Frequent Fly-hos

If one needs to check on seat availability or flight costs on the formerly branded Northwest Airlines, one goes to http://www.nwa.com. If one needs to get to get their fix on gangsta rap pioneers, Ni**az With Attitude, one goes to www.nwaworld.com "the webs leading authority on NWA" [sic].

Certainly easy enough to confuse

This:







And that:

I"ve wondered about this odd rebranding since it happened back in 2003, but have never really tried to dig into why such a move was made. The commercial airline industry took a devastating hit post-911 and the economic downturn that hit mainstream airlines dependent on business and full frill leisure travellers. Was it Northwest's attempt to rebuild a hip youth-centred image? Were they taking advantage of their urban music hubs in Minneapolis and Detroit to appeal to a different market? Was any thought given to the gun-toting, misogynistic culture promoted by their namesake?

Found this very interesting 2003 article from the San Francisco Chronicle which confirms my gut instinct that whatever focus groups were used during the branding exercise must have been very skewed in demographics.

"We've been known as NWA for many years," Northwest spokeswoman Mary Stanik told Chronicle reporter Carolyn Said, when asked about the shared initials. "I've never even heard of this rap group. I'm just stunned."

Vince Carra, another partner at TrueBrand, said the connection with the rap group didn't come up within focus groups. "People didn't make the connection."

But a news item I saw today makes me rethink all of my criticism of NWA the airline. Turns out they were just early to the game in anticipating the evolution of air traffic control communication. I just pray to God that US Federal air marshalls in Miami operate on a different frequency.

Peace Out.