LATAM, A Cultural Blend: Branding Strategies Part Two
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APEX Insight: In a special web series, APEX contributor Marisa Garcia takes an in-depth look at four distinct airline brand unions. Part two looks at the recent merger between LAN and TAM Airlines, a two-year process which carefully took each brand’s history into consideration.
For three years, LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines have operated as independently under a single operating group: LATAM. The airlines have also continued to operate with individual branding, as the operational processes required to interweave two separate corporate cultures, and also two different national and cultural identities, is complex and requires careful planning.
Now, after what the group refers to as “great advances in achieving synergies for internal processes, network optimization, and fleet restructuring and modernization,” LATAM Airlines Group has adopted a single name and identity and launched a new brand which represents the largest airline group in Latin America, all under the name LATAM. The new LATAM unites the two passenger and cargo airlines and their affiliates in Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil.
The new brand incorporates the strengths, characteristics and values of both LAN and TAM, respecting the histories of both carriers (which are 86 and 39 years old respectively), and their contributions to the Latin American region’s growth, development and increased connectivity.
“Out of all of the options that we were considering, the name LATAM always seemed to us to be the most natural evolution of both the LAN and TAM brands, but a period of mutual understanding and maturation was necessary to make the decision,” said Mauricio Amaro, president of the Board of Directors, LATAM Airlines Group during the announcement of the newly united brand. “We knew that having a single brand was essential to consolidate the connection between LAN and TAM, and the name LATAM creates a strong identity for the airlines that form the largest airline group in Latin America. The new brand is born from the desire to capture the best of both identities and legacies and consolidate them to create an even stronger one that preserves the essence of each brand – an essence that is truly Latin American.”
The group will offer a single product and service within one network, a more powerful online presence, integrated channels of communication and faster development of innovation and technology. LATAM will also optimize its fleet and its network of destinations in the region, and will offer a new in-flight experience, updates to its service and in-flight entertainment. LAN was the first airline in the Americas to take delivery of the Boeing 787 aircraft and TAM will add an A350-900 XWB to its fleet.
“Our passengers have high expectations and we want to offer them service that meets those expectations. LATAM will be a brand that builds a culture that is dedicated to taking care of its clients,” said Enrique Cueto, CEO of LATAM Airlines Group.
“LATAM will be a brand that builds a culture that is dedicated to taking care of its clients.” – Enrique Cueto, LATAM Airlines Group
“LATAM Airlines Group created a unique partnership in the industry that resulted in the largest airline group in the region,” Cueto said. “That is why we chose the name LATAM, because it honors who we were and who we want to continue to be, working together with our affiliates to be the ambassadors of a Latin America that grows and prospers, loyal to its natural and human roots – a region that never stops moving.”
LATAM Airlines Group developed the new brand in nearly two years with the Sao Paulo, Santiago and Madrid offices of leading brand consultancy Interbrand. The consultancy conducted a study in 10 countries, five of them where LATAM Airlines Group has domestic passenger operations in addition to important long-haul destinations including Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina, the United States, Spain, England, France and Italy. The study also considered input from partners and the needs of clients across the markets where the Group operates, creating a new value proposition.
“From the very beginning, every step of this project has been eagerly awaited. Two of the largest aviation companies in Latin America have joined forces, each with strong and recognized brands. The creation of LATAM is a milestone in aviation history; the first time that two major airlines are allied under the same new flag,” said Daniella Bianchi, managing director of Interbrand Sao Paulo.
As Gonzalo Brujó, Interbrand CEO EMEA & Latin America points out: “Strong brands are not built overnight. Changes in the airline industry are particularly complex and there is still a process of ‘letting go’ from the previous brands, whose history is considered within the new brand. But we are convinced that the result will be a top global brand, capable of uniting global excellence to the best of local culture.”
The symbol of this new inter-cultural unity is a new LATAM logo which, Jerome Cadier, VP of Marketing for LATAM Airlines Group explained, “Was inspired by the identity and heritage of the region, incorporating the best of LAN and TAM.”
Indigo and coral blend the former blue and red colors of TAM and LAN’s brands, with coral to symbolize the energy and passion that the group refers to as essential attributes of the new brand. These two new colors will be complemented by secondary colors reflecting the diversity of Latin America.
The new image will be rolled out gradually over three years at airports, on aircraft, at commercial offices, on web pages and uniforms. “It will require a lot of time and effort, but as we work on the implementation of the new brand, we will continue to work in parallel to unify the in-flight experience offered by the LATAM Airlines Group airlines,” said Cadier.
Our industry has evolved through a combination of effective alliances, partnerships, and consolidations via mergers and acquisitions. Bringing companies together, regardless of the type of union, presents unique organizational and brand challenges. To better understand these challenges, and how they can be addressed, we assembled a roundtable of the industry’s leading brand gurus for the feature, “The Brands That Bond Us,” coming out soon in The Design Issue. Read part one of the online series: “Alitalia and Etihad, Separate but Equal: Branding Strategies Part One.”