BlaBlaCar aims for ‘more mature look’ with new logo

Carpooling community BlaBlaCar has revealed a new logo as it aims for a ‘more mature look’. The company, founded in Paris in 2006, connects drivers and passengers travelling between cities, is now used by more than 60 million people. It … Continue reading →

Carpooling community BlaBlaCar has revealed a new logo as it aims for a ‘more mature look’.

The company, founded in Paris in 2006, connects drivers and passengers travelling between cities, is now used by more than 60 million people.

It launched a commuting app last year.

Over the next 18 months, BlaBlaCar aims to offer “greater choice and convenience to travellers” by making the technology behind its service “more intelligent”.

A new search function asks passengers to enter their precise departure and destination points while BlaBlaCar’s search engine has been re-engineered to return more local results. Drivers enter their basic A-to-B, but BlaBlaCar now uses its new algorithm to match passenger requests with a sub-segment of drivers’ planned route, without the driver needing to propose these trips manually. This dynamically unlocks millions of possible local meeting points and, BlaBlaCar says, turns every highway across the country into a major transport line that can be joined at any point.

BlaBlaCar’s CEO, Nicolas Brusson, said: “For the millions of people who live outside big city centres, in suburbs or regional towns, long-distance travel is often tedious and difficult to access. Meanwhile, there are cars passing by with empty seats that could offer a near door-to-door experience. Thanks to our new search algorithm, we can make transport connections significantly more local, and give people more freedom and independence than ever before. Our vision is simple: wherever there’s a road, there will be a BlaBlaCar.”

BlaBlaCar’s new logo has been developed in partnership with London branding agency Koto.

BlaBlaCar founder Frédéric Mazzella said: “Our early branding was functional, designed to educate people about carpooling. Our playful colours reflected the diversity of our community, and our messages were chosen to encourage the adoption of a new mode of transport. But we’ve come a long way in ten years. Today, with a community of over 60 million, we have fully updated our branding to better capture what using BlaBlaCar is really about: bringing people closer to each other, and to the places they love.”

The announcement said “the logo trades its primary colours for a more mature look” with the two ‘Bs’ of BlaBlaCar coming together “like two people in a car” with “the speech marks framing a conversation”.

James Greenfield, founder of Koto, added: “The best brands are built around an emotional hook or idea. In this case, human connections are the fulcrum of the whole brand. Talking and connecting is at the heart of BlaBlaCar, making a more social and connected world”.