Classic Escapes curates intimate, bespoke experiences across Africa and beyond - striking a balance between luxury, authenticity, and meaningful connection.

For many people, Africa is a dream never fully realised. The overwhelm that often creeps in when wanting to plan a trip, or the harsh stereotypes that push even the most seasoned traveller away. From the beginning, Classic Escapes wanted to transform those dreams into journeys that felt personally transformative for their clients and package unforgettable experiences that proved that Africa is the most culturally diverse and rich continent. The women-led, well-oiled powerhouse of a team dealt with clients who had high expectations, a desire for authenticity, and a passion for conservation-backed travel, but often lacked a clear vision of how to create a trip that didn't feel “cookie-cutter.”

Our challenge was to develop a narrative and digital experience that mirrored the deeply personalised journeys Classic Escapes could offer. Journeys that seamlessly blended cultural discovery, wildlife immersion, luxury comfort, and conservation impact.

The team at Classic Escapes was small but shared over 30 years of collective experience. With only a couple of interviews to conduct, we had the capacity to go deeper and extract more detailed stories.

We were blown away with their first-hand knowledge and wanted to highlight how so many of the journey’s they curated were possible because they had personally navigated those regions, many times over.

Listening to them speak with so much passion and joy made our job easy. These stories, coupled with a few from past adventurers, helped some key insights to emerge.

• Travellers crave immersive experiences - visiting schools, conservation projects, and cultural communities, not just game reserves.
• Personalised service is paramount - clients want 24/7 access to support and authentic interactions with owners and guides.
• Responsible travel isn't optional - it’s central to the brand: guests expect sustainable, economically empowering experiences.

• Conduct in-depth narrative investigation.
• Craft a compelling narrative.
• Build a memorable brand.
• Adhoc written blog posts and blog maintenance

Developing their identity

Drawing from their very clearly emerging brand values of connection, authenticity, luxury and learning, we began to develop the visual language. We knew that we needed to help transport people to these magical destinations through a screen to help them make the decision to visit these spectacular places.

Ensuring that onscreen, the photographs took up space, to captivate viewers and in some way transport them into the scenes. These images do a lot of the talking and form the base of the visual language.

We dedicated time to some hand-drawn elements to showcase the hands-on, personalised touch that lies at the core of Classic Escapes.

To really infuse the idea that the Classic Escapes team were not just professionals, but really expert travellers themselves, we got creative on their team page and created passport cards with real stamps from their adventures in their own lives. This was a fun touch that was in line with their personalised tone. Continuing with that tone of voice, we decided that we needed to build a blog - where we had the chance to poetically document some of the journeys that a few of their clients had embarked on.

We handed over to Classic Escapes a full-stack asset library, with everything they would need for their business to begin it’s own, refreshed journey: an in-depth, descriptive narrative DNA profile, brand new immersive website, guide bios, case study templates, social media assets, and strong storeytelling capabilities that helped them to clearly articulate who they were as a company that strives for conservation, education, family travel, and bespoke group journeys.

Classic Escapes continues to thrive. Their clients return continuously, appreciation for conservation grows, and the brand narrative remains grounded in authentic experiences and “little touches” that spark real connection.