Eye of the Tiger

The Flying Tigers. These shark-faced fighters are still some of the most recognizable aircraft from World War II, but you may only have heard of them without really knowing who or what they were. The Flying Tigers were a crack group of warriors who prowled the skies over China, and they ripped the Japanese air corps a new one while America still licked its wounds from losses at Pearl Harbor.

In essence, they were the bad boys of World War II.

The official name of the Tigers was actually the 1st American Volunteer Group, or the AVG, and it was the brainchild of a gruff, hard-pressed bastard named Claire Chennault. He stomped around the military high command pressing for better aircraft. And history says he stepped on a lot of toes doing it. As a result, the Army asked him to resign in April of 1937. And when Chennault did the Chinese immediately asked him to assess their pitiful air force and strategy. Three months later, Japan invaded China, giving Chennault a lot to consider in his assessments.

By early 1941, Chennault had a solution and, more importantly, the funding to execute it—which was an instant air force, made up of better American aircraft and professional American pilots. Some say that then U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt secretly endorsed the plan, although there is no official record. However, Chennault did manage to snatch a shipment of Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks originally bound for Britain's Royal Air Force.

The P-40 was rugged plane with heavy armor and heavy machine guns. Think flying tank. The delicate balsa and tin Japanese aircraft were far more nimble, but the Tigers liked looking the enemy in the eye with head-on attacks, for which the P-40 was far superior.

Not only did Chennault scrounge planes, he was also granted official permission to recruit pilots and ground crew from U.S. forces. That was Channault's fast-track-methodology to build an experienced fighter group—cherry-picking American volunteers. He secured 99 pilots and about 200 ground and administrative personnel. And he paid them very well—triple what the pilots and crews normally got as GIs.

Some called the AVG mercenaries because of their pay. Or maybe they were just really well rewarded for having the cajones to take on what was considered a highly trained and battle-experienced Japanese air force. Remember that those planes with the red dot shot everything out of the Asian skies they came up against. 

Most of the AVG organizational build took place in the first nine months of 1941. You don't just set up shop in a few weeks, especially in Burma. But by December of '41, the Tigers leapt into the skies. It was just two weeks after Pearl Harbor when they started hunting on 20 December 1941. The Flying Tigers pounced into action against ten Japanese bombers heading for a place called Kunming in southwestern China. This seemingly unknown place was the eastern terminus of the Burma Road. And the Burma Road was the sole and vital supply route for military supplies to southern China. The Japanese wanted it gone.

What the Japanese didn't know was that two squadrons of Curtiss P-40s had been stationed at Kunming. They bore the 12-pointed Chinese star on their wings and the now distinctive red-and-white shark’s teeth markings around their air scoops on the nose. The P-40 was perfect for exactly that kind of nose-art.

Just as the bombers came in for a run, four P-40s attacked. Startled by the unexpected resistance, the Japanese literally turned tail and flew for home—right into a waiting pack of ten more Flying Tigers. The fighters tore through the bomber formation, knocking down three aircraft and severely wounding one more. 

This is called a blood Chit
and was carried by the AVG.
It reads, "This foreign person
has come to China to help in
the war effort. Soldiers and
civilians, one and all, should
rescue and protect him."

Three days later, the AVG engage the Japanese again, this time racking up 11 confirmed kills with five probables. Just two days after that on Christmas Day 1941, the Flying Tigers down an amazing 24 more Japanese aircraft. These were defensive actions. After the first of the year, 1942, the Tigers would go on the offensive and terrorize the Japanese for another seven months.

According to Chinese newspaper accounts of those early battles, "...these American volunteers fight like Tigers, Flying Tigers." Hence the squadron name. Now, wrapped up in the concept of the Tiger is a whole lot of Asian cultural equity. Specifically in Japan, the tiger is the symbol of the Samurai. The tiger also represents the virtue of courage. And if you really want to get deep, it also means revision, improvement, change, and the Zen good.

The original AVG Flying Tigers were only active for about 8-months, through July of 1942. At that point, the US Army Air Corps came in and absorbed the AVG. While the name continued on through the 23rd Fighter Group, later commanded by Chennault himself and with a few of the original AVG pilots, it carved out its own success record. However it was the tenacity of the original AVG that established the brand presence and expectation of the Flying Tigers.

Therefore, submitted for your approval...

1. Determine the most appropriate brand-positioning attribute.

The AVG were a group of hard-playing, hard fighting mavericks—the inglorious basterds of the air. One of the most famous was Greg "Pappy" Boyington, well known for being a scrapper, and for living hard. But in the air, he was even meaner. He would go on to form the famous Black Sheep squadron. 

2. Devise a distinctive way to articulate the brand position.

While these pilots were animals on the ground, in the air they were courageous and fierce warriors. They would gladly assault their foe in head-on attacks. forcing the Japanese to look the tiger in the eye.

Courageous and fierce like tigers.

3. Develop a focused brand personality that customers can use to recommend or introduce your company to others.

Thanks to the Chinese news accounts ... "The Flying Tigers"

4. Establish graphic standards.

Part One - The actual logo for the Flying Tigers was designed by Walt Disney, featuring a leaping tiger with small wings. In reality, the accepted popular look and feel was derived from the natural characteristics of the Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk. The plane had the ideal nose cowling for painting a mouth full of teeth. This nose art was actually of a shark. But those teeth still lent themselves to the maw of a big cat and became synonymous with the Flying Tigers.

Part Two: The P-40 was simply a rugged, mean hunk of flying metal. It was heavily armored around the engine and cockpit. It also carried two .50 caliber nose guns along with two .303 cal guns in each wing. Quite frankly, it was just a brute.

5. Consistently and uniquely execute the branding program.

The proof was in the pudding with an 8-month record showing that the original AVG Flying Tigers were credited with destroying about 130 enemy aircraft. Losses amounted to only 14 AVG aircraft. This would be the inspiration when the AVG were rolled into the offical American forces in August of 1942. 

Red Tails

There is a brand from the skies of World War II that you may not know, but you should. It is "Pure-D" American, and it showed that absolutely no color mattered except one—Red. To squadrons of bomber crews gritting it out in the skies over Europe, the Red Tails were angels on their shoulders. Officially they were the 332 Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps (before there was a US Air Force). This was a group of airmen made up entirely of black Americans—and they are known to history as the Tuskegee Airmen.

There is no way around the fact that black Americans have had it tough. No way around segregation, discrimination, and the oppression suffered before the days of the Civil Rights movement. There's no sugar coating it. But this group of extraordinary and determined men showed the promise of a nation by demanding to fight for her. And fight they did—doing so from the bottom up just to get an opportunity to train. Prior to the formation of the Tuskegee Airmen, no black American had become a U.S. military pilot or member of an air crew.

The Tuskegee program officially began in June 1941 at the Tuskegee Army Air Field—hence the nickname, Tuskegee Airmen. The original unit consisted of about 47 officers and 429 enlisted men, filling the initial plan for 500 personnel. That grew significantly by mid 1942 with nearly 3000 personnel stationed at Tuskegee. Launching the program itself was a major victory, but a host of obstacles remained, including local prejudice, internal military discrimination, and overall bad perception.

Finally, the US military command agreed to deploy the Tuskegee Airmen into combat. This was somewhat under political pressure and somewhat because the Tuskegee Airmen wouldn't wash out—having performed admirably in training. So the Red Tails went to war in July 1943 with their initial combat mission over Sicily. Come May 1944, the 332nd Fighter Group began escorting heavy strategic bombing raids into Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Germany. This is where the Red Tails really found something to crow about.

Of the hundreds of escort missions flown, The Tuskegee fighter pilots lost only 25* bombers to enemy fire, earning high praise and a reputation as fierce aces. Indeed, crews soon requested the Red Tails as escorts, realizing that the only color that mattered on a hairy mission was Red. It is their legacy that helped end segregation in the US military, which also paved the way for desegregation in civilian America. 

Therefore, submitted for your approval...

1. Determine the most appropriate brand-positioning attribute.

Although many of the Tuskegee Airmen were highly educated and many had flown as civilians prior to military service, they had to work harder to prove themselves to their own air corps. That type of determination, to triumph over adversity, made these men formidable opponents for the arrogant Luftwaffe pilots.

 Triumph over adversity.

2. Devise a distinctive way to articulate the brand position.

To triumph, the Tuskegee Airmen rose above prejudice from their own country, above hardships and obstacles thrown at them by their command, and above any doubts in themselves that they may have had.

"Rise Above."

3. Develop a focused brand personality that customers can use to recommend or introduce your company to others.

Immediately on deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, the Tuskegee Airmen distinguished themselves in combat. They excelled at bomber escort duty and quickly became personified, not as black airmen, but as superior fighter pilots identified by the Red on the tails of their aircraft.

 The Red Tails

4. Establish graphic standards.

Part One - RED Tails:  Red is not an uncommon color on many aircraft. And while there is no official story about why the Tuskegee Airmen chose red, maybe they took a cue from the Red Baron. It was slightly audacious in order to get  noticed, from the ground and from the air, and nothing does that quite like bright red.

Part Two - P-51 Mustang: Not unlike the Red Baron who actually flew various aircraft but was best known for a bright red version of a triplane in WWI, the Tuskegee Airmen also flew several kinds of airplanes, but became identified with the P51 Mustang.  

5. Consistently and uniquely execute the branding program.

There were six tenants to the Rise Above slogan of the Red Tails:

• Aim High
• Believe in yourself
• Use your brain 
• Never quit 
• Be ready to go 
• Expect to win

If the proof is in the pudding, then the Red Tails absolutely lived their brand... 

Approximately 445 Tuskegee Airmen were deployed overseas, and 150 Airmen lost their lives. The blood cost included sixty-six pilots killed in action or accidents, and thirty-two fallen into captivity as prisoners of war. 

The Tuskegee Airmen were credited by higher commands with the following accomplishments: 

• 15,533 combat sorties, 1578 missions 
• One hundred and twelve German aircraft destroyed in the air, another 150 on the ground 
• Nine hundred and fifty rail cars, trucks and other motor vehicles destroyed 
• One destroyer sunk by P-47 machine gun fire 
• A good record of protecting U.S. bombers, losing only 25 on hundreds of missions. 

Awards and decorations awarded for valor and performance included:

• Three Distinguished Unit Citations
• 99th Pursuit Squadron: 30 May–11 June 1943 for the capture of Pantelleria, Italy
• 99th Fighter Squadron: 12–14 May 1944 for successful air strikes against Monte Cassino, Italy
• 332d Fighter Group: 24 March 1945 for the longest bomber escort mission of World War II
• At least one Silver Star
• An estimated 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses
• 14 Bronze Stars
• 744 Air Medals
• Eight Purple Hearts 

* NOTE:  It was once said that no bomber escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen had ever been lost to enemy fire. This statement was repeated for many years, and not challenged because of the esteem of the Tuskegee Airmen, however, Air Force records and eyewitness accounts later showed that at least 25 bombers were lost to enemy fire. So what. Other squadrons lost 25 bombers on single missions. The final takeaway is that whether 0 or 25, the Tuskegee Airmen gave up fewer bombers in their care than any other protecting squadron of fighters. And that's over hundreds of missions.

Brand Everlasting

Three kings visit the Nativity.

On this eve of the Epiphany—the Christian celebration commemorating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in the Christ Child—we explore the brand that is Christianity. Controversial, enduring, inspiring, and even misappropriated—Christianity is the faith in the life, teachings and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And for more than two millennia, this brand has persisted in its evolution and command of brand loyalty.

At the core of the Christian brand is Christ himself, Jesus of Nazareth and Son of God. Christians profess their faith that Jesus was born of a virgin, died for the forgiveness of human sin, rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven to later return for judgment day. Those are strong attributes—meaningful to the faithful then and now. And while being born of a virgin is not unique in the history of religious faiths, it provided Jesus with divine DNA from God the Father.

Strengthening this divine heritage is his very name, underscoring the mission for which prophecy says he was sent. Jesus is basically translated to mean "Yahweh rescues".  And according to the Gospels of both Luke and Matthew in the New Testament, the angel Gabriel tells Mary and Joseph to name their child Jesus. The reason given was "because he will save his people from their sins". Right from the start this lends a redemptive attribute to Christ. Of course the title of Christ translates from Greek to mean "the anointed" and also used to translate the Hebrew term for "Messiah" into Greek. Combined that set Jesus up to be the Anointed one to deliver salvation.

Jesus has a well-documented life in the New Testament. Christians obviously put a great deal of trust into the text and it is within these chronicles of Christ's life, and the very Genesis of Christianity, that so much of the brand is found. Healing, miracles, firm resistance against human temptations, as well as the Crucifixion and Resurrection are hallmarks of Jesus' divine brand. But the more subtle of Christ's deeds seem to be those that have the most impact.

Jesus calls to Zacchaeus

Just in the company he kept, Jesus didn't associate himself with the upper crust of society. Indeed, his affiliations with those of lesser status and questionable reputation made him a target.

One example is the account of Zacchaeus from the Gospel of Luke. Simply put, Zacchaeus was a tax collector in Jericho—hated by everybody and in particular by other Jews who saw him as a traitor for working with Rome. On the day Jesus passed through town, he arrived early along the path Jesus would take, climbing a sycamore tree. Zacchaeus was a short man and would have difficulty seeing over the crowds. As Jesus passed, he looked up into the tree and called out to Zacchaeus by name and told him to come down. Jesus then announced he would visit his house, sending the crowd into shock that Jesus would associate himself such a low sort.

But so moved by the gift of Jesus' undeserved love and acceptance, Zacchaeus publicly repented and vowed to make restitution for them. This is chief among the attributes of Christ—forgiveness and embracing those who are not evil but outcast.  That's an unusual attitude for the time—one might argue even for today.

Adding to the desirability of forgiveness is the idea of an afterlife. Not all religions have a bright future for our souls. In some we are reincarnated, doomed to relive this life until we miraculously figure out how to behave in order to move on. In others there are several levels of Heaven or Hell—sounds more corporate than ethereal. And still others believe there is nothing beyond this life at all. So a Kingdom of Heaven can really resonate if you ain't tickled with the status quo.

But the deeds of Christ, including his Resurrection, were only the beginning of the Christian brand. Although let's face it, Resurrection is major since that means death can be defeated, further reinforcing that afterlife thing. Still, Christ's life was the foundation—the rock on which the church was built. From there it spread across the ancient western and near eastern worlds like the original social media.

Emperor Constantine c 302 AD

There are two specific people deserving the lion's share of credit for Christianity's facebook-like success—Constantine and Charlemagne. Nothing can pull an underground movement out from the shadows like state endorsement. Constantine was an early 4th Century Roman emperor who was responsible for exactly that. Before his rein, Christians were a persecuted lot. After all Jesus was crucified for sedition, real or not. And most of the ancient Mediterranean was pagan, whereas Christianity required reneging on many naughty but potentially fun elements of paganism. Maybe that's why Constantine waited a very long time before being baptized.

On the other side of the condemnation coin was Judaism itself—Jews didn't care for Christians because most didn't hold that Jesus was the Messiah, not to mention the fact that Christ's teaching seemingly went against the Jewish mainstream current. Add to that the whole idea that gentiles were welcome in the new faith. In other words Jesus went outside the tribe and Jews didn't appreciate it.

Roman shield with Chi Rho

Anyway, just before a battle Constantine had a vision of the Christian symbol, Chi Rho, which convinced him the Christian God was on his side. His resulting victory in what was thought a hopeless battle inspired Constantine to lift the persecutions of Christians. And he would spend an enormous effort for the remainder of his rein in supporting and spreading the faith.

Skip about 500 years to the end of the Dark Ages and we get Charlemagne. He was a conquering emperor—he was French, so go figure. Known then as Charles I, Charlemagne managed to unite much of Europe. In doing so, and as a good Medieval Christian (a somewhat disreputable time for the faith), he forced the Christianization of the Saxons, the Danes, and the Slavs, while banning their native paganism under threat of painful death. Charlemagne integrated all these people into his empire, while simultaneously integrating select pagan traditions into Christianity. This had the effect of easing brand acceptance by utilizing certain advantageous elements to further spread the faith.

Gold bust of Charlemagne

It is during the span of time between Constantine and Charlemagne that the cross really becomes the standard for Christianity—a reminder of Christ's sacrifice and Resurrection. By this time the Catholic Church established itself as the dominant authority on everything from western politics and society to science and medicine. The cross was on everything you could affix it to, draw it on, weave it into, or incorporate into its very making. Biblically speaking, the cross spread like locusts.

Christ is an everlasting brand. Even if you set aside the divinity of Jesus and look at him with a strict historical perspective, it is accepted fact that he existed. Jesus was a Rabbi … a teacher. And Roman records confirm that Pontius Pilate crucified him for sedition against the Empire. His impact is no less than profound. Jesus is even recognized by other faiths as being at the very least a prophet. These include Judaism, Islam, and the Bahá'í faiths. It may be an oxymoron, but Jesus was a conqueror whose weapon was ... forgiveness.

Therefore, submitted for your approval...

1. Determine the most appropriate brand-positioning attribute.

Forgiveness and compassion are the leads here. In his life, Jesus was noted for consorting with social rejects—the unwashed, the tax collector, and those of questionable reputation. He professed not a God who favored the rich and powerful, but a Father who loved all His children and promised a place especially for the meek and the poor.

2. Devise a distinctive way to articulate the brand position and develop a brand personality customers can use to introduce the brand.

He died for our sins ... enough said.

3. Establish graphic standards.

Early Christianity used more than a couple of symbols. Emperor Constantine saw a vision of the Chi Rho (the first two letters of Christ in Greek). which inspired him to take up God's standard and spread the church across the known world. The fish is a popular sign even today. But very early on it was code among a persecuted people. Eventually, Christianity settled on the cross as reminder to the faithful of Christ's sacrifice for all sins, and a death from which Jesus rose. This remains the most common Christian symbol today.

4. Implement internal branding programs to reward employees for behaving in ways that are consistent with the brand personality.

This is where things get sticky in Christianity. Early Christianity was more "advential" in that they truly believed the risen Jesus would return any moment. Plus there were the persecutions. So early Christians endured and sacrificed—walking paths not wholly dissimilar to Christ's. 

Then there is the less pleasant period of the Church when it becomes less about the divine and more about the corruption of power—the heretic trials, inquisitions, Crusades, and the suppression of knowledge. The reward for good behavior, as prescribed by church authority, was that you wouldn't be skinned alive, boiled, flogged, or some such unpleasant treatment. If so, then you were being purified for Heaven. You're welcome!

However, the real incentive for living a life in the footsteps of Jesus are in his root message: 

Heaven awaits those who follow in Christ's footsteps.

Stated another way: "The way to the Father is through me."

5. Consistently and uniquely execute the branding program.

Christ was most certainly consistent in his behavior. And his message for following the brand was direct and simple: 

Love one another as I have loved you.