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What’s in a name?
A well-chosen name for a brand, company, or anything can reveal much about said entity.
In Vietnam, for instance, it feels like every other company name begins with ‘V’ and to me, that tells us a lot about the importance of national pride in the country. That one little letter is pretty revealing whether it’s Vingroup, VNG, Viglacera, or VnExpress.
Similarly, I’ve always felt AirAsia was a pretty solid branding choice. It’s an airline that operates in Asia, simple. And who doesn’t love alliteration?
The company’s CEO Tony Fernandes recently rebranded AirAsia Super App to AirAsia Move, so perhaps he’s not so thrilled that the AirAsia brand is so closely associated with air travel. Today’s Big Story dives into why that may not be the smartest move.
Today we look at:
- The latest AirAsia rebranding and restructuring
- Layoffs at fintech firm Spenmo
- Other newsy highlights such as the co-founder of Vidsee stepping down and Temasek’s True Light Capital raising US$3.3 billion to invest in Greater China.
Premium summary
Cloudy skies ahead for AirAsia?
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Last year, Tony Fernandes renamed the AirAsia holding company to Capital A.
The Malaysian tycoon is back at it again, changing AirAsia Super App to AirAsia Move as part of an “ongoing transformation.”
- Super shy: The rebranding includes merging the super app with financial services provider BigPay, but it comes at a curious time to double down on super apps. Grab and GoTo’s forays into the arena haven’t been entirely successful, with both companies letting go of thousands of employees and rolling back marginal business units.
- Capital concerns: Bursa Malaysia has regarded Capital A as “financially distressed” since January 2022. The firm has until the end of October to submit a roadmap showing how it plans to operate as a going concern moving forward. While the company has enjoyed some positive financial results, the specter of being delisted hangs over Fernandes’ company should it fail to meet that deadline.
- Aviation advantage: Of all the companies under the Capital A banner, those in aviation seem to be performing the best. Both air logistics services provider Teleport and Asia Digital Engineering, the airline engineering and maintenance unit, hit a positive EBITDA in the second quarter of the year. Perhaps the sky should be the limit for AirAsia.
Less is mo’
Quick bytes
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