By a remarkable coincidence, two U.S. airlines launched new brand identities this week. Southwest revealed its new look at a lavish ceremony on Monday. Frontier unveiled its new look at a somewhat less fancy event earlier today. And the week is young — who knows what excitement is yet to come!
In their own ways, both Southwest and Frontier are returning to their roots. That makes sense for one airline; it’s a perplexing choice for the other. The difference says a lot about what it means to be a “low-cost carrier” today.
Welcome to the thirteenth issue of The Work This Week, a weekly roundup of new advertising, identity, and brand experience work from around the airline industry. This week, we’re back from hiatus with a new appearance by the Singapore Girl, big global account reviews by big global airlines, and a new airline identity that’s a little bit vanilla. Read more
Welcome to the seventh issue of The Work This Week, a weekly roundup of new advertising, identity, and brand experience work from around the airline industry. This week, American Airlines gets animated, KLM makes a game out of the airline business, and the airline formerly known as Fiji Airways is now currently known as Fiji Airways. Read more
Well, the Big Game is less than a week away and, like everyone else, Fly the Branded Skies is taking advantage of the buzz without all the hassle of paying a few million dollars for a sponsorship. This is an index to airline Super Bowl ads of the past 46 years. It draws extensively on Adland’s extensive archive of Super Bowl spots, with a few added in from YouTube. Read more
Most people will tell you that the airline industry changed 32 years ago today—the day Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act.
In fact, there are some people who will tell you that October 24, 1978 was the day everything that ever has changed or ever will change in the airline industry, changed.
Not me. For my money, the day the industry changed was 20 years ago, when Young & Rubicam resigned Trans World Airlines. Read more
The chief executive and employees of Frontier Airlines are God-fearin’ people. That’s one of the main takeaways from this evening’s episode of “Undercover Boss,” which featured Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford praying, listening to employees, praying, having dinner with his family, praying, wearing a ridiculous wig, praying, talking to employees about their faith, and praying.
This isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with being a person of faith. But it does suggest appearing on “Undercover Boss” isn’t really as risky as some people say. In fact, it’s probably one of the cushiest PR opportunities out there, letting CEOs be conspicuously magnanimous during a full hour of prime-time network television. Shortly after the episode ended, the Frontier Airlines Web site appeared to crash—perhaps brought down by thousands of travelers seeking out the airline’s “Undercover Fares” sale. Read more
