When Alitalia taught marketing to the world, the most beautiful Boeing 747 ever turns 24 years old
It was April 7, 1997, Alitalia was at its peak and Baci Perugina decided to sponsor the 747 Jumbo Jet [...]
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It was April 7, 1997, Alitalia was at the height of its splendor and Baci Perugina decided to sponsor the 747 Jumbo Jet of the company for a trip across the Atlantic.
"Kisses from Italy. Kisses from Alitalia."
This was the motto written on the livery painted for the occasion all glossy blue with light gray wings, with a Kiss giant on the cockpit. The first flight was AZ-610 bound for New York which housed 400 people.
It was the year #1997
A shower of silver stars illuminates the blue-painted livery of the Boeing 747 dedicated to Baci Perugina! ✨
What is your fondest memory from that year?
Collect new memories, book your next trip now >>> https://t.co/hbRTx7yAAL pic.twitter.com/CBjwLq3A25
- Alitalia (@Alitalia) January 9, 2020
The stunt by marketing was one of the first ever to feature a major Italian company and a national airline. Perugina's aim was to spread the brand around the world, sponsoring Alitalia, which would export it on its travels.
"It is not a pure and simple renting of advertising space, because our planes become ambassadors of the best in Italy.
We expect sales of Kisses and airline tickets. For now it is a mutual experimentation, then we will consider the possibility of expanding the initiatives."
Federico Nuccio, then director of marketing for Alitalia.
The sponsorship cost 2 billion lira and lasted one year. Initially, the 747 Jumbo Baci Perugina routes were concentrated in. North America, but later they also moved to Brazil and in Japan.
The golden years of Alitalia
We have become accustomed to seeing Alitalia as a pit where money disappears, changes of administration and corporate restructuring have failed to improve the situation complicated in which the Italian flag carrier finds itself. Even in the 12 years that the company has gone private, it has never been able to emerge, often receiving help from the state not to sink Into the abyss.
But this was not always the case; on the contrary, Alitalia was a real flagship of our country, a well-run and healthy company. After its sponsorship of the 1960 Rome Olympics, Alitalia had a rise unstoppable, becoming the third largest European airline after British Airways and Air France.
#ThrowbackThursday 1997: the @Boeing 747 @baciperugina in hangar. Which is your favorite livery? Photo by Stephen https://t.co/iV5pbeVbzN pic.twitter.com/YjAaS9Hej6
- Alitalia (@Alitalia) March 23, 2017
The increase in competition, especially on the routes International, began to make the company's dream creak, and after liberalization and privatization, the vortex from which Alitalia has not been able to get out began.
Of course it's been a while since that Baci Perugina flight, we don't know what the future of our national airline, we only know that to date it is really a sin That it ended like this.
2020 forced many 747s to retire
The world's most famous jumbo jet was one of the victims of this Covid-19 pandemic, there are many airlines that have said goodbye to the giant of the skies and switched to more small and efficient thus compensating for the lower demand.
British Airways, Delta, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa and KLM are some of the companies that have retired the Queen of the Skies. One is become a museum because of British, while Virgin decided to make a real retirement party To say goodbye to the last 747 and Delta even to sell one to pieces on eBay!
Ultimately Boeing has stopped production in 2022, after more than 50 years of operation of the Queen of the Skies and about 6 billion passengers carried on board.
Hopefully, the vaccination campaign will take effect and the introduction of the health passport allow us to travel again so we can climb for the last time into this piece of world aviation history.
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