Lufthansa slams BA over slogan similarity

German airline Lufthansa has attacked the new British Airways brand slogan “The way to fly” because it is very similar to its own strapline “There’s no better way to fly”.

Lufthansa’s criticism is likely to cause embarrassment for BA, as the new strapline will run on its marketing and communication materials and is expected to make its debut in a television campaign, developed by M&C Saatchi, in May.

Lufthansa uses “There’s no better way to fly” on its website and marketing materials. A spokeswoman says: “If that is to be its new slogan, might we ask why anyone should prefer ‘the way to fly’ with BA when you can go with Lufthansa where ‘there’s no better way to fly'”?

BA has not had an over-arching brand slogan since it stopped using “The world’s favourite airline” in 1999. It maintains that “The way to fly” is just one of several possibilities under consideration.

Eli Abeles of airline specialist The ABS Consultancy says: “It must be very difficult to come up with something that’s completely new and tells people that you fly.”

BA has yet to appoint a replacement for worldwide sales director Dale Moss, who retires in June. Speculation suggests that director of marketing and commercial development Martin George is the front-runner for the position and that BA may merge sales and marketing responsibilities into one job.

Cover Story, page 22