Asad Ali
Bilal Yousuf
A Brief History of Lufthansa
1926: Created by Weimar government.
1931: Had established itself as the most
comprehensive air route network in Europe.
1935: Expanded to the USSR and China.
Early 1940’s: Led coup against Nazi leadership.
1954: Allies allowed the recapitalization of
Duetsche Lufthansa.
Lufthansa History (continued)
1966: Resumed service behind the Iron
Curtain under partner company names.
1990: The reunification of Germany.
1991: Lufthansa operates in the red for
the first time since 1973.
Mid 1990’s: Formed Star Alliance.
Early 2000’s: Began to sell off
diversified business components.
Lufthansa Today
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the undisputed No. 1
airline in Germany and Europe.
Operates:
more than 500 aircraft from hubs in Frankfurt,
Munich, and Zurich.
services approximately 250 destinations.
Known in the airline business for its innovation.
In-flight internet connectivity (for first class).
Personal screens for passengers (economy class).
Airbus A380.
Other Information
Faces increasingly difficult conditions:
emergence of low cost providers,
rising fuel prices,
increased international competition among
scheduled flight companies.
Skytrax World Airline Award as the best airline
in Europe.
Acquired full ownership of Swiss airline.
Acquiring significant stakes in other airlines.
Journey of a Brand
Take a deep breath…
Brand and Positioning
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A star studded airline
A green airline
Innovators/trend setters/Pioneers
Value for money
Social Media/handhelds
Personalized care
Convenience
Zero compromises on Quality
A well rounded target market (kids, couples, Businessmen)
Aggressively expanding into growing markets (India, China,
Russia)
Mobile Business Model
Browse for flights using mobile portal.
Select your itinerary.
Confirm your bookings.
Generate mobile boarding pass.
Confirmation-SMS with the flight information.
Convenient check-in on cell phone.
Alerts you when flight gets canceled .
Mobile Marketing Strategy
The Mobile Portal:
– 18 months after its launch, the platform was rebuilt from scratch.
– had originally been optimized for more than
2,000 mobile handset models.
– 80% of customers that were using the mobile
site were doing so from either an iPhone or a
Blackberry.
MM Strategy (continued)
Core function of the portal:
– To extend online ticketing and boarding
processes to the mobile phone.
– A customer booked a €5,000 itinerary that took
in nine airports, all from his mobile phone, in
under 9 minutes!
Convenience, not the only driver:
– Less agents are needed to conduct ticket sales,
less ground staff are required to manage checkin procedures.
Alliance with T-Mobile
“T-Mobile’s portal is one of the top mobile
sites in Germany, so we have a partnership
with them. They are an important vehicle
for us to push acceptance of our site among
their customer base. But we have to balance
this with the other carriers, although they
all tend to want exclusivity.”
~ Marcus Casey, Director of global e-commerce and mobile services,
Lufthansa
Mobile Boarding
Expansion of Mobile Boarding
– Managed by Deutsche Lufthansa AG and
MindMatics AG
– A viral marketing phenomenon
“Convenience, innovation and cost
management are the drivers behind the
mobile strategy of German airline Lufthansa.”
~ Marcus Casey, Director of global e-commerce and mobile services, Lufthansa
Mobile Boarding
Mobile Boarding:
– Introduced in Spring 2008.
– 18 months later -> Lufthansa celebrated one
1,000,000th mobile boarding pass.
– End of 2009; 30,000 Lufthansa customers a
week were using mobile boarding passes.
– Based around a 2D barcode – QR code.
– Delivered to customers by e-mail or through an
SMS link to their mobile phone.
Mobile Portal at a glance
 A mobile website
 Light and easy to use
 Faster handling, keying-in
fewer entries and
optimized user guidance
 All flight related
information/actions
 can check in from their
phone, select their seat &
receive their boarding pass
 Entertainment (Ringtones,
Wallpapers, Screensavers)
Internet v. Mobile
Internet
We have recreated the entire booking path that we have on
our .com site for our mobile portal
• Allows the same flight
Marcus Casey, Director of global e-commerce and mobile
related ~actions,
functionalities
present on the
services, Lufthansa
mobile version
• Offers Personalized content
• Rates & Promotions
– Rates to destinations closeby
– iPad application download
• Plan travel itinerary
– Trip Finder
– Book Hotel
– Car Rentals
Mufthansa: Ancillary Revenues
M-commerce services:
Travel insurance
Hotel bookings
Car rentals
}
Not the main
business of
Lufthansa
Offer content of value along the entire service
chain.
During a strike mobile app users were up-to-date
because of information rolled out on the mobile
site. Lufthansa is not a content provider but the
mobile channel helped it function like one.
Partner in success: T-Mobile
On deck advertising.
Why T-Mobile? One of the most popular cellular
companies in the country.
Targeting mobile customers of T-Mobile.
Lufthansa v. BMW
Both are German brands.
Lufthansa: service v. BMW: product.
Target the best because they are the best.
Global positioning: premium brand (top of the
Brand Pyramid).
Use of internet and mobile: innovation and better
customer service.
Strong branding and quality of service.
Lufthansa Mobile Analytics
Mobile users:
10% of Lufthansa boarding passes are processed on
mobile phones.
Growing at a steady 15%.
Sustainable for the airline that managed to break-even
despite huge losses to the airline industry.
Lufthansa wants to exploit what the phone can do.
Casey: “A self-selling proposition.”
Think Global, Act Local
Airline industry:
E-ticketing: PIA, Air Blue, Shaheen, Bhoja.
E-payments: PIA, Air Blue.
Self check-in: Air Blue.
Mobile version: ?
Next steps:
Mobile portal (and app)
M-ticketing and m-payments!
The Sky’s The Limit
Thank You!