got reassurances that a new paint job is not going to make them the pariahs of the industry.

How Thomas Cook must be wishing the climate had been different a few years ago. They would have loved to have used such a strong name for their tour operator and retailer but didn’t think they could get away with it. Instead they spent millions trying to convince people: ‘don’t just book it, JMC it.’

Although we will see rebranding gather pace, don’t expect it to spread to tour operator brands just yet.
Tour operators need lots of different companies to attract niche markets as well as the bucket-and-spade brigade. Imagine how many 2wentys customers would be lost if the brand was renamed First Choice.

And, frankly, hell is likely to freeze over before Club 18-30 is renamed Thomas Cook Holidays.