Peter Dowling
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- A flying visit to Neutral’s heartland - April 25, 2013
- A portrait of Busan - March 12, 2013
- Getting to know the DNA of Brisbane Airport - February 12, 2013
Blue skies, relaxed outdoor living, a buoyant economy, passenger growth averaging +5% year-on-year growth – the challenge when branding Brisbane Airport’s would seem to be where to start.
But defining the airport brand is what Head of Corporate Relations Rachel Crowley and her team at Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) have completed with their publication ‘Going Places: A Blueprint for Brisbane Airport’.
Putting Brisbane in the picture – the cover for Going Places
This is how Crowley describes the plan: “I felt we had a great vision of being world class and first choice for consumers, but what we didn’t have was a map of how to achieve that vision. Going Places expresses the brand DNA and how we want to interact with the public, and is a resource that every airport stakeholders will be able to draw upon.”
I’m in Brisbane to see first-hand the vision BAC is putting in place for the reinvention of its International Terminal – which will deliver a world-class commercial space to new duty free, speciality retail and food & beverage tenants. The timing of the new brand strategy could not be better, General Manager Terminal Retail and Commercial Andrew Brodie tells me as we meet with Rachel and Media & marketing Communications Manager Leonie Vandeven at BAC’s head office.
“Particularly with our terminal redevelopment, having the brand strategy happening at the same time has given us a clear way to communicate and a reference,” Brodie comments. “Why the strategy’s been so well endorsed by the group is because all of the senior management team have been on the journey from day one, and have taken ownership to filter it down through to all the respective teams.”
The illustrations in Going Places humanise rather than glamourise the airport
BAC engaged Tyler Brûlé’s Winkreative to articulate the strategy – with a London-based but multicultural team bringing a global objective view on what ‘Queenslandness’ represents, Crowley says: “A brand strategy gives us a line running through our work from architecture to how we communicate the airport, and really how we want the public to experience Brisbane Airport.”
It’s an impressive document that speaks of Queensland’s confidence and colour – one I’m happy to be taking back with me on the flight to Auckland. My adopted hometown also has blue skies, relaxed outdoor living and a fine airport, but in Australasian travel retail Brisbane Airport’s arguably the one to watch in 2013.