benchmark report
airline marketing
traditional
more indian than you think
why did we invite your bother?
LUFTHANSA INDIA
Following earlier initiatives by BA – such as its Visit Mom and Go Further To Get Closer commercials – Lufthansa has debuted its first TV commercial specifically made for the Indian market. An extension of Lufthansa’s ‘Nonstop You’ campaign, the new spot aims to reflect the ‘Soul of Germany, with a heart of India’, as Lufthansa puts it. The film was released in cinemas over the weekend of 18 July and went on air on 21 July. The More Indian Than You Think commercial (150,000 views on YouTube so far) opens with an old man informing his grandson that they’re visiting his father in New York, on a German airline. He goes on to tell the young boy about some German qualities, labeling them as a ‘bit different’, ‘always serious’ and calls their movies ‘grey’. He also casts aspersions about their food and wonders whether they would have heard of Bollywood.
AUGUST 2014 ISSUE
KLM UK
These perceptions change as they board their flight. The duo are greeted a with a Namaste by the crew, the IFE features Bollywood content, and the surprised guests are served Indian food. Noticing that all of this is in contrast to what he had been told, the boy tells his grandfather that they’ve boarded an incorrect flight. The old man realises that things have changed and calms the boy down, followed by a voiceover that says, ‘More Indian than you think’. Sangeeta Sharma, marketing and communications manager at Lufthansa India, said, “Our research has shown that our brand is extremely strong in India, but we needed to show that we understand customers and their Indian sensibilities.”
Made to raise awareness of the fact that it flies from more UK destinations than any other carrier (KLM flies from 15 regional airports in the UK to its Amsterdam hub), the airline launched a local ad campaign that humorously highlights the perils of driving long distances to catch a flight. ‘Why did we ask your brother?’ sees a family of holidaymakers driven to the brink – quite literally – by their hapless relative who struggles to get them to the airport on time. As James Rawlings, creative director of production company Hoot Comedy Hoot Comedy, commented on the campaign: “The fact that KLM offer services from 15 cities in the UK, forced us to look at the part of the journey that’s now no longer relevant: that long, unpredictable and often stressful journey to the airport. And what if you throw
in an unreliable relation to help get you there? This was an exercise in bringing to the screen all those little peculiarly irritating moments we’ve all experienced when embarking on an international journey.” Besides the online version (which only has generated 1,500 views so far), the commercial is also shown on regional television in areas with local airports that KLM flies from. “The objective of this campaign is to support our commercial strategy of promoting regional airports to fly the world. This advert is very specific to our UK audience,” said Djamila Pethen, marketing manager UK for KLM.
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