What Went Wrong with Nigerian Eagle Airlines?

Despite a formal announcement by Virgin Nigeria Airlines (VNA) that it had re-branded and changed its logo and identity to Nigerian Eagle Airlines, the nation’sflag carrier appeared unable to effectively divest itself of the Virgin Nigeria toga. In this report, Blessing Nwobodo wonders why the Nigerian Eagle brand has gone into oblivion so soon after birth.

Action, they say, speaks louder than voice. Saying one thing on the one hand and acting otherwise simply connotes ineptitude. To put an end to paying a whooping sum of 1 billion naira annually for using the Virgin brand name, the management of Virgin Nigeria decided to re-brand and came up with the name Nigerian Eagle Airline. At the unveiling of the new airline which held at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on the 17th of September 2010, it was glaring that the re-branding exercise was hasty and unorganized, a kangaroo re-branding process which saw just one of its aircrafts painted in the new colour with inscription of the new logo and identity. However, management kept insisting that they were well prepared to fly with the name Nigerian Eagle.
According to Dapo Olumide, the then CEO, in arriving at the new name, extensive research into African culture and heritage was carefully conducted by a team of experts. In his words, “the new airline’s name and logo fully reflects the rich culture and heritage of Africans and we are glad that under the new management of the airline, we are going to fill the gaps in the aviation sector.”
However, six months down the line, Nigerians woke up to a commercial announcing a partnership between Virgin Nigeria and Silverbird cinemas in a promo tagged “Easter Splash”, and as expected, questions started forming on the lips of concerned Nigerians. “Why not the new name? Has the Nigerian Eagle identity been rested?”
Although no communications material was made available to either clear the air or confirm a reverting in the choice of name, an interview granted by the present owner of the company, Jimoh Ibrahim, to the Nigerian Tribune confirmed the suspicions of industry watchers that the company had long rested the brand name Nigerian Eagle. Clearing the air, on the airline he bought, Ibrahim maintains: “We bought Virgin Nigeria.” He minced no words in stating that Nigerian Eagle was dead on arrival, the airline having had no prior ownership change before he came on board. He says; “there was nothing called Nigerian Eagle that we bought. Am I so stupid? I am a lawyer, com’on, give that to me. Am I going to buy Nigerian Eagle? I bought Virgin Nigeria and I got original share certificates of Virgin Nigeria.”
Having confirmed the death of the Nigerian Eagle brand, other questions cropping up include what led to its death? According to experts, a re-branding project can only be successful when the key stakeholders (management and customers) believe in it and are committed to make it work. “I think the management of Nigerian Eagle was the cause of its demise. For one, they didn’t believe enough to practice what they preached. How can you say you have re-branded and yet your corporate offices, logo, and colour speak otherwise? If you ask me, they knew from the onset that it wasn’t going to work. The whole thing for them was just an opportunity to get out money from the company,” Stanley Ekesiobi, an aviation officer based in Lagos states.
For Ekesiobi, the concept behind the re-branding of VNA to Nigerian Eagle was a brilliant one if it had been well executed. “I don’t see anything wrong with the name Nigerian Eagle. It is a true representative of the country’s image. Moreover, it signed a technical agreement with Ethiopian Airlines which is indisputably a successful brand. Naturally if the management of Nigerian Eagle was convinced enough to push the brand, it would have succeeded,” he reasons.
Meanwhile M2 reliably gathers that the brand failed because it lacked the goodwill to drive sales. According to airline sources, a brand name that has been around for some time and is seen as reputable will generally develop customer loyalty. Consumers will purchase the brand’s product because they trust the company. They know the quality is good and they won’t have trouble obtaining a refund or replacement if for some reason the product is damaged or otherwise unacceptable.
Juxtaposing the airline brand that seems to have failed with other local airlines the source reckons that “perhaps they realized that they couldn’t drive sales under the brand name Nigerian Eagle. Let’s be sincere here, even the Virgin Nigeria brand cannot effectively compete with some of the airline companies e.g. Arik Airline. And to now say you are re-branding to Nigerian Eagle, it’s quite ridiculous because nobody trusts the brand enough to fly it,” Isreal Ojobo a staff of Afrijet opines.
Francis Ayigbe, the corporate communications manager or the airline was contacted by M2 at the Etiebet Place, Ikeja so he could clarify the status of the re-branding project and the way forward for the brand given that the new chairman Ibrahim stated his intention to come up with another name for the brand. His terse response suggests that the brand is busy and would open up after factoring-in the strategy of the new owner. His words: “For now I can’t talk about it until after we unveil our new communications material.”