Marcus Podorf
Sep 6, 2018 · 3 min read

The Lufthansa New Premium Brand Refresh

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the crane, every detail of the Lufthansa brand was reworked — to meet requirements of the digital age. The new Lufthansa appearance gives the individual elements a new, modern quality to sharpen their impact. The designers found great importance in taking up the unique design tradition of the Lufthansa brand and leading it into the future. –Lufthansa Press Release

Lufthansa and the ad agency DDB hired me to lead transition, interpretation and implementation for the new brand identity across its digital touch points and for the below-the-line marketing activities. The relaunch was planned for more then 3 years ahead, and will be finished at around 2023. Each plane of the Lufthansa fleet consists of approx. 50,000 branded elements; not included the multiple Lufthansa Lounges and physical touch points around the globe.

When I provided expertise and leadership in the transition for 10 months in 2017 and 2018, we have built and set up a team of around 50 members, fully dedicated to the brand, its global work, and with a scope of around 1,000 tasks to be planned and delivered in the weeks ahead to make the “new premium brand” refresh a full success. My work included the establishing of key performance indicators on the development, requirements and management of all related projects, too, sans compromising the goals and profit of the organization. A brand is a core equity of a company — and a refresh a huge investment.

The full scope of work included brand and digital strategies, platform concepts, the unique Lufthansa tone of voice, and crucial CRM activities, new contents, a new imaginary language, culture change and an additional transformation process for the Lufthansa Group Airlines as the holding company of Lufthansa.

I was very happy and proud being part of such an amazing project — to work with and to work for Lufthansa was one of my life-dreams for decades.


About me, Marcus Podorf:

During the last 19 years, I have been working in Germany for clients such as Mercedes-Benz, Lufthansa, Citibank, Konica Minolta Europe and Tourism Ireland. Working for multinational agencies as Wunderman and DDB, I have led extensive digital transformation and CRM projects, setting up and educating teams, and completely changing brand identities. I have devoted my career to developing winning brand, marketing and growth strategies, boosting brand awareness and positively impacting businesses and communities — especially in digital environments, and mostly for premium and luxury brands.

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