Marcus Casey

Director of Marketing and Customer Relations, North America Lufthansa, Cologne, Germany & East Meadow, New York

important foreign market, with the WeFlyHome® program, he can declare, “No other airline brand in the world has been able to launch a product and marketing campaign that is customized to 21 different multicultural markets in the USA.” Lufthansa is one of the world’s leading international carriers. “Therefore,” according to Casey, “our marketing activities have always been directed towards attracting an international audience. Multicultural consumers have been at the core of the out-bound travel in the USA, mostly flying to their countries of origin. We knew the trend and decided to launch a program called WeFlyHome® that would assist foreign-born Americans to conveniently book their international travel at competitive fares.”

The WeFlyHome.com website was created to provide attractive fares from 17 destinations in the United States to over 21 countries in Eastern and Central Europe, Middle East, South East Asia and Africa. Working with their agency, Global Advertising Strategies, Lufthansa was able to successfully market WeFlyHome.com to multicultural communities in the USA achieving unprecedented growth in ticket sales with triple or quadruple-digit increases each year since 2005 when the website was launched. Marcus Casey did not see this unprecedented step as a risk.

“We consider every action as an opportunity to grow our brand in the hearts and minds of international consumers. Nowadays, the world has become a cohesive global marketplace, and the better we understand it, the more tailor-made campaigns we can produce which reward us with a competitive edge.”

Yet, he admits there are always challenges when marketing multi-nationally today, and according to Casey, most involve the old adage of “Think Global, Act Local.” Certainly, the ability to adapt messages to local standards is very important, but not always easy. In addition, the ability to maintain a strong unified image of Lufthansa is crucial. To preserve that brand value, the company follows strict guidelines and rules in every ad.

Marcus Casey describes himself as a true internationalist: “I like everything related to different cultures, people, traditions, and business styles. I think the ability to understand people who come from different backgrounds is the quality that every executive needs to have.” He continues, “Marketing to international audiences is even more fascinating, because not only you need to understand different cultures, you must be able to feel them. Only then, the marketing campaign you produce could trigger purchasing behavior in Asia, Africa, Middle East, and America. This is a combination of art and science and I am proud to be a part of the company that understands and cherishes that.” Contact: marcus.casey@dlh.de

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