American Airlines today
unveiled a new brand campaign, marking an important milestone in the
company’s market positioning. American’s first such initiative in more
than a decade, the program includes a new tagline, “We know why you
fly(SM).” The campaign is built around American’s nearly eight decades of flying
passengers around the world, and the deep understanding that can only be
gained from those years of service. Central to the brand program is
American’s workforce of 80,000 professionals worldwide. The brand campaign
also focuses on American’s historic strengths—including important
attributes such as its global network, which every day flies more than
200,000 people to 250 cities in more than 40 countries with nearly 3,800
daily flights*; AAdvantage(R) Travel Awards program, the world’s first and
most popular frequent-flyer program; and American’s luxurious First-Class
cabin accommodations.

“With much of the airline industry in chaos, this is an opportunity for us
to reinforce what our brand stands for in the marketplace and to
strengthen our long-term relationship with customers,” said Dan Garton,
Executive Vice President-Marketing for American Airlines. “For our
customers, we know the flight is a means to an end. It’s not just a seat
on a flight to a place—it’s a seat on a flight to an important moment
in your life.”

The company’s new brand positioning will be supported by a comprehensive
integrated, bilingual marketing program. The advertising program includes
television, radio, print and online ads in both English and Spanish. The
ads will appear nationally and in key local markets.

The ads, featuring both customers and employees, illustrate the important
linkage between the knowledge American employees possess and how that
knowledge aligns with the reasons people fly, whether to attend a
last-minute meeting or make it home in time to celebrate an anniversary.

The marketing program also will feature a special Web site accessible
through AA.com titled WhyYouFly.com. The site will establish a dialogue
between American and its customers, inviting customers to send in stories,
photos and video that illustrate why they fly. The site also will enable
customers to view the program advertising, as well as learn more
information about the features and functions of AA.com, such as online
flight check-in, flight status notification and online reservations.

The advertising campaign was created by TM Advertising, American’s long-
time advertising agency of record. American Airlines and TM spent several
months conducting consumer research leading to the development of the
campaign.

Because American employees are at the heart of the brand, the ad campaign
will feature a Los Angeles-based employee in a speaking role in one of the
commercials, as well as dozens of other employees who were identified
through a company-wide open casting call that generated hundreds of
responses.

“For nearly 80 years, American employees have been the heart and soul of
our airline, and have dedicated their careers to serving travelers from
around the world,” said Roger Frizzell, Vice President-Corporate
Communications and Advertising for American Airlines. “Who better than
employees to feature in the advertising supporting our brand? We’re
reinforcing our brand by highlighting what our employees do every single
day to ensure our customers have a great experience. We’re proud to make
our employees such an important part of our campaign.”

Frizzell said the company has been rolling out the brand positioning with
employees through special volunteer brand teams established throughout the
company.

*Includes American Airlines and American Eagle; does not include
AmericanConnection(R) service.
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