Rebranding Lufthansa , from German iconic to banal obscurity?

[pax britanica]

Airline livery changes often seem good topics for controversy so has the new Lufthansa monochrome scheme been discussed here.

Personally i dont like it, LH was an absolutely iconic brand so why change especially to something bland that will not sell one single additional seat .

Also worried for the future of humanity if even the Germans succumb to the ultimate marketing idiocy of branding which usually means make whatever product or service you have sold for the last 35 years worse and cheaper and live off your reputation. One expects this kind of idiocy from the USA and often us but BA has got a great colour scheme even if it came about by accident, however no doubt when Generalisimo Cruz sees the Lufty scheme he will mandate the BA Flag is changed to two tone grey to save another Euro or three

[Danny G]

Yep, its the most boring livery I have seen for ages and makes you miss the old Lufty colours, I also liked how they segmented Condor with the iconic yellow tails. It makes you wonder who they have runinng marketing because you really want your product to stand out from the crowd not blend into the background.

[ZOOKER]

Certainly agree with you pax/Danny. It always looked classy, and was usually presented on a spotless aircraft. The new one just looks like everything else out there.

[jensdad]

I too am baffled by this. Are they actually competing against each other to see who can have the most banal colours? And don't get me started on Iberia's last 'rebrand'...

[RAT 5]

All this debating about something visual and not one photo to understand what you are debating about.

[El Bunto]

I was at Dublin airport recently ( not flying, stand-down Belfast flamers! ) and the Lufthansa A320s in the old colours were the epitome of German-ness as I know it; spotless, business-like but with a little humanity peeking out through the yellow circle on the tail.

The new livery manages to drain the humanity from the image. They look like a freight operator and presumably wil treat you accordingly.

[roverman]

Agreed. LH re-branding is awful. Mrs. Merkel should cover the tail with her scarf. You can't even credit it with being ugly or offensive, it's just plain forgettable, anonymous. Banal is the right word. Other flag carriers with well-recognised and effective branding which may be under similar threat: KLM, Aer Lingus, Air France.

But who are we, mere aviation enthusiasts and commentators, to judge? Change creates jobs and cash, for some. The very tensions induced by change generate a flow which can turn to cash flowing into the pockets of a certain few. So change is good, we are often told.

Bland is the new iconic.

[canberra97]

All this debating about something visual and not one photo to understand what you are debating about.

The brand refresh was revealed over two months ago and there are literally hundreds of photos online depicting the new 'updated' Lufthansa livery.

Everyone else seems to understand what they are debating hence the thread!

[FQTLSteve]

I agree with the majority sentiment re the re-branding. The old colours were perfect why change them, the distinctive yellow instantly shouted Lufthansa. I think the new colours are awful, drab and spoil the brand.

[M-JCS]

Agreed. Too often, re-branding seems to be change for change's sake and not really very well thought out. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see the other LH component airlines change their liveries to a similar colour (if that's the right word) scheme. Being the cynic I am, I can't help but feel as though it is one more step into nothingness, reflecting much of what the aviation industry has become.

[Mooncrest]

As the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Decades ago, Pan Am was toying with the idea of canning the famous globe logo. Thank goodness it never happened and, in fact, the globe just got bigger. Alitalia have kept their tailfin art for decades too.

The latest American Airlines tailfin logo is, in my opinion, easily forgettable. The old winged AA on the other hand was instantly American Airlines. Plain and simple.

[KelvinD]

Rat5: Here is one of the aircraft in question, D-AISP, arriving at Heathrow in February this year:
Ship Photos, Container ships, tankers, cruise ships, bulkers, tugs etc (http://www.kelvindavies.co.uk/kelvin//details.php?image_id=25208)
In contrast to much of what is being said here, I quite like it.

[Plane.Silly]

Not sure whether i like/hate it. It definately has the 'i'm a serious corporate' feel about it. slightly modern looking, but very bland and simple as well

Certainly doesn't stand out like it used to, i'll agree

[XSBaggage]

I can't really get worked up over it, and I think that is the problem, it is so bland. My two cents worth is that if they at least coloured the outer line of the circle and the crane yellow it would improve it significantly. Mind you, blue with yellow does suggest Ryanair!

[Cyrano]

Mind you, blue with yellow does suggest Ryanair!

I think this may have been one of their considerations. In a recent detailed German-language report (http://www.aero.de/news-29258/Lufthansa-Gelb-auf-Blau-ist-nicht-Premium2.html) on the thinking behind the changes, LH is quoted as saying essentially "blue and yellow is not premium, and we want our livery to signify premium". I read between the lines as "In the last couple of years, more and more aircraft with a yellow logo on their dark blue tails have been appearing in FRA, and ours don't look different enough to Ryanair's." Not saying this is the only factor but I think it's a major one.

[Plane.Silly]

"In the last couple of years, more and more aircraft with a yellow logo on their dark blue tails have been appearing in FRA, and ours don't look different enough to Ryanair's."

They still don't stand out, dark blue vs dark blue. If you wanted it to stand out, go for anything but dark blue and you'd have been fine.

[Just a spotter]

While I agree with the view that the new image is bland, I think Lufthansa found itself in a tricky position with its logo through no fault of its own.

Picture the traditional Lufthansa logo. Now, remove the crane. What’s left, is it Lidl or IKEA?

The company found itself with an image that was very close to two other well-known companies. A good marketing team can build an argument for spending money based on that.

JAS

[Logohu]

One can picture the scene in LH head office a few months ago...."Well, if blue and yellow is too much like the enemy, why don't we do something completely out of the box and different like red and white ?!? Hell, while we're at it and spending mega-euros let's change the name too, maybe call it Air Frankfurt, or Air Berlin, or......oh, hang on a minute"

[El Bunto]

While I agree with the view that the new image is bland, I think Lufthansa found itself in a tricky position with its logo through no fault of its own.

Picture the traditional Lufthansa logo. Now, remove the crane. What’s left, is it Lidl or IKEA?


Lidl and IKEA don't usually have little liveried-tails down the left-hand column of flight-booking websites, though, which apparently was one of the use-cases that drove the digital-first redesign.

Now instead of a blue tail with a yellow circle and tiny logo, Lutfy will have a dark-blue tail with a white circle-and-thing. I may be silly but I don't see how that's going to stand-out on Expedia versus the Aer Lingus Shamrock or the BA Chatham Dockyard.

And once they'd finished being digital-first they looked at how to apply that to the aircraft livery. Seriously, that was the order of priority.

[chaps1954]

American now says exactly what it is AMERICAN but the Lufthansa scheme doen`t say anything other than it looks like a bland leased aircraft
with a neutral scheme.

[jensdad]

''Picture the traditional Lufthansa logo. Now, remove the crane''
Apologies, but I'm not sure I follow. The Lufthansa logo is the crane. If you remove it, then of course it's going to look more similar to companies that don't have a crane on their logo!


I've heard previously that they yellow was dropped because the blue and yellow was associated with Ryanair. I've nothing pathological against Ryanair, but I do find it a bit disappointing that a venerable airline like Lufthansa are letting Ryanair (or Lidl for that matter) set the agenda.

[FlightDetent]

Passed through 3 DE airports last week, took only one picture of an aeroplane.

This one: http://postimg.cz/images/Wftgr.jpg

[SealinkBF]

LH livery looked cheap, the new one is stunning.