EVALUATION:
Aiming to be Europe's number one airport.
The brief from Southampton Airport was to refresh the brand prior to their new owners taking charge.
With a business plan featuring their stated aim of becoming the number one regional airport in Europe, the pressure was on to hit the mark with a distinctive and modern approach.
Southampton Airport is owned by AGS Airports Ltd. and serves around 40 direct European destinations with great onward connections to the world via Amsterdam with KLM. It benefits from excellent transport links being located just off the M27 and M3 and with Southampton Airport Parkway train station only 99 steps from the main terminal.
The airport now handles in excess of 2 million passengers from across the south of England each year, via some 19 airlines and tour operators and upwards of 42,000 flights.
DIFFERENTIATION:
Time to breeze through.
The main benefit of flying from Southampton is one of convenience.
In terms of customer service, nothing beats the ability to 'breeze through' the airport in double quick time, something that the client had already identified in its marketing materials.
In addition to the superb transport links, it takes just twenty minutes from the airport's front door to reach the gate, a major factor in reducing travel stress.
Southampton Airport is also rightly renowned for its customer service - winning the coveted European, ACI Airport People Award on two occasions. We were therefore keen to reinforce these credentials with positioning and creative that really brought attention to them.
EXPRESSION:
A light bulb moment.
Once we had the notion of translating the SOU airport code into SO YOU in our heads, it was difficult to shake the feeling that it would really work. Only Southampton Airport can make the claim SOU, so we’re looking for them to own the idea of personalised, customer service at airports.
And it also helps staff to understand the focus of the business – the customer – articulating a common goal for all to follow.
We incorporated the silhouette of a plane that lands at Southampton, and the branding has been created in four colourways to add flexibility and to reference the variety of passengers travelling through the terminal, and the many destinations they are heading to.
Brand Guidelines followed, designed to present the story simply and effectively to all involved in producing materials.
ACTIVATION:
The Customer Journey.
The first job was to apply the new brand across the airport. We reviewed the customer journey in some depth, including car park, buses, trollies, check-in, security and the gates and proposed an integrated approach.
A small badge for all staff summed up the idea. Each part of the airport is run by different sub-contractors so a badge saying 'I'm SOU' is a great way of unifying their efforts and providing focus to their activity.
The beauty of SOU is that passengers see it widely on their travels. The airport code appears on all correspondence and even flight screens. A constant reminder of a positive experience.
"I was very impressed by how the team tackled our brand refresh. They understood the brief but were brave enough to challenge certain parts of it. We are certainly delighted by the results which was described as ‘iconic, confident and professional’ during our research sessions.
The new identity builds on the old one and really differentiates Southampton Airport from its competition. We are sure it will be a great asset as we continue our aim to become Europe's leading regional airport"