American Airlines is going through a difficult time: it’s still officially in bankruptcy, its three major unions are intransigent, and it may have to merge with US Airways to survive. And yet, for the last two years (almost its entire term of restructuring), American has been working on a complete rebranding, secretly repainting its fleet in private hangars before unveiling the new look on January 17. It’s the first redesign of the brand in 45 years.
Regular Brandeblog readers know that, at Brandemix, we believe that a brand is more than a logo. It’s a promise a company makes to its customers, employees, shareholders, job applicants and more. American has changed its external look, logo, and uniforms – but has it changed its internal operations or culture?
One thing we know
is that American is slightly changing both the customer and employee experience.
Passengers will now find more wi-fi and USB ports in the terminal and on the
plane; first-class passengers will dine on “elegant new china”; some planes
will get fully reclining seats. Pilots will be issued iPads and flight
attendants will use a Samsung Galaxy device to “see passenger information in
real time.”
But what if you’re in economy class and just want to read a book? What if you’re an employee that doesn’t get – or want – a mobile device? American’s rebranding must go deeper to truly change how passengers and employees feel about it. Nothing I’ve seen from the media or the airline itself indicates that American is overhauling its employer branding, onboarding, training, or employee engagement philosophies along with its look.
When we conduct rebranding initiatives for our clients, we work from the inside out. We interview employees, managers, board members, and customers. Only after we discover what the brand means to them do we try align it with the needs and goals of the client. The more workers that are involved in the process, the more likely they are to accept the new brand and become its champions.
Clearly,
American’s union employees weren’t involved in the rebranding. The spokesman for
American’s pilots union said “A new paint job is
fine but it does not fix American's network deficiencies and toxic culture.” The president of the flight attendants’ union said she had no confidence
left in the airline’s management team. A new uniform isn’t going to change
these employees’ minds; they’ll need a shift in company culture that shows American
cares about them.
We can all appreciate or criticize American
Airlines’ new logo, but the red and blue icon affects our experience, and the
employee experience, very little compared to American’s culture, vision,
values, and mission statement. We are hopeful that the airline plans to change those
too; if not, we at Brandemix are ready to help; you could said we’re waiting in
the wings.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.