Virgin Blue rebrand revealed
This is the Hans Hulsbosch-designed logo of Virgin Blue’s re-branded airline Virgin Australia, Mumbrella can reveal.
Hulsbosch said: “The new brand creates a new over-arching look and feel appropriate for a future market leader. Its key design associations are professional, dynamic and intelligent. The new toned down and professional livery reflects a stylish brand personality and fits seamlessly with other Virgin travel brands worldwide like Virgin Galactic and Virgin Atlantic.”
As well as the new brand, the airline will introduce a suite of new products and services aimed at the business market to take on Qantas for the title of Australia’s leading business and corporate carrier.
“It demonstrates that the carrier has ‘grown up’ and is now a full service business airline. We have toned down the bright red and some of the larrikin elements of the former brand to create a cleaner and more up market image befitting the new market leader in Australia,” Hulsbosch added.
Not that exclusive… 😉
http://www.ausbt.com.au/first-.....ey-airport
It’s a bit…. drab isn’t it?
Positioning line: “Now you’re flying”.
Drab too.
So Virgin Blue’s red planes are now white, and their logo has lost all of it’s colour…. what happened?!
If they’ve grown up does this mean Beardie is going to have to stop throwing hostesses into the harbour everytime he comes over here to launch Virgin Guttering or whatever?
Hans borrowed the design from Virgin Atlantic, and then dulled it right off.
http://tinyurl.com/3jf4kuv
You guys…..this is the IP logo in B&W….drab… lol
I would have gone with “The only Virgin in Australia” slogan.
ho hum…….’sigh’
Thanks lol.
Add red to the “Virgin’ type and you have the rest.
Still drab.
Lots of Hulsbosch haters around…
A bit drab yes, however to be honest I am glad to see them get rid of the “larrikin elements” – It was getting very old!
Seems to me that John Borghetti can’t get over leaving Qantas and needs to create something similar…. isnt this the direct opposite to why Virgin Blue was created?
sleek but a bit sterile.
Pretty clumsy typography too, I expected better from Hans.
That took 12 months? Oh boy.
The shape form is okay but looks incomplete. Strange use of drop shadow.
Sincerely, what did they do for the money apart from using a B&W printer?
I love Virgin BUT that could not have taken 12 months to execute.
If Virgins brief to the agency was, “we’d like something more plain” – they definitely hit the brief then!
I also then wonder – how much did they charge? Gazzzzillons for the strategy I suppose, and then engaged a mid-weight freelancer for $50 p/h for a days work, most probably using paintshop.
Wow. 12 months. A YEAR!!! Does it really take that long to go from the old logo to pretty much the same logo but in black and white with the edges of the “Virgin” smoothed over and a different font for “Australia” than what it was for “Blue”? I am definitely in the wrong business!
Makes me think of that old Dudley Moore advertising movie.
Beyond dull, poor execution, poor kerning and a slight retweak of the master brand mark do not a great logo make….i think somebody took virgin for a bit of a ride, and not the good kind.
It’s the same type face as Virgin Atlantic. Nothing new all.
“Crazy People Sony Pitch” http://youtu.be/2fIIqFpZdy0
I hope this process doesn’t make it into the mainstream. The public will start to think marketing people are idiots.
Why would you run a story using the black and white submission to IP AU?
Would you not update this with the correct one?
Good to see mumbrella’s famous “conversations to the mirror” commentary is still alive!
Hi Firestarter. From our story (next to the colour version): “The logo exists as both a mono and colour version.”
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Interesting, came to the similar conclusions about their rebranding – i guess it worked 🙂
Aaahhh media and marketing people think it’s all about them…
…and I thought would be the first to understand difficulties about licensing – global alliances, etc. Jump on a plane guys = and get out of here!
Really…… 12 months…. really?
At least this time Virgin appear to have done their homework and have the Australian Flag flying in the right direction (ie: the union jack to the front of the aircraft) unlike the red ships where the flag flies backwards on the right side of the aircraft near the tail.
It’s been a few years since I last worked in Australia, but, judging by these comments, the tall poppy syndrome and general whiny attitude towards anything new and different, (can you say residual xenophobia) still prevails. There is much intelligence and thought in this new design, (one I’ve just seen for the first time) and none in these comments.
They’ve only cleaned it up and modernized it, hardly a rebrand, more of an update/sideways-date
erm, its not like they spent 12 months making one logo, its an entire rebrand and, as anyone who has ever done one will tell you, its not something that can be done quickly
but, i do find the bit where the ‘r’ meets the ‘a’ to is annoying me, just looks unaligned
apart from that i like it
Read: we can’t match Qantas product and Jetstar killing us on price. We need to modernise to raise fares
Changing a brand is a strategic decision that requires a large investment and uses up tremendous company resources.
It never ceases to amaze me how people in this industry, who work with and try and build up brands every day, really don’t have any idea about the initial process in creating a brand, or re-launching a brand and its commercial importance to an organisation.
All they see is the outside, the logo or the ad, and then proceed to heap bucket loads of sh!t on it. Fair enough you don’t have to like it and you have every right to voice your opinion and be critical.
However the misinformed views, ignorance and total lack of understanding for the inputs, the process, the thinking, insights, and knowledge that is applied and are neccessary in creating the resulting outcome overwhelming is negative for ANY work that is highlighted on here.
Dicky knows his brand, his knows his market and the airline business – if he has approved the transformation and consolidation of Virgin Australia – its certainly good enough for me.
Marketing – its commone sense and everybody can be an expert, but if that was the case, everybody would be doing it so stuningly well wouldn’t they?
It is a massive effort that includes the entire inside of the aircraft (seats, toilets etc) down to the check in lounges, uniforms, inflight magazine and menus. I think it is extrordianry they have done it in 12 months given the restrictions on wroking with suppliers like Boeing and Airbus. Congratulatons Hans!
How the outside of the plane looks isn’t that important to the punter, especially when your booking decisions are made on the internet.
However it is good to know that attention to detail is valued.
Same old story, industry slamming the industry. How dull of you all… logo looks good. Sleek and more grown-up for sure.
Tall-poppy syndrome once again…
I fly with Virgin for business and pleasure. I have grown up with Virgin Blue and liked the launch and marketing around them; (underdog’s / rebels / “up yours Qantas”.) Virgin have quite simply grown up, they have!
I like the re-brand, it has a quality feel to it. It is still ‘Virgin’ a global brand that is always positioned as fun, fresh, energetic and driven.
p.s. when I scrolled to the top of this page there was a Finnair leaderboard ad at the top offering me a sweet deal to Cannes. Nice targeting!!!