To UB or not to be, is the brand question

Mumbai: Brand turbulence seems to be in the air for both Kingfisher and Air Deccan, just as their much-touted marriage is ready for takeoff.
That’s because the identities of the two airlines are poles apart.
While Kingfisher Airlines has the aura of the “Kingfisher experience” to it and a certain legacy associated largely with the UB Group, Air Deccan has always had a bare-bone demeanour.
Says Future Brands managing director and CEO Santosh Desai: “It’s almost a case of trying to mix oil and water. A complete new dimension will be required to position Deccan now.”
Kingfisher is currently putting in place the finishing touches to the end product on offer and hence the resulting image that Deccan will evoke is under speculation.
Asserting the same, Desai adds, “I think the sense of clarity has not been established yet about what’s exactly on offer at Deccan under the Kingfisher umbrella. Till now for the common man, the brand imagery that Deccan would evoke is of that of mass-market no-frills airline. That perception could change.”
The brand trap could lie there, say experts, because on the one hand, the Deccan client can lose interest because the imagery of value-proposition is lost; on the other, the Kingfisher flyer could downtrade or fly off to other carriers feeling lost exclusivity.
22/12/07 Arcopol Chaudhuri/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Kingfisher Dec 2007, Simplifly Deccan Dec 2007