Lufthansa Group has just announced plans to rebrand its Miles & More loyalty program as… Lufthansa Group Miles & More. While that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, it seems like a logical enough development.
Lufthansa Group Miles & More rebranding details
Several months ago, Lufthansa Group announced how it would increasingly use the “Lufthansa Group” branding among its member airlines, to create a stronger central identity. Along those lines, historically Lufthansa Group’s Miles & More loyalty program has simply been known as “Miles & More.”
Now it will evolve to be known as “Lufthansa Group Miles & More,” as part of a rebranding that the airline group describes as “distinctive” and “emotional.” Yes, adding “Lufthansa Group” to the front really nearly brings me to tears.
In other words, Lufthansa Group is just formally being added to the name of the program. Lufthansa claims that this is supposed to help the program become a unifying loyalty system for the entire group, with plans to update the visual identity by the end of 2026. Lufthansa Group goes on to share that there will be more changes beyond that, but make of that what you will:
The program will focus on providing even greater relevance and personalized experiences for members, including in terms of content. This reorientation is encapsulated in the new brand essence, “Moments that move you,” which places members and their experiences at the center.
Here’s how Lufthansa’s Chief Commercial Officer, Dieter Vranckx, describes this:
“Now that we have launched our new group brand, the next logical step is to integrate select group companies more closely into our brand architecture. This makes their affiliation with the Lufthansa Group more visible and tangible. The repositioning of Lufthansa Group Miles & More demonstrates our group’s cohesion while preserving the strengths and identities of our brands. This creates a consistent and compelling brand experience for our customers, partners, and employees across all touchpoints.”
This is fair enough, but misses the bigger picture
I think it makes sense that Lufthansa Group wants to increasingly tie its airlines together in terms of branding, to create a stronger brand identity. That’s logical, especially as the group continues to grow, with the recent acquisition of ITA Airways.
I imagine this is probably the case for historical reasons, but what I find so odd is that all of the “Group” branding is around the airline Lufthansa. There’s no neutral group name, which all airlines belong to. Instead, all the emphasis is on Lufthansa, even though (ironically) that has been the airline group’s biggest “problem child,” and it’s by far the least profitable airline in the group.
I suspect things are just that way because we’re so used to Lufthansa Group being a thing for decades, but you’d think they’d come up with a more neutral name that still has a brand identity. Looking at Lufthansa Group’s two biggest rivals:
- International Airlines Group (IAG) is the parent company of British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, etc.
- Air France-KLM is the parent company of Air France, KLM, Transavia, and soon Scandinavian Airlines; however, there are reports that the airline group may be looking to rebrand, to be more inclusive, with a possible name along the lines of “the Blue Group,” or something
Admittedly there’s no right or wrong strategy here. International Airlines Group is too generic of a name, if you ask me. Meanwhile if Air France-KLM goes for something like the Blue Group, I think that would probably be the most well thought out of the bunch (though I think it could use more of an aviation theme, to make it clear that it’s a group of airlines).
Bottom line
The Miles & More loyalty program is rebranding as Lufthansa Group Miles & More. Lufthansa Group is increasingly trying to use the central brand more among its subsidiaries, given that some people may not realize that carriers like ITA Airways and Brussels Airlines are associated with Lufthansa.
That all seems logical enough, though “Lufthansa Group Miles & More” is kind of a long name for a loyalty program. For that matter, I still think the overall airline group should get less Lufthansa centric branding. That’s obviously not happening, though, given that the airline group is currently rebranding more in that direction.
I just hope Lufthansa Group didn’t pay consultants too much to come up with that new name and brand identity.
What do you make of the Lufthansa Group Miles & More branding concept?