Studio Rodrigo has revealed a rebrand for Context Travel with an evolved brand strategy, positioning and identity to help the travel company share its walking tours with travelers who love to learn. The rebrand is an important step forward for Context Travel reflecting its unique offering, helping it compete against digital native rivals, and providing a platform for future growth. More broadly, this rebrand shows travel firms with a strong localized offering how they can share their experiences with a far wider audience.
"Travel experiences are a very fragmented category - customers buy the experience in one country, often online, but the experience itself is delivered locally around the world," commented Ritik Dholakia, Founder and Managing Partner, Studio Rodrigo. "Context Travel saw an opportunity to grow the business by refreshing its brand and relaunching the digital platform as a springboard for deepening relationships with existing brand loyalists, while also expanding reach to new segments.
"The core strategy of the digital brand refresh was to distill the essence of what people love about the Context Travel brand - unique, perspective-changing experiences for travelers who love to learn - into a more contemporary expression for a digital brand. And the challenge was to take Context Travel to a wider global audience and communicate its expertise using a digital experience when the tours are delivered to customers at a local level."
A refreshed brand and digital platform connects with Context Travel's audience but also attracts new customers, helping it to grow brand awareness within the USA and Canada, its core demographic, but also in new markets around the world. The rebrand focuses on 'travelers who love to learn,' broadening its appeal from the previous language which centered around 'the curious traveler.'
The rebrand hinges on a digital transformation and includes redesigning the brand identity to refine and elevate it, reflecting Context Travel's high-end offer. The updated visual identity strikes a balance between classical motifs and contemporary execution with a modernized core mark. The addition of a logo based on a classic desk globe motif, signifying travel, exploration and learning and a digital identity system includes a sophisticated color palette and classic typography. This aims the brand at travelers who want to expand their knowledge with a more refined and contemporary identity, making it more approachable and elevated to broaden its appeal.
Improved photography, video, website design, layout, and content, lift the digital experience. And a balance of easy to scan and use product pages, as well as booking flows, along with more visually-led home, city and tour pages including more storytelling, better-presented images and a content strategy which details the guides' expertise, brings tours to life. Copy reflects the unique offer, with simple and approachable language which is easy to read on a website.