British Airways and Cole Haan Have a Lot in Common

I recently returned from a reputation conference in England where I gave a presentation on brand and reputation leadership. One of the speakers before me was from British Airways. Some readers may know that British Airways and the British Aviation Authority (BAA) have been embarrassed by problems with the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London. There have been countless problems, most now corrected. While the terminal was built by and operated by BAA, it was used exclusively by British Airways. With both the public and government irate and the news media in a frenzy, the chairman of British Airways stepped forward and took the blame and the responsibility for fixing the problem. Many questioned why he would do this rather than allowing the blame to fall on BAA, where the criticism should be directed.

I applaud British Airways for their stance. They recognized that Terminal 5 and BAA is a distributor of their brand. When travelers go to Terminal 5, they do so for one reason only--to catch at BA flight. Whether or not they liked it, it was BA's problem--it impacted their brand and corporate reputation. Kudos to BA!!

I also want to compliment Cole Haan for their commitment to customer service. My wife recently purchased a purse at one of their outlets. When we got home she found that the purse was smaller than she needed. We were walking in Center City Philadelphia and stopped into a Cole Haan retail store. She saw a purse she wanted to buy and asked if the next time she was in she could bring back the purse from the outlet. We assumed that the answer would be no. Most retail stores maintain a distance from their outlets. She was told "of course; no problem".

What Cole Haan recognizes is that its brand is one both the retail and outlet stores. People are dealing with Cole Haan and they are smart enough--actually smarter than most companies--to recognize that they should deal evenly with their brand. Kudos to Cole Haan! They have gained my trust and my continued business.

I wish more companies would recognize the leasons of BA and Cole Haan--that different distribution channels do not remove the responsibilities of protecting their brand.