There are 435 business travel companies in the U.S., all selling the same seats on the same airplanes, all offering the same beds in the same hotels. VTS Travel Direct was just another one – a quiet company, lost in a very commoditized industry. They needed something big; something that would joggle the entire industry and free them from the pack.
Directravel’s client, the Corporate Travel Manager, was also in a tough position. They had to please two people at once: the business traveler (who wants a better, but more expensive, travel experience) and the company CEO (who wants to reduce corporate travel expenses). With the technologies and procedures they had in place, Directravel was able to solve this dilemma. Their new UBI™ had to reflect this and appeal to all three audiences: the business traveler, the CEO and the Corporate Travel Manager.
We performed an aggressive inside-out rebranding, addressing everything from technology to value propositions to the company name. VTS Travel Direct became Directravel. From there, we developed a new logo, and the tagline – How Smart People Travel.
We added depth to the new corporate image with the concept of TravologyTM – the art and science of business travel management. We touted Travology as an actual science and Directravel as the only company qualified to practice it. Everything, from brochures to ads to business cards, told the Travology story.
When Travology hit, Directravel immediately saw a dramatic increase in business and soon had to hire new sales and customer services reps to keep up with call volume. This one business travel company was growing faster than the entire market and stealing market share away from key competitors. Directravel went on to achieve double-digit sales growth.
Internally, Directravel’s employees were invigorated by the concept. They became certified TravologistsTM and every process they created became another example of their scientific approach to solving business travel issues.