Harding rebrands as Harding+ after five months’ planning

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Harding CEO James Prescott said the ‘+’ symbolised a clear commitment to being innovative and pushing boundaries
Harding is now to be known as Harding+ in a makeover of the brand's logo that aims to enhance its identity and follows five months’ planning and research.

Remarked the company’s CEO James Prescott, ‘The rebrand personifies our mission and desire to always do better, go further and provide a space for the potential of all of our team members to really contribute to our business success and also be able to grow themselves as a consequence.

‘It’s a spirit already embedded in our culture that we want to shout louder and prouder about, to show how we are the better choice for cruise lines, brands and employees as their partner of choice.’

Symbol of innovation

The rebrand was revealed at this year’s TFWA World exhibition in Cannes and comprises the ‘+’ symbol and multi coloured propeller icon.

Prescott went on to explain that ‘the “+” addition is a clear commitment to being innovative in all we do, to boundary pushing and keeping clear sight of our purpose. From championing the proprietary cruise guest data model we have pioneered in the past few years to shape the right retail solutions, to pushing sustainability goals further, and becoming increasingly inclusive in all aspects of our people and internal strategy.’

The months of research involved conversations with cruise and brand partners, and internal teams to understand what Harding meant to them and how the business could better reflect those impressions and needs. Maintaining the Harding name and heritage emerged as an important part of the review outcomes, but with a fresh focus on momentum and next generation needs, too. Continued Prescott, ‘The new branding also signifies how we stand alongside our cruise and brand partners in being bold, modern and fully focused on how to contribute to the positive return of global travellers to cruising. This is not about the status quo, but about thinking ahead, driving action and sharing the values of those we work closely with every day on what now amounts to more than 100 ships across 20 different cruise partners and our 1500 strong team both land and sea of whom I am incredibly proud.’

Outlook

On the future of the cruise industry, Harding commented ‘It is an exciting time for the industry as well as Harding+. Cruise may see record levels of passengers next year. We are winning new and extending existing long term contracts, and delivering strong numbers. Many interesting brands are joining us and creating some intriguing firsts… our “+” fits well with the times, with shared ambitions and with the collaborative spirit that we are proud to have at the heart of all our relationships.’