Originally Posted by Q Shoe Guy
Much hand wringing about the lack of meals on Transcon flights etc. , which has led some to query if AC will be making a dual brand or is it ruining it's branding......I'm more of the camp that AC has no branding(international markets especially)..........does anyone remember when AC had a proper brand? It is quite obvious that the marketing folks have long forgotten about this!
I think AC's challenge is that there are so many links in the chain when its brand can be undermined. Ten great flights, for example, are forgotten in an instant when one of the surly gate agents pointedly ignores you; or when the planes are dirty and full of broken seats; when an aircraft change because of oversold Y / undersold J results in a downgrade and then the "new" (dirty, worn out, etc.) aircraft sits on the tarmac for over an hour because of mechanical problems.
OK, that last example is a bit specific, but it happened to me on Sunday, with the irony being that it was the flight that got me to SE status. Anyway, my point is that no matter how good AC is or isn't at managing its brand image, the international product in particular is not good enough, so the gap between image and reality gets overly strained.