WWW.AIRFRANCE.US GETS A FRESH FACE WITH DESGRIPPES GOBÉ

www.airfrance.us gets a fresh face with Desgrippes Gobé

(Paris, October 2004)

For 6 years now, the image strategy and brand management consultancy Desgrippes Gobé has accompanied Air France, the leading airline company in terms of turnover, orchestrating the new brand concept.

The redesign of the general public site falls within the framework of the willful approach undertaken by the company in 2001, whose objective is to assert the company's role as a major international player and to strengthen its ties with its clients around the theme of pleasure in traveling.

The most transverse showcase of all the brand's facets, the site is an essential communication tool for Air France, integrated within the entirety of its marketing and communication activity..

Desgrippes Gobé has created new graphic guidelines and ergonomics, which reflect the brand's positioning with its image of French modernity and elegance.
  
This Air France graphic style capitalizes on the line concept: a panoramic and horizontal structure evoking opening-up to the world, movement and travel.

The main brand territory theme, the lining concept is applied as much in cabin harmony as it is in airport lounges, signage, printed material...it attests to the brand's emotional added value compared to the rather cold and technical universe of transportation.

 

Beyond the graphic guidelines, Desgrippes Gobé has also:
    •     improved the ergonomics of the site, notably through dynamic navigation which allows access to over 100 pages from any page of the site, and by simplifying the reservation procedure (step by step follow-up, help areas throughout the process,…)
    •     advised Air France on structuring the contents for clearer, more precise and accessible information, and creating new sections such as the destination guide;
    •     created an image bank to facilitate animation and the overall coherence of the site
    •     participated in setting up new on-line services: simplified and expanded flight search, electronic tickets, seat selection, home page personalization, newsletter and frequent-flyer account access, downloading of flight schedules...
With this new version of the site, Air France has asserted its image and clearly differentiates itself from its competitors.

Indeed, the wealth of content is enhanced by elegant and sophisticated graphics, declined to various graphic universes according to the type of content and the related client expectations.

Thanks to continuous collaboration between the Desgrippes Gobé and Air France teams, the site is perpetually evolving. New interactive services are regularly implemented, and in June 2005 the new version of the frequent-flyer section will be launched, following the joining of forces by Air France and KLM. 

Client satisfaction is clearly rising, as tests and polls confirm:
    •     regarding the visual aspect: visitors appreciate the elegance and the powerfully evocative nature of the site which now corresponds to the brand's positioning, as well as its originality compared to the competition
    •     regarding the ergonomics: overall accessibility, clarity, and ease of use have been favorably noted

The site was ranked number 1 in terms of performance by Witbe in October 2004, with an access time to search results far lower than those of other travel sites (7.2 seconds compared to the average of 24.6)
 
The site has won a TopCom Gold Award in web-design for its coherence with the global image programme.

Desgrippes Gobé accompanies Air France throughout all its Internet strategy. Beyond the general public site, with its 78 country site versions, the agency has also conceived the graphic guidelines and ergonomics for the Air France Industries, Air France Employment, and Air France Cargo sites, the Air France.biz extranets serving travel agencies, as well as for the company's Intranets.