CASE STUDY
China United Airlines
Transforming the brand experience to new heights and journeys abound
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Challenge
Following a merger and transformation to position itself as a mass-market and low-cost airline in 2014, China United Airlines (China United) achieved rapid business growth, transporting over 10 million passengers every year. As one of the first airlines to be relocated to Beijing’s Daxing Airport, China United has maintained exceptional operations that ensure high quality and safety, reaching all four of its key objectives. China United’s successful launch at the Daxing Airport marks a new chapter of its journey as a key player in China’s aviation industry.
Striving to provide its customers with diverse and affordable flight options, China United continued its transformation through its data strategy and product innovation. With this ambition, the airline wanted to further inject energy and momentum into its brand, propelling the company to elevate its passenger experience.
To achieve its vision of becoming a trusted and preferred airline by all stakeholders, China United partnered with Prophet to refresh its brand identity and end-to-end customer experience.
Solutions
Our team set out to create a distinctive and ownable brand identity for China United. We began by diving into the unique brand DNA and uncovered two distinctive equities:
- Diversity: China United brings people together with diverse travel destinations and experiences, giving travelers a variety of choices and options to make their journeys special.
- Energy: From past to future, China United is constantly evolving for the betterment of our communities, passengers, and employees, thanks to its collaborative and efficient culture.
Prophet translated these unique equities into a brand-new design direction “Evolving travel”. Building upon the design direction, we crafted a new brand logo with a kinetic logomark and its Chinese logotype. We also curated a distinctive brand palette and typographic style, developed a travel photography style fused with the warmth and romance of magic hours, and created a series of applications throughout the passenger journey. The brand’s fresh visual identity expertly uses dynamic lines to capture the vibrant energy and fluid motion of the China United brand.
Prophet translated these unique equities into a brand-new design direction “Evolving travel”. Building upon the design direction, we crafted a new brand logo with a kinetic logomark and its Chinese logotype. We also curated a distinctive brand palette and typographic style, developed a travel photography style fused with the warmth and romance of magic hours, and created a series of applications throughout the passenger journey. The brand’s fresh visual identity expertly uses dynamic lines to capture the vibrant energy and fluid motion of the China United brand.
Results
Our work to transform the China United brand supercharged the airline’s ambition to offer a world-class end-to-end customer experience, breathing new life into the passenger journey. From new check-in experiences to new inflight amenities and captivating livery designs, the dynamic visual identity enables China United to create more delightful moments for its customers and employees.
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Creating the New Brand Logo
The new brand logo is designed based on the alphabet “C” for China United Airlines. The sleek contours of the letter “C” embody the excitement and thrill of takeoff, symbolizing the wings of boundless freedom in flight. The use of dynamic, circular lines not only signifies a continuous journey but also represents the spirit of exploration and innovation that drives the airline forward, capturing the essence of China United’s commitment to delivering exceptional travel experiences.
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Defining Distinctive and Impactful Brand Colors
In a departure from conventional industry norms, our selection of high contrast and saturated colors brings a fresh and distinctive allure to the brand. This unconventional palette injects life into our design, leaving a lasting impression that is both impactful and unmistakably unique.
Transforming the End-to-End Passenger Journey
We helped to prepare for the application of the new visual identity throughout the passenger journey from online to offline (O2O), ensuring a unified brand experience, creating a cohesive and elevated visual language across the touchpoints.
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Constantly Evolving
China United is dynamic and continually evolving. From its past to its future, transitioning from a low-cost airline to a world-class economy carrier, Prophet has helped China United in its constant evolvement for the benefit of society, passengers, and employees.
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Discover More
In the bustling Beijing Daxing International Airport, China United proudly serves tens of millions of passengers with exceptional quality. Prophet played an important role in infusing visual experiences and thoughtful touchpoints that seamlessly guide and delight customers throughout their journey with China United.
![](https://prophet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Prophet_Case_Aerospace_CUA_15_16x9-min.png)
“The upgraded brand logo and visual identity of China United Airlines have imbued the organization with renewed energy and momentum, driving us to constantly improve our services in order to create wonderful travel experiences for our passengers.”
China United Airlines