Swift Rebranding

Swift brings the family together for 2018 and becomes the UK’s No1 Leisure Vehicle Brand

For the 2018 season Swift is bringing its entire family of caravans, motorhomes and holiday homes together under one brand name, a name recognised in the industry for innovation, build quality and stylish design, that name is of course Swift.

The exciting development creates one strong and sustainable brand identity, with the Swift brand becoming the premier brand within the Leisure Vehicle industry. The move delivers a more coherent and simplified brand structure while improving the clarity of communication.

From its inception in 1964, Swift has grown organically and through strategic acquisition to become the leading leisure vehicle manufacturer in the UK. As new brands where adopted into the portfolio, retaining their identity for a period was helpful. Five years ago, it was decided to initiate the progression to a unified brand through harmonising the logo design, the inclusion of ‘by Swift’ within the logo, and the addition of the ‘built by Swift’ page curl.

For Caravans, the 2018 ranges will be Sprite, Challenger, Eccles, Conqueror and Elegance. On Motorhomes, the van conversion range will be known as Select, with the other ranges being Escape, Rio, Bessacarr, and Kon-tiki. For now, the Autocruise, Bolero, Continental, Elite, Freedom and Sterling names will be withdrawn.

The move to one brand also provided an opportunity to create a unified approach between the logo and the vehicle badge, with the aim of bringing consistency in how the Swift brand appears on product, on innovations like Swift Command, and on services such as Swift TV.
The design challenge for the new brand logo was to ensure:

= Swift remained distinctive
= Conveyed the freedom and nature of an outdoor lifestyle
= Retained key recognisable visual elements (name, Swift bird, green colour) while expressing them in a refreshed, more modern design
= Reinforced the aspects for which Swift is renowned: innovation; build quality; stylish design; customer care; outstanding value for money

The new logo incorporates a modified Swift chrome roundel to reflect the style associated with premium automotive brands. The bird has been strengthened to reinforce Swift’s build quality, and sits proud of the roundel to reflect freedom. The typography is italicised for greater flow, suggestive of a journey. The green colour symbolises nature and safety, to underpin Swift’s innovative approach that is thoroughly tried and tested, as well as its commitment to customer care.

Eager to retain the heritage, recognition and value that many of the range names evoke, a communication structure has been created that will allow the brand and range names to co-exist synergistically.

The new branding will start to appear in August and will be phased in over the coming months. Commenting on the brands development James Turner, Managing Director said “This is the start of a new chapter in the Swift story, the move to a unified brand and singular visual identity will enable the business to create an even stronger presence and drive future growth. As a business we are fortunate to own a number of iconic names like Sprite, Eccles and Bessacarr, within the industry and I am delighted we have been able to incorporate these within the branding structure”.