BA: Could history be repeating itself?

I would like to cast my vote for Marcello Minale on the issue of the British Airways identity (DW 31 October).

I thought a corporate identity should be instantly recognisable as the unique property of that company. The BA identity is a set of different images and reflects a style of design that has an enthusiasm for “non-identities”, which usually prevail when there is a lack of management resolve in the client company.

History suggests these become nonentities, confirming an eternal truth that effective and enduring visual images are always the simplest and most readily recognised.

Minale makes an interesting comparison between British Airways and Braniff, a company I worked with in the Seventies.

Braniff thought quality meant Alexander Calder paintings for livery, leather aircraft seats, cheerleader stewardesses and “creative” marketing. This failure to recognise that customers really wanted cheap fares and reliable flights, meant Braniff received a drubbing and initiated a cost-cutting and rationalisation plan.

This sparked a series of damaging industrial disputes reducing market share even further, causing more grief on the Braniff balance sheet. Sounds familiar?

Charles Shand

Kingston-Upon-Thames

Surrey KT5 8BG