kulula revamps brand, extends offering

"In the last seven years, we have earned the respect of South African consumers and business people through our efforts to introduce more accessible travel options and innovative products such as the kulula credit card," says Gidon Novick, joint CEO of Comair (kulula.com).

"Our trusted online brand is the basis for us to offer more cost-effective products and services."

click to enlarge

As part of the extended online offering, kulula.com will include three distinct and complementary brands:

• kulula air - book a flight, car or hotel stay;
  
• kulula travel - book all-inclusive holidays and adventure packages; and
  
• kulula connect - order simple and cost-effective communication products and services, including mobile Internet access and cellphones.

All of the products will offer kulula customers the opportunity to earn kulula moolah toward free kulula flights, tying into kulula's jetsetter club, the company's free and simple loyalty programme.

Nadine Damen, marketing manager for kulula, said the company's refreshing new look emphasises the respected kulula name in a more dynamic fashion and broadens the brand's appeal. "Each with their own distinctive colours, the new sub-brands give us more flexibility to associate kulula with a wider array of products. Our fresh new look represents kulula's optimism, simplicity and playfulness, something that will continue to be reflected in our advertising."

New markets, same values

Using the kulula green as a common element, each sub-brand has its own distinctive complementary colour. Set at a 10% incline - a similar angle at which planes take-off - the new corporate identity is dynamic and inspirational, with a cleaner, more straightforward look.

click to enlarge

With a single point of entry at www.kulula.com, other pages on kulula's website will adopt the new branding over the next few months, as well as other aspects of the business, from ticket counters to company letterhead. As new planes are introduced into kulula's fleet, they will also include the new branding.

The new brand platform for kulula was created in collaboration with the Johannesburg office of Brand Union, a global brand consultancy founded in 1976.

According to Anthony Swart, CEO of Brand Union, "As an iconic South African brand, kulula represents youthfulness and independence. In repositioning their brand, The Brand Union eagerly accepted the challenge of conveying kulula's distinctive values, personality and somewhat irreverent culture in a refreshing manner to a number of new markets and sectors."

A new advertising campaign, conceived by King James in Cape Town, will launch in September 2008 to support the new kulula travel brand.