Bus & Coach International (BCI) has been importing buses and coaches into Australia since 1991. It recently announced a massive company change ahead of the Bus & Coach Expo.
BCI’s past few years have been filled with new sustainable bus releases. Ahead of the upcoming Australasian Bus & Coach Expo, the company is making a different kind of announcement.
After eight years of the branding that the Australian market has become familiar with, BCI is changing tack. The company is unveiling a new logo and motto that it says better aligns with its new sustainable vehicle strategy.
BCI CEO Desmond Armstrong says the new branding is important to show the eco-friendly goals the company has.
“It’s about time that we reinvent ourselves in terms of where we’re going as a company,” Armstrong told ABC. “It’s exciting and it’s a bold outlook for us.”
At this year’s Expo in Sydney this October, BCI will unveil the new look logo and change in motto. The logo differs from the existing BCI silver logo, instead using a cursive blue style for BCI that takes the shape of the infinity sign.
Underneath the logo is the new motto of ‘Delivering Sustainable Transport’. The brighter and more visually appealing logo is coupled with the new motto to propel BCI into its sustainable bus and coach journey.
“Instead of just the bold ‘BCI’ logo, it’s more of a flowing and radical symbol that we had developed for us,” Armstrong says. “Now it’s different, we think it’ll be a great talking point on what BCI is about now.”
The branding change is another release in what has been an extremely busy 2022 for BCI. The Perth-based bus and coach manufacturer has been welcoming new battery electric solutions into its suite of options available to the local market throughout the year.
BCI has operated since 1991, prioritising the cutting edge of bus and coach technology. The new motto and sustainable strategy makes this focus official. Armstrong says BCI will continue to pursue the best zero-emissions vehicles in its new phase of operating.
“The motto of ‘Delivering Sustainable Transport’ aligns ourselves with the renewable sustainability and future technology we want to prioritise,” Armstrong says. “We feel, as an Australian company, that we can get lost in the background about what we do as a business.
“We thought we’d get back to expressing who BCI is and showing we are on the move and progressing with the latest technology.”
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How does a company go about changing its branding? The BCI CEO says the process took more than six months from the logo and motto’s initial conception to its unveiling at the Bus & Coach Expo. BCI first discussed the potential to reinvent its branding late last year before putting the suggested changes in front of directors for approval.
The manufacturer was intent on not letting the project extend. Several key members of the company worked on the new logo and motto to ensure it was completed as quickly as possible.
Coming out of Australia’s COVID-19 lockdowns, the BCI CEO says the company was keen to start fresh.
“It’s a timely situation post-COVID with everyone looking for something new,” Armstrong says. “It was a necessary process for us as a business when it came to thinking about how we can do things better as a company.”
The changes all align with BCI’s strategy to be more socially committed as a company. BCI is now in the position where it can deliver a wide range of zero-emissions bus and coach options, as its growing electric range is set to be joined by hydrogen options.
Armstrong says the new logo and motto is already giving BCI a boost when it talks to potential clients. BCI is currently discussing tenders with Australian government entities and organisations, making this revamp an important part of its presentation and how it is perceived in the industry. The BCI CEO is confident the rebranding will help in this area and is prepared to stand behind the move.
“Orders may change and we will get our critics, but we’re ready for it,” Armstrong says. “We have explained the new logo, we’re still BCI and nothing has changed in what we’re doing.
“We’re simply driving our new sustainable process, which is something we can explain pretty well to customers.”
The Western Australian supplier is now turning his focus towards the unveiling of BCI’s new logo and motto. Certain buses and coaches will showcase the new visuals as its livery, while BCI uniforms and promotional gear will also contain the updated logo and motto.
The main event will be this year’s Bus & Coach Expo, where BCI will first show its branding changes to the industry. Armstrong and his team at BCI are already excited just thinking about the future of the company.
“We’ll do the unveiling gradually in line with our marketing team,” Armstrong says. “We expect to have good conversations about our new motto and logo at the Expo, as well as in the following year as we go through the new process.
“For everyone involved, we’re rapt about it. We believe it shows both internally and externally that we’re trying to improve and look at ways to secure our position in the market well into the future.”