HSBI students are developing ideas for Miles & More members at Munich Airport - including a dating app

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01.10.2024 09:53

HSBI students are developing ideas for Miles & More members at Munich Airport – including a dating app

It couldn’t be more practical: Even before the Lufthansa loyalty program Miles & More and Munich Airport launched their extensive cooperation at the end of June 2024, HSBI students were allowed to work on the design. Many creative ideas from the marketing module “Channel Management and Pricing” by Prof. Dr. Denise Demisch could now actually be implemented.

Bielefeld / Munich (hsbi). You would actually like to get to know someone like Markus Meile: The 42-year-old father from Starnberg runs a medium-sized company and is open, empathetic and sociable. You would also like to have him as a customer – after all, he earns very well, is tech-savvy and a networker. But winning him doesn’t seem easy: Meile is economical and wants to use his time effectively. If he goes on a business trip, it often begins at Munich Airport. You could meet him here, between check-in and departure – personally and with advertising messages. If he really existed… Because Markus Meile is not a person of flesh and blood, but a so-called “persona”, he is on a “customer journey”, passes “touchpoints”, ready for “conversion” and “use”. Welcome to the world of state-of-the-art marketing!

Developing a “persona” was one of the current tasks of the “Channel Management and Pricing” study module in the marketing specialization in the business administration degree at Bielefeld University (HSBI). Real background: Miles & More, the Lufthansa Group’s loyalty program, and Flughafen München GmbH have just started an extensive cooperation. The 36 million Miles & More participants can now collect and redeem miles in numerous shops at the airport in the Bavarian capital. “Students should think about what exciting added value could be offered,” says Prof. Dr. Denise Demisch from the HSBI Economics Department. “And they should develop personae representative of the target groups and explain how they become customers along their customer journey.”

Expert for data-driven marketing at Munich Airport is enthusiastic about the preparation of the student projects

This is how Chantal Volmari, Paula Gunder and Nele Görike came across Markus Meile. “My idea is called Munich Connect,” says Volmari, who is studying practice-integrated business administration in her 6th semester. “This is an app that allows you to get to know other travelers at Munich Airport and spend time waiting together in a café or restaurant. There are discounts and vouchers for every meeting. Working it out in detail, how it works and what benefits everyone involved has from it – that was really fun!” And it was worth it: the presentation by the three HSBI students not only received a very good rating from Prof. Demisch, but was also awarded by the two practice partners: with 25,000 miles per author. Karin Soller, responsible for data-driven marketing at Munich Airport, says: “I have supported many student projects, but have never seen such well-prepared content. The ideas are very creative, but not too far-fetched. What I liked best was the structured approach and that the presentation was built entirely from the customer’s perspective.”

Martin Willmer, key account manager at Miles & More, adds: “The Munich Connect app combines the two points of ‘waiting time at the airport’ and ‘traveling alone’ – I think that’s really cool. In our company, we always thought about how we could strengthen the Miles & More community.” Willmer also liked the winning team’s second idea: exclusive parking spaces for Miles & More members. “However, we obviously have to check how practical and economical these ideas ultimately are.”

But it wasn’t just the winning ideas that were well received by the practical professionals: “37 students took part,” says Denise Demisch. “All teams were very motivated and developed creative ideas. The overall quality of the work was very high, and all participants presented extremely well. From an HSBI perspective, you can be really proud here.” Karin Soller from Munich Airport confirms this: “All the presentations are very valuable for us because we were able to experience first-hand how the young generation looks at a topic and how they approach it. “

Theoretical input, new software tools and strong practical relevance for maximum learning effect

For Chantal Volmari and the other HSBI students, the project was not just about creativity: “Customer experience management was something new for me,” says the 21-year-old. “The lecturers gave us the necessary theoretical input. We were also able to learn to work with software tools such as HubSpot and Miro.” Background: The strategic and practical use of marketing software is becoming increasingly essential for marketing teams. HSBI lecturer Karsten Stracke from iundf Marketing Technology GmbH specifically accompanied the students in the correct use of various tools in order to make customer experiences like the one at Munich Airport possible.

The intensive work in the group was as challenging as it was valuable, emphasizes student Volmari. “The most important thing for me was the strong practical relevance. That meant more effort than with other modules – but we learned a lot more and, above all, much more sustainably.” Her professor underlines the uniqueness of this project: “What was particularly exciting about this project was that the students were already working on a strategic plan in the conception phase “We were able to work together.”

Karin Soller is not only happy about this, but also for the students: “I wish I had had the chance to be taught such practical content during my studies,” she says. “In this course I was able to experience for myself how close the HSBI is to the real world of work. Being able to develop a project that is not only actually needed in the company, but is also a high priority for the management, as is the case with us – that makes studying really exciting.” And she is very confident that more projects will follow soon Everyone benefits – the airport, the university, the students.

Chantal Volmari can now think about what she would like to redeem her 25,000 miles for. “Maybe for a new backpack. Or a flight to Italy. But the miles are valid for three years, so I’ll give it some time,” she says. Next up is the bachelor’s thesis. “For the practical part of my studies, I work with Dr. Oetker, where I’m currently in the marketing department,” reveals Volmari. “And there is currently a lot going on with the new sponsorship of the DSC Arminia Bielefeld women’s and girls’ soccer teams.” She most likely has a few fresh ideas in her bag.

Further information:

Press release on www.hsbi.de

Pictures

The students should develop a persona for the “Channel Management and Pricing” module …