Blue Ocean Branding: The Norwegian Airlines Case

Looking up into the sky recently, I could just see an airliner starting its descent towards Arlanda airport, Stockholm. It was too far away to see it clearly, or recognize the aircraft type, but it obviously belonged to Norwegian Airlines. Why? Because in a world where airliners are either painted a uniform color, or with horizontal stripes, it is the only airline I know of that chose a radically different paint scheme that is instantly recognizable.

This is effectively a "blue ocean" approach to branding and it can be very effective. Most brands try to look somewhat like existing brands in the same space. Wine bottles, for example, don't need to be labelled "wine" because that is generally obvious from the shape of the bottle and the style of the label. In much the same way, other products try to not distance themselves from rivals, so that customers can tell what the product is without looking very closely.

But there have been many cases where a highly distinctive product has brought advantages. One of the classic cases is the Volkswagen Beetle, a vehicle so distinctive that it has been instantly recognizable from any distance. Back in the 1960s Doyle Dane Bernbach's classic print campaign "A Volkswagen obviously" played on this theme with copy mischievously explaining that you could recognize a VW under snow because was the one that started, when in fact the famous outline was still plainly visible.


Another classic case of a distinctive brand style is the legendary Toblerone. Many rivals are rectangular, some are round, but none copy the triangular package design used by Toblerone. There is a reason for this. The company is famous for aggressively defending its intellectual property and while many rivals have tried to copy the packaging, none have succeeded in beating Toblerone's intellectual property team.


A blue-ocean branding strategy like this is more challenging than a me-too approach, but this is certainly one way to differentiate a product. Nobody can confuse a Beetle with another car, nobody will confuse a Toblerone with a rival, and even from a distance any Norwegian Airlines plane is instantly recognizable.


Lectures, Workshops, Coaching & Writing

 For lectures, interactive workshops, one-to-one coaching and writing on branding and other communication topics contact the author Andrew Hennigan at speaker@andrewhennigan.com or call 0046 730 894 475.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Best Regards: How to Start and End Your Emails

Image
Last year I wrote that to make your email more effective you should put meaningful content into the subject line, keep your messages short and consider other channels (see Three Timesaving Tips for Email ). I also wrote some guidelines about common culture problems when email crosses borders (see Three Non-Obvious Ways Culture Affects Email ). But there is one other question about international email that comes up regularly in workshops: how should you start and finish? Do I use "Dear", "Hi",or "Hello" to start with? What do I do if I don't know if the person I am writing to is a man or a woman? "What is the difference between "Best regards  and "Warm regards"? This is a question that puzzles many people and a while ago it stressed me, too. But the answers to these questions are perhaps easier than you imagine. DEAR MR/MRS WHATEVER . First of all, at the start of a mail you probably have some sort of salutation. How do you kn
Read more

Reverting to Emails: Confusion and the Indian English Language

Image
In workshops about global email many people focus on their issues communicating with colleagues in India. Partly this is related to some deeper cultural differences that lead to misunderstandings. But many problems are also caused by the different ways in which Indian people use English. There are some "English" words that you will probably only hear in India, like " stepney ", their word for a spare wheel. A hundred years ago this term was coined in the UK and was exported to India where it survived. Back home only a few antique vehicle enthusiasts have any idea what it means. There are also many English expressions that are peculiar to India, like "What is your good name?". But in both cases an English speaker from elsewhere would just see an unfamiliar expression and either ask what it means or google it. Most problems are caused by another kind of difference: where a standard US or UK English word is used but with a different meaning. Recently s
Read more

TED’s Magical Red Carpet

Image
Watch any TED(x) video or, better still, attend a live event, and you will probably notice that speakers stand in the middle of a circular red carpet. This choice is not just a question of aesthetics. That red carpet actually plays a key role in the success of the TED format. Having the speaker stand in the middle of a red carpet has several important consequences, leading the speaker to follow best practices that they might not be aware of. No script or notes . Since there is no table, lectern or other furniture within reach, the speaker cannot easily read from a script. This forces them to deliver their talk from memory, which is much more compelling because few people can read from a script and make it sound natural. And no matter how good you are at reading, the audience can see that your eyes are scanning the text and this breaks the magical connection with their minds. Encouraging people to speak from memory pushes them to make a much better talk than they might ot
Read more