The King and the common man.. let the common man be killed

A few years back, on 23rd August 2003 to be precise, a brand took birth in Indian skies. It was named funny by aviation standards, it was marketed as cheap, the logo showing a pair of open palms was compared by many as a "kids sketch" and the muted colors screamed low cost. But as the first ads talked of a ticket at Rs 1, all hell broke loose.
And then, the brand created avaiation history for the Indian subcontinent. You know what I am talking about. Air Deccan.

The first flights were miserable, infact the innaugural one even caught fire! The time schedules always disrupted, the crew nervous though efficient and the new airline passengers pulled out of the trains, unruly. But over the years, the airline grew, matured and created an identiy that established itself, on the sheer fact, that they offered a competitiveness in price that no one could match.The Air Deccan brand grew strong and a completely new class of airline and passengers were created. The colors became synonymous with 'value' as compared to cheap. The open palm became the icon for the India that always dreamt of flying but never could. The tagline summed it all, the experience, the ideals and the dreams that the brand had for the nation - "Simplifly!" The logo spoke for a nation that was spreading wings, the colors spoke to your heart and then it said simplifly! What a promise, and what a way of expressing it! I was a fan.. and I continued to be.

And as the Indian skies opened up to more value carriers like Spicejet, Indigo and Go Air making more and more Indians hit the skies. A flamboyant new airline entered the arena on 9th May 2005, sporting a bird that the entire country loved and admired and got high on.. Kingfisher

Pampered was an understatement for the flight experience with Kingfisher Airlines. They call you "guests" They feed you to death and they revelled in red! Kingfisher, succesfully brought 'high flying' into India, and established itself as the king of the sky where Deccan stood for the common man.

Four years down the line for Deccan. On December 19th, 2007, Kingfisher and Deccan decided to merge. The most unnatural aquistion there could be! As a loyal fan and observer I was devastated. The concept was unthinkable.But then this was a new challenge. We hoped there could be groundbreaking new identity. As Designers we awaited the arrival of a brand that would merge the opposite poles in a balanced identity.As the new airline unveiled itself in a (spectacular nonetheless) advert that made people go wow ! at first sight, as the new Deccan airplane came out of the clouds. Then we said oh!.

Air Deccan was dead. The airline called itself simplifly deccan! The typeface was the same as Kingfisher, the common man was gone and so was the open palm logo. The statement was clear. No more commonality. Thanks!

What has happened after that is sheer confusion. The flights were unrecognizable in their red tails that had the same kingfisher logo. Visual cues forced itself upon the passengers trying to find a Deccan plane/Check in counter. Red was everywhere. The soothing blue was gone, and so was the simplicity.

Now as I write this post. Mr Vijay Mallya has announced plans of the final nail on Deccans coffin. Yes, Air Deccan will be killed.

Though I, and many of the Deccan loyalists, had a hard time watching the brand turn unidentifiable, the intention of the rebranding exercise has finally become clear. Kill Deccan.

Though it is announced only now. It was done the day Air Deccan changed from blue to Red. That defenitely was a great job done. The colors, the typeface, everything was aimed to make simplifly Deccan and identiy that would not stand out alone. It pointed to Kingfisher everytime you looked at it.

But Air Deccan goes down in history as the Aviation brand that created history in India. The open palm will always remind you and i that a brand represented the masses to a fault, and communicated everything it stood for in a single word "Simplifly"

What do you think? this post is not taking sides, it is just making an observation. And if you realy want to get the feel of the brand you can check out one of their old ads click here

Almost looks like an idealist dream!!