The choice of Air France to call his new company at reduced costs Joon calls. First of all, because at the launch of the project on November 3, Jean-Marc Janaillac, Ceo of Air France-KLM, had stated in an interview with les Echos that the brand ” will have AF or Air France in its title “. Without explanation, the direction has changed his mind to choose a qualified name of ” short, punchy and international “. Rather than add in the name of this new company something in the style of “by Air France” or ” for Air France “, which may appear to some old-fashioned today, the choice was made to recall the affiliation with Air France by calligraphy or “focus” at the end of the logo.
Francité
If a name without reference to the Air France should not be an issue on the network short and medium-haul where the consumer is accustomed to with the low-cost the emergence of new brands, it may be different on long-haul flights, where the choice of the brand “Joon” removes de facto the advantage of francité provided by the trade mark Air France.
Synonym of luxury, this francité is a real plus in many foreign markets – particularly in Asia – that Joon has a vocation to serve, to regain market share on the companies of the Gulf. The absence of this reference to France in the name and the prospect of a product of very good quality, but certainly less luxurious, less chic or less “sophisticated” (in the good sense of the term) as the house-mother also pose a question in the strategy to move upmarket orchestrated by Air France since 5 years.
“Over the long haul, it will be necessary in foreign countries to ensure that this crossing with France be maintained. It’s going to take a lot of work marketing, advertising and communication, ” a connoisseur of the business.
In addition, Joon will not be for the most part a company parallel to Air France, such as Level or Eurowings, the subsidiaries of IAG and Lufthansa, but will replace it on lines ultra onerous or that it was discontinued not due to a lack of passengers related to any distrust on their part in respect of the company (on the contrary, the planes are full) or that prices are too high, but because of operating costs too high.
Result, on long-haul routes where the customer is at the rendez-vous with passengers who make the choice of Air France, the company will propose tomorrow a different company, with a product that is intended to attract the Millennials, this generation of 18-35 year olds, hyper connected, and that the name “Joon” may, in some respects, make a reference to a low-cost, although it will not be, neither in the product nor in the prices offered. Passengers who are flying today on Air France, will they remain on Joon tomorrow ? Or will they be tempted to go elsewhere? Joon can certainly bring in new clients it’s hard to capture today, but it takes the risk of losing the customer who likes the product and the brand Air France.
Joon offset with an increase in the range of Air France?
As we know, the ideal for Air France was to maintain the product Air France on the whole of its network, but the continuation of the expansion of the range, initiated in recent years, was accompanied by measures of productivity that take place in the Plan Transfom (2012-2014), but not in the plan, Perfom, which was supposed to follow. This is because the efforts were impossible to achieve within the parent company that management is trying to place them in this new company, which, obviously, could not have the same positioning as Air France.
“There is a lag with the increase in range, but it must be borne in mind that the creation of Boost was not motivated by the necessities of trade, but by the needs of competitiveness “, is reminiscent of a good internal source.
So, it is with the mark Joon and a product that is less upscale than the one of Air France as the management intends to resume the offensive on the airlines of the Gulf, renowned for the quality of their product, which compensates for the inconvenience of a connecting flight.
Joon is not a low-cost
Finally, there is a big difference with IAG and Lufthansa and Air Caribbean, in which the marks of their company to ” reduced costs “, Level, Eurowings and French Blue (who, for the anecdote recorded in France’s name, even if it is in English), do not refer to the house-mother in the name. But there is a big difference. These three companies have a positioning that is different from Joon. They are low-cost airlines, including the mark for the kick should rather avoid references to the mother house. However, Joon is not a low-cost, but a company with reduced costs compared to Air France with a product to the standards of Air France.
“It will not be a low-cost airline, to the extent that it will offer a bi service-classes, with a class of ‘economy’ and a class ‘business’, roughly equivalent to those of Air France. Has this almost that the seats-berths in business class will not provide direct access (to the corridor NOTE), unlike the cabin the Best of Air France, explained to les Echos, Jean-Marc Janaillac during the presentation of the project.
This is not the same thing.
