Sorry if this is off-topic, but do you think they'll change the name of AWA if this merger went through? U.S. Airways Arena?? I heard that BOB is changing to something with "Chase" in it. That's a little easier for me to swallow than changing AWA.
First Union Center ---> Wachovia Center
Orlando Arena ---> TD Waterhouse Centre
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0517amwestname-ON.html
New name for new airline?
Merger could start airline name game
John Stearns
The Arizona Republic
May. 17, 2005 08:07 PM
Talk about a name that carries some baggage.
US Airways, whose name is likely to replace that of America West Airlines if the two announce their expected merger Thursday, is the same carrier linked to those pictures over Christmas of mountains of displaced luggage.
The airline blamed too many workers calling in sick. Employee unions blamed poor airline management for separating thousands of people from their clothes and presents.
Keeping US Airways' name is a bad idea, believes a marketing consultant back East, where the airline is better known than its merger mate.
"My vote would be rebranding" the merged airline with a new name, said Jack Trout, president of Old Greenwich, Conn.-based Trout & Partners Ltd. "Why bring along the baggage? US Airways has got a terrible reputation."
Rebranding the merged airline would be costly. It would require, eventually, repainting planes, redoing employee uniforms and changing airline signs at airports. There also would be the cost for making consumers nationwide familiar with the new name through advertising and promotions.
Using either the America West or US Airways name reduces some of the change-over costs and the need to establish a new brand from scratch.
While many are lukewarm to the US Airways name, America West doesn't have widespread support, either.
Many confuse America West with American Airlines, Trout said. A new name would provide a platform for a fresh start for the product in consumers' minds, he said. Trout would recommend something like "East-West Airlines," a carrier that can brag it's good in the East and the West.
While America West might be familiar to people in Phoenix and Las Vegas, where it has a huge presence, marketing and branding experts say the brand's connotations among customers matter most. If a new name is revealed, the product must meet customers' expectations, they say.
To Stephen Brown, professor of marketing and executive director of the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University, a brand goes beyond a name or logo to: "What do customers think about when they think about that company?"
While US Airways is more well known domestically and globally, it doesn't have a great brand reputation, he said.
It is easier to retain a brand than create a new one, Brown acknowledged. "(But) the question is: Is US Airways that strong of a brand to retain?" he said.
"(But) in this market climate, it would be expensive for a new merged company to mount and build a new brand."
Financially, with the deal already getting mixed reaction, "Wall Street would just annihilate them if they go on this multimillion-dollar branding effort," Brown said.
At America West's annual shareholders meeting in Tempe on Tuesday, company pilot Les Odgers expressed concerns about calling the combined airline US Airways. He said he hoped the two airlines would conduct a study to determine which name gives travelers the "warm fuzzies."
David Gaglione, associate director-naming for San Francisco-based Landor Associates, said US Airways has better recognition, but cautioned that could be positive or negative. If there's a liability with the name, it might be an opportunity to tell a different story through a new name, he said.
He would evaluate whether one name has significant equity in the marketplace or significant liability.
Steve Moore, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Authority, left branding questions to industry experts. His focus in the new airline: The amount of new markets this will open up for Phoenix for inbound traffic.
"With the expanded Phoenix Civic Plaza, anything that improves Phoenix's ability to solicit conventions with greater (flight) connectivity has great appeal to us," Moore said.
Staff reporter Dawn Gilbertson contributed to this article.
First Union Center ---> Wachovia Center
Orlando Arena ---> TD Waterhouse Centre
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0517amwestname-ON.html
New name for new airline?
Merger could start airline name game
John Stearns
The Arizona Republic
May. 17, 2005 08:07 PM
Talk about a name that carries some baggage.
US Airways, whose name is likely to replace that of America West Airlines if the two announce their expected merger Thursday, is the same carrier linked to those pictures over Christmas of mountains of displaced luggage.
The airline blamed too many workers calling in sick. Employee unions blamed poor airline management for separating thousands of people from their clothes and presents.
Keeping US Airways' name is a bad idea, believes a marketing consultant back East, where the airline is better known than its merger mate.
"My vote would be rebranding" the merged airline with a new name, said Jack Trout, president of Old Greenwich, Conn.-based Trout & Partners Ltd. "Why bring along the baggage? US Airways has got a terrible reputation."
Rebranding the merged airline would be costly. It would require, eventually, repainting planes, redoing employee uniforms and changing airline signs at airports. There also would be the cost for making consumers nationwide familiar with the new name through advertising and promotions.
Using either the America West or US Airways name reduces some of the change-over costs and the need to establish a new brand from scratch.
While many are lukewarm to the US Airways name, America West doesn't have widespread support, either.
Many confuse America West with American Airlines, Trout said. A new name would provide a platform for a fresh start for the product in consumers' minds, he said. Trout would recommend something like "East-West Airlines," a carrier that can brag it's good in the East and the West.
While America West might be familiar to people in Phoenix and Las Vegas, where it has a huge presence, marketing and branding experts say the brand's connotations among customers matter most. If a new name is revealed, the product must meet customers' expectations, they say.
To Stephen Brown, professor of marketing and executive director of the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University, a brand goes beyond a name or logo to: "What do customers think about when they think about that company?"
While US Airways is more well known domestically and globally, it doesn't have a great brand reputation, he said.
It is easier to retain a brand than create a new one, Brown acknowledged. "(But) the question is: Is US Airways that strong of a brand to retain?" he said.
"(But) in this market climate, it would be expensive for a new merged company to mount and build a new brand."
Financially, with the deal already getting mixed reaction, "Wall Street would just annihilate them if they go on this multimillion-dollar branding effort," Brown said.
At America West's annual shareholders meeting in Tempe on Tuesday, company pilot Les Odgers expressed concerns about calling the combined airline US Airways. He said he hoped the two airlines would conduct a study to determine which name gives travelers the "warm fuzzies."
David Gaglione, associate director-naming for San Francisco-based Landor Associates, said US Airways has better recognition, but cautioned that could be positive or negative. If there's a liability with the name, it might be an opportunity to tell a different story through a new name, he said.
He would evaluate whether one name has significant equity in the marketplace or significant liability.
Steve Moore, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Authority, left branding questions to industry experts. His focus in the new airline: The amount of new markets this will open up for Phoenix for inbound traffic.
"With the expanded Phoenix Civic Plaza, anything that improves Phoenix's ability to solicit conventions with greater (flight) connectivity has great appeal to us," Moore said.
Staff reporter Dawn Gilbertson contributed to this article.
