Local Transportation Brand Refresh Brought Reindeer to the Streets

Increasing Visibility with a Brand Refresh

In 2018, the responsibility for organizing Rovaniemi’s local transportation entirely shifted to the city. Increasing passenger numbers was necessary in this new situation. Along with improving operations, there was an urgent need to enhance the visibility of local transportation services and strengthen communications, which required creating a new strong brand. The City of Rovaniemi organized a competition among advertising agencies to redesign the bus fleet’s appearance, with the winner implementing the brand refresh.

Reindeer Concept Won the Design Competition

Advertising Kioski won the competition with the idea of running reindeer, inspired by the Christmas Land reindeer sculpture at the airport, set against a backdrop of the northern lights. The illustration reflects Rovaniemi’s northern identity. Reindeer have historically been used for transporting goods and people. Lapland is a reindeer herding area, and Rovaniemi is its capital, so it’s no surprise that reindeer are still present everywhere: along roads, on plates, in street names, public art, and even in city plans. Reindeer are also a popular sight for many tourists visiting Rovaniemi. Therefore, it seemed fitting to use them as the symbol for the city’s public transportation.

The illustration’s color scheme, aside from referring to the northern lights, also hints at nature’s proximity (blue river, green forests) and public transport as a greener, more eco-friendly option. The entire local transportation brand image (logo and visual elements) is built around the running reindeer illustration, utilizing its color scheme and reindeer character.

The logo features a smiling Linkkari bus

The rebranding process had already begun with a naming contest aimed at city residents, which concluded with an idea competition. The contest was won by Linkkari, a local nickname for a bus. The competition gained significant national attention and received 750 name suggestions.

We have also designed a logo for Linkkari. The Linkkari emblem is a cheerful, forward-moving bus, with a running reindeer in the letter ‘K’ and a background inspired by the Northern Lights, reflecting its Rovaniemi origin.

Documenting the Visual Identity

We documented the new visual identity in a brand manual, which outlines the entire brand and operational guidelines for local transportation. The new brand image was extended to all of Rovaniemi’s public transportation materials, from websites to bus pass holders.

Increasing User Engagement and Revenue

The new bus look has garnered much positive attention and praise from city residents. Alongside the new look, updated websites and the implementation of the Waltti system have made information sharing and finding easier. The local transportation website saw a sixfold increase in page views in six months compared to the entire year of 2017.

Ticket revenue increased from the budgeted €700,000 to €760,000 between June and December 2018. The ability to purchase tickets online has also boosted the popularity of rechargeable travel cards, which are now more in use than ever before.