With its first ever region-specific ad, Lufthansa tries to widen its India base

From the outside they may appear idiosyncratic but Germans actually are not. The first ever region-specific commercial of the German carrier Lufthansa tries to say this cogently in a bid to emotionally connect with Indian flyers.

The commercial begins with an elderly man delightedly telling his grandson that together they are going to fly to New York to visit the kid's father. But quickly adds in a dejected manner, "But it's a German airline." He further shares his trepidation with the grandson. "They are bit different. Always serious. Their movies are always great. Probably they have not heard of Bollywood," he says. When the talk comes to the food, he simply dismisses it with a wave of hand.

Nevertheless, a genteel Indian flight attendant welcomes them on board even as the surprised kid turns back to see his grandfather's reaction. The kid is taken aback when the in-flight entertainment plays Swadesh and the attendant serves Indian food. Overwhelmed, the grandson tells his granddad that they "are in the wrong plane". The grandfather calms him and says, "Everything is fine."

The commercial with the adage "More Indian than you think" is indubitably historical for Lufthansa.

"The good feedback that we have been receiving ever since we aired the commercial has turned it into a best practice in Lufthansa," says Wolfgang Will, Director South Asia, Lufthansa. It have taken Will over six months to convince his superiors at the airline headquarters in Frankfurt to agree to an India-specific commercial.

"Lufthansa is well-known for safety, reliability, class and perfection. The brand connect was very technical. We wanted to bring in the emotional part too," he says. "We also wanted to make our India-specific services more visible such as Indian cabin attendants, Indian vegetarian food and local entertainment."

A lot of compelling reasons helped Will convince the management about the need to strengthen the airline's brand. The primary reason was growth. "We are well-positioned when it comes to business travellers. We are looking at expanding our clientele among leisure travellers," he says. "Middle-class is growing and their purchasing power is increasing."  

Currently the airline operates 46 flights out of India every week from five destinations - Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune. It has enviable load factors in certain sectors. Its average load factor in the Chennai-Frankfurt sector is over 90 per cent and it now plans to introduce Airbus A380 soon. At 526 passengers a flight, A380 will help Lufthansa not just meet its demand but also leave room for lot more passengers.

Will hopes that expanding the customer base will help the airline fill those seats. "We have sought permission of the aviation officials for starting A380 flights to New Delhi and Mumbai. We hope to do so by December," he says.

There is also a plan to increase the number of flights. The bi-laterals between India and Germany allow Lufthansa to add more flights (increase the frequency from exiting locations or add new locations). "We are constantly looking at expanding our operations or starting flights to new destination," says Will, who spent five years in Mexico before moving to take charge of South Asian operations late last year.

Another important reason for building the brand is competition, which has hurt the airline's yield from the region. The aggressive marketing by Gulf-based airlines like Emirates and Etihad has turned India into a highly competitive market with a lot of capacity getting added.

"We need to work hard to defend our share and grow," says Will. He says that cost-cutting can help maintain margins only up to a point and, therefore, a consistent high load factor is critical. Refreshing the brand through the commercial will help Lufthansa maintain its edge in the Indian market, especially among European airlines. "With the advertisement we have touched the Indian soul," he says.

Will now hopes that it will translate into wider customer base.