Deccan brand transitioned into Kingfisher Red inevitable?

When late last month the Deccan brand transitioned into Kingfisher Red — the company vehemently refutes any suggestion of ‘transition’ — and finally disappeared from Indian skies, there was no telling on how many tears were shed on its passing. But the sense of disappointment — even outrage — among practitioners and experts of branding is palpable. “Air Deccan is a very special brand. There are few brands that create seismic shifts in the market place. Deccan changed the aviation landscape in the country,” says
Nitish Mukherjee, managing director, Leo Burnett, who, at Orchard, literally midwifed the brand. Mukherjee’s opinion can be ascribed to his proximity to Air Deccan; not brand consultant Harish Bijoor’s. Yet, Bijoor makes common cause, given the equity the brand has built over the last decade. “Doing away with the Air Deccan brand is a rather short-sighted approach. A long-term option would have been to keep skeletal operations going on,” he says. Adds Addison Schonland, president, Innovation Analysis Group: “Losing Deccan demonstrates that Kingfisher wanted the license to fly overseas, not the business as such.”
Branding experts may have a reason to be sore. In four years, low cost carriers (LCCs), with Deccan being the flag bearer, have taken a 45% share in the Indian domestic aviation space. Compare that to the US, where low cost carriers, despite having better infrastructural support, have captured just 25% of the market in the best of circumstances.
With so much support for keeping brand Deccan going, it’s but natural to question the collective wisdom at Kingfisher.
But, as many marketing wizards will acknowledge, market share is not the sole criterion to keep a brand in circulation; at the end of the day, what counts is profitability, sustainability and bottomlines.
17/09/08 Prasad Sangameshwaran/Economic Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Kingfisher Red Sep 2008