A bank, a radio station or even a restaurant
On average 54% of the respondents of the research conducted in August 2018 in Germany were aware that KLM is an airline. Amongst respondents younger than 30, this number dropped to only 37%. Respondents who did not know that KLM was an airline thought it was a bank, radio station or restaurant.

To counter this basic lack of knowledge about the brand in Germany, the ‘We are an Airline’ campaign was launched to drive awareness in a way that pushes the boundaries of traditional advertising.

The aviation-themed restaurant served KLM in-flight meals for free. The cash machine did not give any money but surprised people with a free flight ticket and showed them all the benefits of flying KLM. The radio station had a KLM band playing specially made KLM tracks, and KLM benefits were wrapped in fun KLM news items, commercials and a quiz.

“With our new campaign for KLM Germany, we have taken an insight and turned it on its head. We’ve made a memorable awareness campaign out of the misconceptions that the general public in Germany have around what KLM is” says Esther te Pas, Managing Director of DDB & Tribal Amsterdam.

“This isn’t the first non-traditional campaign we have made for KLM. In previous years we have offered KLM passengers an intelligent luggage tag with location-based tips that guided them through Amsterdam – in another instance, we encouraged random strangers at the airport to share a Christmas dinner to underline the fact that the airline genuinely cares for people.”

In addition to the experiential elements, the campaign also rolls out on a radio, online advertising and via social media throughout Germany. The campaign song ‘We are an Airline’ by The Flying Dutchmen which was made by DDB together with MassiveMusic Amsterdam will be released on Spotify this week.

Credits:
Client: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Campaign: We are an Airline
Product: KLM Deutschland, Natascha van Roode, Armelle de Cordoue, Nadja Daller Sturm
Agency: DDB & Tribal Amsterdam
Managing Director: Esther te Pas
Concept: Ed van Bennekom & Jasper Diks
Creative Director Art: Ed van Bennekom
Creative Director Copy: Jasper Diks
Producer: Jesse Houweling
Production Company: Who’s McQueen
Director: Jonty Toosey
Producer: Rainer Spix, Chirus Guder, Bian Tabar, Robert Leisewitz
D.O.P.: Bruce Jackson
Scanning: Lisette van der Lee
Off-line edit: DDB & Tribal Amsterdam
Editor off-line: Lisette van der Lee
On-line edit: Compound
Editor on-line: Compound
Geluidsstudio: MassiveMusic
Music: MassiveMusic Amsterdam

This article is about:
KLM, MassiveMusic, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM Deutschland, Natascha van Roode, Armelle de Cordoue, Nadja Daller Sturm, DDB & Tribal, Awareness Campaign, We are an Airline, Bank, Restaurant, Radio, Aviation, Germany, Creative Agency