Makeover move

New Delhi, Dec. 11: Until Wednesday, only you and I were Indians. Now it?s also an airline.

Some may wonder why has an airline been named ?Indian?, but those behind the rechristening or rebranding believe they have a winner.

?Newness and fresh air ? that?s what we hope the renaming will bring to the brand,? said Deepak Brara, director, Indian Airlines. Or should it be director, Indian?

Newspapers, obviously, are going to have a problem. Take the headline: ?Indian plane crashlands? (a frequent occurrence) ? now, which Indian is it? Indian, as in Indian Airlines, or Indian as in an airline of the country like Air-India, Jet, Sahara and Kingfisher?

The company says Indian Airlines Corporation Ltd will remain its official name for all correspondence with ?Indian? being a brand name for ads and flag signs that appear on aircraft.

For some time, the airline has been feeling the need to rebrand itself to reflect the changes within. ?We are getting new aircraft, we have brought in younger people, we have improved our performance ? so we needed a new, crisper, more direct name. Brainstorming sessions in the organisation hit upon Indian as the best name,? Brara said.

It?s not an original idea. Austrian Airlines is simply called Austrian, Thai Airways Thai and Sri Lanka Airways Sri Lankan.

?It emphasises the fact that we are the national carrier in a more direct, yet trendy fashion,? Brara added. The name change also springs from the airline?s global ambitions. It now flies only to the Gulf and Southeast Asia, where the expatriate Indian population, its clientele, is mostly engaged in low-skill work. This is why it is often called ?cattle carrier?.

?The makeover is expected to give a more upmarket, trendy look,? said Brara.

Indian ? how does it sound? ? will have a fleet strength of over 100 after the 43 aircraft from Airbus arrive.

The airline plans to use its newly acquired muscle to fly to London. It also plans to fly to cities in Europe and Far East.The rebranding, which coincided with the arrival of its first leased Airbus A319, includes a new logo of a flaming orange sun with a dash of blue. Airline officials explained that it was inspired by the Konark sun temple.

Ajit Shah of RKSwamy/ BBDO ? the man who helped design the logo, said the sun temple represents the wheel, which epitomises transportation in myriad manifestations. ?We explored many symbols of India such as the peacock, lotus and tiger, but realised that either they were overused or too traditional,? he said.

Sandip Sood, COO of Rediffusion DY&R, however, does not agree. ?The new logo also does not reflect modern India. Instead, it could have gone for something which reflected new-age India as exemplified by (N.R.) Naryanamurthy and the like.The name Indian is only reinforcing what was already known about the airline,? he said.

?The name is a unique selling proposition ? which takes a shine from the India Shining story ?and at the same time sets it apart from other emerging competitors who too are trying to turn global like Jet and Sahara,? said S.K. Sengupta, an independent aviation market analyst.

India Shining had proved disastrous for the BJP, but Shah said the name ?Indian? takes off from the launch pad of India?s and the airline?s recent success stories.