This New Lufthansa Campaign from Serviceplan Has Us Itching to Jet Off
Lufthansa and Serviceplan Group have unveiled a new campaign to promote the airline's exciting new cabin product, Allegris. The work is the first ever global initiative from this agency/client relationship since they began working together in 2023.
At the heart of the campaign, which is an iteration of Lufthansa's ‘Yes’ brand platform, is a new brand film, directed by Iconoclast Germany duo Nono & Rodrigo. It is complemented by a series of six videos and eight still images, which will be distributed across connected TV, social media, custom partnerships, audio, and out-of-home placements in major US cities.
Allegris marks a full, revolutionary re-design of the entire cabin of select Lufthansa planes, improving the experience for those in first class, business, premium economy and economy. While the central brand film dynamically transports the viewer across all corners of the plane, the smaller selections of videos hone in on select options and features. The campaign purposely focuses on passengers and playful stories of how Allegris improves their flying experience.
What's more, German NBA basketball star Dirk Nowitzki is on board as a Lufthansa ambassador. And what better way for an airline to promote its new seven-foot long business class beds than placing a seven-foot tall basketball player in one?
"We will continue to create more work that pushes the brand into new worlds and dive into some ambitious partnerships on the way," says Till Diestel, chief creative officer of Serviceplan Germany, on the future of the Lufthansa x Serviceplan relationship. "More to come."
But for now, LBB's Addison Capper was keen to delve deeper into this new campaign. He spoke with Andreas Gassler, head of marketing, the Americas at Lufthansa, and Erick Barrios Hernández and Wolfgang Warzilek, global executive creative directors at Serviceplan Americas.
LBB> What kind of brief did you present to Serviceplan for this campaign? What were your big hopes for the campaign as a brand?
Andreas> Lufthansa Group's vision is ‘Shaping aviation loved by generations to come’, and we have always been an innovator in the airline industry. With Lufthansa Allegris, we aimed to set new standards, and we wanted our communication to reflect that. Our brief to Serviceplan was focused on achieving this vision, and we are very pleased with the outcome.
LBB> Outside of advertising the new Allegris product, were there any particular elements or anything else that you wanted to get across in the campaign?
Andreas> The airline industry was hit very hard during the pandemic, but Lufthansa has recovered, and is investing a record sum of around 4.5 billion euros in new aircrafts, new seats, lounges, and improved culinary and digital offerings to significantly increase the passenger experience. While our main goal with this campaign is to showcase Lufthansa Allegris to our customers, we also want to further highlight our commitment to enhancing the overall travel experience.
LBB> Wolfgang, what were your initial thoughts when you saw the brief?
Wolfgang> The brief was to promote the hero features of the new Lufthansa Allegris experience across all four travel classes. Right from the start, we didn’t want to come up with standard product films.
Just look at smartphone or laptop commercials, they’ve got a ton of features to highlight, yet they manage to keep it entertaining. Why should we take a completely different approach? Our ambition was always to create something unseen in the aviation category.
LBB> What was your starting point? How did you familiarise yourself with the new Allegris product and begin to imagine how a campaign could fit within your wider 'Yes' platform umbrella?
Erick> When we started the process, we went through spreadsheets with product specs, watched demos, read detailed product descriptions and asked our clients plenty of technical questions. Little by little, the creative team got to know the features inside out. For example, there are five different seating options in Business Class and after a few weeks, we could all tell them apart. The interesting thing is, we only saw the actual Allegris aircraft just a couple of days before we started shooting in Germany.
The link to the ‘Yes’ platform came naturally. Our bridge lines focus on the emotional benefit of the Lufthansa Allegris experience. That ranges from having a smooth family trip with a baby to getting work done during the flight and taking advantage of a spacious seat. The human benefit is always front and centre.
LBB> What was the research and strategy process like? What key insights did you unearth?
Wolfgang> This all ties back to our ‘Yes’ platform. We’re still big on the idea that every passenger has their own unique world. Even though the brief might sound a bit technical, we wanted to tell short stories about our passengers’ journeys on the plane and how the Lufthansa Allegris experience makes them even better.
LBB> Allegris is a new product across all classes - I'm intrigued to know if that caused any challenges in terms of communicating it? You have to talk about the luxury of first class, comfort of business and normality of economy all in one piece of communication. How did you consider that?
Andreas> All Lufthansa travel classes, from economy to premium economy, business, and first class, are being upgraded to top-quality products, unparalleled in the market due to its seating variety. We didn't see this as a challenge but as an opportunity. Each class has unique features that are new to the market, and it was important for us to highlight these in an innovative way. Serviceplan did an excellent job with the six short films, showcasing each class's distinct qualities.
Erick> We made individual films for each travel class to highlight the hero features. But in the main film, we cover all the classes and focus on the unique feeling of travelling in the Lufthansa Allegris, a new travel experience. It’s always an upgrade, whether that’s using your own bluetooth headphones in economy, enjoying a bed over seven feet long in business, or having a private suite in first class.
LBB> The main film has a real dynamism to it in the way it moves from scene to scene and around the place. What kind of vision did you present Nono & Rodrigo and how did they go on to develop the film from there?
Erick> Our goal was to make travelling exciting again. We want people to watch the ad and think ‘I want to be on that plane.’ Although there are over 10 features shown in the film, we didn’t want supers highlighting them. Again, it was all about capturing the feeling of travelling in a new way.
We all loved the idea of having an all-knowing narrator commenting on the passengers and the features. That’s one of the elements that ties the film together.
For the scenes, it took a bit of exploration during editing to get the right flow. We wanted it to be dynamic but not hectic. The music also helps guide the viewer, starting smoothly and building up to a lot of energy by the end.
LBB> Why were they the right directors to bring your vision to life?
Erick> We were fans of their films for Converse and Ray-Ban Meta. Their visuals and storytelling are truly modern, and they have a talent for making everyday scenarios feel new. On top of that, they were extremely collaborative throughout the process, and we all clicked right away during our first call.
LBB> The introduction of Dirk Nowitzki as a brand partner is done really nicely - give me some more insights about it!
Wolfgang> He was literally the perfect fit for the role. Teaming up with him was a dream. Just as Lufthansa, he’s got German roots but is known internationally. Also due to his height, it was a no-brainer to have him try out the extra-long bed in business class. Seeing him comfortably sleeping in it was the best testimonial we could ask for.
Andreas> Both Dirk Nowitzki and Lufthansa share a global presence, deeply rooted in Germany. Dirk is not just a sports icon; he embodies the values that resonate with our brand — strong principles, charisma, and an unwavering commitment to excellence in everything he undertakes. His international appeal and dedication to quality align perfectly with Lufthansa’s mission to deliver the best for our passengers. This makes Dirk the ideal partner for our Allegris campaign, and we’re truly excited to have him on board.
LBB> What were your key essentials when it came to the voiceover, who would do it and its general vibe?
Erick> We got lucky meeting this voice-over artist in Berlin, and we’d worked with her on a previous Lufthansa project. We loved her voice, and she also had great input during our recording sessions.
We wanted an all-knowing narrator who was genuinely excited about the new Lufthansa Allegris features, plus curious about the passengers’ stories. We aimed for a tone that was genuine and laid-back. Even though some scenes are in Business and First Class, we kept it friendly and down-to-earth.
LBB> Overall, what was the production process like?
Wolfgang> We only had the plane for four days and needed to capture everything – six product films and key visuals – in that short window. It was a massive logistical juggle between the production crew, our internal team, and the clients. We ended up shooting almost nonstop, with multiple shoots going on at once and teams working early mornings and late nights to make sure we had creative, account, and client coverage at every point.
