Dutch TPG rebrands to attract custom
TPG, the Dutch mail, express and logistics company, is to rebrand globally as TNT – its second name change in three years – and switch its company livery and post boxes from the colour red to orange in a move partly designed to attract customers.
The decision, announced at the conclusion of a week-long gathering of the company’s 200 senior executives in Rotterdam, will be put to shareholders at TPG’s annual meeting in April.
If approved, the statutory name – that listed on stock exchanges in Amsterdam, New York, Frankfurt and London – will change to TNT NV on April 8 2005.
The phased introduction of the TNT brand for the group’s corporate identity and its mail division, where post-boxes will be repainted and 45,000 staff will swap their red uniforms for orange, will start next year and take three years.
TPG said “only a limited incremental investment” would be required for the name change.
It added that rebranding would lead to cost advantages through economies of scale, and joint investment in advertising and communication. Operating under one brand would increase recognition and allow more efficient communication of services.
The company, formerly PTT Post, adopted the name TPG after buying express company TNT in 1998 and only changed its name to TPG Post in 2002. TPG employs 160,000 staff in 200 countries and already operates many services under the TNT brand.
Peter Bakker, chief executive, said: “The TNT brand will encourage our existing customers to take up more of our services and also attract a greater number of new customers.”
