HED LINER
On reflection, perhaps the brand tie-in between Hed Kandi and
Monarch Airlines should have happened sooner. The shared
synergies of their "lifestyle" linchpin saw the rebranding of a Monarch
757 in Hed Kandi livery, in a fusion of holiday airline and exotic clubbing
brand values. The exercise marked the launch of of Hed Kandi's summer
2007 season and its focus on the clubbing playground of Ibiza.
General manager, Dan Baxter (Hed Kandi) talks RedKarpet through
the launch platform...
How did the branding initiative originally come about?
DB We received an initial enquiry from Monarch in early autumn 2006. The Hed
Kandi team working on the initiative included the head of Tours and Events,
the head of Strategic Brand Partnerships and the general manager of the Hed
Kandi business. We held several meetings with Monarch's marketing and
promotions team before an overall proposal was made.
We needed to explore exactly how we could help each other and establish exactly what our brand requirements were, then figure out how we could draw the two brands together. On the face of it, last year we viewed Hed Kandi and Monarch as different entities but as our working relationship developed we realised that we shared very similar attitudes. Indeed, it was our common brand values that helped us to create something compelling from the two.
"We always thought Hed Kandi belonged on the runway."
What were HK 's objectives in effecting the makeover - are they being met?
DB We always thought Hed Kandi belonged on the runway! Hed Kandi is about a
lifestyle; specifically on records or in clubs. The musical and visual
imagery are the backdrop against which the lifestyle can be enjoyed. Another
key part of the lifestyle is travel and Hed Kandi people
(meaning our consumers) are inclined to enjoy their fair share of holidays
to a host of destinations featuring a clubbing element. We're also inspired by
the glamour potential of air travel and the opportunity to work with Monarch as a
travel partner made perfect sense since it complements the lifestyle concept perfectly.
Having the Boeing 757 flying to so many different Monarch destinations creates
superb brand awareness and gets the partnership noticed. People do a double
take when they see the jet!
"The musical and
visual imagery
are the
backdrop against
which the lifestyle
can be enjoyed"
Did Monarch impose any restrictions on Hed Kandi's creative freedom?
DB From the outset we agreed that it made complete sense to work within Monarch's
brand guidelines and their style guide in order to create a design that worked
for both brands.
Creating new aircraft liveries can be fabulously expensive so
being creative within a specific set of parameters allowed us to work faster
and keep the project viable. Our illustrator, Paul Reilly, and art director,
Peter Chadwick, worked alongside Monarch's technical team with great
enthusiasm. It's been a Hed Kandi dream to decorate a plane in this way!
The biggest challenge was met by Monarch's vinyl technicians, whose job it was to
piece together the gigantic jigsaw puzzle that made up the FlyKandi aircraft decal.
What was your launch event programme?
DB We've held a series of launch events at clubs based around the UK departure
points for Monarch's Ibiza routes in Manchester, Birmingham, London, Luton and
London Gatwick.
Luton. This was followed by a flight around the south of England where champagne
was served by glamorous FlyKandi cabin crew to the sound of Hed Kandi music
Our events have been themed as FlyKandi club nights and to extend the partnership
into this environment, we developed the concept of FlyKandi departure lounges in each venue. This covers all our biggest refgUK events. Once in Ibiza (our season commences on 16th June) El Divino and our pre-parties will take on a FlyKandi arrivals lounge theme.
In terms of strategic brand partnerships, FlyKandi has been our biggest
undertaking to date. and is worth in excess of £150,000.
RK