This project is a comprehensive academic report I prepared a few years ago for my Brand Marketing Management course at university. It provides an in-depth analysis of JOON, a sub-brand of Air France designed to target millennial travelers with a fresh, digital-first approach.
The goal was to dissect JOON’s brand strategy, promotional efforts, competitive positioning, and potential improvements, using marketing frameworks like Keller’s Brand Equity Model and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. JOON, launched in 2017 and discontinued in 2019, served as a “digital laboratory” to innovate within the airline industry, blending functionality with youthful appeal while leveraging Air France’s heritage.
02 . Executive Summary
The report opens with a concise executive summary that sets the stage by introducing Air France’s history and values, then outlining JOON’s brand strategy. It emphasizes verbal identity, promotional copy, and the functional route JOON takes—in stark contrast to Air France’s more dreamlike, emotional positioning. Key sections cover brand values, points-of-difference (P.o.D.), mission, vision, brand image, identity, associations with wellbeing and delight, customer service’s strategic role, positioning, equity, and verifications. The promotional strategy analyzes millennial travelers, communication actions, digital tools like the YouJoon app, and experiential services. A competitive environment map visualizes consumer perceptions of major airlines, focusing on JOON and its parent brand. Finally, it offers recommendations for new target customers and ways to avoid competitive pitfalls, aiming for sustainable growth.
This summary underscores JOON’s ambition to evolve from a mere airline into a multifaceted lifestyle companion—think fashion maker, rooftop bar, or personal assistant—while promising an innovative flight experience built on efficiency and fun.
03. Introduction: Origins and Shared Heritage with Air France
Since May 2004, Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have formed the largest European airline group, with KLM being the oldest airline still operating under its original name. JOON emerged in autumn 2017 at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport as Air France’s sub-brand, sharing its home base and core values like sophistication and reliability. However, JOON differentiates through its positioning, targeting, and competitive environment. It inherits favorable brand associations from Air France, including the shared pictogram in their logos—a restyled winged seahorse. Air France embodies a remarkable national identity with a French touch: uniforms by designers like Christian Dior and Christian Lacroix, gourmet food by chefs like Joël Robuchon, luxurious lounges with spas, and in-flight entertainment featuring classics like Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23. In contrast, JOON develops its own unique style with a flat color palette, silent sketch comedy, and bilingual takeoff videos, emphasizing simplicity and modernity to appeal to a younger demographic.
04. Brand Strategy: Building a Youthful, Functional Identity
JOON’s strategy revolves around a strong brand identity rooted in image and functionality, enhanced by associations with Air France. The name “JOON” derives from the French word jeune (young), evoking a warm, friendly persona rather than just an airline. Its tagline, “Also an airline,” positions it between functional and emotional values, expanding services to include fashion, bars with views, and personal assistance—broadening the experience beyond flying.
• Brand Vision and Mission: JOON’s mission is to be cool and more than an airline, serving as a travel buddy for open-minded, digitally oriented individuals. Its vision: to lead as an airline for young travelers via a digital laboratory, fulfilling necessities before promising emotional innovation.
• Brand Image and Identity: Being young today means embracing trends in digital and imagery. JOON’s visual style mixes French minimalism with geometric shapes and an austere palette, evolving from rough illustrations to sophisticated collages on blue backgrounds. The electric blue color communicates an eclectic nature, with bold lowercase lettering signaling millennial language. Uniforms represent a bold shift—sneakers and casual attire—to transmit certainty and youthfulness, though this sparked internal debates.
• Strategic Meaning and Positioning: As Air France’s “younger sister,” JOON embodies flexibility, personalization, and tailor-made services for medium- and long-haul flights from Paris-CDG. It’s part of the Trust Together plan to win back customers through innovation, with the Digital Factory accelerating competencies over 4-5 years. Positioned as a reliable friend, JOON draws on enthusiasm, handiness, and youthfulness, plus secondary associations like competence and sophistication from Air France. It promises an “innovative and offbeat” experience, though early verifications show room for improvement in delivering on these, per Keller’s model.
Brand performance is high due to efficiency, style, and pricing, but responses need bolstering through consistent image and on-board actions to build deeper customer relationships.
05. Promotional Strategy: Targeting Digital Millennials
JOON targets millennials—38% of airline passengers but only 20% for Air France—whose lifestyles revolve around digital tech, valuing authenticity and fun. It avoids being seen as cheap, focusing on a functional yet enriching experience to meet esteem and self-actualization needs (Maslow’s Hierarchy).
• Evolution from Functional to Emotional: Initially functional (“France is in the air” contrasts with Air France’s emotional route), JOON’s second year introduced dreamlike elements, like a fictional kingdom or modular baby seats, blending maturity with youthful tone through silent comedy and choreography.
• Social Networks and Digital Tools: Promotion spans Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, featuring destination videos, sponsorships (e.g., Waynabox), user-generated content, and contests like “Check-in” for prizes. The YouJoon app enhances in-flight entertainment with flight info, destination guides, food options, and the extroverted safety video—simple, free, and user-friendly.
This strategy aims to earn loyalty from hard-to-please millennials by delivering authenticity via tech and fun.
06. Competitive Analysis: Mapping the Landscape
JOON competes with low-cost carriers like EasyJet, Vueling, LEVEL, Norwegian, and Ryanair, but positions itself as premium-functional, not cheap. A perceptual map segments based on experience vs. functionality and traditional vs. young spirit, highlighting JOON’s blend of exclusivity (e.g., Wi-Fi, USB charging) against rivals’ basics.
• Key Competitors: EasyJet (80.2 million passengers), IAG group (over 100 million), Norwegian (33.1 million), Ryanair (120 million). JOON differentiates with digital labs, mirroring rivals’ innovations but backed by Air France’s resources.
• Strengths and Threats: Superior to EasyJet/Ryanair in amenities, but faces threats from LEVEL’s potential service improvements. Transavia (also Air France-KLM owned) is a sibling rival.
07. Conclusion and Recommendations: Enhancing Future Positioning
JOON is cool—offering rooftop bars, self-brewed beer, and apps—but risks niche limitations with its millennial focus and higher prices without matching luxuries. Recommendations include expanding to hard workers (30+, university-educated, medium-high class, valuing work and style) and VIPs (seeking esteem, traveling for work/pleasure with entourages) to broaden appeal. Emphasize minimalism and functionality for better service, avoiding excessive emotion like Air France. Maintain high-quality communication to build awareness, while steering clear of LEVEL’s threats through superior tech and customer understanding.
This project honed my skills in applying marketing theories to real brands, demonstrating analytical prowess in brand equity, positioning, and strategic recommendations. It highlights how sub-brands can innovate while drawing from parent strengths, even if JOON ultimately integrated back into Air France.
