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Avis Budget Group
Helping a giant solve problems through experience design
Two transportation titans merge resources but not identities
From the time it opened its initial location in 1946 the first rental car operation at an airport Avis has been an industry innovator. Budget has sought to serve the cost-conscious customer since its founding in 1958. When the two companies came together as Avis Budget Group (ABG) in 2006, they retained their two distinct brands; Avis primarily serves business travelers, and Budget delivers a value-driven offering for the leisure customer.
In airports, rental car companies typically operate together in one large facility, separate from the air terminal. Avis and Budget often work together using their combined market share to bid for a single counter space, a strategy that saves money and enables the brands to secure a more prominent location. ABG needed help in maximizing presence for the two brands, each with different goals and objectives, while operating in a shared space.
The dynamic digital display solution facilitated bold brand expressions, promoted products and displayed messages for customers.
It also unlocked the key to flexing between the two brands to accommodate each the audiences travel patterns.
Opportunity 1
Solving a signage conundrum
AVIS and Budget may share their space, but they operate unique brands that serve very different travel audiences. How can we maximize visibility for both brands, while creating a flexible system to address heavy peak travel times for each audience?
"We were highly impressed by Monigle’s ability to listen, distill input from all stakeholders and deliver stunning solutions that perfectly conveyed our customer brand strategy and allowed us to dynamically flex brands to meet our real time business needs."
Shared touchpoints, seamless experiences
In a dual-branded space, signage isn’t the only thing that needs to operate across brands personnel and materials do, too. For example, associates who serve Avis and Budget customers wear common apparel that works across both brands. A selection of silver, white, charcoal and a range of grays for shared elements including walls, carpet, furniture and fixtures ensures that Avis’s red and Budget’s blue both pop against the neutral palette.
The dual-branded experience extends to the return process too. The two companies share return areas, and the overhead directional signs feature both Avis and Budget branding.
Digital signage allows brands to switch seamlessly.
A focus on the future means better service today
From rental lobby reader boards to garage ground graphics to suburban store exteriors, the ABG brand guidelines leave no stone unturned which allows for efficient implementation across the company’s 5,500 locations in 175 countries across the globe. ABG is also focused on anticipating how needs will change as technology advances. Increasingly customers will access their cars through apps rather than counters, and phones will replace keys. As a result, the kinds of devices used to secure and corral cars will evolve in the future.
Now, ABG is better able to reflect technological advancements in facilities and logistics operations and implement process improvements throughout the organization. “Monigle-designed environments, specifically the brand-flexing digital counter back wall systems, are game changing and currently without peer in the rent-a-car industry,” said James M. Cinnamond, Vice President of Corporate Design & Construction, Avis Budget Group. “Our voice of the customer facility scores have soared at new locations and our employees are enthusiastically proud.”
Great design start with understanding the end-to-end customer journey considering all key touchpoints.
- Access cars through apps
- Phones replace keys
- Fast exits
- Seamless upgrades and car swaps
- Touchless experience journey
Opportunity 2
Reinventing the future AVIS experience through design
Anticipating consumers needs in the future, and embracing emerging technologies is critical to staying at the forefront of innovative and seamless rental-car experiences. So what does that look like?
"Monigle-designed environments, specifically the brand-flexing digital counter back wall systems, are game changing and currently without peer in the rent-a-car industry… Our voice of the customer facility scores have soared at new locations and our employees are enthusiastically proud."
100 million rental days
In 2015, the company achieved this milestone in a 12-month period for the first time, with rentals generated across the Avis, Budget and Payless brands.
30,000 team members
A global network of employees works in tandem to ensure people connect in the moments that matter.
175 countries served
From Albania to Zimbabwe, Avis Budget Group is located all around the world, with 10,000 locations on six continents.
1st in airport
Avis was the first rental car company to operate out of an airport before that, companies operated in downtowns.
