Another year, another booze-fueled, scandal-plagued ego trip on the French riviera. If that sounds harsh, perhaps it is. It’s easier to forgive the excesses of Cannes when they’re accompanied by inspiring work. Unfortunately, this year was a bit of a dud.
Few airline industry campaigns were awarded, and many of those that did pick up Lions are retreads of previous years’ campaigns. Last year, airlines took eight Silver and 15 Bronze Lions, already a far cry from the heights of 2014. This year, it was just four Silver and five Bronze, with most of those in lesser categories.
Welcome to the sixth issue of The Work This Week, a weekly roundup of new advertising, identity, and brand experience work from around the airline industry. This week, it’s the annual Cannes issue! Who won? Who lost? Who got blackout drunk and passed out on la Croisette? It’s all here! Except for “who lost” and “who got drunk,” because we keep things classy. Read more
Welcome to the fifth issue of The Work This Week, a weekly roundup of new advertising, identity, and brand experience work from around the airline industry. This week, new campaigns from South Africa and Australia, a new look for Air New Zealand, and a new reason to cross the Thames. Read more
There’s one facet of airline branding that’s subtle, yet intensely symbolic. And best of all, it doesn’t cost a thing. It’s the flight number.
In the age of rail, railroads often reserved lower numbers for their most prestigious trains. By the jet age, Pan Am used “flight 1″ for its fabled round-the-world service (flight 2 flew the same route, but in the opposite direction.) The flight an airline designates as “flight 1″ has powerful meaning. It may reflect the airline’s history (as in the cases of Southwest, JetBlue, and American.) Or it might reflect present priorities (as for Air Canada.) Sometimes flight 1 can give you a deep insight into an airline’s soul. And sometimes not. Read more
Welcome to the third issue of The Work This Week, a weekly roundup of new advertising, identity, and brand experience work from around the airline industry. This week, Air Canada rouge goes for the Justin Timberlake look, Avianca goes for the American look, and Turkish Airlines looks the same but smells even better. Read more
Welcome to the first issue of The Work This Week, a weekly roundup of new advertising, identity, and brand experience work from around the airline industry. On TWTW‘s maiden flight, we dissect what it means to be British with British Airways, burn calories for air miles with airBaltic, and rediscover the joy of reading with Qantas. Read more
The Summer Olympics kicked off in London on Friday, so it’s time for Fly the Branded Skies to celebrate the true meaning of the Olympic spirit: corporate sponsorship. Here’s what some of the airlines sponsoring the games are up to. I’ll update this post as I find more. Read more
Qantas has selected Droga5 as its new creative agency, according to AdAge, after a pitch that reportedly took ten months to unfold. The account will be handled from the agency’s Sydney office.
Last week, Qantas shocked the industry (and passengers) by grounding its fleet and locking out its employees. Now Qantas is flying again — but it’s flying into more crowded skies.
In the past three days, two of Qantas’s competitors have launched new low-cost brands. On Tuesday, Singapore Airlines introduced Scoot. Then, on Thursday, Australia’s Strategic Airlines unveiled its new name, Air Australia, and a new, low-cost focus. Air Australia’s new livery is pictured above. As an act of mercy, I am saving Scoot’s for after the jump.
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