Aramex re-branding paves the way for global expansion

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GRAND DESIGNS: Aramex’s decision to rebrand its operations is designed to highlight the company’s evolution from a regional to international logistics company.

Aramex has embarked on the mammoth task of rebranding its entire business, from replacing uniforms to respraying cars and trucks.

The 3PL firm has grown to become one of the most respected and admired brands in the Middle East and senior officials believe it's time to expand into global markets.

Redesigning the visual identity will provide a signal for customers as to the new direction the company is taking, announced a senior executive from the Dubai-based company.

"We are going to position ourselves as the fifth largest logistics network globally," explained Hussein Hachem, Aramex's Middle East CEO. "You are going to see us exploring the world and looking at opportunities so that we can offer our customers a global solution."

The last rebranding exercise took place in 1997, shortly before the company launched itself on the NASDAQ stock exchange, in the process becoming the first Middle Eastern company to do so.

In a similarly auspicious fashion, the company aims to launch itself in the US and Chinese markets in coming months, taking the first steps towards its goal of becoming a truly global leader in supply chain logistics.

"We felt it was time," Hachem indicated, adding that the new branding was an essential vehicle in driving the company's objectives. "We've done our research and we felt that the old brand that we had does not reflect who we are now. We are evolving into a new stage, so going into that new stage requires us to rebrand ourselves and move forward. We feel that the new brand will reflect where we are going and will give our potential customers a clear picture of where we are going."

In typical fashion for a 3PL company, responsibility for the rebranding was outsourced to specialist firms, which included Thistle, Cedar & Bundy and Syntax Brand Design.

"The rebranding itself was a very small exercise compared to the implementation. If you look at the company, it has around 1000 vehicles on the road across the region. To place the new branding on them overnight needed a lot of logistics," explained Hachem.

"The fact that we were able to paint them, change the logo, change the uniforms needed a lot of research internally," he added.

As well as providing Aramex with a fresh face, the rebranding is in many ways designed to sum up the changes in the kind of service the company offers.

"We believe the new logo and tag-line really describes who we are now. Delivery unlimited means that we always go the extra mile in terms of our delivery of customised solutions for clients," said Hachem.

Syntax Brand Design, which primarily worked with Aramex on brand marketing, brainstormed a number of ideas before selecting its final strategy.

"Aramex is a company that has built its reputation package by package and parcel by parcel, but its corporate image has failed to keep up with the operator's size," outlined Ahmad Humeid, CEO of Syntax Brand Design. "The lower-case logo makes

Aramex more approachable and young, which is something it clearly wanted to portray. This is matched by the culture of the company, which is a non-asset operator and therefore has the flexibility and agility to deliver innovative logistics solutions."

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