Houston creates new identity for AMPOL symbolising the brand’s forward momentum
Houston Group Sydney is the brand and creative agency behind the new identity for AMPOL, the rebranding to Ampol Limited (ALD), which is the former Caltex Australia (CTX) business.
Working with Caltex Australia and now Ampol since 2015, Houston has supported the transformation of the business brand portfolio including the launch and rollout of the new retail brand the FOODARY and now the new AMPOL.
The AMPOL rebrand comes as another in a series of large-scale brand transformation projects for Houston Group, alongside Qantas in 2016, NRMA in 2018 and Toyota in 2019.
CEO and founder of Houston Group, Stuart O’Brien, said that the return of AMPOL was much more than a nostalgic one, with the brand retaining latent equity in Australia as a trusted Tier 1 fuel provider: “There is no doubt, however, that we as a nation have grown and changed since AMPOL was last seen in Australia, and the contemporisation of AMPOL was critical in bringing the brand back to life.”
Houston’s executive creative director, Alex Toohey prefaced that “The business needed to fast-forward twenty years of evolution whilst retaining its original DNA. The strong bands of the original logos and colours gave us the creative foundations of the new mark.
“The new, modern and distinctive leaning A is the centerpiece of the new design, symbolising the brand’s forward momentum, and a more refined logo for today’s applications.”
Says Mathew Halliday, interim CEO, Ampol: “Our fresh new symbol will connect Ampol with a new generation of customers and underpins our commitment to again make it Australia’s most loved and admired fuel brand. The striking simple symbol will be a beacon for customers when on the road.”
The first Ampol sites will appear in Sydney and Melbourne in the second half of 2020, with roll out nationally in 2021. The transition from Caltex to Ampol will be completed by the end of 2022.
10 Comments
Why can’t branding agencies put together a press release that actually shows more than the new logo they’ve made.
Hi That it?
Always difficult with public companies having to get shareholder approval on big project like this for a name change. Of course we’d love to show the entire identity system, internal engagement, retail rollout etc etc but that won’t hit market for a few months. I suppose us ‘branding’ agencies have much longer lead times and multiple touch points that prevent us doing much more than sharing our ‘logo’ part of the project at this time – or miss it being actual ‘news’…..
that could be all they’ve done.
Not too shabby at all. Kudos to the Houston crew.
I quite like it. Have fond memories of Ampol as a kid in the 70s – traveling to Nan’s place up bush meant a stop at the Ampol roadhouse on the way. Sounds like the name change was forced on them if the business was sold, will be very interesting to see what kind of change management pieces come down the track.
Judging the merits of this rebrand on a press release and 3 images of the new logo?
Not much to see to really judge the rebrand, but what I see I really like.
Very clean, recognisable, extendable, nice type, nice logo. Dare I say, bordering on elegant.
Well done Houston.
Poor job. Yes, Houston….you do have a problem. The 80’s are calling, and they want their logo back.
What a shame. Missed opportunity to do something really progressive and standout.
Questionable weighting on the up stroke of the A icon, feels a bit imbalanced.