Celtic Routes: Brand strategy and brand project management for a luxury self-drive tour company
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“The external change is enormous - seeing the brand come to life has been incredible and will form the platform of our next stage of growth as we mature from a very small husband and wife team to a small and successful company.
On top of that, over the year of working together we've tripled sales and aim to triple again next year.”
The brief
Positioning the Celtic Routes brand to fit its true market position
Celtic Routes are an independent travel company who offer high-end, self-drive holidays combining expedition-prepared Land Rovers, curated routes across Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, and boutique accommodation that makes for the self-drive holiday of a lifetime.
I partnered with them to lead the development of their brand strategy and project manage their rebrand, bringing together a creative team to help bring it to life.
The aim of the rebrand was to clarify their brand positioning and message to lead a planned phase of growth. They needed a clear visual direction and tone of voice that reflected their proposition, and to execute their new brand across all of their marketing channels.
Celtic Routes before the rebrand
The challenge
A disjointed brand identity
While the travel experience they offer is premium, their brand didn't match the quality, service or experience of a Celtic Routes tour.
Leading the project from discovery through to creative handover, we got clear on Graham and Alexia’s goals for the business, understood what they want the brand to stand for, who their audience is, and we made sure that clarity showed up in every output.
I supported them to:
Understand how to take their brand from idea to execution
Clarify their brand positioning and set out their brand foundations
Shape and guide their visuals and voice and define clear messaging
Find and work closely with specialists to develop messaging, visuals and marketing that is inline with the new brand strategy, and tells the brand’s story
A multi-stage approach
Quick win improvements
We took a three-stage approach to their brand development because the comms they’d inherited were disjointed. We began by improving several areas to support the imminent sales year, with So Contented creating messaging and content for email enquiry funnels at this stage.
What we did at this stage:
Conducted customer research to understand brand perception, what was working, and what could be improved in the customer journey
Mapped all touchpoints to understand how to improve the experience
Improved digital ads to have clearer brand messaging
Refreshed their website to improve user experience and drive leads for the upcoming sales year
Set up an email funnel to capture immediate leads
We took this approach to improve their brand quickly without neglecting upcoming sales.
“Our brand didn't do a good job of representing the quality of our product or the values of our organisation. It was rather cliche and significantly unsophisticated compared to the luxury market we operate in. Fliss was a good fit for us, bringing big company experience but focusing on helping small companies like us to use their brand to thrive. She got what we were trying to do straight away.”
The strategy and rebrand
Establishing Celtic Routes
A strong identity was key for improving marketing, brand perception, and internal decision making. Celtic Routes needed to stand out and build a strong reputation within their sector. Without a strong, established identity they had been unable to do this.
Working alongside So Contented on the brand voice and messaging, we defined a proposition that sets out what Celtic Routes stands for, how to talk about the brand, and pinpoints the customers they’re targeting and how to go about doing so.
This became the foundation for their tone of voice, messaging, and marketing moving forward, and helped Celtic Routes to categorise and understand their clients better, and therefore “find, attract and retain them better than before”.
Defining the strategy enabled Graham and Alexia to set out their intentions for the business moving forward and be clear on exactly who they were targeting.
Creative collaboration
Everything working together
We brought together a creative team to collaborate on the rebrand and beyond: creating a new visual identity, rebuilding the website, defining a marketing strategy, and working on ongoing marketing delivery.
I supported the collaborative process by ensuring the brand’s strategy threaded through everything, and that the brand Celtic Routes were investing in actually performed and continues to build them a solid reputation today.
How I supported the rebrand:
Worked with Graham and Alexia in finding the right designer to bring their brand to life
Helped the team to understand the new positioning, and how it should flow through everything
Worked closely with the designer, Anna in crafting the visual identity - guiding her through the strategy and giving feedback on design concepts
Pinpointed the business’s marketing needs and brought in specialists to develop a strong marketing strategy
The rebrand outcome
Making the journey matter
Celtic Routes now have an ownable identity and differentiated proposition in a crowded market, with a cohesive, confident brand, and a purpose that connects with their target market.
This work gave Celtic Routes a brand that forms the foundations of everything they do. It also initiated conversations which got them thinking about recruitment, and finding people who are a good fit for their brand and culture.
Celtic Routes now have:
A strong brand proposition: Clear brand positioning and messaging to drive their marketing, and speak to their different audiences
A recognisable identity: A unique and consistent brand voice and visuals grounded in their message and proposition
Strong sales growth: They tripled sales in our first year of working together, with plans to triple again in their second year
Team expansion: Scaled from a small husband-and-wife team to a small team with sales and operations
“Fliss has been a real partner, has held our hand, and demystified "branding", acting more like an internal advisor or part of our team, rather than as an agency or supplier.
She’s helped us focus on what we needed to do at each stage rather than getting hung up on building something big and perfect which could cause stumbling blocks. This flexibility and pragmatism has allowed us to see consistent improvements and delivery throughout the process, which has matched our continual growth and evolution as a business.”
Brand voice by So Contented, visual identity by Anna&Studio, marketing strategy by Chroma, photography by Jo Crawford, video by Big Sky Creative