How good design helps travel companies stand out from the crowd

Gavin and Gareth Graimes know a thing or two about the importance of design. The brothers are owners of Brighton-based creative marketing agency Oliver & Graimes, which has worked on design campaigns for travel companies including Kuoni and Solos Holidays.

Gavin says in today’s crowded sector, good design is crucial, helping to improve and cement brand identity. “Lots of people are out there creating content and visuals – everyone’s a creator now, but using a design agency brings expertise.”

For today’s travel agencies, good design should be about more than shopfronts and marketing collateral. “Global audiences crave content, so it’s important for travel companies to also produce it themselves,” explains Gareth.

Bright ideas

Oliver & Graimes harnessed the power of content on a recent project for their client of 25 years, Kuoni. “We worked on turn-of-year activity to help drive bookings and enhance the Kuoni point of difference with the ‘Travel We’re Talking About’ tagline,” explains Gareth.

As well as helping with copywriting, photography, graphics and advertising, the agency came up with a conceptual ?idea for a video to bring the new tagline to life.

“In the news at that time there was lots of talk about digital assistants, so we decided to start a conversation about it. We spent a day filming with some of Kuoni’s personal travel experts [PTEs]. We asked questions to a personal? assistant device, then to the PTEs, whose answers were unplanned. It helped showcase the PTEs’ expertise and got a hugely positive reaction from ?the trade, as well as 6,500 views on?YouTube.”

Purpose-driven goals

If you’re thinking about design for a new campaign, Gavin says it’s crucial to keep things slick and uniform in style. “Consistency across all touchpoints, from social media to emails, is very important. Consumers are getting savvier, and if it looks cheap and nasty, they’ll be put off. Customers want to trust, believe and buy into the brand.”

If you’re considering launching a brand for the first time, or are seeking a brand refresh, make sure you know who your audience is from the start. “The likes of Jet2 and On the Beach know their market proposition very well,” says Gavin. “They know who they are and that they’re catering to a price-driven market.”

It’s therefore vital to conduct both market and consumer research before deciding on any brand or campaign changes, advises Gavin.

Ultimately, though, any redesigns need to have passion and strong reasoning behind them. “You need to have a purpose. Think to yourself, ‘why are we doing this?’ That needs to be defined to add much more clout.”