The objective of the campaign was to grab an emotional advantage on the highly competitive route Stockholm-Berlin. All airlines compete with basically the same price and comfort on this route, but in Sweden it is more natural to fly with SAS or even Norwegian. The goal was to do something different entirely, different for the competition but also different from Lufthansa’s previous communication. Instead of selling the cheap Berlin and aiming for people’s wallet, we sold the dream of Berlin and aimed for their hearts.
Creative Execution
Nobody knows Berlin like Lufthansa does and it makes sense to fly with a German airline to Berlin, but in Sweden the airline is bottom-of-mind. So we needed something fun, engaging and crazy. Putting the target groups supposed love for Berlin to the test, we created a challenge that put the consumer’s own name and identity in the wager. What is a new life in Berlin worth? This was the simple question at the heart of the direct campaign. By providing one daring Swede with a whole new life Lufthansa became the enabler, the spark, the inspiration and the topic.
Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.
Swedes have a well-known love for Berlin. Playing off this love, we offered one new life in Berlin including a one-way ticket, a pre-payed apartment and everything you needed to start fresh. The catch? You had to prove your dedication by legally changing your name to Klaus-Heidi. The challenge was launched through an integrated campaign led by direct. At the site you could download a name-change-application, read up on your new life or grab a discount to Berlin. The goal was to create a story telling that made Lufthansa synonymous with Berlin; giving us a competitive edge on a standardized market.
Results
A simple dare that according to the Economist sounded like “a bar bet” became an international success. Lufthansa sold out an Airbus 319 based on sales from the site. 1100 people downloaded the name-change-application. 42 Swedes changed their name to Klaus-Heidi. 41 got a VIP-card with 10 000 points, the winner got a welcome from Berlins Mayor. The campaign got 240 million impressions, made headlines in 30 countries and was a re-occurring topic on Swedish national TV. During its peak it stood for 25% of Lufthansa’s mentions in social media globally and was the main driver to Lufthansa.com behind Google.