One Brand, One Company and a Singular Image for Boeing

It’s relatively easy to create a single-brand culture if you’re a small company that strives to do one thing and do it well. It’s another story altogether when you’re a $60 billion diversified enterprise that employs 160,000 people in 70 countries worldwide.

But developing a one-brand culture is exactly what The Boeing Company is doing. Find out how when Fritz Johnston keynotes BMA’s next MarketingMasters Luncheon Seminar on Thursday, May 7, at The Standard Club. He will be introduced by Rita Athas, executive director of World Business Chicago, a public-private partnership that serves to attract business to Chicago.

Johnston, Boeing’s vice president of brand management and advertising, will deliver a presentation titled “One Brand. One Look. One Company.” It will chronicle how Boeing is creating a unified brand that is defined by the unity of its employees and the pride they take in what they do.

“It is the strategic alignment of the Boeing vision, the Boeing DNA, with an advertising strategy that says: Boeing people, working together, do amazing things,” said Johnston, who has been with Boeing for 35 years and was instrumental in blending Boeing’s logo and that of McDonnell Douglas into a single corporate signature when the two companies merged in 1997.

That single “Boeing DNA” that exists today is composed of three elements:

• Enterprising Spirit: “Why We Do It.”
• Precision Performance: “How We Do It.”
• Defining the Future: “What We Achieve.”

At the core of the campaign is a series of 30-second TV spots built around the advertising theme “That’s Why We’re Here.” In each of the spots, real employees—not actors—tell the Boeing story and reveal the breadth and depth of the company.

Boeing is widely known as the world’s largest maker of commercial airplanes. What’s not as widely known is that Boeing is also a leader in space technology, military aircraft and defense systems, and communications, partly as a result of its acquisitions of such industry titans as Rockwell International Aerospace and Hughes Satellite and Communications, and the merger with McDonnell Douglas over the last decade. The current “One” brand efforts, which also extend into print, online and exhibit materials, aim to close the gap between current perceptions of Boeing and its true scope as a global aerospace company.

Johnston will show how the company is measuring the impact of the advertising with its target external audience as well as its employees. Among the findings: Employee commitment came across to the external target audience 65% higher than ads that appeared two years earlier, and seven out of 10 Boeing employees felt the same way.

He will also show a video with the theme “What Others Dream, We Do!” that the company produced for Boeing employees to recognize the amazing things Boeing people accomplish every day.

About Fritz Johnston
Fritz Johnston is vice president of brand management and advertising for Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company and one of the world’s best-known brands. His responsibilities include brand strategy with oversight responsibilities for Boeing corporate advertising, reputation research, corporate identity, sponsorships and The Boeing Stores.

Johnston began his professional career with Boeing in 1973. Ten years later he was named promotion manager at Boeing Commercial Airplane Company. There he directed the development of international exhibits, marketing promotions and domestic advertising. He was promoted to senior manager of commercial airplane communication services in 1989. One of his key responsibilities in this position included developing a corporate identity system for the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group that was subsequently adopted companywide.

Prior to the merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in August 1997, Johnston was appointed to lead the corporate identity program at Boeing company offices. In this capacity, he managed the successful design and blending of the two companies’ logos into a single corporate signature and the development of a unified, companywide identity system.

In September 2001, Johnston had oversight responsibilities for the branding of the new headquarters building in Chicago. During this time he established The Boeing Collection, depicting the rich history of the merged companies of Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Rockwell International Aerospace, and Hughes Satellite and Communications.

Johnston received an Associate of Applied Arts degree from Green River Community College. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Communications from Western Washington University in 1973.

He has served as a board officer for the Seattle chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, as an associate member of the Corporate Council for the Arts and as design facilitator for the Greater Harbor 2000 Corridor Plan. He has received design awards from the Art Director Club, the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Northwest Addys. In 1990 he was selected as Distinguished Alumnus for Green River Community College.

About Rita Athas
Rita Athas is the executive director of World Business Chicago (WBC), a public-private partnership formed by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1999 to serve as an advocate to bring business to Chicago and to keep it here. As executive director, she oversees day-to-day operations of the organization and, with the input of the WBC private-sector board, develops its strategic direction.

Athas came to the economic development corporation in 2007 after serving as Mayor Daley’s deputy chief of staff for external affairs for 10 years. In that capacity she served as the mayor’s liaison to regional mayors, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the business community and foundations. Athas has helped spearhead the formation of the Great Lakes Cities Initiative, support for the modernization of O’Hare Airport and the development of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus.

The Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus, formed at the invitation of Mayor Daley to the region’s 272 mayors, serves as one of the prime examples in the nation of city-suburban cooperation.The caucus has addressed such diverse issues as gun control, education reform and tax policy.

Athas has a long history with local government. She served in various positions with a number of suburban municipalities. Prior to joining Mayor Daley’s staff, she served as the executive director of the Northwest Municipal Conference, a consortium of 40 municipalities representing a population of more than 1 million in northwest Illinois, which is widely recognized as one of the most innovative regional councils in the country.

She was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of the 100 most influential women in Illinois. She is a 1988-89 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. She also has been appointed by the Illinois governor to serve as a Great Lakes Commissioner.

Athas serves as vice president of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. She is an Executive Council member of Chicago Metropolis 2020. She is also a member of the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee and serves on the International Advisory Committee.

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