IndiGo Airlines: A Jester or An Everyman

Shivangi Tripathi
November 4, 2017

Emergence of the Great Indian middle class willing to spend money for swifter travel has acted as a catalyst in the growth of IndiGo. IndiGo Airlines anchors itself to a Regular guy as well as a Jester. The idea of these two Archetypes is to connect with others. Brand archetype is a genre you assign to your brand, based upon symbolism. Aligning a brand with an Archetype makes it identifiable.
A Jester brand lives in the moment and promotes the feeling of fun. The aim is to make you smile with light-hearted fun. A Jester can be better understood by a quote by Joseph Addison, “Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body.” The aim of an Everyman or a Regular Guy/Girl is to belong. An Everyman brand sells, "No glitz or glamour, just a reliable product that gets the job done." It is focused on providing something so far removed from pretentiousness that it can appeal to everyone.

The Dilemma: Everyman or Jester
A brand can have a supporting archetype if it is not divergent from the lead archetype of a brand. Both the archetype need to be parallel or similar to each other. The lead and the supporting archetype are needed to be parallel to each other because divergent archetypes might lead to appealing to two opposite ends of the spectrum and the brand might end up with confused, ineffective marketing.
Imagery of IndiGo is fun , cheeky and spunky. The cheekiness is clearly depicted by the print campaigns of IndiGo. It’s a youthful airline and it keeps up its cool quotient by innovating and different campaigns. This relates IndiGo airlines to Jester.
All the print campaigns of IndiGo depict the archetype of an Everyman, like "Sleep with your wife", "Late is a four letter world", "Hum Samajhte Hain", "R.I.P Business Class" and "No Platinum No Gold No Silver- Its one class and one color for everyone on India's most democratic airline." The mission statement of IndiGo which promotes Affordable fairs, On time performance and Hassle-free service is also relatable to Everyman Archetype.

Solution to the Dilemma
IndiGo airlines has a personality archetype of an Everyman who tries to belong and feels that everyone is created equal with a supporting archetype of A jester who creates a little fun and enjoyment. The goal of IndiGo is to give a sense of belonging. They follow a strategy of down to earth and common touch. It shows realism. IndiGo does not has business class in its aircrafts. They only have economy class which shows that they feel that everyone is created equal. The archetype of Jester is aligned with the Imagery of Fun, Cheeky and Spunky and youthful airline.
IndiGo has been able to project both its archetypes effectively and use them in doing an effective marketing. It has achieved resonance. The customers feel a deep, psychological bond with IndiGo and They feel a personal attachment with the brand and are highly loyal towards it because they find it reliable.