Michael D’Esopo of Lippincott bares the truth about airline branding in interview

Lippincott, a leading brand strategy and design consultancy, has worked with airlines globally, including Virgin Atlantic and most recently TACA Airlines. Lippincot helped TACA deliver a “calming trip” to their customers, the moment they stepped aboard the plane. They have also extensively helped Delta Airlines deliver a 360 degree brand experience, both internally and to the external customer.

I decided to take this opportunity to meet up with Michael D’Esopo, a senior partner at Lippincott’s Boston office, to get his perspectives on airline branding, and what makes for a truly successful airline brand. With 15 years’ experience in brand building, he revealed a number of gems, and you can view the full, uncut version of the interview right below.

Here’s a quick summary of Michael’s thoughts:

Differentiation – Like all brands, airlines should have a strong and unique value proposition – something Barack Obama did so well, as I discussed in my previous article.
Clarity – They should then deliver this differentiated positioning to consumers with clarity. The important point here is to deliver
Mergers: During mergers in the industry, airlines should ideally strive for …