Sep 4, 2014, 12:46 pm
Alaska Airlines 2013 rebranding/possible name change speculation
Jul 1, 2013, 1:25 pm
#16
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
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Wirelessly posted (beckoa's PWP wondrousdevice3.0: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)
Agreed.
That's like being called AK
That's like being called AK
Jul 1, 2013, 2:21 pm
#19
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2013
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Posts: 90
You and I know the name. But we are not typical consumers. We are discussing this in a forum dedicated to AS on flyertalk. A consumer form of the 1%...
The FA's point was that on the East Coast, AS is mistakenly referred to as "Alaskan" and that irritates management as much as it did you.
Now let me go rinse your condescending tone off...
Jul 1, 2013, 2:38 pm
#20
Join Date: Mar 2007
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totally unrelated to missy's thoughts, but code share whore might be a good one.
There's a reason the eskimo is smiling.
Maybe it just needs a little ad campaign.
There is no R in Washington, and there is no N in Alaska. N-less since 1932.
There's a reason the eskimo is smiling.
Maybe it just needs a little ad campaign.
There is no R in Washington, and there is no N in Alaska. N-less since 1932.
Jul 1, 2013, 3:18 pm
#22
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Jul 1, 2013, 5:27 pm
#26
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 5,953
I'm sure the name is going to stay the same. I don't think it's any big secret that the company is currently undergoing a whole branding reassessment. What that means for anything, nobody really knows. Everything, from what I understand, was on the table for discussion. I think management knows that, for AS to continue to be successful, they really have to find a way to broaden their market awareness. I think management would be thrilled if people on the east coast referred to the company as "Alaskan" because at least they would be referring to the company at all. The problem is there is very little brand awareness outside of the pacific NW. There is slightly better brand awareness in California but even there, AS could do with a slightly higher profile. I think AS wants to be a major west coast airline, much in the same way Jet Blue is on the east coast. In order to do that they have been taking a close look at how they can change the perception of AS being a "small botique airline up in Seattle." In the end I think there will be some major changes but I don't think that the name is going to change and I don't think the smiling Eskimo will completely disappear. Later this year I think the planned changes will be rolled out so stay tuned...
Jul 1, 2013, 5:46 pm
#27
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: JNU
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I'm sure the name is going to stay the same. I don't think it's any big secret that the company is currently undergoing a whole branding reassessment. What that means for anything, nobody really knows. Everything, from what I understand, was on the table for discussion. I think management knows that, for AS to continue to be successful, they really have to find a way to broaden their market awareness. I think management would be thrilled if people on the east coast referred to the company as "Alaskan" because at least they would be referring to the company at all. The problem is there is very little brand awareness outside of the pacific NW. There is slightly better brand awareness in California but even there, AS could do with a slightly higher profile. I think AS wants to be a major west coast airline, much in the same way Jet Blue is on the east coast. In order to do that they have been taking a close look at how they can change the perception of AS being a "small botique airline up in Seattle." In the end I think there will be some major changes but I don't think that the name is going to change and I don't think the smiling Eskimo will completely disappear. Later this year I think the planned changes will be rolled out so stay tuned...
Jul 1, 2013, 5:51 pm
#28
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
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Crazy as this may sound, I think that the proliferation of Alaskan beer to points east will help. The brewery has applied for the vacation of a street that separates their operation and the word I have heard in town is that they will be vending their wares on the east coast within two years. They're already in the Midwest. I expect there will be some plant expansion. It's only going to get bigger.
) Coincidence?
Jul 1, 2013, 5:55 pm
#29
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Seattle
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and Oregon never left (as in: Or eh gone)
Jul 1, 2013, 6:25 pm
#30
Join Date: May 2003
Location: SFO, mostly
Posts: 2,203
There is slightly better brand awareness in California but even there, AS could do with a slightly higher profile. I think AS wants to be a major west coast airline, much in the same way Jet Blue is on the east coast. In order to do that they have been taking a close look at how they can change the perception of AS being a "small botique airline up in Seattle." In the end I think there will be some major changes but I don't think that the name is going to change and I don't think the smiling Eskimo will completely disappear. Later this year I think the planned changes will be rolled out so stay tuned...
What AS really needs to do is refresh its in-flight product, and they already have rolled out some conceptual plans to do this with the new seats and IFE server. Overall, they need to somehow come off as being a bit more "hip" to compete with the likes of B6, VX and even DL to some extent. Don't get me wrong, I love AS, but AS hasn't had a new livery or corporate logo since 1990 and who knows, maybe they will even decide its time to replace the triangles on the bulkheads.