Joon was launched amid much fanfare just over a year ago by Air France KLM. You may not have heard of it but the brand was aimed at millennials (Joon, jeune — get it?).
We talk about addressing the needs of different travellers. AF KLM tried and last week admitted defeat. Do niche brands have a role in corporate travel management?
Eyebrows were raised when Air France KLM launched Joon. It already had a low-cost arm in Transavia and although the carrier was initially launched on routes on which low cost carriers also operated, it did not compete on price. It started in December 2017 as a short-haul carrier between CDG and Barcelona, Berlin, Lisbon and Porto but at the same time it announced that it would be adding Rome, Naples, Oslo and Istanbul on medium-haul and Cairo, Cape Town and Tehran on long-haul from March.
It did not follow the LCC business model. It didn't use one aircraft but A320s on short-haul and medium haul (along with A321s) and A340s on the long-haul route. It offered both business and economy class on all its routes. There was basic food and drink with better options for sale.
The core value was style. Joon trumpeted its onboard technology to communicate its millennial brand credentials. Seats were equipped with at-seat power points and an in-flight video streaming service which offered a wide range of films.
It used cabin crew uniforms and aircraft livery to message that it was a young person's product, but visual elements should reflect the brand, not be it.
Related: Air France's millennial airline and falling into stereotype traps
Hotels have learned this lesson. The days of global brands looking identical are gone. The multinational hotel companies all have a plethora of successful brands.
Marriott has the warhorse corporate traveller brands of Marriott, Sheraton and Westin but, location willing, travel managers can also choose to book a Moxy for younger travellers who like properties with lots of common spaces where they can work and meet others or a Ritz-Carlton for the CEO.
A global hotel supplier is quite different from an airline in how it offers corporate clients choice.
The buyer's prime goal in purchasing air is to transport its people from one place to another. The main criteria are route network, schedule and price. The product includes what happens pre, during and post flight but what happens within the cabin is a small element of the total air product.
On the other hand, the corporate buyer may be interested in pre and post data from a hotel but the traveller is interested in the accommodation itself. Location and rate may be most important but the environment is much more important because the prime goal is for the traveller to have shelter and be able to rest and work while travelling for the company — a traveller will have a very different experience at a Moxy than at a Ritz-Carlton.
The traveller no doubt had a different in-air experience on Joon than on other carrier, whether no-frills or legacy, on the same route. But that is rarely the prime motivation in flight selection.
Related: Michael Prager: Are new hotel concepts just funky or flunky?