Special Report
The ‘brand’ fan
Branding is apparently not just the application of a red hot iron to the backside of a cow in South Dakota. It is also what Stathis Kefallonitis does. OBH caught up with him in LA
“It’s all about
establishing an ‘image’ for an airline that the general public can instantly identify with and recognise, not just the airline, but the
service and image they want to put over in as streamlined a way as possible.” Stathis uses an analogy: “Imagine you find a sea-worn splinter of glass on the beach. If it were from a Coca-Cola bottle, you would only need to see a very small part of the bottle to immediately recognise it as such. That’s what we try to do with airline brands.
“Buying a new fleet of aircraft, painting the tails and hoping it will delight passengers is not enough. But it’s not as simple as coming up with a clever logo and a strap line.” A full briefing is taken and the profile of the company and its potential client base are studied. Stathis then takes a close look at the existing branding and image the airline conveys and looks to see what needs attention. In most cases the airline already knows this and is asking Stathis to come in and support and assist with an internally promoted re-branding exercise. Not all airlines react the same way and some are more ready to embrace the changes than others. All levels of management and work force have to buy into the programme to make it work, and this presents challenges. They do not all necessarily have the vision and the larger the company, the more challenging this is. Also getting crew and ground personnel to buy into
“Not all airlines react the same way and some are more ready to embrace the changes than others.”
changes and new ways of operating can present obstacles that require incentive programmes to push them through.
“We have to get the conviction of crew, then passengers and then management, often in that order. Once crew are into this, passengers respond and management is convinced,” says Stathis. “As they’re the ones who instigate the project in the first place, it may seem back to front, but that is often the way it is achieved.” Re-branding or streamlining and perfecting existing branding can present a multitude of challenges. We asked Stathis what he does when faced with inflexibility. “When we design the training and implementation, we avoid what we know is not going to work.”
And what about those crazy ‘design over practicality’ issues like that fabulous can-opener that everyone just HAS to have that doesn’t
Branding is a crucial element in establishing and enhancing an airline’s image and to increasing revenue
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www.onboardhospitality.com actually open cans?
“In the airline environment, we test every design and change that is accompanying re-branding to test its practicality. Any changes to the design of equipment, uniforms or procedures must be workable or they will fail. “Virgin America is a great example of a total end-to-end branding exercise which embraced all levels of management and workforce. The resulting passenger experience is greatly affected by the image the airline wants to convey. Southwest is a similar example. “Growth can often stifle the branding and push innovation back into tradition. Southwest and Virgin Atlantic are examples of how this has largely been overcome.”
But it always needs refreshing and you have to incentivise all those involved. As Stathis points out with the old saying: “You can bring the horse to water but you can’t make it drink”. There are not many thirsty horses following Stathis about!
www.branding.aero
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