Hawaiian Airlines Soars With Most Distinctive Airline Branding Among U.S. Travelers

A recent study by Distinctive BAT has revealed that Hawaiian Airlines ranks highest for distinctive branding among airlines in the U.S.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, November 13, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A recent study by Distinctive BAT, a leading research agency specializing in Distinctive Brand Asset and Mental Availability analysis, has revealed that Hawaiian Airlines ranks highest for distinctive branding among airlines. The study surveyed over 1,000 international travelers from the U.S. to assess their ability to recognize and correctly attribute various airline logos, planes and brand elements, providing some key consumer insights.

Distinctiveness is critical in enabling brands to be mentally and physically available at key times and to stand out at the point of purchase. As a result, it has increasingly become a central focus for brand marketers.

The Distinctive BAT research utilized the BAT score—an index combining Asset Recognition, Brand Attribution, and deducting for Misattribution—to evaluate brand performance.

Hawaiian Airlines Takes the Top Spot
Among the 18 airlines tested, Hawaiian Airlines secured the highest average BAT score across its branding elements, including its logo, icon, and touchpoints, such as the aeroplane. With a score of 123 out of a possible 200—indicating high recognition and low misattribution—Hawaiian Airlines outpaced all other competitors. By comparison, the lowest scoring airlines, JetBlue and Air France, both scored 36.

Full Airline BAT Score Rankings:
1. Hawaiian Airlines (123)
2. Delta Air Lines (116)
3. Southwest Airlines (109)
4. Air Canada (108)
5. American Airlines (104)
6. United Airlines (99)
7. Aer Lingus (80)
8. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (75)
9. Alaska Airlines (74)
10. Lufthansa (69)
11. Emirates (67)
12. Spirit Airlines (63)
13. Singapore Airlines (60)
14. British Airways (56)
15. Turkish Airlines (50)
16. JetBlue & Air France (36)

When BAT Scores are contextualized by brand awareness/familiarity, a line of best fit emerges. Those above the line punch above their weight in terms of distinctiveness, with the opposite true for those below. Here we see Hawaiian Airlines punches well above its familiarity score, with Aer Lingus, KLM, Air Canada, Southwest and Delta all doing the same, to varying degrees.

Hawaiian Airlines recently merged with Alaska Airlines, which took ninth place in the overall brand ranking and straddled the line of best fit. While both brands utilize a character icon, Hawaiian Airlines demonstrates exceptional consistency and longevity in its application. Alaska Airlines uses its icon across multiple touchpoints but omits its inclusion in the logo. For optimal effectiveness, a Distinctive Brand Asset should be highly cohesive and consistently applied across as many touchpoints as possible.

The Hawaiian Airlines icon, Pualani (Flower of the Sky), too, has an inherent link back to the islands, helping to connect the dots for consumers. It is also visually layered and compelling, drawing and holding attention longer than simplistic or overly modernized iconography. For U.S.-based travelers, Hawaiian Airlines was the clear leader, thanks to its cohesive and recognizable brand assets.

Top International Performers: Air Canada and Aer Lingus
Air Canada and Aer Lingus stood out among non-U.S. airlines as top performers. Air Canada, with a BAT score of 108, benefitted from the widespread recognition of its iconic maple leaf symbol, which 80% of respondents correctly identified. However, the airline's uniform did not serve as an effective brand touchpoint, reducing the overall score.

While uniforms don't necessarily need to function as Distinctive Brand Assets, as their purpose often includes conveying professionalism and care, there is potential to enhance their impact. If a brand can blend key elements like style and professionalism with distinctive branding, uniforms could serve as a stronger touchpoint—similar to how delivery drivers are leveraged in the food delivery industry.

Shared Symbols in Tourism Branding
The study’s findings also connected to earlier research on tourism branding. For example, the maple leaf and shamrock, iconic symbols for Canada and Ireland, respectively, performed strongly in both national tourism branding and airline branding for their carriers, Air Canada and Aer Lingus. These icons leverage the top assets from their countries of origin, the Canadian flag and the Irish shamrock symbol. One shortcut to successfully embedding an asset is to piggyback off another.

Misattribution Challenges for Some Airlines
Turkish Airlines and British Airways suffered from elevated levels of misattribution. 34% of those who recognized the Turkish Airlines plane misattributed its branding to other airlines, and 15% mistook its uniform for Emirates. British Airways also faced challenges, with many respondents confusing multiple assets for those of American Airlines, likely due to the similarity in colour schemes.


“Hawaiian Airlines’ top performance highlights the critical role of consistent, cohesive branding across all visual elements” says Sheridan Hill, marketing effectiveness research manager at Distinctive BAT. “Like any industry, airline brands can gain a significant advantage by identifying their key equitable assets and then embedding these assets with ruthless consistency across all available touchpoints.”

To see the full research findings and wider tourism marketing insights, visit Distinctive BAT at www.distinctivebat.com

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About Distinctive BAT

Distinctive BAT (www.distinctivebat.com) is a Distinctive Brand Asset research consultancy. Along with their sister offering SaliencePlus, who specialize in Category Entry Points research, they are experts in mental availability research. They help brands research, measure and track brand assets to help brands become more distinctive and ultimately be more effective with their marketing efforts. Their clients include LinkedIn, Moët Hennessy, Lipton, BAND-AID & Tylenol.

Sheridan Hill
Distinctive BAT
+353 83 321 3425
sheridan@distinctivebat.com
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