New adison lee branding on side of a van

With Uber driving up market share – particularly in the lucrative London B2B market – Addison Lee have launched a new look as part of a £5m marketing campaign. In comparison to Uber, the new Addison Lee website builds on their well established brand values and focusses towards business customers – putting service before technology and pitching a more personal experience.

Up until 2013 Addison Lee was a family-run London-based private hire vehicle operator. Set up in 1975, the company maintained the same black and white look and feel until last month when they revealed a rebrand.

Whilst Uber have had a big impact on the taxi market, Addison Lee have been cushioned to some extent by their lucrative B2B contracts, which typically rely on vehicles being booked centrally by businesses rather than individual employees ‘expensing’ journeys.

Investment in marketing to help keep Uber at bay, seems absolutely the right move. We admire Addison Lee, they have many years of proving their credibility and a great reputation for quality and customer service, which they should be able to leverage in their communications. But, the rebrand feels somewhat underwhelming – just a little more attention to the finer details, for example the quality of the photography, and the whole rebrand would be instantly lifted.