National Express Group rebrands as Mobico Group, reflecting its global ambition

A month ago, it was announced that the National Express Group was to be rebranded as Mobico. Now, the fresh visual look to concede with its new positioning – completed by Conran Design Group – has gone live.

While largely associated with a UK-based clientele, the coach services National Express Group has a large global presence. In fact, 80 per cent of its revenue is generated from outside the UK, as Conran Design Group’s Global CEO Thom Newton explains. And so, the primary aim of the rebrand was to reflect the company’s ambition to “be the world’s premier shared mobility operator”, a press release outlines.

“We’re leading the modal shift from cars to passenger transportation – and we needed to articulate this through our brand in a compelling, differentiated way,” says Mobico Group’s CEO Ignacio Garat. “While National Express is a highly valued and well-known consumer brand – and will continue to be used in connection with the Group’s UK national coach network – Mobico more powerfully reflects our multimodal operations, global reach and future ambitions.”

The company’s new name – Mobico – aims to draw the brand away from being too “evocative” for the UK transport sector, pushing it towards being more broadly applicable across the globe. Mobico is an abbreviation of ‘mobility company’, chosen (clearly) for its associations to the word mobility, and because of its strong and catchy audio pattern.

The primary influence behind the rebrand’s visual aspect was the idea of “connection between people and places”, says the release. One of the ways in which Conran Design Group achieved this was through the company’s logo – a circular design with intersecting lines, representing various journeys and interlocking roads. In terms of colour palette, the team were intent on representing both urban and rural environments. A ‘“foundational” teal and grey are paired with bright green and orange, a unique choice that aims to add “energy and positivity” to the entire look. All of these elements are then housed in a complimentary graphic system – composed of simple abstract shapes.

The overall rebrand is a vast departure from National Express Groups previous look, as Thom Newton recognises. “If you grew up in the UK, National Express Group is likely to conjure up the image of the iconic red, white and blue coaches driving up and down UK motorways,” Thom says. The brand now feels global, diverse and purposeful; clearly supporting Mobico’s ambitions to shape a brighter future for multi-modal transport.”