Etihad - Flying Reimagined

Etihad - Flying Reimagined

Over the past few years Etihad has been engaged in a rebranding exercise that positions it as more than just an airline. Instead, it wants to be seen as a “hospitality brand.”

As global brand consultancy Landor, which was involved in the project, explains, “Etihad is not a seller of seats. It doesn’t have passengers; it has guests. To reflect the aspirations and motivations of its discerning travelers, we conceived each cabin brand as a unique experience” .

Following the rebrand, the next step has been to bring the new positioning to life through advertising. After winning the Etihad global advertising account in 2016, Cheil London launched its debut ad campaign on 26 December in Europe, the UAE, India and Australia.

A series of five executions reinforce the distinction between ‘passengers’ on other airlines and ‘guests’ on Etihad.

For example, one execution features a pair of earplugs above a toy giraffe with the strap-line, “passengers get earplugs, our guests get nannies” before highlighting the fact that ‘British trained Nannies’ are onboard to help enter tain young flyers.

Similarly another execution promotes the free Abu Dhabi stopover on offer to first and business class passengers by pointing out “passengers get one holiday, our guests get two.”

The ‘guests’ versus ‘passengers’ differentiation is bold but it also isn’t without risk. The word passenger of course has a transactional feel to it. You pay money and someone delivers you from A to B. Meanwhile the word guest has a completely different connotation - someone actively looks after you.

That brand promise could easily fall down if the reality that people experience onboard Etihad aircraft doesn’t live up to the advertising campaign. However, along with its major Middle Eastern competitors Etihad consistently scores highly in passenger satisfaction surveys, and in October the airline received its five star certification from Skytrax.

In line with its main regional competitors, Etihad has a track record of rolling out innovative marketing campaigns.

For example, in June the airline worked with Cheil subsidiary The Barbarian Group where Hollywood A-Lister Nicole Kidman starred in a virtual reality film that showcased different areas of an A380 en route from New York to Abu Dhabi . In addition to gaining worldwide media coverage, the video has been viewed close to 2.5 million times on YouTube .