Branding Latin America’s largest airline

Following the merger of Chile’s LAN Airlines and Brazilian TAM Airlines, new airline group LATAM is launching with a new identity and a claim to be the largest airline group in Latin America.

The new LATAM identity has been created by Interbrand, working from its Sao Paulo, Santiago and Madrid offices.

LATAM says it is “one of the largest airlines in the world in terms of network connections”. It flies passenger services to 140 destinations in 24 countries and cargo services to 144 destinations in 26 countries.

New name is the result of “careful planning”

LATAM has a fleet of 318 aircraft and employs around 53,000 people.

Interbrand says the new LATAM name – a partial merger of LAN and TAM, is the result of “careful planning” and a “comprehensive audit and research programme”.

The consultancy says it carried out consumer research across ten countries and aimed to analyse the strengths of both predecessor brands.

Logo is a figurative representation of South America

Interbrand says it explored several alternative names before settling on LATAM, which can also be used as an abbreviation for Latin America.

Interbrand Southern Cone president Maximo Rainuzzo says: “No one could be better than LATAM to embrace this territory. After all, it is more than a Brazilian or a Chilean company: it is Peruvian, Argentinean, Colombian. It grew and built an identity throughout every country in Latin America.”

The new LATAM logo is intended to be a figurative representation of South America. A new typeface aims to link to the logo design, with letters that combine both straight and rounded corners.

Coral and indigo were chosen as the brand colours, with Interbrand saying the indigo is a “result of the intersection of red and blue” – the colours of TAM and LAN.

Coral “represents the brand’s passion and care for its customers”, Interbrand says.

“Changes in the airline industry are particularly complex”

The new branding is set to roll out over a three-year period from 2016, across airport environments, employee uniforms and the aircraft themselves.

Interbrand EMEA & Latin America chief executive Gonzalo Brujó says: “Strong brands are not built overnight. Changes in the airline industry are particularly complex and there is still a process of ‘letting go’ from the previous brands, whose history is considered within the new brand.

“But we are convinced that the result will be a top global brand, capable of uniting global excellence to the best of local culture.”