479. So Much A Part of You: CONTINENTAL AIR MICRONESIA, 1984

FEEL IT! CONTINENTAL AIR MICRONESIA Destination Ad, mid-1980s

CONTINENTAL AIR MICRONESIA surprised the Philippine airline industry in the early 1980s when it operated flights to Manila, thus opening travel routes to exotic Pacific island destinations such as Guam, Yap, Palau, Saipan, and other Marianas islands.

The Guamanian company, started as Continental Micronesia Inc. in 1968,  a subsidiary of Continental Airlines.  It operated flights to Honolulu, Hawaii, the West Coast,  as well as to Asia, Micronesia and Australia from its hub at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport on Guam. In the early 1980s, the airline started service from Guam to Japan, and the airline was renamed CONTINENTAL AIR MICRONESIA.

FEEL IT. Continental Air Micronesia B&W Print Ad, 1984

Shortly after, it included Manila as part of its Asian service, and the airline was heavily promoted on media, with full-blast tri-media campaigns beginning in 1983, using its existing theme, “So Much A Part of You”. The airline company appointed Olbes, Ogilvy and Mather as the local agency to handle its advertising and promotions.

 LISTEN TO THE ORIGINAL JINGLE USED IN THE AIR MICRONESIA PH LAUNCH:

The first thing the OO&M did was to adapt the original jingle and had it arranged to a livelier beat that Filipinos prefer. The result was a catchy, refreshing jingle that became one of the most remembered commercial songs during its run. Destination and corporate print ads were launched, airbrushed artworks that featured prominently the wide-bodied DC-10  planes and the company logo. In such a short time, CONTINENTAL AIR MICRONESIA, despite its long brand name, became a byword in the airline industry—people were singing the jingle while suddenly, Filipino travelers began discovering the Micronesian island experience.

But political changes and increased fuel prices were causing problems to the airline industry. While People Power was happening in the Philippines, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands—which has Saipan as its capital—was broken up. As a result, fewer people needed to travel to Saipan, where the airline was  headquartered, leading to significant decrease in travel.

HONOLULU-WEST COAST AD, 1984

On 12 June 2008, CONTINENTAL AIR MICRONESIA  announced cuts of services, routes and destinations due to high fuel prices.  Terminated was  the Saipan-Manila flights on July 15 which is the last remaining flight for Saipan, the airline's original hub for 40 years. A more plausible reason for the cancellation of the Saipan-Manila route was the fact that NCLEX tests were now available in Manila, so Filipino nurses no longer had to travel to Saipan to take the exams. The OFW of the Philippines had been a major market of the airline, as their flights also served medical referrals from the Northern Mariana Islands to Manila, and non-USA visa alien contract workers who were unable to transit to their final destinations via Guam.

Finally, the airline ceased its operations on 22 December 2010. In 2017, Continental Micronesia was officially folded into United Airlines, under the United Airlines Holdings Co.

 CREDITS:

ADVERTISER: Continental Air Micronesia

AD AGENCY: Olbes, Ogilvy and Mather (OO&M)

CREATIVE DIRECTOR/COPYWRITER: Rene Olbes

ART DIRECTORS: Rene Olbes/ Ariel Dalisay

PRINT PRODUCER: Tony Zamora

 SOURCES:

Continental Micronesia Tribute on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlnSlDlAJ5c

Uploaded by Thomas Delgado

 Continental Micronesia, Wikimedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Micronesia

 De la Torre, Visitacion. Advertising in the Philippines, Tower Book House, Manila, 1989.