Zipcar transition creates brand tug-of-war

After merging with its top competitor in December 2007, Zipcar has launched in six new states and shows no signs of slowing down. But many customers of former rival Flexcar—especially in the Pacific Northwest, where the car-sharing company was founded—say they feel like they’re getting left in the dust.

While some former Flexcar customers appreciate Zipcars’ sexier fleet and technological prowess, others miss Flexcar’s local appeal, hybrid-heavy fleet and hard-to-match customer service. Erica Barnett, a reporter from Seattle’s independent weekly, The Stranger, wrote a heated commentary in February that reflected many Flexcar customers’ feelings of disenfranchisement, seconded by a flurry of responses at The Stranger’s online blog. Barnett blasted the newly formed company for increasing rates, failing to mail new access cards to Flexcar customers, and falling short in the customer service department. 

Mike Mirkil, director of business development at Portland-based ID Branding, says that while Flexcar and Zipcar have merged their business operations, it does not appear that they’ve merged the two similar but distinctive brand cultures. Mirkil, a former Flexcar customer, says most successful companies marry business, branding and company culture during a merger.

He says Zipcar has not leveraged Flexcar’s brand assets, but rather rolled one company into the other. Mirkil notes that today’s consumers are choosing brands based around their personal values. “In Portland, Flexcar had monthly gatherings at pubs, where you could sign up for free,” Mirkil says. “You felt like you were part of something.”

While a lack of customer outreach might not impact business in cities where there is no competition (such as Seattle and Portland), it could affect profits in places such as the Bay Area, where Zipcar shares the street with City CarShare, a nonprofit car-sharing organization driven by its environmental mission. The nonprofit has seen a steady increase in its number of new customers, says Gretchen Nachtway, a City CarShare marketing associate. It’s hard to pinpoint whether the increase is due to rising gas prices, the Flexcar–Zipcar merger, or other factors, she says.

Zipcar now has a total membership of 180,000 and 5,000 vehicles in 50 markets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.