Press Release 2004

Star Alliance wins 2004 Direct Marketing Association Grand Prix Award

Star Alliance, the airline network for Earth™, and its Creative and Advertising agency Harrison Troughton Wunderman (HTW) were honoured at the 2004 Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Awards garnering the coveted Grand Prix Award for its UK Status Match promotion which supported the alliance’s UK Enhanced Elite Benefits Programme.

The Star Alliance network and HTW also received Gold Medals in the Outdoor/Ambient Media, Multiple Media and Best Acquisition Strategy categories, as well as Silver Medals for Press Media and Leisure/Travel Market categories for the same promotion.

The Direct Marketing Association U.K. is the largest trade association in the marketing communications sector, with almost 900 corporate members.

“We are delighted and honoured to receive such coveted awards which are a direct result of the spirit of creativity and collaboration we share with both our member carriers and our agency HTW, and all the hard work our teams had put into this unique promotion” said Mark Davies, Director - Marketing Communication, Star Alliance.

“Given the broad market appeal and considerable customer interest generated by this initiative, these special DMA awards further demonstrate that together we can design and launch competitive, market-specific alliance products which better serve our customers and increase market share,” added Louise McKenven, Vice President – Loyalty & Marketing, Star Alliance.

The Star Alliance Status Match promotion was offered to U.K. residents between February 1 and May 15 2004 by participating member carriers Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, THAI, United and VARIG. During the promotion, UK based top-tier customers from any non-Star Alliance frequent flyer programme (FFP) were given the opportunity to have their FFP status matched in the Star Alliance member carrier’s FFP programme of their choice, and to receive special benefits pack as well as a 5,000 mile bonus when they flew their first Star Alliance carrier trip. In addition, Star Alliance Gold or Silver members were awarded 2,000 bonus miles for each new member they recruited.

New and existing U.K. Star Alliance Gold and Silver members received priority check-in at London Heathrow and Manchester airports, lounge access certificates, a 25% tier mileage bonus for completed travel and standby upgrade certificates good for use on participating Star Alliance member carriers across the network.

To promote the programme, Harrison Troughton Wunderman developed the ‘worn-out salesman’ Ad campaign  which visually depicts the hard work that typically goes into achieving top-tier frequent flyer status, effectively amplifying the appeal of the Star Alliance status-match offer. During its three month run, as part of a multi-media campaign, the advertisement appeared in business magazines, newspapers and on airport posters, taxi cabs and leaflets distributed on trains bound for London Heathrow. During the promotion, Star Alliance also opened a massage area in London Heathrow Terminal 1 and 4 departure lounges and invited tired and weary business travellers to get a massage - and register their interest in the programme.

Star Alliance was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer customers global reach and a smooth travel experience. The members are Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Spanair, Thai Airways International, United, US Airways and VARIG Brazilian Airlines. The member carriers offer more than 14,000 daily flights, serving 772 destinations in 133 countries.

To download supporting documents, use one of the links below or use the right hand button on the mouse.