In the first co-creation workshop that was held on 31st of May 2016 at the Mainkur station in Frankfurt, the local members (Local Public Transport Authorities = LPTAs) of the Regional Public Transport Authority (RPTA) RMV were invited to join an already piloted innovation in Frankfurt and experience the implementation of a localized umbrella branding by the innovative method of brand constellation.
In general the awareness to recall brands is limited. A strong brand helps to succeed in a competitive market. A concept of an umbrella brand can be implemented anywhere where customers are travelling in-between a multicenter area using different PT modes. It might work best when integration of the PT system is supported by establishing a common umbrella brand and a brand management eliminating brands starts right at the beginning of the integration process.
Our concept piloted by “RMV Frankfurt” can be implemented or adapted at any of the 26 LPTAs member that joins the integrated public transport system covering 2/3 of the state of Hesse.
The LPTA of Frankfurt invited the other members of the RMV to start joining this process and begin to find suitable solutions to improve the integration towards the customer by using only one brand for one kind of service and to establish service standards and to eliminate the confusing brands of the structure of the organizations working in the background. Therefore the innovative method “Brand Constellation” shows experimentally the stakeholders and their interests and roles that have to be considered and the hurdles that have to be solved to focus on the customer by using one brand.
With this method, the other LPTAs start finding co-created concepts of their brand appearance. Four of them started to join the process and to implement a localized branding in co.operation with the Regional Public Transport Authority RMV – other will follow. The process is slow but will be continued.