British Airways falls from #1 in consumers favourite brands
#76
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,477
Despite all the protestations I think BA is just about in the right place. Being in Dubai I fly EK all the time. When given the choice between EK and BA I fly BA because they are just good enough not to be terrible and generally much cheaper than EK. I just want to get where I am going with adequate service. Why should I give EK another 30% more in Y for a bit better IFE and better food.
1, BA's product is so bad that they have to lower their price to lure flyers like you who wants to pay less;
2, EK's product is so good that they command the market by raising the fares and enjoy a better margin than BA.
Not very promising trend...
#77
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,477
#78
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: London
Programs: BA, VS, HH, IHG, MB, MR
Posts: 26,871
I totally get that. The PR surrounding BOB was so clearly fake, as if customers asked to pay for on board service was annoying,to say the least.
I Have mentioned before, imagine BA said “Listen, we are losing out to Ryanair and easyJet, we have to accept that hundreds of thousands of pax will go to Stansted for a cheaper fare, so this is how we will stay competitive” I probably would have accepted that. But their PR is appalling.
The thing is .... some stuff is OK. From what I see on here and in my email box, the new LGW CW seat is going down well - but this wasn't in the press release either. Perhaps if we'd all gone to see the new 777 and been told, yes, the seats are narrower but everyone is doing it, we held off as long as we could, we have put in big new TV screens and improved the food and we still think we are classier than Norwegian then they would get the sort of coverage they want.
Instead it is like watching a bad kids magician. 'Look over here, over here, there is nothing over there, nothing to see, nothing to see'.
#79
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: in a cabin
Posts: 6,522
#80
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Wedged somewhere between BTS and VIE ✈
Programs: Star Alliance Gold (A3 Gold), Oneworld Emerald (BA Gold), Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,338
If anyone at Waterside is surprised by this latest indication of the BA brand perception, they really aren't worth the wage that they're paid.
#81
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: YYC
Programs: BA bronze, Aeroplan peon
Posts: 4,746
I had to Google who she was and then went to youtube to listen to the song. Pretty sure I've never heard it before, and I'm in the demographic that likely would have. Of course, not living in the UK probably has a lot to do with not hearing her. We do get a surprising amount of UK artists on the radio here, but I had not heard her before.
#82
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,804
I had to Google who she was and then went to youtube to listen to the song. Pretty sure I've never heard it before, and I'm in the demographic that likely would have. Of course, not living in the UK probably has a lot to do with not hearing her. We do get a surprising amount of UK artists on the radio here, but I had not heard her before.
#83
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
But I guess you are familiar with Clean Bandit? They bring in diifferent soloists for their tracks, and Ms. Glynne is the most well known. [And I'm most definitely not in the "right" demographic! If you're over 40 years old I can see little of this is going to work out.....]
#84
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: LHR, LGW
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 3,436
What’s the overall importantance and/or impact of this result? Will questions be asked internally or will it be swept aside?
I’m just wondering if a crisis meeting or any meeting would be held to discuss why we (BA) are not number 1 anymore? We can all speculate and articulate our own reasons of course.
Surely Walsh would have picked up the phone and asked the question to Cruz? I’d be interested to hear if anyone knows what goes on in reaction to this.
If the papers get hold of it BA could get another bashing, well mostly from the Mail of course!
I’m just wondering if a crisis meeting or any meeting would be held to discuss why we (BA) are not number 1 anymore? We can all speculate and articulate our own reasons of course.
Surely Walsh would have picked up the phone and asked the question to Cruz? I’d be interested to hear if anyone knows what goes on in reaction to this.
If the papers get hold of it BA could get another bashing, well mostly from the Mail of course!
#85
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 698
The name means nothing to me but looking on YouTube I have heard some of her songs.
It's amazing how many records she's sold and I don't know who she is.
#86
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,152
Lego voted UK's strongest brand as British Airways falls from top 20 | Metro News
#87
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: YYC
Programs: BA bronze, Aeroplan peon
Posts: 4,746
Yes, although "Rather Be" is the only song to be big in Canada. Of course it is her featured on the song, but not appearing in the video I don't think? I didn't recognize the voice outside of that song anyway.
Mind you the radio I listen to is leaning more to toward Nothing But Thieves or Royal Blood - or classical depending on my mood!
Mind you the radio I listen to is leaning more to toward Nothing But Thieves or Royal Blood - or classical depending on my mood!
#88
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA, U2+, SK, AF/KL, IHG, Hilton, others gathering dust...
Posts: 2,552
When BoB was launched, someone on here posted words to the effect that BA/M&S was the perfect partnership - two brands that don't know what they are anymore. Like many good tongue-in-cheek comments, it made a good point to me.
My opinion, that taking a brand in two diametrically opposite directions at the same time is a near-impossible task, has not changed, and this is just an example of the outcome. One can question the validity of any survey, but as recently as Nov 2017 BA was trumpeting its recent success in this one, so one can assume the company considers it valid...
As Raffles points out above, you can't fool all of the people all of the time. BA has lost control of the public narrative, and it takes actions matching the words, rather than just empty words, to regain that.
My opinion, that taking a brand in two diametrically opposite directions at the same time is a near-impossible task, has not changed, and this is just an example of the outcome. One can question the validity of any survey, but as recently as Nov 2017 BA was trumpeting its recent success in this one, so one can assume the company considers it valid...
As Raffles points out above, you can't fool all of the people all of the time. BA has lost control of the public narrative, and it takes actions matching the words, rather than just empty words, to regain that.
#90
Join Date: May 2014
Location: BRU
Programs: BA GGL, TK E (*G), ITA exec
Posts: 4,093
I didn't know the woman (I had to google her) and I didn't know the song title or its singer (but I heard the song multiple times on the radio), however, aside for the "babe" part, I didn't think it was a bad taste joke. To me the director's tone was a hint to something public related to the woman. It's the Thandie scene that's really, really poor.