Energize hooks up iconic Dutch cartoon character Miffy with KLM

KLM developed this campaign with Energize, in cooperation with Mercis, owner of the Miffy brand. Rogier Bikker, the agency's creative partner, told Campaign Asia-Pacific the thinking behind the tie in of the iconic Dutch brand with the cartoon character. 

Bikker said KLM hoped to raise brand awareness in China through Miffy, an iconic 57-year-old cartoon character created by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. Miffy is a household name among cartoon lovers in Europe and Japan, while the cartoon industry is booming in China.

He added that KLM’s past ad campaigns were very corporate, so this was a fun and new execution for the airline company.

While KLM's brand campaign tagline is 'journey of inspiration', the cartoon character has a similar value which is to challenge kids to explore. This is why she has an uncle who is a pilot in the cartoon.

Bikker added that apart from using Miffy as the brand ambassador, they are also using a number of key opinion leaders. For example, Blunt has a million followers on his English weibo account. Bikker pointed out that the target audience is Mainland Chinese consumers who are fluent in English.

All photos, videos and messages from miffy’s travel adventures will be shared on Chinese social media, including Sina Weibo, Renren and Tencent Weibo. Followers who participate in the many games, quizzes and online activities also have a chance of winning special KLM and Miffy prizes designed especially for the campaign.

 

 

The campaign has already attracted 3.4 million video views, 500,000 reposts, 250,000 mentions and 80,000 new KLM fans.

Bikker added that the campaign now includes merchandising, OOH advertising and other co-branded goodies inside KLM flights.

“This is the first time that a campaign with a social character of this kind has appeared in the Chinese airline industry,” says KLM’s managing director Erik Varwijk. “It should come as no surprise that KLM has chosen China. KLM serves eight different routes, which means it has the largest network between Greater China and Europe.”

However, airlines tapping the popularity of cartoon characters in their marketing strategies is not exactly new. In Taiwan, Eva Air has partnered with Japanese cartoon icon Hello Kitty for co-branded campaign, while Finnair used the popularity of Finnish cartoon characters the Angry Birds for cross-over marketing initiatives earlier this year.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was founded in 1919, making it the world's oldest airline operating under its original name. In 2004, Air France and KLM merged to form Air France KLM. 

CREDITS


Client: 
KLM 
Agency: 
Energize 
Account: Martijn Willemse, Vivian Gu Strategy: Klaas Weima 
Creation: Richard de Jong, Rogier Bikker, Paul Duijser, Niek van Wingerden
Photography: 
Edo Kars
Online Media: 
Pop Sigma
Production: 
Daphne Story, Tobias Pekelharing
Development: 
Rb2
Exposure: social media