Just announced today. United Airlines is naming it's first 777-300ER "New Spirit of United"!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/united-airlines-spirit-sky-set-173300868.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2017/01/17/united-airlines-first-boeing-777-300er-is.html
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/united-airlines-new-spirit-in-the-sky-set-to-take-flight-300392012.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2017/01/17/united-airlines-first-boeing-777-300er-is.html

Long time lurker, first time poster!

Love the name!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPX8kTFhFlE/

Cue the UA/NK merger rumors?

This is completely lame. I have been a GS for 5 years on UA and, yes, I am saying that!

Be original and don't copy Delta!!

C'mon United. That decal looks tacky as hell. The beautiful lines of the classic UA livery on the slick 77W were too good to be true and are the unfortunate victim of this ugly, cheap sticker that ruins the clean look. But hey, that's just me.

How about "Spirit of the New United"?

I'd say this about sums up their marketing department's (or brand team's) creative ability quite well.

Very original.

If only there were more spirit in that font.

How much worse can it get?

What is with UA doing everything half-assed? New Spirit of United is just awful. AA and DL marketing departments run circles around UAs. And yes, before anyone chimes in, I know that no one flies an airline based on these sorts of things, but marketing is important, and UAs just isn't up to par with DL or AA.

Ah, the new spirit of United: ANA up front, Spirit in back. Polaris and 3-4-3 777 economy with nothing else (premium econ is still 3-4-3) is the airline equivalent of a really sloppy mullet with a well-trimmed front.

OA412 wrote:

What is with UA doing everything half-assed? New Spirit of United is just awful. AA and DL marketing departments run circles around UAs. And yes, before anyone chimes in, I know that no one flies an airline based on these sorts of things, but marketing is important, and UAs just isn't up to par with DL or AA.

It's amazing the lengths people will go to bash UA. I don't like the name either but to use it as an excuse to pass judgment on UA's marketing is riduclous. How is the name of an airplane related to UA's marketing capability? Literally no one cares what an aircraft is named outside of a small subset of aviation geeks. Do you have any objective figures to prove UA's marketing failures or is it just based on your subjective opinion of them?

At least make it cursive like Delta's "Spirit of Wherever" planes. This looks like fine print slapped on the fuselage.

Honestly United probably just threw this together at the last minute as another marketing plot for the 777 and Polaris. United never names their aircraft, so its probably just something that will be there for a few years and then come off. And honestly, looking at it from UA's standpoint, whats a different name that would personify what UA is trying to do? Calling their new flagship product a 'New Spirit' is exactly what UA is trying to show: this is the future of UA, a reinvented global airline with improved products and services.

At least it doesn't say Untied

Why does United persist in naming things?

Looks like they misspelled Continental.

Squeezix wrote:

Looks like they misspelled Continental.

Ugh, here we go again.

It seems kind of weird. Not sure if its the actual naming, or the font...

Has any aircraft in the UA fleet worn the name "spirit of United"? I am just not sure why "New Spirit of United" makes sense - unless they are just saying the new jet gives the company a new spirit. They do not mention any historical context on their instagram, so I am assuming the answer is no.

I agree with other posters that the font leaves much creativity to be desired.

Thought they would've called it 'The Polaris'.

The "New Spirit of United" should have worn as "Spirit" means something sorta from the past, at least for a while! People may hate AA but they have some "Spirit" in the mix, as you can't forget where you came from to get where you are currently !

Wouldn't "The Spirit of the New United" be more catchy? Who does their marketing?

DoctorVenkman wrote:

OA412 wrote:

What is with UA doing everything half-assed? New Spirit of United is just awful. AA and DL marketing departments run circles around UAs. And yes, before anyone chimes in, I know that no one flies an airline based on these sorts of things, but marketing is important, and UAs just isn't up to par with DL or AA.

It's amazing the lengths people will go to bash UA. I don't like the name either but to use it as an excuse to pass judgment on UA's marketing is riduclous. How is the name of an airplane related to UA's marketing capability? Literally no one cares what an aircraft is named outside of a small subset of aviation geeks. Do you have any objective figures to prove UA's marketing failures or is it just based on your subjective opinion of them?

Its people are so negative. Heck Im not crazy about it but others are enjoying it so why would I ruin other excitement.

Sounds very similar to Ethiopian Airlines "The New Spirit of Africa"

I would have chosen, "Clipper United Together"
just my .02

Most of you are missing the point....I believe this is more for the employees of United then any sort of marketing thing! As much as a great many of you don't want to admit it, there has been a massive attitude change at United over the last few years by most employees. We seem to have assembled a Management team that finally GETS IT! They actually have a PLAN! And most of us want to see United succeed. If you don't like the slogan....FINE! Don't like the slogan! United's gonna be just fine....

OA412 wrote:

What is with UA doing everything half-assed? New Spirit of United is just awful. AA and DL marketing departments run circles around UAs. And yes, before anyone chimes in, I know that no one flies an airline based on these sorts of things, but marketing is important, and UAs just isn't up to par with DL or AA.

Marketing is full of people that could not do anything worthwhile. They are best left doing snarky and funny social media posts instead of thinking up grand campaigns. And the mega consulting firms are just as bad. Paying people hundreds of thousands a year for ideas a student could think up for a project.

The world's blandest brand is now backed by the worlds most blandest sticker. Texas Pete hot souce is gone, new UA clubs are nice but shelves are bare, planes match the brand nicely. Bland, unremarkable, yeah Polaris bloody Mary's and Mimosas. So much left over celery... and crew members pocket the nice 5th Ave blankets... it's gonna be harder than Oscar thinks to inject more life into UA

Seems like a very appropriate gesture. The new 77W is symbolically a fresh rebirth.

Sadly, in this thread you can tell who has an axe to grind with UA. Over a gesture for employees? Really?

This appears to have been a last minute decision. First of all, "United" should appear in its logo font. The fact it isn't suggests not much time or thought went into this. And had they tried harder, it would've been nice to see "The New Spirit of" in a script, gold font.

b747400erf wrote:

Marketing is full of people that could not do anything worthwhile. They are best left doing snarky and funny social media posts instead of thinking up grand campaigns. And the mega consulting firms are just as bad. Paying people hundreds of thousands a year for ideas a student could think up for a project.

Bill Hicks was so, so right.

Tacky, cheap, United. No surprise here.

ordpark wrote:

Most of you are missing the point....I believe this is more for the employees of United then any sort of marketing thing! As much as a great many of you don't want to admit it, there has been a massive attitude change at United over the last few years by most employees. We seem to have assembled a Management team that finally GETS IT! They actually have a PLAN! And most of us want to see United succeed. If you don't like the slogan....FINE! Don't like the slogan! United's gonna be just fine....

Every time Oscar opens his mouth to speak to employees he mentions the "new spirit of United". It's not marketing, it's a reminder, mostly to the people who will see it most every time the aircraft pulls into a gate. If you aren't an employee you won't get it, and that's fine, it's not for you.

ua900 wrote:

The world's blandest brand is now backed by the worlds most blandest sticker.

Their branding is about as dull as it gets. It looks like a generic PowerPoint template.

Would have looked so much better on her if there was a brand new livery as well. #onecanliveinhope

"New Spirit of United"

Turps, Meths and White Spirit. Complimentary to all our customers in cattle class to make you forget you're flying the Friendly Skies..

If buying an aging aircraft type, which production will end soon, is the "New Spirit", then good night. This will leave them with old metal at the top end of the fleet in less than ten years.

na wrote:

If buying an aging aircraft type, which production will end soon, is the "New Spirit", then good night. This will leave them with old metal at the top end of the fleet in less than ten years.

"A new era of innovation"? Hardly. More the opposite.

Marketing is full of people that could not do anything worthwhile. They are best left doing snarky and funny social media posts instead of thinking up grand campaigns. And the mega consulting firms are just as bad. Paying people hundreds of thousands a year for ideas a student could think up for a project.[/quote]

Are you speaking of just UA's marketing people or marketing professionals in general? I am a marketing person although my particular area of expertise is branding and design. And if you are talking about us, I am indeed offended. I have worked for small agencies and very large ones for 30 years, one being Landor a global industry leader (and not cheap, the IP they often produce has enormous ROI, otherwise they would be gone), today I have my own company. We develop big ideas and excuse them for maximum return in the marketplace because great marketing and advertising works. I can tell you that when good (or great), marketing teams, client side or agency side (working in a great partnership) can make the difference between life and death in business. If Landor was paid a few million dollars by FedEx over the course of a number years in the 1990's and early 2000's, transforming and stewarding that brand to what it is today, that was the best money they ever spent. Perhaps Steve Jobs wasn't great at marketing. Perhaps UA's marketing is not good, that is yet to be seen, and is currently easily criticized.

As for this tread, one little line painted on the nose of a 777 does not fall into the "big idea" bucket for sure, so I don't get the over reaction to it. Someone here pointed to the internal rally cry that we've all read about that seems to have employees of UA with renewed enthusiasm and doing a better job, which in turn delivers a better brand to the consumer which in turn drives up revenue (assuming those internal reports are true). Some of the best marketeers are "brand engagement" experts, people who develop internal marketing initiatives that drive success from the inside of a corporation out. Some of these folks are brilliant. Sometimes it's the CEO who has the vision and is the marketing genus.
Absolutely some people are mediocre, and I have seen those folks hit a professional ceiling rather quickly. That then drives up the price for access to the best of the best. I used to do a lot of work for Diageo, I can (hand on heart) say that the key marketing execs and agencies for Johnnie Walker have done remarkable work, it is not the worlds biggest and most profitable whiskey because it's just good booze.

United is coming from a position from the back of the line, it's going to take time, trial and error and flawless execution of great ideas to move them towards the front. This one copy line on the nose of the 777 is really nothing in the grand scheme of what needs to happen. I would agree that if it was to be their primary headline, that it would be sorely lacking as it speaks too much to the negative past.

VC10er wrote:

Marketing is full of people that could not do anything worthwhile. They are best left doing snarky and funny social media posts instead of thinking up grand campaigns. And the mega consulting firms are just as bad. Paying people hundreds of thousands a year for ideas a student could think up for a project.

Are you speaking of just UA's marketing people or marketing professionals in general? I am a marketing person although my particular area of expertise is branding and design. And if you are talking about "US" as a whole, I am indeed offended. I have worked for small agencies and very large ones for 30 years, one being Landor a global industry leader (and not cheap, the IP they often produce has enormous ROI, otherwise they would be gone), today I have my own company. We develop big ideas and excuse them for maximum return in the marketplace because great marketing and advertising works. I can tell you that when good (or great), marketing teams, client side or agency side (working in a great partnership) can make the difference between life and death in business. If Landor was paid a few million dollars by FedEx over the course of a number years in the 1990's and early 2000's, transforming and stewarding that brand to what it is today, that was the best money they ever spent. Perhaps Steve Jobs wasn't great at marketing. Perhaps UA's marketing is not good, that is yet to be seen, and is currently easily criticized.

As for this tread, one little line painted on the nose of a 777 does not fall into the "big idea" bucket for sure, so I don't get the over reaction to it. Someone here pointed to the internal rally cry that we've all read about that seems to have employees of UA with renewed enthusiasm and doing a better job, which in turn delivers a better brand to the consumer which in turn drives up revenue (assuming those internal reports are true). Some of the best marketeers are "brand engagement" experts, people who develop internal marketing initiatives that drive success from the inside of a corporation out. Some of these folks are brilliant. Sometimes it's the CEO who has the vision and is the marketing genus.
Absolutely some people are mediocre, and I have seen those folks hit a professional ceiling rather quickly. That then drives up the price for access to the best of the best. I used to do a lot of work for Diageo, I can (hand on heart) say that the key marketing execs and agencies for Johnnie Walker have done remarkable work, it is not the worlds biggest and most profitable whiskey because it's just good booze.

United is coming from a position from the back of the line, it's going to take time, trial and error and flawless execution of great ideas to move them towards the front. This one copy line on the nose of the 777 is really nothing in the grand scheme of what needs to happen. I would agree that if it was to be their primary headline, that it would be sorely lacking as it speaks too much to the negative past.[/quote]

Nice name. But, why didn't they mark the ER after the 777-300 under the nose?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPX8kTFhFlE

DoctorVenkman wrote:

OA412 wrote:

What is with UA doing everything half-assed? New Spirit of United is just awful. AA and DL marketing departments run circles around UAs. And yes, before anyone chimes in, I know that no one flies an airline based on these sorts of things, but marketing is important, and UAs just isn't up to par with DL or AA.

It's amazing the lengths people will go to bash UA. I don't like the name either but to use it as an excuse to pass judgment on UA's marketing is riduclous. How is the name of an airplane related to UA's marketing capability? Literally no one cares what an aircraft is named outside of a small subset of aviation geeks. Do you have any objective figures to prove UA's marketing failures or is it just based on your subjective opinion of them?

I'm not going to any great lengths. As this is a discussion forum, I'm posting my opinion just like everyone else that this is a half-assed move just like everything else UA has done respecting the merger. The livery, integration, everything has the impression of being half-hearted. Meanwhile, AA and DL both pulled off fairly seamless mergers, and are now running circles around UA in most respects. That is my opinion. You are free to disagree.

MSPNWA wrote:

Sadly, in this thread you can tell who has an axe to grind with UA. Over a gesture for employees? Really?

Oh come on! This is rich considering your contributions in the DL threads.

amax1977 wrote:

Nice name. But, why didn't they mark the ER after the 777-300 under the nose?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPX8kTFhFlE

Because the fact that it is ER doesn't really matter. It is just there so the ground crew can quickly see that it is a -300 and not a -200 (or 767, or whatever) and therefore position the plane properly at the gate.

A bit off topic but are there any photos online of UA's Y product on the 77W?

jetblue777 wrote:

A bit off topic but are there any photos online of UA's Y product on the 77W?

In order to make room for the new Polaris seats, they had to economize down the back...

A new 'Nirvana' for United ? Maybe should have called it "Smells Like New United Spirit ?'

B737900ER wrote:

ordpark wrote:

Most of you are missing the point....I believe this is more for the employees of United then any sort of marketing thing! As much as a great many of you don't want to admit it, there has been a massive attitude change at United over the last few years by most employees. We seem to have assembled a Management team that finally GETS IT! They actually have a PLAN! And most of us want to see United succeed. If you don't like the slogan....FINE! Don't like the slogan! United's gonna be just fine....

Every time Oscar opens his mouth to speak to employees he mentions the "new spirit of United". It's not marketing, it's a reminder, mostly to the people who will see it most every time the aircraft pulls into a gate. If you aren't an employee you won't get it, and that's fine, it's not for you.

exactly. Not sure why everyone in this thread thinks every single thing an airline does is for the passengers. United is trying to build some kind of positive relationship with labor. Sure things like a pay raise will obviously do that better but every little bit helps.

the only thing that seems a little goofy is the "new" part. IMO just "the spirt of united" would sound better, but I get the idea.

Also it looks like the font UA use to use back in the old days when they did name their aircraft. Sameish location too, IIRC.

MSPNWA wrote:

Seems like a very appropriate gesture. The new 77W is symbolically a fresh rebirth.

Sadly, in this thread you can tell who has an axe to grind with UA. Over a gesture for employees? Really?

You have absolutely no room to ever call anyone out on this at all. If this thread was about DL doing the exact same thing you would be crapping all over it.