A South Pasadena branding firm told Bob Hope Airport officials the possible benefits of having Los Angeles in its name. However, some residents do not want any of it.
The company Anyone Collective was contracted by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Authority to develop a brand name for the airfield in an effort to attract more passengers nationwide to the local airfield. Firm officials told the board’s operations and development committee during a meeting Monday that Los Angeles was searched online by Americans an average of 671,560 times a month when it came to travel and tourism.
In comparison, Burbank is nationally searched an average of 73,400 times each month, while Bob Hope has an average of 47,240 searches per month.
Michael Fiore, co-founder of Anyone Collective, suggested four names which officials with his company think would boost the airport’s recognition with people east of the Rocky Mountains — Burbank Hollywood Airport, Hollywood Burbank Airport, Burbank Los Angeles Airport and Los Angeles Burbank Airport.
The legal name for the airfield would remain Bob Hope Airport, but officials are considering a branding name in an effort to draw more travelers.
Fiore explained that with the exception of a few major airports — such as John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, both in New York City, and John Wayne Airport in Orange County — most names of airfields include a geographic identifier.
In 2006, the Manchester Airport in New Hampshire adopted the branding name Manchester-Boston Regional Airport to make more people aware of the airfield’s presence on the East Coast. Despite resident pushback, officials adopted the new name, and the number of passengers from outside the New England area increased by 19%, Fiore said.
“Times are very different now,” he said. “The Internet has changed the way everybody does business. The connectivity and mobility of the way the world is working, whether we like it or not, is changing the way people do business. You can either adapt or you don’t.”
However, a few Burbank residents and a representative of the Hope family disagreed with having Los Angeles in the name of the airfield.
Burbank Mayor Bob Frutos said he appreciated the work that Fiore and his team have done to help airport authority members with their brand-name search, but some local residents have told him that they did not want to be associated with Los Angeles and would rather have the airfield named the Hollywood Burbank Airport.
Jack O’Neil, representing the Hope family, said Bob Hope’s name should be part of the branding name. He suggested the airport be named Burbank Hollywood Airport with the addition of Bob Hope’s name in a smaller text size above the word Burbank.
The operations and development committee opted to continue its talks about the branding name to a future meeting before making its recommendation to the airport authority board.
—
Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
http://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/news/tn-blr-me-0323-airportbranding-20160322-story.html