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

Michael D'Esopo, Lippincott
Michael D'Esopo

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:

  1. 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.
  2. Clarity – They should then deliver this differentiated positioning to consumers with clarity. The important point here is to deliver
  3. Mergers: During mergers in the industry, airlines should ideally strive for a hybrid brand, which can be difficult to implement. Hence, a better way is to come up with a new “joint vision” and drive forward with that by increasing its adoptability internally and externally.
  4. US airlines: They should keep thinking of the next customer too, not just the current one. This way, they will continually improve, and not just stagnate as they are right now.

Here’s Michael D’Esopo, uncut!

So what do you think? Do you agree with Michael’s solutions for branding airlines? Let’s hear it in the comments section.

P.S: Special thanks to Kathleen Hatfield for tirelessly working to make this interview happen!

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