AviancaCopied

Avianca traces its history to SCADTA, founded in 1919 by five Colombians and three Germans, and its identity had last changed in 2013 after the merger with TACA. By 2023 Colombia's largest airline was repositioning itself: Las2orillas called it a subtle shift toward low-cost, so far more in service than in fares, as Avianca promised more aircraft capacity and more destinations for more people.

Grey Colombia won the work in a tender after first approaching the airline in December 2022, Grey Colombia chief executive Jorge Serrano told La República. Nineteen agency staff worked on it, with production teams of around a hundred, and in three weeks they produced about 1,200 pieces to reach every touchpoint. Serrano argued that brands can be decades old but cannot afford to look old to new consumers, and that not changing is also a risk.

The launch began with a teaser. The capital A vanished from Avianca's logo on its website and social channels under #QuéPasóConLaA, inviting followers to find it, Where's Wally-style. Brandemia noted it smelled of rebranding from a mile away. The reveal kept the red, the sans serif and the symbol; the only change to the logo was the A, now lowercase. The new statement, 'el cielo es de todos', the sky belongs to everyone, promised that airlines should honour the idea that the sky always belonged to travellers. The relaunch rolled out across the 24 countries Avianca serves, with a hero film in several languages, digital, outdoor and activations.

COPU framed the relaunch as the airline renewing itself after 104 years to adapt to modern times, with the teaser drawing the attention of hundreds of people and brands inside and outside aviation before the reveal.

La República reported that the campaign did its job of getting everyone talking, supporters and critics alike.

As a logo change it is almost nothing, and as a campaign it is clever. Turning the deletion of one capital letter into a national guessing game earned far more attention than a new symbol would have. But a lowercase a cannot carry a promise that the sky is for everyone; only fares and service can.