Oxford Street unveils £25m Ox St business rebrand
Oxford Street has unveiled its new brand identity, created by Goosebumps, which is set to be rolled out over the next five years.
The New West End Company (NWEC) is leading the new identity, which will see Oxford Street become ‘Ox St’ and strapline ‘It all starts here’ appear across all marketing content for Oxford Street from September.
The rebrand looks to raise awareness of both the shopping hub and its surrounding area, which features over 500 restaurants within 100 meters.
Richard Dickinson, NWEC chief executive, told Retail Gazette: “Oxford Street is expected to bring in £5bn a year in 2013 in retail sales alone, the scale of its economic value as the country’s high street is unsurpassed.
“We want to make sure that worldwide, it’s understood that for shoppers or shops, Oxford Street is the place to be.”
Marketing for the new brand will begin during London Fashion Week in September.
UPDATED: The brand identity itself is not worth £25m, this is the figure for the five year business plan that is set to be rolled out.
Simon Cotterrell, strategic partner at Goosebumps Brand Consultancy, said: “As well as exposing what shoppers know about Oxford Street, the new research also illustrated what they didn’t know. The new identity, which focuses on an iconic ‘X’, literally aims to ‘mark the spot’ where known strengths like the street’s multitude of flagships collide with less obvious facts like the food offer of over 500 restaurants within a block or two of the street. The new brand is bold and unapologetic, befitting of the world’s most important shopping street at the heart of the world’s most exciting city.”