Careem's Everything App Rebrand: How a Ride-Hailing Brand Grew Up

Careem started in 2012 as a ride-hailing app. By 2023 it delivered food and groceries, sent money home, cleaned apartments and rented bikes. The brand still said "taxi". So Careem rebuilt it, mostly in-house, without losing the green and the wink people already knew.

The situation

Careem launched its Super App in April 2020 and kept adding services. In April 2023, Wamda reported that e& agreed to invest $400 million for a 50.03% stake in the Careem Super App, while Uber kept full ownership of the ride-hailing business. The app now covered food and grocery delivery, micro-mobility, a digital wallet, fintech and third-party services such as cleaning, car rental and laundry. The brand had only had a light refresh around 2019 and 2020.

The idea

Organise the everything app so people can understand it in seconds. Careem grouped its services into four families: Go, Eat, Get and Pay. Campaign Middle East reported that Careem's Global Head of Brand and Creative, Tom Sword, called it the most significant rebrand since launch and said the company needed "a brand that supports our new architecture". The core green and the wink stayed, so existing customers still recognised the brand.

The execution

Careem built a new in-house team, the Careem Creative Studio, of about 20 people. The work took roughly 12 months and was almost entirely done in-house, with an external studio involved at the start. The team expanded the colour palette to cover the growing range of services, drew proprietary icons, and carried the identity off-screen to captains' uniforms and delivery bags, even reviewing uniform materials and bag sizes.

The results

The rebrand rolled out from May 2023. Careem's own 2023 year-in-numbers, reported by Gulf Business, showed more than 70 million rides across the region and more than 20 digital services in the UAE, with operations in over 70 cities across 10 countries. Those figures describe the business the brand had to hold together, rather than proving the rebrand caused growth.

Lessons for brands in Dubai and the GCC

1. When your product grows, your brand architecture has to grow with it. Group offers so customers understand them fast
2. Keep your most distinctive assets. Careem kept its green and its wink
3. A brand lives offline too: uniforms, bags and vehicles are media
4. Consider in-house creative when you ship constantly and need speed
5. Don't claim the rebrand caused growth unless you can measure it. Track recognition and usage before and after

Sources

• Campaign Middle East: Careem rolling out most significant rebrand in its history (May 2023)
• Wamda: e& acquires majority stake in Careem Super App for $400 million (April 2023)
• Gulf Business: Careem's 2023 numbers (January 2024)

Ask A.I. Jacob about this

Questions about your own brand? Tap one, or type your own. Text or talk.

How could my brand use this idea?What is the main lesson here for a UAE brand?Give me a smaller-budget version of this