It seems that SNCF (the French National Rail operator) has been busy with branding gurus, and has begun to re-brand its classic TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) network.
It’s to be re-branded to…. wait for it. inOui
inOui branded high speed train… it’s still a TGV. Image, SNCF.
Sooo.. What can we say to this? Well, it seems SNCF Voyages (the section that runs inOui) is following the strategy its low-cost unit – OuiGo in terms of branding.
Ouigo High Speed Train – Image, SNCF
Working through the Google Translate PR, this is an attempt to get over 15 million additional passngers to use High-Speed Train services by 2020.
SNCF has invested a fair bit recently, with over €1.5 billion spent on the new Océane trainsets, as well as retraining 5,000 of its front line staff in passenger relation skills.
In addition, High Speed trains will also feature Wifi, with €300 million spent on deploying it to the trains.
In terms of ticketing support, the Voyages-sncf.com site will become oui.sncf – supporting the Oui range of services (including OuiGo, inOui (train services), OuiBus (the low-cost intercity bus service) and OuiCar (the peer-to-peer car lending service).
So, SNCF wants you say yes to their products, and differentiating the levels of its products.
The TGV brand however is pretty iconic in rail travel terms…. and won’t go away that quickly as services are slowly re-branded.
For the premium high speed services in France (and a little bit beyond for certain types of services) – inOui is the name to come.
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.
Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can also follow me on Instagram too!
Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European readers.
Anyone else think that treads close to “ennui” meaning boredom? Weird branding choice but my French sucks…
Haha “inoui” can be pronounced as “inuy” which means “torture” in Hebrew.
So, if you book a full-price TGV, followed by a cut-price TGV, your travel will be provided by InOui OuiGo, or shorter and with the right accent, In We Go.
Somewhere there has to be a marketing / branding person who has just won an epic bet….