![]() ![]() (As you can imagine, I think the second ad here is more effective than the grandiose first one.) Had United just come up with this on its own and the airline was generally running well, then I would be all for it.īut the history of the campaign brings some old memories out of the closet and that creates a very big legacy to live up to. I like the message United has created, focusing on the amenities that are differentiators versus competitors. That, of course, makes me wonder whether this can truly be refreshed. It’s intricately tied to good childhood memories and to United. I’m not a huge fan of classical music, but I never turn Rhapsody off if I hear it. ![]() I remember flying to Hawai’i as a kid on those big DC-10s. Every time I hear Rhapsody in Blue, whether it’s related to a United ad or not, I smile. But when you recycle an old slogan, the original meaning often continues to shine through.Īnd the original meaning is pretty powerful. That may seem like a subtle difference, and it is a better message (though not necessarily one that translates to those in deep coach). So it’s not the people who are friendly (though they may be) but rather the flat beds, the extra legroom in Economy Plus, etc. It’s talking about its amenities being friendly. For the most part, United isn’t talking about its people being friendly. “Friendly” means something different today than it did long ago. The campaign this time is actually somewhat different than previous ones. If they had tried that a year ago, they would have been laughed out of the room. After a couple very difficult years of integrating with Continental, maybe the United team now sees a dramatic improvement and feels comfortable rolling out a campaign to talk about it. I’d like to think that this is very good news, that it means United is finally seeing blue skies ahead. To be fair, Tom O’Toole, VP of Marketing and Loyalty told the New York Times that it “sets an aspirational target for the customer experience United delivers.” It’s great to have an aspirational target, but if you can’t deliver on it consistently when you broadcast it to the world, it’s going to make people angry. When’s the last time you would associate United with being “friendly”? But things are different today, and I think you probably know where this is going. The ad above has been getting a lot of airplay this week and hearkens back to the old days where just a couple of notes of that composition made you feel like going somewhere. Rhapsody in Blue itself has been in continuous use for years with United, but this is the first time we’ve see anything about the Friendly Skies in quite some time. ![]()
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