Encore Corporate Travel is renaming its Zii Travel Management technology platform as the "Encore Platform," part of a larger rebranding that the Montreal-based travel management company said is meant to assert its independence in an ever-consolidating TMC field.
Encore launched Zii—which integrates booking, management and support for clients—in 2017 to gain control over its client experience and satisfaction rather than relying on reselling technology, and it since has moved virtually all of its clients to the platform. When Zii was first being developed, Encore initially was considering making it available to other TMCs, Encore CEO Monique Mardinian said. Ultimately, the TMC decided to keep it proprietary.
However, having a separate brand for Zii "muddies the waters" with customers, Encore VP of marketing Christie Thompson said.
"A lot of people who use Zii, the travelers, don't realize that it's Encore," she said. "This reduces confusion in the market."
Bringing Zii under the Encore branding umbrella is part of a brand "evolution" for the company that it says better reflects its identity as an independent TMC, which it said has helped it maintain a client retention rate of 99 percent over five years and an average customer relationship duration of 15 years.
"If we were trying to be everyone else, we'd likely be a Concur shop or giving into convergence, where we're for sale or looking for private equity backing," Thompson said. "We're trying to maintain our independence because we want to own every touchpoint of the traveler experience."