Welcome aboard ! ✈️ What sounds make the heart of an iconic brand like Air France beat? How do you create a brand universe that is both elegant and consistent? How do you embody a distinctly French positioning?
🚀 This was during a unique workshop of the Club We Are COMdedicated to sonic identity, which we had the pleasure of including with Melanie GuillainBrand Manager Air France. 🇨🇵 Elegance, Frenchness and emotion, Let's explore the behind-the-scenes of a sensory experience designed to embody, at every moment, the very essence of the French airline.
Hello Mélanie, at Air France, what role does music play in the brand's universe?
Music has long maintained a strong and lasting link with the Air France brand.
Since 1999, the company's advertising films have made a lasting impression with powerful titles: "Asleep from Day" by the Chemical Brothers or "Between Us" by Telepopmusik, "Warm in the Winter" by Glass Candy, "Parade" by Rone; or even Mozart's Adagio, and more recently "The Windmills of My Heart" by Michel Legrand, performed by Juliette Armanet as well as original music by Ludovic Bource.
Until 2020, Air France had a rather sharp, selective, and even curatorial positioning in this area. Following the health crisis and with the evolution of the brand territory, we refocused on the brand's DNA, namely Frenchness and elegance.
Although the music ecosystem is smaller today, very special attention is paid to the choice of tracks and artists.All the music we broadcast, regardless of the channel, is by French artists, sung in French when there are lyrics.
Campaigns communication, playlists on board airplanes, music in our lounges, on our answering machines, during our events… We leave nothing to chance. So, When customers come into contact with us, a part of our world comes to them, a touch of Frenchness inseparable from the Air France brand.
We have refocused on the brand's DNA, namely Frenchness and elegance.
So, can you tell us more about Air France's very particular brand positioning?
With over 90 years of history, Air France has gradually forged links with the artistic world. With Frenchness and elegance at the heart of its positioning, the company promotes French gastronomy, culture, cinema, and fashion throughout the world.
In line with the brand's positioning and values, we have therefore defined three pillars around these themes: "For the love of Art", for the arts and especially music, "A high-flying signature", for gastronomy and finally "Couture spirit" for fashion.
"For the love of Art" values the arts and culture in the broadest sense. We do not want to be embodied by artists, but rather to create an artistic ecosystem, an overall harmony that embodies our brand.
The magnificent piece by Michel Legrand – “The windmills of my heart” – covered by Juliette Armanet, which accompanies our latest advertising campaign, illustrates this ambition well.
Music isn't something you can measure precisely, but we can gather spontaneous feedback. What do customers remember? The music. The first word they associated with this ad? Emotion.
What do customers remember? The music. The first word they associated with this ad? Emotion.
Musical “Frenchness” is at the heart of your current strategy: how can you ensure that it also reaches global audiences with diverse cultural codes?
At the heart of Air France's strategy lies the French art of living and elegance, with a guiding principle: “Air France has to showcase the best of France”. When you're called Air France, it's perfectly legitimate, and it's this French touch that attracts international customers.
These pieces by French artists, integrated into our entire ecosystem, contribute to the Air France style and to the construction of our identity., very consistent throughout our customers' experience. That's what makes us strong.
It is this French touch that attracts international customers.
Is the experience uniform, or does the music have a different effect depending on the moment in the customer journey?
We don't currently have a music-specific measurement tool. However, intuitively, it seems obvious to me that the impact of the music in the advertising film is the strongest. All our post-tests demonstrate this in different countries: "The windmills of my heart" is one of the 3 items that spontaneously stand out among our clients on the brand film. Music leaves a lasting impression of the brand in people's memories.
Furthermore, customers are very receptive when watching a film comfortably seated in a movie theater, for example. For the same reasons, in-flight playlists are particularly appreciated. The customer is seated in his armchair, the journey has begun!
Music leaves a lasting impression of the brand in people's memories.
In your opinion, what will the future hold for branded music?
Awareness is real and the movement can only intensify. Today, brands know that music is inseparable from strategy. In an increasingly saturated musical environment, it becomes an essential emotional vector, an indispensable lever to stand out and emerge with tracks / a style that is highly distinctive, recognizable among all others, and directly attributable to the brand.
Music is inseparable from strategy.
Illustration visual: Freepik
