FMG, the Munich Airport operating company, has developed a new brand profile to pool the group’s strengths, leverage synergies and achieve greater transparency in communicating its wide range of products and services to customers, business partners and employees. Under the wide umbrella of the new brand, FMG wishes to bundle the various competencies, services and value propositions of the Group and its 12 subsidiaries more coherently than before and present them as an overall Munich Airport package. This is summed up in “Living ideas – connecting lives”, the central message comprising the core of the new brand image that will point the way forward and create a sense of corporate identity for FMG in the future.
For Dr. Michael Kerkloh, President and CEO, FMG, the new branding marks an important strategic turning point. “We don’t want to sit back and enjoy our past successes. Instead, we are determined to use our position of economic strength to face up to future challenges with a new sense of confidence. We want to make a very good airport even better”, said Kerkloh.
Partnership, competence, responsibility and innovation – these four brand values comprise the foundation of Munich Airport’s new brand image. The approach taken by the company and its employees in bringing these values to life in their everyday contacts with partners and customers is defined by the brand attributes “passion”, “foresight” and “fascination”. Munich Airport’s sharper brand profile is also in plain sight at the airport: The M, launched as the new airport’s logo when it opened more than 20 years ago, has been freshened up as part of the rebranding: One element of the new M, called the connector, is highlighted in the graphic design and through the use of colors – a subtle but unmistakable reminder of the core brand message: “Living ideas – connecting lives”. This central message embodying Munich Airport’s new identity is thus an integral part of the new logo. Over the coming weeks and months, Munich Airport’s new M will be gradually introduced everywhere – from the FMG letterhead to the passenger stairways.
The brand development process, carried out with the support of the leading agency Interbrand, began with a detailed analysis of the status quo. This took into account the substantial changes in the volume and structure of traffic as well as the significant expansion in non-aviation offerings. The enormous enhancement of Munich Airport’s status since it joined the ranks of the major European hubs is also reflected in the opinion poll conducted by Interbrand.
The responses of customers, business partners and employees of FMG showed that the majority see Munich Airport in a positive light and rate it highly. However, the survey also revealed that, away from the airport campus, the current im-age of FMG and its subsidiaries is sometimes very blurred and inconsistent, and in some cases, FMG subsidiaries are not even identified as such.
With its new branding, Munich Airport is consciously building on past successes while putting the means in place to correct weaknesses in the company’s image. Internally, the consistent branding of the FMG Group will not only boost team spirit and employee motivation, but also improve efficiency through better teamwork and optimized operational processes. In external communications, the stronger brand image will make it more recognizable and enhance the company’s reputation – and with it, the market opportunities for the FMG Group, for example in the non-aviation segment.
