Rebranding Addison Lee with a fresh new look

Addison Lee is a leading business-class car service that operates in over 350 cities worldwide. With a fleet of over 4,800 cars in London alone it offers premium private hire as well as courier, coach and passenger transfer services.

After a successful history dating back to 1975, 2016 saw the time for a change in the company's 40 year old brand identity. Its new branding is both fresh and modern to help match its service-led approach.

Addison Lee selected us to implement its new vehicle branding across its existing fleet of cars and courier vans at various locations across the UK. The project also utilised our full brand implementation skills with signage and display solutions for its offices and other assets.

With such a significant rebrand project, Addison Lee was keen to ensure it chose the right partner. Having understood the importance of selecting a partner with proven experience considering the scale of this commercial project and the resource and capacity required to deliver by the challenging deadlines, Addison Lee came to Aura.

A practical design solution

Addison Lee's fleet had suffered in the past with rapid deterioration of its logos. Particularly, those that require a “two-way” vision film on the rear window. In this case, that meant the entire 4,800-strong taxi fleet.

In addition, the vehicles were required to be rebranded in as short a space of time as possible to keep the vehicle downtime and costs to a minimum.

We were also asked to find solutions to rebrand the Head Office and local London sites. The new branding needed to be incorporated using existing signage hardware as a basis for the work. By refurbishing, we reduced waste and made the transformation more sustainable.

Key objectives:

  • Find a solution for the rear Taxi logos to avoid deterioration over the life of the cars.
  • Project manage the entire rebrand programme at various locations, including the rebrand of Courier fleet vehicles.
  • Incorporate new Addison Lee design onto vehicles that were outside the original remit.
  • Survey, design and install site signage and workplace branding elements.

Forward-thinking is the way forward

Using our creative thinking, innovative technology and technical experience, we developed a new product. AuraVision™ solved the problem. We printed a two-way view solution using special optically clear film, eliminating the possibility of damage to the edge of the logos previously experienced using traditional methods.

Prototypes were put through testing and passed approval by TfL. The result was exclusively manufactured graphics benefiting from a 36-month warranty, providing the perfect solution.

In addition to this, we project managed the rebrand rollout of over 5,000 cars, 300 courier vans and all site signage within a 7-month period. We achieved this by using multiple installation teams, over multiple locations. Other products supplied included lightbox signage, wall wraps, lift wraps and display panels. After successfully rebranding Addison Lee with their fresh new look, we also continue to manage the ongoing livery management for replacement vehicles and accident damage.

Aura OnRoad

5,000+

Partners

18 months

Design And Spec

R&D

developed new and unique two-way vision solution

Sign

1,800+

signage and architectural graphics

Careful planning and project management means we’ve been able to deliver a project that hit all the critical success factors. This collaborative approach has seen Addison Lee benefit from brand consistency and integrity, cost controlled implementation and maximised fleet uptime with risk and impact on its business minimised.

Will Bunn - Key Account Manager