Survey shows Delta lags behind on "brand respect"

[WorldTraveler]

Kev,
Thank so much for posting the link to the video but before we discuss it, thank you even more for showing the grace to overlook a flippant remark – and, in the case of this thread, even some harsh comments back and forth which not only weren’t necessary but were also harmful to open interactions. The interaction between 700 and I earlier on this page demonstrates that it is possible to get past harmful comments and return to an open, honest dialogue despite opposing positions. I commend 700 for his acceptance of my apology and for you to allow a fresh start on the topic.

I’m not sure if DL had anything else on the DVD they sent other than that 3 minutes of the interview in the link but I was struck by the common themes between what I previously said and what was on the DVD despite the fact that I hadn’t seen the DVD.

Here are a few notables:

The business person noted that his company has been on the good and the bad side of that list and he has had pushback both ways. ME: Surveys are based on the methodology of the researcher and don’t necessarily paint an accurate picture of the situation – and companies know that and have to balance one set of research with other things they see as more accurate of their situation.

The DVD notes that airlines are in a particularly tough category - I mentioned the legacy airline sector as being problematic.

The interview notes that they reviewed 1000 companies and then narrowed the list down to 100 who had significant differences between its size and reputation. ME: It still isn’t known if any other airlines were in the group and if they were how they fared relative to DL. I’m not sure what messages DL is giving you but I surely hope they balance the fact that you work for a legacy airline which is a market group with a very damaged brand and you and your DL peers shouldn’t try to do penance for the actions of an entire sector.
They note that DL has very, very strong brand familiarity – which counters the notion that so many say that DL’s brand is not as well known as others like AA and UA. Again, the whole methodology of the survey was a comparison of the divergence how well known the brand was relative to its reputation. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that DL’s brand had to be very well known at least in the US in order to even be considered for the research.

Side note – did you pick up that, in touting the success of its partnership with Gol of Brazil, DL’s name and logo “Flying in partnership with Delta (in Portuguese)” (they current have “A team of Eagles” in that same area) will appear on every one of Gol’s over 100 aircraft right next to the boarding door where it can be seen by every person that steps onto a Gol aircraft – and Gol carries more passengers than any other airline in Brazil? I’m not sure if any other US airline has the specific logo (not just the alliance logo) on every aircraft in another carrier’s fleet but DL’s step is a bold one – and indicates that DL sees its brand as valuable and Gol as a strong enough partner to increase its branding via Gol. DL’s name and logo are also popping up all over Brazil next to Gol’s name including on a massive billboard inside the check-in area at GRU. AA has had a similar billboard of its own in another area of the terminal.

The DVD notes that DL’s stock performance this year has been “phenomenal” and has far outpaced a number of general market metrics.
The DVD notes that brand is nothing more than a promise to deliver a product or service and all of that good work can be destroyed by one employee. Thus, the 16% research I made completely validates why it is absolutely critical to isolate people who don’t deliver expected levels of customer service. Just as an observation (ME), I don’t know if any other airline actively solicits its own employees to fill out a passenger survey as DL does, but DL’s expectations are that DL employees and pass riders should not be treated as 2nd class passengers and DL encourages its employees to help maintain high levels of quality by identifying employees who don’t deliver that.

Finally, they note that companies that want to be successful have to constantly be committed to improving their customer satisfaction scores. DL had some of the best customer complaint ratios in the industry for years (mostly before deregulation) but lost the title – mostly to WN. IN the DOT report I mentioned, did you (collective) pick up that DL’s customer complaint ratio is better, not only than all of the other legacy/network carriers, but also better than both Virgin America and Hawaiian despite both of those airlines having far less complex operations that DL.

DL has work to do with its brand and they absolutely have to set themselves apart from the rest of the pack. WN was “just another airline” at one time but have done a great job of consistently running a quality operation and they now reap the rewards of that hard work, whether they weret part of this research or not.

Thanks for sharing the article, the link, and for showing the leadership and grace to make this board a great place for discussion.

 

[eolesen]

Hmmm. Seems that some people are confused about the notion of branding.

Advertising is certainly part of branding, but branding is not all about advertising. Branding is about putting the idea into someone's head that when you think of a commodity, you associate it with a particular company.

Coke. Morton Salt. BMW. Xerox. IBM.

Those are brands. They don't need to advertise for people to know what they are. They still advertise, but it's to project an image, not to sell a particular product.

Heck, Pan Am and TWA are still brands. Lot of good it did them in the long run, but they're still a name you can mention and people will immediately connect it to travel.

Delta?

I know a lot of people who still think of hoop skirts, wine in a can, and every connection via ATL whenever the name Delta is mentioned.

I know it's not who they are today, but it's still the brand. Keeping the widget was certainly nostalgic for the employees, but it's not making a break in the mind of those who know the DL of old.

I see that WT has mentioned how many corporations moved over business to DL, but they're not doing it on the brand. They're doing it on the basis of discounting.

Don't confuse branding and chasing market share. They're quite exclusive.

 

[eolesen]

An intentional follow-on, as to avoid a WT-esque novella...

These are the airlines tracked by CoreBrand, who did the survey from the first post.

Company.................Q407.... Q411....Q412 
American Airlines....... 184.... 154.... 176
United Airlines......... 205.... 179.... 206
Delta Air Lines......... 188.... 181.... 215
Southwest Airlines.......207.... 205.... 251
US Airways Group.........261.... 271.... 329
United Continental.......N/R.....N/R.... 716

- See more at: http://www.corebrand.com/brandpower/tracked-companies#sthash.xguEhiRp.dpuf

Think it's skewed? Do a lookup for yourselves. It's free to register for their site...

Interesting that Southwest as a brand is so low on the list.

Not so interesting or unexpected that both US Airways and United-Continental are at the bottom, and entirely predictable that United and American are still somewhat iconic in comparison.

 

[Kev3188]

Branding is about putting the idea into someone's head that when you think of a commodity, you associate it with a particular company.

Thanks, E.

I had hoped to convey that with the excerpt I quoted in the OP.

What you've noted is what DL is trying to build on/manufacture internally in order to boost external perception(s). They are looking to try and improve the pax experience on several fronts so that the "brand" (as you've defined it above) will improve in the public's eye.

Not for nothing-and at the risk of mixing "advertising" with "brand"- I think the idea of the "Keep Climbing" ad campaign was to not only rebrand, but also to put a human face on the big machine as a means to resonate with the consumer. It's not an original concept (remember the AA ad where the CC runs a late bag out to the K loader in a driving rain?), but it's usually an effective one. Hope that makes sense... based on what this survey shows, maybe it didn't quite work this time? Guess we'll see...

 

[WorldTraveler]

welcome back to the DL forum, E.

If DL's brand includes hoop skirts and wine in a can, then AA's brand cannot exclude remembrances of the M80 grounding and the labor problems that have been part of AA for years.

You can't decide to throw in brand elements based on your own perspectives but toss out others because you don't like the implications they have.

Of course, every company wins business based on price and part of that has to do with having the right financial structure - but DL has also invested in the product and has delivered levels of service superior to the competition, both very important in highly competitive markets like NYC. Again, DL's corporate revenue jumped dramatically in the aftermath of AA's labor problems/work slowdown a year ago. I doubt seriously that DL dropped its prices over what it had offered before or that AA raised its. Instead, DL demonstrated it could provide reliable service and that is what corporate customers want.

I have never said that AA's brand is damaged - and AA indeed sunk its roots in some of the highest profile markets in the country and world.
But even the best brands lose their appeal and don't mean much if the company can't provide the service that is necessary to compete. The best AA brand means nothing if they can't profitably compete in the same high profile markets where they built their brand.

Let's also not be confused that the list you posted is not the same as the poll that Kev cited to start this thread. Brand power and reputation are very different things.

Again, I haven't seen a list of the exact comparison of other airlines to the list cited above.

Kev,
whether DL's "keep climbing" campaign is working or not can't be determined just because of their presence on the list.
Again, the methodology of the research involved awareness of the brand compared to reputation or respect. DL's awareness is very high according to the research but its reputation doesn't match its size.

And as much as this report is generating buzz, it is also giving DL an opportunity to highlight what it is doing... sometimes bad publicity if handled right can be more valuable than a lot less good publicity.

Again, even in the clip you featured, the researchers noted DL's industry leading customer service metrics and stock price.

you two are both right that advertising doesn't necessarily improve the brand. Fixing the brand means fixing the problems that have tarnished the brand.... "canned" wine, late flights, no flights in the top business markets.... DL is indeed fixing the problems that cause brand problems... and if you look at industry specific and industry comparative metrics, DL is doing a very good job at what they do.

 

[Airlinelifer]

No, not saying that union= lazy "Employee's" but union does = "Some Employee's who think they're bullet-proof and can goof off because the union has their back !

Funny, I hear the "I will call ATL or HR" when management tries to lay down the law.

 

[metopower]

So who would you suggest that they call. Ghostbusters?

 

[Airlinelifer]

So who would you suggest that they call. Ghostbusters?

So who would you suggest that they call. Ghostbusters?

LOL not.....Don't quit your day job, but it does seem that when a supervisor needs to get its point across and the employee is using the dreaded HR card, what does that tell the rest of the workgroup? They can get by with the threats of "HR" and let them get away with it.

 

[700UW]

 

[737823]

Are you able to provide attribution or a link to the post above?

Josh

 

[Kev3188]

The Sloan award, I'm sure you can Google.

As for the rest, I can tell you there is no shortage of examples of all of the above happening daily. IFS leadership has acknowledged that this summer has been a struggle. They also post daily sick call volume on the IFS homepage on our company website, and are now requiring notes in many cases. Short turns, reroutes, and being flown into days off are all happening early & often.

You can take my word for it or not; entirely your choice.

You know how I keep saying the company is doing more to get F/A's to sign cards than any organizer could ever hope for? Yeah...

 

[737823]

Kev I am familiar with the Sloan Institute, I was referring to the bullet points below. Seems like ir could be from organizers for the IAM drive? Can you translate IPY4/IPY6/etc for us? No clue what they are in reference to.

Josh

 

[Kev3188]

Kev I am familiar with the Sloan Institute, I was referring to the bullet points below.

I know...

Seems like ir could be from organizers for the IAM drive? Can you translate IPY4/IPY6/etc for us? No clue what they are in reference to.

Wouldn't surprise me a bit if these were from the IAM campaign. Didn't see this flyer on their website, though...

I'll defer to an F/A on here to give a *clear* explanation of IPY4/6/etc. In the interim, I believe it's basically extra pay (it's short for "incentive pay" to not walk if you're close to duty limits, to pick up trips that would otherwise go short, etc.)...

 

[WorldTraveler]

If it was the IAM that published those “add-on facts” then it goes to show why organized labor has been so unsuccessful at unionizing DL employees. Is it possible that FAs have been rerouted off of their final leg back into base? I’m sure it has… has it happened with other airlines who have unions? Absolutely.
Have int’l flight been sent out with minimum staffing? Absolutely… but happens at other airlines as well even though every DL FA knows that is not how DL schedules any flight. The add on facts also failed to mention that DL has added more below-deck FA crew rest cabins – at considerable extra weight and loss of cargo capacity – than other airlines. Perhaps the IAM could provide a comparison of the number of aircraft w/ below deck FA facilities by carrier.
The items that they note are also not the norm at DL and the mere fact that Sloan highlighted the benefits of what DL FAs have but someone else, perhaps the IAM, shows that there message really can't succeed it is presented on the basis of balance.

BTW, there are a handful of pilots on other forums who are complaining about how much they are having to work this summer – and they have a union who gave the company increased flexibility to improve DL pilot productivity. Yet there are also other DL pilots who provide evidence showing that the disproportionately heavy workload that some pilots say is falling on their shoulders isn’t really happening at all.
And it also doesn’t change that some of the same pilots who are complaining about having to work during the summer also acknowledge they can go weeks if not months during other periods of the year when
they don’t have to fly at all – yet get paid.

Apparently there are some pilots and FAs at DL who don’t seem to grasp (a relative handful – far less than the 16%) that summer is the peak season – when DL will use all of the resources it has to generate revenue – or will remove those assets.

There is nothing wrong with any person or organization sharing their point of view including with respect to the labor movement. But characterizing an exception as the norm and failing to provide the whole picture is precisely why some people and organizations consistently fail to win the discussion – and the democratic process shows it.

 

[Kev3188]

The "exception" is that other carriers have CBA's that outline clear recourse(s) for the issues listed above. DL has "policies" that are sometimes adhered to, sometimes not.

Fact is the system they have in place are failing a large number of employees. Saying "we'll look into it," and "thanks for all you do everyday" without making concrete changes to fix it just ain't cutting it anymore.

The company asked the F/A's to "give them a chance." They did. The company isn't keeping it's deal(s).

Can't help but notice your condescending comment about how somehow there are F/A's not "getting" how ramped up summer ops can be. You should give your former co-workers more credit than that. Even the company does.

P.S. Do you remember writing that you don't post about what you don't know? Suggesting others to do the same? Just curious...