Committee says Bob Hope Airport should get the Hollywood treatment in branding effort
Bob Hope Airport officials have made it clear that they do not want the airfield’s future name to be associated with Los Angeles.
The operations and development committee of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority unanimously voted to recommend to the board that Hollywood Burbank Airport should be the airfield’s new branding name.
“Burbank is not Los Angeles and Los Angeles is not Burbank,” Commissioner Don Brown said.
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The decision came after the committee’s third meeting with South Pasadena branding firm Anyone Collective, which was hired by the authority to help the airfield gain better recognition with passengers east of the Rocky Mountains as well as develop a marketing strategy to implement the new name.
The committee was given four potential names by Anyone Collective — Hollywood Burbank Airport, Burbank Hollywood Airport, Los Angeles Burbank Airport or Burbank Los Angeles Airport. However, the two names with “Los Angeles” drew criticism from the public.
Though airport officials are looking to establish a branding name, the airfield’s legal name — Bob Hope Airport — will not be changed.
Michael Fiore, co-founder of Anyone Collective, said his company is trying to give the airfield “an identifier. Give it a branding name that allows for people to find it easier.”
Talia Fittante, brand strategy manager for the company, said the airport could capture up to 744,960 online searches if it was named Los Angeles Burbank Airport. The name Hollywood Burbank Airport would only capture up to 340,430 searches.
Commissioner Ross Selvidge said he had concerns about the potential loss of online searches if the authority adopted Hollywood Burbank Airport as its name. However, he said he thinks it will be up to Anyone Collective to market the name and put in on the map for people in the Midwest and East Coast.
“We’re just looking at the name,” Brown said. “Now, it’s up to [Anyone Collective] or whoever else we use to sell that name.”
Jack O’Neil, who represents the Hope family, continued to push for Bob Hope’s name to be in the branding name. He and the family are in favor of Burbank Hollywood Airport, but would like Bob Hope’s name placed in a smaller font size above the word Burbank.
Selvidge said he would like Hollywood Burbank Airport to be the formal branding name and would not mind if they incorporated Bob Hope’s name when they begin marketing the new title.
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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
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