American Airlines jettisoned its old “AA” tail-wing
signature logo and unveiled its new logo this week. It’s the first time they’ve
had a new logo in 40 years, so they’re really emotional about it. It’s an
updated eagle inside a blue and red stripe. It’s a nice enough logo, and,
apparently, it comes surrounded by a whole lot of rational explanations.
American, just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection, had ordered a whole lot of new planes, so they decided to reassess
their look. Fair enough. But then they
took more than 2 years with IPG’s Futurebrand to end up with their new logo,
which might seem a long time for a nearly-bankrupt airline to spend (not to
mention the money) on a logo, and according to reports, it all started with a
question.
If your first thought was that the question was, “how can we
improve the overall flying experience on American?” wow, would you have been
wrong! No it was “what are the things that are relevant from all over the world
about America?” No really. That was the question. The answer they came up with:
“Technology. Entertainment. Progress” according to Futurebrand’s Chief Creative
Officer, who said, “We didn’t make this up. It’s from people all over the
world.” As brand strategists of many years experience, we can assure you, you really
can’t make this stuff up! So they ended up with an eagle in a blue and white
stripe. Get it? Technology, entertainment, and progress. Well, maybe there’ll
be a pamphlet in the seat pocket in front of you explaining it all.
They have a new commercial too. After all, what’s the use of
having a new logo if you don’t have a new commercial to show it off? McCann
Worldgroup (also part of IPG) did the advertising that broke this week. It’s a
60-second commercial voice-overed by Jon Hamm with people doing stuff and then
stopping to look skyward as a new American plane flies over with its brand new
logo. The Global Chief Strategy Officer at McCann was quoted as noting, “The
idea of it was to bring back the wonder of travel. We’re so oblivious to the
fact that we can get on a plane and go anywhere in the world, anytime we want.
We wanted to bring that amazement, that wow factor.” Well, we’re wowed! Get on
a plane and go anywhere!? What will they think of next? And a commercial
pointing it out to all of you who were oblivious to the fact. See, they’re
right. You can’t make this stuff up. Nearly-bankrupt companies rely on ad
agencies and design shops for that.
There was also a lot of nattering about how the old logo was
slanted toward a more powerful “ugly American” image – referring to the flying
eagle with talons drawn in warlike readiness – so now it’s a bird and a wing,
which is supposed to shift your perceptions away from a bird of prey to, one
can only suppose a bird at play, as you avail yourself of the fact that ‘you
can get on a plane and go anywhere in the world anytime’ you want. (Sorry to
repeat that quote, but it’s so dense light actually ends around it!)
But in fairness, that reasoning is really more from a highly
paid designer’s perspective, and not a passenger. Be honest. There are lots of
AA flyers out there, most of you hoping AA wouldn’t go bankrupt before you
cashed in your gabillion AA air miles. Did you ever, ever really think the
original eagle was a sign of a war-mongering America? Or did you look out at
the plane from the terminal and think, ‘yeech, another crappy American flight’?
Yeah, we’re guessing the latter. Actually not so much
guessing as looking at some marginals from our 2013 Customer Loyalty Engagement
Index where:
1) American is rated last in the Airline Category, and
2) an airline’s logo counts for 0.001 percent-contribution
to passenger engagement, or about 5,000 times less than a bag of free peanuts!
A spokesperson for American said, “The new look, including
our new fleet, is a strategic investment that is needed to improve our
customers’ overall experience. . .” because a new paint job and a snappy logo is the always
the highest-contributing aspect of a passenger’s experience.
Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy
ride for the AA brand!
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