The campaign is built around American’s nearly eight decades of flying passengers around the world, and the deep understanding that can only be gained from those years of service. Central to the brand program is American’s workforce of 80,000 professionals worldwide. The brand campaign also focuses on American’s historic strengths – including important attributes such as its global network, which every day flies more than 200,000 people to 250 cities in more than 40 countries with nearly 3,800 daily flights*; AAdvantage^® Travel Awards program, the world’s first and most popular frequent-flyer program; and American’s luxurious First-Class cabin accommodations.

“With much of the airline industry in chaos, this is an opportunity for us to reinforce what our brand stands for in the marketplace and to strengthen our long-term relationship with customers,” said Dan Garton, Executive Vice President-Marketing for American Airlines. “For our customers, we know the flight is a means to an end. It’s not just a seat on a flight to a place – it’s a seat on a flight to an important moment in your life.”

The company’s new brand positioning will be supported by a comprehensive integrated, bilingual marketing program. The advertising program includes television, radio, print and online ads in both English and Spanish. The ads will appear nationally and in key local markets.

The ads, featuring both customers and employees, illustrate the important linkage between the knowledge American employees possess and how that knowledge aligns with the reasons people fly, whether to attend a last-minute meeting or make it home in time to celebrate an anniversary.

The marketing program also will feature a special Web site accessible through AA.com titled WhyYouFly.com. The site will establish a dialogue between American and its customers, inviting customers to send in stories, photos and video that illustrate why they fly. The site also will enable customers to view the program advertising, as well as learn more information about the features and functions of AA.com, such as online flight check-in, flight status notification and online reservations.

The advertising campaign was created by TM Advertising, American’s long-time advertising agency of record. American Airlines and TM spent several months conducting consumer research leading to the development of the campaign.

American Employees Central to Brand

Because American employees are at the heart of the brand, the ad campaign will feature a Los Angeles-based employee in a speaking role in one of the commercials, as well as dozens of other employees who were identified through a company-wide open casting call that generated hundreds of responses.

“For nearly 80 years, American employees have been the heart and soul of our airline, and have dedicated their careers to serving travelers from around the world,” said Roger Frizzell, Vice President-Corporate Communications and Advertising for American Airlines. “Who better than employees to feature in the advertising supporting our brand? We’re reinforcing our brand by highlighting what our employees do every single day to ensure our customers have a great experience. We’re proud to make our employees such an important part of our campaign.”

Frizzell said the company has been rolling out the brand positioning with employees through special volunteer brand teams established throughout the company.

“As Subaru transitions to a premium brand, our new innovative products will lead the way,” said Rick Crosson, vice president of marketing, Subaru of America, Inc.  “Our inspired engineering combined with product innovation that leads to a superior driving experience, is what differentiates us and gives us a competitive advantage.  The new ads showcase both the strong emotional as well as functional benefits of our products.”

The new spots, created by TM Advertising and featuring the 2005 Subaru model lineup, will again be endorsed by Lance Armstrong under the tag line “Driven By What’s Inside.”  While six of the seven television spots feature individual products, one spot is reserved specifically for the company’s 100 percent commitment to Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive.  The new spots will appear on national cable and spot TV in more than 80 markets. 

 “Creatively, the campaign is unlike anything Subaru has done before,” said Jim Ferguson, chairman and chief creative officer of TM Advertising. “We wanted to do advertising that made as
bold a statement about the direction of the brand as the new cars do. The new creative makes the cars the stars in a way that’s fresh, exciting and very premium in its look and feel.”

The new print advertisements feature high-fashion photography of the vehicles and an interactive layout. The print ads will begin appearing in late May in weekly publications such as People, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Time and Entertainment Weekly.  The ads will also run in the July issues of national publications including Cooking Light, Men’s Health, Vanity Fair and approximately two dozen other national publications.

Last year, the company set a new sales record, selling nearly 187,000 vehicles.  This year, with the launch of the all-new 2005 Legacy and Outback, the company expects sales to increase to 204,000 units.   To support this sales goal, the company is making the largest marketing investment it has ever made.  

Highlights of the Subaru marketing plan this year include the new advertising campaign, the largest direct-mail initiative in the company’s history, the first consumer ride and drive event in more than 10 years, new Web ads for PDAs, online virtual test-drives and vehicle support for the nearly 25 niche affiliate organization relationships.

“You evolve or you become extinct. We’re simply practicing what we preach to clients every day,” said Jim Ferguson, chairman and chief creative officer of TM. “Our people are energized by the evolution of the agency. Our clients are benefiting with great ideas and great new work. I love the new twist on the name.”

With the arrival in October 2003 of Ferguson, who brings more than 200 national and international creative awards and is responsible for creating the well-known McDonald’s “Nothing But Net” campaign featuring Larry Bird and Michael Jordan, the agency has attracted new creative talent, including Wade Alger, Andy Mahr, Jay Russell and Scott Brewer. In addition, the agency has recently created a business unit called Link, which is dedicated to nontraditional communications and design and is headed up by Todd Tilford, creative director at TM. The name change also encompasses the award-winning interactive team, which will now be known as TM Interactive.

“This is just one of many evolutions that our 70-year-old agency has been through,” said David Lyon, president of TM. “TM reflects our past while taking us into the future. Our new name is streamlined and simple. We’re looking forward to a new chapter in our agency’s history.”

TM has been through many evolutions spanning its history. Originally founded in 1934 as Glenn Advertising, the agency’s earliest accounts were service-driven businesses, including banks, automotive dealerships and utility companies. In 1973, the agency merged with Bozell & Jacobs, igniting more than 20 years of dramatic growth for the agency. Bozell & Jacobs was purchased, and in 1986, it became Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt, Inc. Most recently, in 1992, Bozell Dallas became Temerlin McClain.