Title	FANHANSA SIEGERFLIEGER
Brand	DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA
Product/Service	LUFTHANSA
Category	D02. COSTS/CREATIVE PERFORMANCE PR CAMPAIGN
Entrant Company	KOLLE REBBE Hamburg, GERMANY
Advertising Agency	KOLLE REBBE Hamburg, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Fabian Frese	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Chief Creative Officer
Christian Kroll	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Unit Creative Director
Jens Theil	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Unit Creative Director
Matthias Erb	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Unit Creative Director
Katharina Jung	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Account Director
Pea Krüger	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Account Manager
Ronnie Patt	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Art Director/Copywriting
Holger Diesinger	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Copywriter
Oliver Kiurina	Studio Funk Hamburg Gmbh/Co.kg	Sound Editor

The Campaign

Lufthansa is the official airline carrier of the German national football team. After the World Cup victory in Brazil, German’s largest airline thanked the team with a grand gesture. It invested nothing less than 3,500 euros for a sticker with the words “Siegerflieger” (Aircraft of the winners). The worldwide media picked up the term, resulting in approximately 100,000,000 media impressions and #siegerflieger became one of the most used terms on social media and a Twitter trending topic. One simple sticker made Lufthansa the unofficial 2014 world champion of awareness. PS: Following a petition from hundreds of fans, the “Siegerflieger” will continue to fly until the European Championships in 2016.

The Brief

No other sport is as popular in Germany as football. The World Cup and European Championships are followed by almost everyone. Although Lufthansa is the official airline carrier of the German national football team, it often goes unmentioned as a supporter in the mass of reporting surrounding the World Cup. As Germany’s largest airline, Lufthansa wanted to change this and be recognised as the airline of the team and the fans.

Results

When the German national team returned home victorious, all of Germany experienced it via television, radio, online streaming, Facebook and Twitter or on location at the fan party. TV stations broadcasted the team’s arrival in the “Siegerflieger” in special programmes and newspapers reported in live tickers. The worldwide media picked up the term, resulting in approximately 100,000,000 media impressions and making #siegerflieger a trendy Twitter topic. The plane quickly became a cult object among aviation fans. As well as being available as a model kit, following a petition from hundreds of fans, it will continue to fly until the European Championships. One simple sticker costing 3,500 euros made Lufthansa the unofficial 2014 world champion of awareness.

Execution

As there wasn’t much time and only a small budget, Lufthansa decided to take what was there: the airplane of the team. A simple sticker with the words “Siegerflieger (Aircraft of the winners) costing just 3,500 euros was applied to the plane. Shortly after the final whistle of the match, for the first time in Lufthansa’s history, it rebranded the logo on the aircraft carrying the national team. As if that wasn’t enough, as special gesture to the fans, the plane flew an honorary pass over Berlin’s fan mile. A special permit was granted for the air space over Berlin.

The Situation

Lufthansa is the official airline carrier of the German national football team, but it is not an official sponsor of the World Cup in Brazil. How could Lufthansa benefit from the World Cup hype without a large budget?

The Strategy

The return of the German national team as the World Cup champions was the most important homecoming of 2014. On behalf of the airline and the fans, Lufthansa decided to use the general attention and thank the team for a fantastic World Cup with a grand gesture.