German FA sponsor Lufthansa’s latest Euro 2016 ‘Everyone’s Fanhansa’ activity plays on the nation’s rivalry with England in the form of a comic commercial that sees two English supporters worried about lederhosen, sauerkraut, oompah bands and football defeats when delays see them switched to a Lufthansa flight.
The German airline, a long term partner of Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB), gently mocks English fan attitudes and stereotypes about Germany and Germans supporters: most playing on long-gone clichés and one or two on contemporary realities.
The reality of the flight, of course, turns out to be altogether more pleasant.
The campaign is led by a TV ad, developed in partnership with agency Kolle Rebbe. that launched in early May and is rolling out in both Germany and the UK through the tournament.
The TV ad and the wider Fanhansa campaign continues across the airline’s digital and social channels.
Lufthansa shares passenger experience: like you've never seen it before. https://t.co/eRFDua9cRj #travel #fanhansa pic.twitter.com/ePa4Ulv3XK
— Marisa Garcia (@designerjet) May 29, 2016
The campaign emerged from a brief from Lufthansa marketing VP Alexander Schlaubitz, marketing head Benita Struve and advertising team members Claudia Dreismann and Kendra Gödickemeier and was developed by a Kolle Rebbe agency team that included creative MD Fabian Frese, consulting MD Andreas Winter-Buerke, planning MD Ralph Poser, account director Nina Frank>, unit creative director Christian Kroll and creative directors Oleg Friesen and Bjoern Neugebauer.
The spot, which marks a return of the airline’s ongoing ‘Fanhansa’ DFB sponsorship initiative (which ran through the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup, drives fans online to find out more about Fanhansa at the digital hub at www.lufthansa.com/fanhansa.
The TV work spearheads a campaign that also sees Lufthansa launch a series of Euro 2016 promotions ranging from a new Fanhansa livery aircraft for the German national team’s flight to France – complete with fan names on the side (which join the existing FIFA World Cup Winner Livery aircraft that continues to fly until the next World Cup in 2018)
German football team on the way to the European Championship in France with #Fanhansa -> https://t.co/OWYD6PjZUY #Lufthansa #Aviation
— Aviation-News.net (@aviationnewsnet) June 8, 2016
Wie könnte euer Name auf dem #Fanhansa-Flieger aussehen? Findet es jetzt heraus: https://t.co/5Vzqz5w27Chttps://t.co/KeZLBwLRL3
— Deutsche Lufthansa (@Lufthansa_DE) May 27, 2016
Ready for take of… #Fanhansa #DIEMannschaft pic.twitter.com/sEyMg0TzNx
— Frankfurt Airport (@Airport_FRA) June 7, 2016
‘The motto of our European Cup campaign is “Everyone’s Fanhansa” and the idea behind the new Fanhansa plane is that football fans will join us as we fly the national team to France on June 7. Our other promotions also focus on our football-loving customers,’ explains Alexander Schlaubitz, Vice President Marketing at Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
Lufthansa customers also have the chance to win trips to France and other tournament and brand related prizes in May and June by entering the airline’s Euros competition online and through social media.
In order to help get Lufthansa passengers in the mood for the Euros at Munich airport from 10 June a public viewing ‘Trikomat’ will ensure that football fans can create their own personalised Fanhansa jerseys.
Comments
The TV spot, which has already clocked up an impressive 4,209,503 YouTube views, illustrates that the tactic of playing on country clichés and national stereotypes is alive and well when it comes to football tournament marketing – despite public comments from several UEFA sponsors about avoid old-school, clichéd approaches to activation and engaging beyond the traditional male fan base.
Whether an British brand sponsoring the FA would have sufficient insight into other country cultures to pull off the same trick as Lufthansa remains to be seen.
The origins of the ‘Fanhansa’ idea came during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when Lufthansa changed its name to ‘Fanhansa’ on plane fuselages.
Links
Fanhansa:
Lufthansa Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/lufthansa
Lufthansa Google+:
https://plus.google.com/1037843023211…
Lufthansa Twitter:
Lufthansa Instagram:
https://instagram.com/lufthansa/
Lufthansa Foursquare:
https://de.foursquare.com/lufthansa
Lufthansa YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HhUC…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ0Wy…
DFB:
Kolle Rebbe: