the NAME GAME

Boeing's proposed new 7E7 also will be given a name to help convey its unique attributes and performance

BY LORI GUNTER AND LESLIE NICHOLS


What's in a name? Well, that's what Boeing Commercial Airplanes wants to find out, so it's going straight to the people who would know best: the citizens of the world.

Through a special Internet promotion with AOL Time Warner Inc., and The Sunday Times of London, Boeing has invited people around the globe to become more involved than ever in the development of the 7E7, the next all-new Boeing commercial airplane.

The effort, launched May 5, is designed to seek votes for the official airplane name and provide a first look at the exterior concepts under consideration to enhance the airplane's appearance and performance.

"When people see the '7' designation they know they can expect another great Boeing airplane," said Rob Pollack, vice president of Branding for Boeing Commercial Airplanes Marketing. "Numeric identifiers like these are tremendous visual assets for our airplanes, but they don't automatically communicate what's special about the model.

"So, selecting a name we will use in addition to the 7E7 number gives us an opportunity to tell people what's unique about the airplane. We want people from all over the world to be part of the team that tells that story."

Anyone who visits the promotion Web site can vote for any of four candidate names: Dreamliner, eLiner, Global Cruiser and Stratoclimber. A team led by Boeing Commercial Airplanes Marketing cultivated a variety of internal and external sources to generate ideas. An external naming consultant and numerous employees offered several ideas for names that the team thought would best fit the brand Boeing wants to create for the 7E7. The team also reviewed the names for legal and cultural sensitivity considerations before choosing the final four.

Boeing estimates that a million or more people might participate in the voting, which is all done online. An exception to the electronic-only method will be made for school-children across the United States; they will receive entry forms in a special supplement of TIME for Kids magazine. Ballots can be cast at the promotion site (www.newairplane.com), which is accessible directly or through AOL (keyword Boeing), between May 5 and June 3. The promotion site also provides a chance to join the World Design Team, a group of people from around the globe eager to share in the excitement of creating the passenger-friendly airplane of the future. Boeing will send these people regular updates on the progress of the new airplane and will ask for their inputs to improve the passenger experience.

People who visit the promotion Web site also will be able to enter a sweepstakes to win a two-hour "trip" flying a Boeing 737-700 full-motion flight simulator, complete with flight instructor. Citizens of five additional countries (China, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom) may also elect to participate in an electronic sweepstakes separate from the one conducted in the United States. People in all other countries are not eligible to participate in the sweepstakes, but they may still go online to vote for their favorite new name. The grand prize is the same for all sweepstakes winners in each participating country. A feature on the winners will appear in the July issue of Boeing Frontiers.

Sweepstakes regulations prohibit Boeing employees and their immediate families from participating in the public sweepstakes, so Boeing has created a separate sweepstakes just for them on a special site (www.boeing.com/nametheplane).

Only Boeing employees who reside in the United States at the time of the sweepstakes are eligible. The top prize in this sweepstakes is also a two-hour ride in a Boeing 737 simulator.

"We are looking at our new airplane as an opportunity to change the way we do business," Pollack said. "This means more than the way we interact with airlines. It means that we are going to engage the world in this effort. This is just the first step. You can expect to see a whole new approach to how we tell the world about the airplane and encourage participation and feedback in the work we are doing."

loretta.m.gunter@boeing.com
leslie.m.nichols@boeing.com