Connect scoops airport rebrand project

BIRMINGHAM Airport has appointed Wolverhampton marketing agency, Connect Group, to manage its rebrand.

The image change will coincide with the opening of the airport’s £13m project to merge its two terminals into one next Spring.

Connect has been asked to reposition the Birmingham Airport brand and to create a new corporate identity that reflects its current position in the market place, as well as its future potential.

Jo Lloyd, the Airport’s Head of Brand, said: “We have plenty of spare capacity – enough to take another nine million passengers today – and of the 8 million people living within one hour’s drive, less than 40% currently use Birmingham so we need to make ourselves more visible to this market.

“We therefore see ourselves in a vital position as a strategic national asset, which can easily form part of the solution to the ‘Heathrow Problem’, and as such we need to create positive awareness about Birmingham’s potential, to foster a sense of pride and grow loyalty from passengers living in the one and two hour catchment.”

The tender was awarded to Connect at the end of August and work will now focus on a new corporate identity including a new logo and associated marketing communications. The new identity will be featured throughout the redeveloped terminal, which will be unveiled in the spring.

Rob Hampton, Managing Director of Connect , added, ”The future of Birmingham Airport is very exciting; it has a big role to play in delivering more flying for passengers to and from the UK and is ideally positioned to make the most of Birmingham’s great transport connections and extensive catchment area.  We’re delighted to win this contract and look forward to working with the Airport’s team to assist in the realisation of its potential.”

The Connect Group was founded in 1993 by Rob Hampton and has an annual turnover of £14m. It employs more than 120 people and is located in Wolverhampton City Centre.