The Hindu Business Line : Air India

News reports have been talking about a brand consultancy firm that has been hired to refurbish the Air India brand and build a strong vibrant brand for the future.

Well, one saw some of the changes recommended. Firstly, it seems there is a recommendation to drop the hyphen between the words Air and India in the logo and to open a gap in the circle that is drawn around the centaur.

We are sure the brand consultant will have many other useful recommendations. These appear to be more from a numerologist or vaastu expert, rather than from a brand consultant.

While we keep reading about the brand new fleet that is expected, right now it is still a shimmering mirage in the distant heat haze. Even if things go as Air India (no hyphen) plans, the first of the new planes will not heave into sight till the end of 2006. Air India should know that in its case, the airline proposes, the Government disposes. Without those new planes, and a customer-oriented attitude, the brand consultant can do what he or she wants, the image will remain what it is today. And, we the people will end up with just another makeover bill. The Maharaja and his consultants might be well advised to wait a while before building a brand in a vacuum.

`A' and `U' Certificate

The PIL now being heard by a court in Mumbai to certify publications based on their content (which the petitioner might find objectionable to all age groups) might sound hilarious but the thought of some Babu looking through the content of a newspaper before certifying it is horrific. Yet, some believe that certain widely circulated newspapers are partially to blame. There has been a trend slowly creeping in to publish pictures of eye candy under any pretext. One instance is the large pictorial coverage given to beach volleyball. The normal complaint of a sports editor is that there is never enough space available for news that readers would be interested in. Cricket, soccer and tennis hog the headlines because of the huge following they enjoy. F1 is the flavour of the day. But beach volleyball? Obviously the male players do not attract too much photographic exposure.

Small packages

The AdClub Bombay has sent out a rather innovative invitation for its Media Review scheduled for August 31. A little box with a letter inside that invites you to listen to "the colossal Sam Balsara, all 5'4" of him." Well, in the last few years the diminutive Balsara has been able to give every heavyweight multinational media independent a run for its money. The AdClub couldn't have got a better speaker for the first media review. Go on big boy, give 'em hell.

Media scene

What is it about Mumbai that makes publishers so desperate about having a strong presence? Well, obviously, it is the city of gold and who can ignore her? Yet even as people dumb down the touted circulation figures of the DNA and HT, and get used to the Mirror being a freebie, there is talk that the Deccan Chronicle, flush with a solid war chest after its IPO, will seek to re-launch the Asian Age in Mumbai, the Indian Express (remember it?) will soon come out with an IPO and then aggressively market its Mumbai edition and The Telegraph is eyeing a Mumbai launch. And you thought there was only so much action Mumbai could handle!

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