Rural is the new sexy

A headline by Eva Ballarín that we endorse. The fact is that nearby destinations and nature have been the great beneficiaries of the tourism crisis caused by the COVID. Faced with the difficulties of travelling to other countries, we have all sought in one way or another to enjoy a few days in a safe, relaxed, open-air environment, where we can enjoy a few days of rest away from the city and its sense of prison, with a virus that lurks in any overcrowded place.

But this has not been the only cause of the unstoppable rise of rural tourism, which, more than a passing fad, is consolidating itself as a niche for the future in the sector. Tourism is being used in many rural areas of so-called “empty Spain” as a tool for socio-economic development, a cornerstone for the development of businesses and services for the community that promote the recovery of these enclaves, also attracting new residents and warding off the spectre of depopulation that plagues many of these enclaves.

That rural tourism is here to stay is also demonstrated by the growing interest of large platforms in the sector such as Airbnb or Booking.com itself, which have developed specific products and services for this type of accommodation and customer.

A chance to strengthen leadership

In this context of growing demand, EscapadaRural is facing the challenge of restructuring its strategy and brand identity to stand out from its closest competitors, consolidate its leadership by reformulating its value proposition, making it much more relevant to its customer profile and generating a strategy, identity and brand architecture that will allow it to move into the future. It is a matter of evolving the main brand and sub-brands such as Coetur or Capital Rural, from a focus on service to the owner to one where the end customer and their concerns carry much more weight.

EscapadaRural is femenin and plural

Several analyses and focus groups made it clear to us that the purchasing decisions for rural stays on your platform are mostly made by middle-aged urban women, aged 35 and over. Mothers in many cases and working women, who have certain concerns about the hectic and unhealthy lifestyle we lead in the cities. Women who are beginning to be aware of the need to enjoy a way of life that is more coherent with themselves, less hectic, more human, authentic, simple and honest; who are increasingly concerned about the quality of the food they and their families eat, and who choose brands with a more sustainable character in their purchases. And women who do not forget the importance of socialising, of living, enjoying and sharing leisure time not only with family but also with friends; the need for a time of “escape” from routine and who seek the tranquillity and comfort of a rural environment with a simple life in which obligations are kept to a minimum.

Starting from this basis, and from having a brand that its own customers defined as the perfect friend, as it always helped and advised them, but in which they missed the ability to seduce, we detected the need to also rethink the personality of the brand to give it a more inspiring character without losing that closeness. The new EscapadaRural is still active, positive, approachable and friendly, but now has a more urban and modern mindset, more trendy without being trendy.

She addresses directly to her majority female clients, she integrates herself in that social group with a narrative and verbal tone inspired by that middle-aged woman, with vital experiences and a lot of experience but with the capacity to laugh and enjoy. A warm, feminine voice, a “normal” woman’s voice, evocative but with a sincere, true sound. A woman who questions things, who is searching… and full of empathy. A verbal tone that inspires from simplicity and optimism and with a matrix of messages designed not only to be a way of communicating the service and the product, but also a way of opening the minds of her clients to a new reality, a life more in line with the values of the rural environment, on a more human and conscious, optimistic, active and vital scale.

A personality that permeates both the visual and verbal identity to build a brand that is very modern in form and simple in substance. Colourful and vital, rural and ecological, organic and simple, with a symbol and typography in the logo that encourages us to take the detour to tranquillity, to get out of the way and get closer to the rural lifestyle and reconnection.

A visual system inspired by the concept of a window to life in green, dynamic and flexible. A primary colour palette that appropriates the greens of the category and is complemented by a secondary one that generates contrast and conveys the vital optimism of the brand.

 

At the typographic level, the logo is based on the White Inktrap typeface family from the Swiss foundry Dinamo , whose imperfect finials, designed to reduce the smudging of leftover ink, worked perfectly for us to convey the idea of the beauty of the organic and of going off the main road to take that detour to tranquillity. As an auxiliary typeface, we proposed the combination with the Quincy family, by Connary, which gives it that friendly, friendly character.

The visual universe is completed with a manual and organic illustrative system, which takes precedence over the photographs with the aim of seeking maximum differentiation and identification with the brand.

 

From product-based rural tourism to transformative rural tourism

But above all, the new EscapadaRural is growing in value proposition. From being a platform specialising in rural accommodation, we discovered that the inspirational capacity that our clients were asking for could help them to make the rural experience not end with the stay: why not take rural life back to the city? Why not appeal to the transformative capacity of the tourist experience and make it help us discover a new way of living? It is not just a matter of people passing through the villages, but of the villages passing through the people, leaving an indelible mark on them, a desire to keep the good things about rural life and apply them to their daily lives on their return. Living more slowly, with more connection with what is going on around us, greeting our neighbours, caring for them, feeding yourself better, giving yourself quality time… For this reason, the new Escapada Rural is not only a platform specialising in rural tourism, but also in rural lifestyle. At a business level it is an important turn that will allow them to expand their portfolio and lines of business into new territories in the future from an already broadly constituted community of customers and owners: clothing and accessories, books, food, rural lifestyle and a long list of possibilities that totally transform the brand in breadth and focus.

Green life

This new value proposition is summarised in this concept that proposes to transform the routine and stressful life of the city into a new green life, where the awareness of slowing down is increasingly present; it is the conscious rurality, the chosen rurality, the one that moves away from clichés and the one you take with you wherever you go, even back to the city. A proposal in line with the new tourism model in which we at Mandarina Brand Society wholeheartedly believe, a tourism capable of introducing us to new ways of being, living and feeling and the small changes it can bring about in our daily lives.

Welcome to the new rurality, welcome to green living.