Fly the Branded Skies

 

Airline: SWISS

These are posts from Fly the Branded Skies about SWISS.

ICAO Code: SWR

No wings for this airline.

Flight 1

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.
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Jingle: Swissair “Heidi Wouldn’t Lie” (1968)

Heidi Wouldn't Lie

Listen: Swissair: “Heidi Wouldn't Lie”

If you sell a country, you have two choices: bikinis or cuckoo clocks.

Cuckoo clocks are expected. Everyone knows Switzerland has cuckoo clocks. Egypt has pyramids. Canada has trees and mountains. Brazil has Carnaval. Bikinis turn national stereotypes on their ears. Sometimes the Swiss wear bikinis. Egypt has modern cities. Canada has beaches. Brazil has golf.

This is the story of how one airline went from cuckoo clocks to bikinis and back again.

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