hey started thinking about it before
the airline even had a name: What brand would they create for their
new carrier, and how would they make it stick?
"If your only claim to fame is low fares, and suddenly those
fares are matched, if there's no reason to fly the product, why
would you? So we set out to differentiate the product and
differentiate the brand," said someone involved in those early
strategy sessions
The result was the most successful startup in recent aviation
history: JetBlue. Yet the airline industry is more noted for its
lack of branding than its branding successes. Airlines like JetBlue
and Virgin Atlantic stand out not only because they have been
branded successfully but also because so many others have not.
"Pretty much universally, no one thinks airlines are doing a
very good job," said Richard Ford, executive creative director for
Landor, a New York-based branding company that has worked for more
than 40 airlines in as many years.
"There's very little differentiation from one airline to
another," Ford said, leading consumers to ask the airborne
equivalent of a question that often confronts supermarket shoppers:
What really is the difference between Maxwell House and
Folgers?
Ford, other branding experts and some airline marketers said the
growing commoditization of the airline industry has moved branding
issues to center stage.
Making the effort
Some airlines are trying harder to distinguish their brands.
For example, America West decided in March 2002 to take
advantage of its lower costs to adopt a simplified and
business-friendly fare structure, reduce ticketing restrictions and
recast itself as the second-largest low-fare airline in the
U.S.
ATA decided a few years ago to move away from its leisure-only
image. Since then, it has done away with the palm tree on its logo
and livery, received new aircraft, added frequency to business
routes and launched a frequent-flyer program. Now, it is installing
business class on its entire scheduled-service fleet.
Delta recently hired a top fashion designer to create a new
uniform for flight attendants and gate agents, which it said would
strengthen the brand.
United is painting a new livery on its aircraft to represent
"the spirit of the United brand," replacing shades of gray with a
dark blue belly, bright white top and large "United" lettering.
United also launched a new ad campaign using New Yorker
cartoonists and award-winning animators. American, too, has
reinvigorated its advertising, using customer testimonials to
promote its low fares for leisure travelers, and its network,
frequent flyer program and upper classes for business
travelers.
"I think the arrival of low-cost carriers dramatically increases
the need for us to start to build a brand that is differentiated,"
said Robert Britton, American's managing director for
advertising.
Airlines, however, must be wary of the quick fix.
"There actually are airlines that believe you just put a TV in
your seatback and you'll be just like JetBlue. That's not the
case," said JetBlue CEO David Neeleman. Branding experts agree.
"Branding is not just about the color you paint your airplane;
it's about the way you do business," said James Gregory, CEO of
CoreBrand in Stamford, Conn.
CoreBrand managing director and COO Larry McNaughton, who once
worked for TWA, said a brand is a "sum of experiences."
As one airline executive put it, "The brand stands for a
promise."
Ben Kline knows what happens when an airline breaks a promise.
He worked at Fallon McElligott when it launched a United ad
campaign called "Rising."
The ads empathized with the business traveler's "pain and
suffering" and promised United was "rising" to meet their
expectations with better service. But the campaign fell flat, Kline
said, when travelers discovered United really hadn't changed much
and "couldn't deliver."
Kline, with the Leo Burnett ad agency, estimated airline
branding is 90% experience and 10% advertising and even then "only
to the degree that the ad is reinforcing the experience."
"The experience drives preference to such a heightened degree
that it makes your advertising look puny by comparison," he
said.
"The branding game in the airline business needs to evolve from
livery and brand advertising to brand experience. He who can come
up with [the most] powerful, compelling brand experience is going
to win."
Success stories reveal some shared characteristics:
Southwest
Southwest built its reputation and image over decades,
emphasizing low fares, efficiency, friendliness and fun -- even if
passengers have to scramble for unassigned seats. The formula,
combined with an internal focus on low costs, has led to 52
straight quarterly profits, which also has been good news for its
profit-sharing employees.
It is an airline that always capitalizes the word "customer." It
makes no pretense of offering frills, focuses relentlessly on a
low-fare message and works hard to build employee morale -- even to
the point of sending flowers to a gate agent for a work
anniversary.
Regional promotions manager Derek Kuester said the most
important element of his airline's branding is its focus on its
message -- and following through.
"In our case, we may underpromise and overdeliver," Kuester
said. "We're not trying to be all things to all people. We are what
we are. It's not a first-class seat to China."
JetBlue
A few years ago, with U.S. travelers irate about industry
mistreatment and Congress considering a "passenger bill of rights,"
JetBlue's founders decided on a mantra: "Bring humanity back to the
industry."
The mantra became the basis for its strategic decisions, such as
adopting a "rational and reasonable" fare structure and a "no
overbooking" policy, and for the culture it wanted to create, said
Gareth Edmonson-Jones, a JetBlue spokesman involved in the strategy
sessions.
With its base at Kennedy Airport, JetBlue also opted for an edgy
persona "because we decided that's how New Yorkers like to be
spoken to," he said. Starting with a small ad budget, JetBlue
relied on public relations and promotions that reinforced its
chosen persona. For example, JetBlue held its launch press
conference at a Soho bar called Idlewild (Kennedy Airport's former
name), which modeled its interior on an aircraft and featured
bartenders dressed as pilots and waitresses as flight attendants.
Edmonson-Jones said JetBlue liked the attitude it conveyed.
New aircraft, leather seats and live TV did help differentiate
the product. Low fares also help, but they aren't everything:
Neeleman said JetBlue now charges the higher average fare on almost
every route where it faces direct competition.
Just as critical, Neeleman said, has been his airline's
determination to treat every customer with respect.
Like Southwest, JetBlue emphasizes employee relations, from
profit-sharing to sending JetBlue slippers to its at-home
reservations agents, to its leaders striving to meet every new
worker. As Edmonson-Jones put it, "What we try to communicate
internally is, 'We're all the brand.' "
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin's branding is part product, part one man's
personality.
When Richard Branson started the airline in 1984, he wanted to
make flying fun again while providing value and challenging
convention, said Ginnie Leatham, Virgin Atlantic's head of brand.
Branson's record industry background gave the airline a rock 'n'
roll image, and early flights included jugglers and musicians.
The brand, however, has evolved. About 10 years ago, Leatham
said, Virgin made a big push to establish its credentials as a
serious option for business travelers. The new message focused on
offering first-class service at business-class fares, emphasizing
extras such as in-flight massage and complimentary limo
service.
The airline also believes a "halo effect" from its Upper-Class
service has boosted sales in economy, which already benefited from
individual video monitors and a premium economy section. Then, of
course, there's Branson as pitchman. Virgin's chairman has dressed
up as Elvis for the launch of Las Vegas service and as Robinson
Crusoe for new service to Grenada and Tobago.
"We're very fortunate to have a chairman who will do virtually
anything for the brand," Leatham said. Nonetheless, she added, "you
can do all these fun stunts, but if underneath you can't deliver,
it very soon becomes hollow. What you do has to have some
integrity."
Singapore Airlines
Some airlines choose a brand identity that meshes with its home
country's image. Examples abound, including "great Asian service,
German efficiency or British humor," said Bernd Schmidtt, executive
director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia
Business School. But great brands can't rely solely on their
homeland's image, he added.
Singapore Airlines is a prime example. One of the industry's
most recognizable advertising characters is its "Singapore Girl,"
appearing for more than three decades in her batik sarong kebaya as
the personification of the airline's Asian warmth and
hospitality.
With a small domestic market, Singapore chose its brand identity
as the best way to reach a global market, said Gerry Oh, vice
president, marketing communications and development.
"We focus on service because service cuts across all market
segments and all geographies," he said. "Whether you are in London,
the U.S. or Asia, when you're the recipient of good service you
always remember."
The airline, however, knows it must consistently deliver on its
promise. To that end, every new employee undergoes 14 weeks of
"basic training" on items such as grooming, service, safety,
presentation and handling of passengers. Workers also attend a
yearly refresher program and familiarization classes for new
products.
The carrier remains committed to a modern fleet and product
upgrades. But even Singapore has seen its "hardware" advantage
lessen and must rely on the "soft skills" of service to set itself
apart, Oh said. "The brand," he said, "builds loyalty."
To contact reporter Andrew Compart, send e-mail to [email protected].