Despite Economy, Hertz Aggressively Invests In Its Brand

Car rental company Hertz is implementing a brand overhaul by upgrading its facilities and streamlining its services.

The company will introduce free mobile device widgets in the first quarter of next year, which will allow users to make reservations, find Hertz locations, and receive promotions over the phone. The brand is also offering ''smart'' phone applications that will permit customers to make reservations via their BlackBerrys and iPhones.

Hertz will modernize facilities by replacing most of its signs with sleek LCD screens. These updated facilities will be unveiled in the coming weeks in Atlanta, Chicago, Frankfurt, and Shanghai. Hertz is also in the process of creating a new, more contemporary logo that incorporates the brand's signature yellow color.

Rebrands are typically big investments for brands and, in tough economic times, many hesitate and act timidly in the face of uncertainty; Hertz, however, is aggressively pursuing its rebrand, and believes investing in its brand now will pay off in the future. The company has not revealed the cost of its rebranding efforts.

Hertz is the world's largest general-use car rental company with an estimated 8,000 locations in 145 countries. The travel industry continues to struggle due to the economic downturn as many families are staying close to home and corporations are curtailing business trips, but Hertz raised its 2009 profit and revenue sales in October.