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NOURIS ELBAHR FERRIES

Making a historic first
a credible choice.

Earning institutional credibility.
Building traveler confidence.

Read the story
Guests cutting the inauguration ribbon aboard the Nouris Elbahr ferry.
The inauguration of Cracovia / Original event photographyNouris Elbahr Ferries × Zone
Client
Nouris Elbahr Ferries
Sector
Maritime passenger transport
Our role
Strategy, brand & launch communication
Market
Algeria

A new ferry company has to earn trust before travelers will entrust it with their journey. For Nouris Elbahr, Algeria’s first private passenger ferry operator, that challenge carried the weight of a historic first.

The arrival of its first ship, Cracovia, opened a new possibility in a market long associated with established operators. But the launch had to convince two audiences at once. Institutions and partners needed to recognize a credible new actor in a strategic sector. Travelers needed to understand the offer and feel confident choosing it.

We worked across the strategic marketing plan, brand platform, visual identity, inauguration, press relations and public communication. Each part had a role in making the ambition easier to understand, recognize and trust.

Inside the story
A direction for the launch

Structuring a launch with two audiences

Being first created attention. It also created questions about the company’s place in the market, the experience it intended to offer and its ability to deliver. The launch needed a direction that could hold those questions together.

We developed a strategic and marketing plan that examined the category, benchmarked ferry operators and considered the needs of families, expatriates and other travelers. It connected the company’s wider ambition for maritime travel with the practical concerns that influence a booking: comfort, clarity, convenience and confidence.

The plan translated that thinking into a proposed launch sequence, from preparation and the ship’s reception to the first voyage and ongoing communication. It also set out the roles of content, press relations, digital channels and physical materials. The result was a shared planning framework for introducing the company and sustaining its presence beyond the announcement.

Four-phase launch roadmap from the original planning document; the timings shown are proposed.
The proposed launch roadmap — preparation, ship reception, first voyage and ongoing communication.
From ambition to expression

Giving the newcomer a recognizable identity

A company entering a strategic sector needs to look and speak with consistency from the start. We developed the brand platform and visual identity system around the experience Nouris Elbahr wanted to stand for: safety, comfort, reliability and sustainability.

The brand guidelines brought that direction into a practical system. They defined the use of the logotype, a maritime colour palette, Latin and Arabic typography, photographic direction and a graphic language drawn from wings and waves. These elements gave very different communications a recognizable connection to the same company.

The system extended from official documents and digital content to passenger information and physical applications. It gave the new operator a stable public identity that could support both an institutional conversation and an everyday travel decision.

Nouris Elbahr brand guidelines cover with its maritime blue visual universe.
The brand guidelines
One system across languages and touchpoints.
Original French typography specimen from the brand guidelines.
Typography for Latin-script communication.
Original Arabic typography specimen from the brand guidelines.
Typography for Arabic communication.
Original graphic system page connecting the seagull, waves and four brand values.
Wings and waves — the graphic language behind the identity.
Explore the brand system · 10 visuals
The ambition becomes tangible

Giving a historic first a public moment

The arrival of Cracovia needed a moment that reflected what it represented. We organized the inauguration ceremony, bringing the company’s launch into a setting where its institutional significance and its physical reality could be seen together.

The reception, ribbon-cutting, official address and onboard visit put the ship at the centre of the occasion. Guests could encounter the company through its people, its spaces and its operations. The experience gave a new name in the market something concrete to stand behind its ambition.

For an initiative whose institutional perception was critical, the ceremony was a way to introduce the operator in its own environment. It also created a set of moments and images through which the wider public could discover the launch.

Guests walking aboard the ship with the Algiers waterfront visible behind them.
The official delegation arriving aboard.
Rows of inauguration guests seated aboard the ferry for the official presentation.
Guests gathered aboard for the inauguration.
A uniformed crew member explaining the ship’s bridge to the visiting delegation.
An introduction to the ship and its operations.
A company the public could hear from

Giving the company a voice in the media

A launch of this significance needed an explanation that could travel beyond the event itself. Press relations gave Nouris Elbahr a way to present its vision, explain its services and keep journalists informed as the launch developed.

We wrote press releases, organized press conferences and maintained media relations around the company’s key moments. Editorial and branded materials supported those exchanges, giving the press a coherent introduction to the operator and its offer.

This work connected the institutional story to the public one. The same company that had to demonstrate its place in a strategic sector also had to answer the questions of people considering a crossing.

A speaker addressing the inauguration beside Algerian flags and a Nouris Elbahr welcome display.
The company addressing guests at the inauguration.
Original planning page outlining press releases, press conferences and media relationships.
The press relations approach — an excerpt from the strategic plan.
Original branded merchandise page with USB, keyring and pen concepts.
Branded objects — original USB, keyring and pen mockups.

The original press relations plan and branded-object design mockups. Event photographs show the inauguration we organized.

From discovery to a travel decision

Making the next step easier for travelers

Visibility could introduce the name. Travelers still needed to understand what the company offered and how to take the next step.

We designed the website interface to make information about services, destinations and booking easier to navigate, while carrying the new identity into the digital experience. The role of the interface was practical: help people move from an initial interest toward the information they needed to plan a journey.

Social communication created another point of contact. We established a regular publishing calendar, produced visual content and managed community exchanges, supported by reporting and monitoring. Together, the website design and social presence gave the launch a more continuous relationship with its prospective passengers.

Original square launch artwork announcing the arrival of Cracovia.
Cracovia on its way — original launch artwork.
Original Nouris Elbahr artwork showing onboard staff and the message that comfort is a priority.
Comfort and service — original brand communication artwork.
Original square launch artwork presenting Cracovia and its passenger and vehicle capacities.
The ship and its offer — original launch artwork.
Original brand guidelines page showing layout rules and four square social media artworks.
The social content system — composition rules and original examples.
Original video format guidelines with a widescreen frame and a branded onboard visual.
The video identity — a consistent frame for moving images.
Trust through uncertainty

Staying present when confidence was tested

Early delays made the launch more demanding. A new company was asking people to believe in a different travel experience while facing questions about when that experience would begin.

We put in place proactive crisis communication, using official statements and regular social updates to keep the public informed. Community management kept a channel open for questions and concerns as the situation evolved.

The task was to maintain a clear, consistent company voice under pressure. Alongside the work that built recognition, this communication addressed the uncertainty that could prevent travelers from considering the new operator at all.

The communication challenge

Confidence had to be earned
before the first crossing.

A brand people could encounter

Carrying the brand beyond the announcement

The launch also needed a physical presence. We designed and produced flyers, brochures, branded desks, backdrops, rollups, flags and press gifts so the company could introduce itself consistently in person.

The brand guidelines extended the system into stationery, boarding-pass templates, iconography, wayfinding and other applications. These designs showed how the identity could work in the practical moments surrounding a journey, from receiving information to finding a service aboard.

Audiovisual production and photography added another layer, giving the company material through which to show its ship, its people and its intended experience. Together, the work moved the identity from a set of rules into a usable language for the launch.

Original printed communication design page with an open branded presentation folder.
Printed materials — original folder and publication mockups.
Original boarding pass design page showing Economy and High Class templates.
Boarding passes — original design templates and mockups.
Original signage design page with onboard service directions and a wayfinding mockup.
Wayfinding application — from the original brand guidelines.
Original outdoor advertising design page with two billboard concept mockups.
Outdoor applications — original concept mockups.
Original stationery page with branded letterhead and business card mockups.
Stationery applications — original design mockups.
The shift

What changed

Nouris Elbahr’s arrival gave travelers a new choice. Our work gave that choice a name, a voice and a coherent public presence.

The company’s ambition could be understood through a shared strategy, recognized through a consistent identity and encountered through the inauguration of Cracovia. Press relations, digital information and ongoing communication connected that milestone to the audiences whose confidence mattered.

The contribution ran across both sides of the launch: helping a new private operator present itself as a credible participant in a strategic sector, while making its offer more visible and understandable to the people it intended to carry.

The official delegation and crew gathered around the ship’s bridge controls.
The delegation discovering the bridge.
Scope of work

#brandstrategy #brandplatform #marketpositioning #marketingstrategy #launchstrategy #brandidentity #brandguidelines #corporateevents #inauguration #PRcampaigns #corporatecomms #crisiscommunication #webdesign #socialmedia #visualproduction #editorialdesign

Another shiftGlobal Africa Tech — Giving Algeria a continental stage.
Projet suivant

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