Circa 2007. Jet Airways was one-year-old in the US market. It came out with a teaser campaign ?We have changed.? In response, Kingfisher Airlines plastered cheeky hoarding above the Jet billboards saying, ?They have flown from here to New York.?
The subtext was?Kingfisher made Jet change!
At that time, this would have come across as an over positioning (pun intended) for the Kingfisher brand, but today, a lot has changed for both the players.
First the numbers:
Jet Airways reported a net loss of Rs 225.33 crore during the first quarter ended June 30, 2009. Last year, it had made a net profit of Rs 143.38 crore in the same period. In 2008, Brand Jet Airways was valued Rs 2,988 crore (A 54% climb over the previous year), but this year, according to Bangalore-based consultancy, Brand Finance, its valuation has ?plummeted heavily? in the study that was not released at the time of going to the press. This is sad for a brand that is still the only aviation brand to feature in the list of the country?s 50 most powerful brands. Last year, at a glittering ceremony held at New York?s Public Library, Cond? Nast Traveler had ranked Jet Airways as one of the top three airlines in the world, after Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways. How did it happen that a brand known for its world-class service; the brain child of a first-generation entrepreneur, is now under attack from all quarters? Leading brand experts share their views.
