PTS Rebrand
A branding voyage.
PTS (Protected Trust Services) places holiday-goers pre-payments into a protected trust - so they can be certain they’ll get to their end destination no matter what happens. PTS needed a strategic rethink and creative rebrand, to bring clarity to their offering and drive membership sign-ups.
Short on time? Read this one minute synopsis…
01 - The Problem
PTS had little brand recognition or penetration in a crowded market. Their comprehensive offering was part of the problem: based on an advanced platform that offered travel sellers everything from booking to card acquisition, the offer was muddy and unclear.
03 - The Creative Solution
While they are a solutions business – not a travel company – PTS still exists to facilitate safer and securer trips for every travel-seller's customers. So, we worked with a skilled illustrator to develop a suite of assets that spoke to travel sellers, while evoking a golden age of travel.
02 - The Big Idea
We realised that a strategic change was necessary; from focusing on the minutiae of the PTS offering, to a benefit-led approach that spoke to every travel-seller's deep need to overcome the complexity and uncertainty inherent in every booking. Our big idea? For Travel's Sake.
04 - How we embraced change
Our approach represented a step change for PTS – setting them apart from the competition by focusing on key user benefits in a bold and beautiful campaign designed to capture the hearts and minds of the travel industry, as opposed to the dry, technical stances of competitors.
Got a little more time?
Good. Let’s start with The Problem.
PTS had little brand recognition or penetration in a crowded market. Their comprehensive offering was part of the problem: based on an advanced platform that offered travel sellers everything from booking to card acquisition, the offer was muddy and unclear.
PTS had already rebranded from Protected Travel Services to Protected Trust Services, to draw focus to its hero offering. However, they fully embraced the need to re-imagine everything else, with a new brand logo and an evocative illustrative style that would now underpin every asset.
What was working?
PTS already showed up as a friendly and personable business, with a market leading Trust Account product and a great software platform. We wanted to keep that friendly, supportive vibe, but take it further than it had ever gone before.
The Big Idea
Travel sellers live in a world of uncertainty. Airlines can go bust. Air traffic controllers can strike. Hotels can turn out to be building sites. And when it goes wrong, they're left to pick up the pieces or disappoint paying customers. PTS enables them to make sure every booking is protected in any event, promising peace of mind for them and their customers. They need to join PTS:
For Travel’s Sake
What was the creative solution?
Creative Copy
Well-defined and consistently applied tone of voice contributes to brand recognition, builds trust, and helps the brand stand out in a crowded market and fosters a sense of familiarity and authenticity with the audience.
A complete rebranding and repositioning of the PTS offer, with language focused on end user benefits as opposed to product features, a new and modern brand logo, and a stunning illustrative style made possible by partnering with an exciting new illustrator.
Visual Identity
Our visual identity is how we show up in the world visually. A visual identity is essential for brand recognition and establishing a strong and cohesive brand image.
Digital and Web
A strong digital and web presence is essential for modern brands to establish, grow, and maintain their position in the market. It provides numerous opportunities for reaching and engaging with a diverse audience, driving sales, and building lasting relationships with clients.
Micro Brand Launch
Marketing is a dynamic and powerful tool that shapes how a brand is perceived, connects with its audience, and ultimately influences its success in the market. Strategic and well executed marketing campaigns can have a lasting impact on brand positioning and customer relationships.
Creative Copy
First and foremost, we realised that by making our headlines focus on end user benefits, we needed to make sure that our membership signup objective wasn't getting lost in translation. So we paired every headline with an explanatory subhead,
Visual Identity
A stand out identity is essential for recognition and establishing a strong and cohesive brand image. For PTS it was important to develop a brand which stood out from not only their competitors, but, stood out full stop. When researching we realised very quickly that boring over used stock imagery seemed to be a firm staple to most of PTS’s competitors identity’s and was the reason these sites were forgettable and stale. The answer was Illustration, bold colour, characterful typography and a strong reliable logo.
Bespoke illustration at the core
When working with an illustrator out of house, there is a process of initial research and selection to which we then get client selection and approval after receiving initial costs of commissioning work through various illustrators. When a preferred illustrator is selected we then brief the illustrator and get a first round of initial sketches to feedback and approve both internally and with the client. The next stage would be the application of finer details, colour, textures and any first round amends.
Illustration > animation
When commissioning the illustrator, we specifically requested layered files to allow for animation. As you can see, this approach works beautifully here. The animations are subtle yet add even more depth and character to the imagery. There's plenty to explore from a motion perspective.
Digital and Web
Web is changing. Our approach to this project embraces that change with a seamless integration of strategy, digital design utilising our bespoke brand illustrations to deliver a standout online experience in the sector.
Brand Micro Launch
I’m currently working with PTS to realise their micro brand launch which will be highly targeted to SMEs in the travel sector. Watch this space.
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
— Quote Source