F-bomb rebrand drives Gecko’s growth

F-bomb rebrand drives Gecko’s growth
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Gecko’s Adventures has revealed its Run Wild rebrand has more than doubled brochure requests in the two months since its launch, although a handful of retailers removed the material from their shelves in protest at its use of swearing.

The revamped website and brochure unveiled in January features irreverent imagery, quirky descriptions and the new motto: "May your heart be light, your step swift and your stories fucking epic".

Head of marketing Kirsten Cameron told Travel Today the response to the rebrand had been overwhelmingly positive.

"There was a small number of invididual stores who weren't happy, but most people, once they understand the positioning and the target market, they get it," she said.

"People always tend to be much louder that complain, but those numbers are vastly outnumbered by those who are making a point to contact us and say how much they love it."

Cameron said Gecko's has been contacted by stores they've never heard from before.

"They're saying finally they've got something they feel comfortable selling to that demographic," she said.

She claimed the impact on sales is already being felt, with double digit growth across the program since the rebrand. Latin American itineraries, which Cameron revealed had been "stagnant" in the year to January, are now up around 30%.

Some of the renamed itineraries have also seen growth such as There's nothing sub about this continent, Chinglish lover travel story, and Turkey: meat and stuffing.

The effect is also being seen on the website, with traffic "tracking at about double" year on year with engagement "way up". Cameron insisted the uplift was not a novelty effect.

"Just from the stickiness and our Facebook fans and our community and the way people are responding to our enews, it feels like it is a genuine thing," she said.

But she stressed the main objective of the campaign is to drive more consumers into travel agencies to make a booking.

The firm will push ahead with its promotional activities this year, with its Welcome to wherever sale in the market now and more to follow around June and July.

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