• by Paul Knegten , May 10, 2010

Anyone that knows me knows I'm a loyal United flyer. I'm probably really annoying about it at times. A colleague of mine is an equally loyal Continental flyer, and, come to think of it, we're both probably really annoying to everyone around us when we bicker about mileage redemption, upgrades, and route maps.

Now, suddenly, we have nothing to argue about. A whirlwind merger has created the "new" United Airlines, and, interestingly enough, my first reaction to the united.com homepage takeover announcing the deal was, "What happened to my brand?"

See, United is the "surviving" party in the merger but many elements of Continental are being folded into United's brand. All I know so far is that the logo is now the Continental logo with the word "United" dropped in. There's also the CEO change (Continental's CEO transitioning in as the head of United over the next couple of years), but I think there are interesting brand dynamics going on here as the to-be merged airline is faced with the challenge of pleasing both of its customer constituencies.

It's a lose-lose proposition for loyalists: for Continental flyers, it's "what happened to my airline?" and, for United Airlines, it's "what's happening to my airline?" Yet the merger is inherently good for the industry as a whole, which bleeds money every year and must take advantage of the cheaper economics created by a merged airline.

On paper, this merge gives New York City travelers another point of departure to United and Continental's vast global network, meaning for the first time I can fly out of New York to Europe on "my" airline without stopovers.

The truth is, this is an enormous marketing opportunity for the new airline to enhance the experience of everybody, especially the loyalists that make up such a disproportionate share of its revenue each year. So far, it has been great at touting the enhancements on the instantly released merger site, but I think this can carry through its online marketing channels as well, specifically display.

Regular readers know I'm a big proponent of hyper-segmentation of audiences and offer-level targeting, especially when it pertains to travel. There are just so many flights and hotel rooms out there, only one being right for me at any given time, and the marketer that is able to figure that out and target me with what I want is ultimately going to win my attention.

This can also apply to branding opportunities such as this merger: while I might be melancholy about the new crowd my brand is running with (a necessary shift in brand image), I would be quite responsive to reminders of what this new brand means for me as a loyal customer.

Say I'm booking a flight I always book on United.com to San Francisco. Why not show me an ad later that reminds me that the new merged airline can now offer me more flights out of Newark? Or, if I'm looking to redeem miles for an award, later on I would certainly pay attention to messaging about how I can now redeem to X number of new destinations in Asia, Europe, you get the idea.

I have full faith that the newly merged United and Continental will rise to the challenge and really make things interesting for consumers like me. And either way, we should all look at this as a case study in the brand impact on loyalty programs M&A creates.