Asad AliBilal 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.

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 History (continued)

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.

Lufthansa Today

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.

Other Information

Journey of a BrandTake a deep breath…

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)

Brand and Positioning

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 Business Model

The Mobile Portal:– 18 months after its launch, the platform was re-

built 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.

Mobile Marketing Strategy

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 check-in procedures.

“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

Alliance with T-Mobile

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 Boarding

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)

Mobile Portal at a glance

Internet• Allows the same flight related

actions, functionalities present on the mobile version

• Offers Personalized content• Rates & Promotions

– Rates to destinations closeby– iPad application download

• Plan travel itinerary– Trip Finder– Book Hotel– Car Rentals

We have recreated the entire booking path that we have on our .com site for our mobile portal

~ Marcus Casey, Director of global e-commerce and mobile services, Lufthansa

Internet v. Mobile

M-commerce services:Travel insuranceHotel bookingsCar rentals

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.

Mufthansa: Ancillary Revenues

} Not the main business of Lufthansa

On deck advertising. Why T-Mobile? One of the most popular cellular

companies in the country. Targeting mobile customers of T-Mobile.

Partner in success: T-Mobile

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 v. BMW

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.”

Lufthansa Mobile Analytics

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!

Think Global, Act Local

The Sky’s The Limit

Thank You!