Anak Invests in the Future through Travel with New Brand Identity for Banyan Group | LBBOnline

Anak introduces Banyan Group, a new identity for one of the world’s foremost independent hospitality groups, charting a bold course for the future of global hospitality. 

For the past 30 years, Banyan Group—formerly Banyan Tree Holdings—has been quietly trailblazing strategies that demonstrate the true potential of travel. Undeterred by their contemporaries, the group’s activist founders boldly geared their business away from pure profit-chasing, towards an all-encompassing triple bottom line—of profits, people, and the planet. From the large-scale environmental rehabilitation of degraded sites, to sense-driven spas rooted in traditional Asian wisdom, Banyan Group has spent the past 30 years not just showing how travel could be, but how it should be: a powerful tool for investing in the future of all.

“We are going through a period of large paradigm shifts in all systems – political, business, ecological, civilizational. What the future will look like is still emerging. I am most excited about how Banyan can exemplify, influence, and shift the paradigm towards a beneficial outcome, that uplifts livelihoods, includes nature, and towards a living system that benefits all life on our planet,” said Ho Ren Yung, senior vice-president of brand and commercial at Banyan Group.

The group has grown this ethos across a global network of over 100 hotels and residences in 23 countries, along with unparalleled experiences. The Banyan universe now encompasses more than 20 travel and lifestyle brands, including their flagship Banyan Tree luxury resorts; Escape, an award-winning “no walls, no doors” concept in Bali, Indonesia; Veya wellbeing sanctuaries; Gallery, the first social enterprise hotel gift shop; the award-winning Banyan Tree Spa; and a newly launched proprietary wellbeing platform, Beyond. 

After three trailblazing decades of paving a new model for the industry, Banyan Group prepared to mark its milestone 30th anniversary by turning to brand practice Anak, its longstanding creative partner, to develop a global narrative that would help lay the foundation for the next chapter of their game-changing story. Together, we crafted a revitalised purpose for the travel industry in the modern world—The Business of Discovery, a paradigm that crystallises the group’s pioneering ethos and sees travel for everything it can actually be: a powerful tool for manifesting positive change in the world.

A different way of seeing the world

Since 1994, Banyan Group has always seen the power of travel differently. Travel does not just conjure romantic visions of escapist holidays; it is a blueprint for how individuals connect with the world. As a platform for exploring our shared humanity, the Banyan Way of travel not only elevates and expands our perspectives but also meaningfully enriches the people and environments at each destination.

We visualised this remarkable way of thinking and doing through the Banyan Scope, a graphic device that perpetually shifts our point-of-view to the bigger picture. From an individual perspective to an interconnected one. From a single moment in time—one holiday, or one fiscal year—to a time horizon that spans generations. 

At the same time, we distilled the deeply innovative, intrinsically Asian approach of the group into a striking new logotype, with “rooted” flourishes echoing the brushstrokes of Asian calligraphy, as well as subtly nodding to the roots of the group’s namesake Banyan tree.

Changing the script of travel

For a group as innovative and forward-thinking as Banyan Group, the tired old tropes of travel would never be sufficient. To go along with the Banyan Scope, we developed a bold, modern voice that redefines the why of travel—one that refuses to trade in cliched getaways, but instead frames travel as a mode for being. Not time off, but time on. Not an expense, but an investment. Not a vacation, but an education. The tone of voice is sharp and incisive, because the time for profligate travel, or travel without purpose, is over.

The Banyan Group voice does not just reframe travel for the traveller; it rewrites the script of the entire travel industry. The tone of voice orchestrates a powerful shift in perspective – one built on Banyan Group’s legacy as a pioneer of sensitive development and sustainable hospitality, which recognises that traditional, financial definitions of value no longer serve the world we live in today.

A visual world of endless potential

CO2 sequestration. Coral regeneration. Fair pay. Circularity. To show Banyan Group’s pioneering work in imagery, we created a visual language built on abstraction, possibility, and potential. We developed a distinctive photographic style that breathes discovery into every moment captured; whether through extreme contrasts of scale, or the immediacy of a spontaneous instant of discovery. In complement, hyperreal graphics are interpreted through a lens of raw, elemental nature, which nods to the tangible impact Banyan Group achieves.

“Our collaboration with Banyan Group aims to manifest a narrative where travel is not just a journey, but a catalyst for positive global change. Developing a distinct articulation of their longstanding ethos was key to this process,” said Lee Hanyi, creative partner at Anak in reference to The Business of Discovery. She adds, “We almost see the brand as being in a category of its own—one that balances the dynamism and urgency of the world’s most forward-looking businesses, with the inspiration and humanity that is at the core of travel. To live up to that vision, we proposed a truly progressive brand world that fully reimagines how human beings are meant to connect with the world. We are incredibly proud to be helping Banyan Group craft a future where every journey contributes to a more interconnected world.”