Case Study: American Airlines achieves actionable insights into rebrand impact and reputation with Crimson Hexagon

American Airlines - Customer Case Study

American Airlines launched a high-profile rebranding in January 2013. Crimson Hexagon analyzed online conversation over a 12-month baseline (279,164 posts) to assess impact and found a predominantly negative brand reputation—70% unfavorable—driven largely by customer service issues (30% general criticism, 23% specific complaints) with only 15% expressing brand affinity. The core challenge was whether a visual rebrand could overcome entrenched service-related perceptions.

Crimson Hexagon applied a social-intelligence framework to compare the baseline with immediate rebrand reactions (1/17–1/19/13; 2,289 posts). Less than a quarter praised the new look (22%), 17% criticized the logo or called the effort a waste, and 36% said AA should instead invest in customer service—indicating the rebrand did not materially improve reputation. The recommended solution was to pair the new brand identity with a visible customer-service initiative and use ongoing social listening to measure net impact.

American Airlines