National Express overhauls marketing for united brand

The National Express Group is restructuring its marketing operations as it unites its various divisions under a single company-wide brand.

The company has created a new strategic marketing department to oversee its activities, to be headed by Paul Bunting, currently chief executive of the National Express coach business.

As director of strategic marketing, Bunting will oversee operations across the whole group, and marketing operations will be based at the company’s new divisional headquarters in Birmingham.

The structure of the marketing team has yet to be decided, and although the number of marketers at the Birmingham offices will increase, it is thought there may be job losses in other offices as part of the unification.

The rebranding will see the company’s coach services, the newly acquired East Coast Main Line rail franchise, c2c, One and other rail services, urban bus services and the recently launched airport transfer service – dot2dot – come under the National Express umbrella brand.

A redesigned livery will appear on the company’s vehicles and rolling stock.

National Express inherits GNER’s staff and trains next month as it begins its ten-year franchise running the London to Edinburgh train service under the banner National Express East Coast.

The company says it will continue to work with its incumbent advertising agency CHI & Partners and media planners Media Planing Group.

However, it is understood to be hunting for a digital agency after it revealed plans for a single National Express internet portal leading to the creation of an integrated booking system.