Airline Livery and Airline Branding: Conclusion

For all 20 of these well-known airlines, there were no failing grades (F). This isn’t necessarily a compliment towards the branding and livery design so much as an acknowledgement that, however misguided in design, each of these airlines is well-recognised on a national, if not international, scale. They’re lucky – multi-million dollar marketing departments can save a lot of egg faces when it comes to brand recognition. That’s what money buys.

What money doesn’t necessarily buy is style, design or a greater sense of purpose for a brand. The airlines that didn’t do so well in our investigation failed on at least some of these points, sometimes mightily. Whether they were remiss in acknowledging nationalism in their brand or were simply too boring design-wise, some big-budget airlines didn’t make the grade when it came to livery branding. Read the rest of this entry »