A few weeks ago, Korean Air revealed their new livery and corporate identity. A common and predicted business move, but I was shocked with the amount of backlash this new branding caused, especially among aviation and marketing enthusiasts.
The similarity with KLM was probably the observation I heard the most. And the complaints about “abandoning” the old branding was a close second.
Even though these and other observations are all valid, for me, it seems almost like a “canceling” movement which is basically the new norm throughout the internet. Nothing more than that. It’s just easier to just trash whatever is new.
With just a pinch of reason, it’s easy to understand that yes, this was just a common and predicted business move.
Let’s tackle just a few:
1. A refresh on corporate branding is basically just a business necessity. Sometimes it might be necessary even switching or, at least, fine tuning the positioning during this move, which is I don’t think it’s the case this time, but yes, sometimes necessary;
2. Being similar to KLM, well… this was the case before anyway. And if you want to compare a blue-colored identity with other airlines, you can write a whole book about it. Blue is still the king of the skies, and why do you think this is the case? Pretty obvious, right!? And by the way, it was Korean’s colors before that. So, nothing surprising here;
3. Abandoning the old livery? That’s exactly the point of this change. We’re in 2025. There’s no point in keeping the same identity for life if you don’t own a brand that’s iconically classic like Coke or Levi’s. Aviation can be about synonym of innovation and being synced with the standards of our time. Korean it’s a first tier aviation company collecting awards for several years and/or decades in a row. And flying state-of-the-art aircraft. It’s time for the world and its customers to be surrounded with a brand identity that resigns with all these perceptions. If you are a fan of the old livery, you can always remember it in pictures, videos, airplane models, memorabilia, etc. Korean Air needs to stay in business, connect with its customers and position itself as one of the best air carriers in the World.
The internet is (we still hope) an environment where ideas and opinions should fly freely, but business necessities are also a reality. And if this is the case, and the WWW is still a land of free speech and opinions, mine is, Korean Air did great. I love the new branding, the new hue of blue is perfect and the airplanes are looking modern and pristine, and probably with this move, one of the most, if not the most, best-looking plane in the skies.
