A minor story this one, but an important one.
British Airways is bringing back a ‘tag line’ invented 90 years ago: “To fly. To serve”.
The slogan remained on company uniforms even when advertising told us that BA was “The world’s favourite airline”. It is now being brought back as the core of a new advertising campaign, and will be painted on aircraft.
“So what?”, you might think. But it tells a story.
The chief executive, in the midst of what the company’s own report calls “ferocious trading conditions“, has decided that the best way to position the £7bn company for what is ahead is to emphasise service.
The thinking clearly goes deeper: the newly-hired managing director of brands and customer experience has a background in the hotel industry.
The slogan was invented at a time when BA was called Imperial Airways, the British Empire still existed, only a very few people could afford to fly, and they expected service. Could it be that BA sees a return to a similar future?
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/42a29ce8-e39d-11e0-8990-00144feabdc0.html