FCM Travel Solutions today unveiled a new logo and colour, new technologies and a new approach to corporate travel as part of an extensive rebranding initiative. The rebranding comes at a time that business travel globally is experiencing unprecedented disruption with travellers’ needs changing like never before.
“Over the last 18 months we have been looking inwards and realised that our brand and corporate identity did not reflect who we are, or where we want to go. So, we decided to undertake a bold rebrand that better reflects our culture, ethos, and alternative position in the market,” says Andrew Stark, Managing Director of the Flight Centre Travel Group in the Middle East and Africa. “It’s an exciting era. It’s been a long time in the making but we couldn’t be more excited about our future and our new brand.”
FCM’s single-minded purpose throughout the rebrand has been to ensure that customers can adapt, react, and thrive in this ever-changing world. To this end, the company has made some significant enhancements to its FCM Platform and its mobile app Sam. The bold green colour speaks to FCM’s new DNA: an energetic, sustainable brand that is not afraid to take a bold stance.
FCM has taken a new direction with the new FCM platform, which is modern, user-friendly and built around customer choice. The platform integrates third-party booking tools to offer a smooth and flexible booking experience for both travel managers and travellers. Duty of Care, sustainability and AI powered reporting and savings are at the heart of the platform’s innovations.
The FCM platform offers vital information for travellers during their trip, and a fast response if an incident occurs. A new map dashboard gives travel managers a great overview of the location of their travellers wherever they are in the world, with alert indications and a safety status for each traveller. It is now possible to display alerts and immediately see how many travellers are affected. Travellers can be contacted directly from the alert dashboard.
Environmentally conscious travel is no longer an option, it is a responsibility. The FCM platform offers visual guidance on flight CO2 emissions, empowering both the traveller and the travel booker to make smart decisions as well as build carbon credits that can be invested in your nominated charities.
COVID-19 has put pressure on companies’ budgets and expenses. The FCM platform allows you to know where your travel budget is going without digging into endless Excel spreadsheets. You can retrieve data simply by asking a simple question like ‘what is my air spend?’
Bonnie Smith, General Manager FCM South Africa, explains: “Managing travel is more complex than ever. New needs emerge all the time. We realise that our clients can’t always wait for us to build solutions to all of their needs. That is why the FCM Platform is designed to be fully extended via APIs.”
FCM’s mobile chatbot Sam has also received an upgrade and has evolved into a digital assistant across the entire platform. Sam provides AI powered alerts, booking tips and notifications both on desktop and on mobile. Says Smith: “We have found that intelligent recommendations, such as those provided by Sam, drive compliance. That is why we have enhanced Sam’s features significantly. For example, Sam now integrates with your calendar and suggests bookings for upcoming events. It will provide booking recommendations based on your preferred carriers, loyalty cards, preferred seats and more.”
Stark concludes: “FCM’s rebrand is more than just a pretty new logo and a modern new colour. It is a nod to a dynamic, demanding era of travel which requires the best in the business – a responsive and connected partner ready to take control and tackle disruption.”
