Planning and delivering high-end branding for the next 30 years. And beyond.
Lufthansa experienced substantial growth and transformation, becoming one of the world’s leading airlines.
Awarded as a five-star airline in 2017, Lufthansa was already positioned among the few leaders in the premium sector, reflecting an emphasis on service quality and innovation.
‘On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the crane, every detail of the Lufthansa brand was reworked — to meet requirements of the digital age. The new Lufthansa appearance gives the individual elements a new, modern quality to sharpen their impact. The designers found great importance in taking up the unique design tradition of the Lufthansa brand and leading it into the future.’ – Lufthansa, 2018
The challenge
The ad agency DDB and Lufthansa hired Marcus Podorf to interim-lead transition, interpretation and implementation for the new brand identity across its digital touch points and the below-the-line marketing activities. Each plane of the Lufthansa fleet alone consists of approx. 50,000 brand-relevant elements; not including the multiple Lufthansa Lounges and physical touch points around the globe.
Just 9 months before the launch in February 2018, the agency group won the account – with almost no people aboard, individually ready for a massive brand transformation journey. Lufthansa’s ‘New Premium’ brand refresh was already planned for 3 years at this point.
When Marcus Podorf provided expertise and leadership in the transition for 10 months in 2017 and 2018, DDB built and set up a team of around ±50 members in parallel, fully dedicated to the brand, its global work, and with a scope of around 1,000 tasks to be planned and delivered in the weeks ahead to make the new premium brand refresh a full success.
The solution
Marcus Podorf’s work included the establishment of key performance indicators for the development, requirements, and management of all related projects, too, without compromising the goals and profit of the organization. A brand is a core equity of a company — and a refresh is a huge investment.
The full scope of work covered brand and digital strategies, platform concepts, the unique Lufthansa tone of voice, crucial CRM activities, new contents, a new imaginary language, culture change and an additional transformation process for the Lufthansa Group Airlines as the holding company of Lufthansa.
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Overall impact
The new Lufthansa brand was launched on 07 Feb 2018.
Over the following years, Lufthansa and the Lufthansa Group strengthened their leadership position in the premium airline and aviation industry, revenue peaked at an all-time high in 2023. Lufthansa continuously invests in the expansion of its ‘New Premium’ positioning and adding more products and services for its passengers.
For all of its travel classes on long-haul routes (i.e. Economy, Premium Economy, Business and First Class), the airline has introduced a new high-end product, ‘Allegris’, with new seats and a new cabin and service concept, which has been exclusively designed for the Lufthansa Group.
Over 80 brand new Lufthansa aircraft such as Boeing 787-9s, Airbus A350s and Boeing 777-9s flying to destinations worldwide will offer the Allegris experience, roll-out started in summer of 2024. Many aircraft already in service, like the Boeing 747-8, are also fitted with the new product over time. The simultaneous improvement of the travel experience in every class and the replacement of over 27,000 seats are unprecedented events in the history of Lufthansa. It underlines Lufthansa’s aspiration to be the leading Western premium airline.
Lufthansa also offers its passengers additional comfort on short- and medium-haul routes. From spring 2025, the airline will start fitting Airbus A320 aircraft that are already in service with a new, innovative cabin. The new cabin offers significantly greater comfort, with larger overhead lockers, USB sockets, tablet/smartphone holders for every seat and more legroom.
In-flight service was already upgraded in 2023. It offers Lufthansa passengers more choice, entertainment and sustainability. The Onboard Delights catering offering was expanded. Business Class passengers on long-haul flights from Germany can choose from a larger selection of main meals. A larger entertainment range for children and young people is also available on long-haul flights.
The newly developed Lufthansa app now also functions as a digital travel assistant and makes travelling even easier and more comfortable.
Value contribution
In 2023, Lufthansa Airlines hosted ±60.3m passengers aboard, a plus of +16 % compared to 2022 (±51.8m).
Capacities were increased by +13 % YoY, reflecting 80 % of Lufthansa’s capacities in 2019, before the global pandemic. 2017, ±65.83m passengers flew with Lufthansa.
Sales climbed by 17 % compared with the previous year 2022. At 82.4 %, the passenger load factor was 2.5 percentage points higher than the previous year’s level (79.9 %).
Compared to 2022, revenue for Lufthansa Airlines increased again by +23 % – €16.17bn in total was achieved. With Lufthansa’s ‘New Premium’ repositioning, the margin has also significantly developed and contributed to high revenue.
Responsibilities
- Senior Advisory
- Leadership for brand and integrated marketing excellence
- Collaboration with Lufthansa and Lufthansa Group agencies (e.g. Martin et Karczinski, Kolle Rebbe and Valtech)
- Budgeting, scoping and team planning for UX/UI, CRM and BTL redesign
- Tone of voice for the Lufthansa airline and the Lufthansa Group Airlines division
- Building the new Lufthansa service, product, destination and CGI imagery pool with ±10,000 images
- Guideline development (integrated CD/CI, styleguides, imagery) for digital and BTL measures
- Know-how building and brand knowledge transfer
- Continuous documentation
Scope of work
- Delivered in 2017/18
- 10-12 months project TAT
- Agency: DDB&Tribal
Source: Lufthansa. Imagery: ©2018, Lufthansa. All rights reserved.