Cruise Convos | Julian Pfitzner, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises

Claudine Pohl: 00:00:02

What is currently happening in our cruise industry today? Join me for Cruise Convos as we discover and learn from cruise industry leaders across the globe all within 28 minutes! Cruise community this is Claudine with lemoneight and we are listening and part of Cruise Convos today, and we have a real epic guest with us today, Julian, welcome to Cruise Convos tell everybody who you are.

Julian Pfitzner: 00:00:34

Hi there. My name is Julian on the CEO of Hapag Lloyd cruises, the best cruise company in the world you've probably never heard of, but that will be different after today's talk.

Claudine Pohl: 00:00:44

Oh, I like it. Welcome, Julian. Thank you so much for taking the time to be part of Cruise Convos today. We have an epic conversation. Let's get started. But first, I'm gonna ask you three questions to get to know you a little bit better. So tell us first, what is your favorite type of drink?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:01:07

I love a good glass of wine to be honest. And if it's fizzy, it doesn't matter.

Claudine Pohl: 00:01:12

I love it. And let's see. Do you have a favorite television show?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:01:18

Well, if I find the time then I do enjoy watching The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Claudine Pohl: 00:01:24

Oh, I love that show. Awesome. Do you have any pets at home that you can tell us about?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:01:31

Only one, but probably that's very German. It's a sausage dog.

Claudine Pohl: 00:01:35

I love it. Awesome. Julian, that's great. Is it a girl or boy? What's name?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:01:43

It's a boy. And his name is Morris man.

Claudine Pohl: 00:01:47

Morris man...

Julian Pfitzner: 00:01:48

Yeah.... Explaining why that is will lead us so far. Just let me put it this way. My kids decided about the name.

Claudine Pohl: 00:01:57

Oh, my goodness. That's so cute. How many kids you have Julian?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:02:00

That's two of them.

Claudine Pohl: 00:02:02

Ah, well, that's great. Awesome. Let's tell the Julian tell us. What drew you in initially until the cruise industry?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:02:10

Well, actually, I'm in the cruise industry a little bit by accident. And to be even more frank, it was my mother in law who drew me in because she decided back in oh six to do her first ever cruise. And she couldn't imagine to do so without taking her daughter, my now wife with her. So somehow I got invited as well to join. And we found ourselves being on board, MS Europa, which is our vessel here with Hapag Lloyd cruises. So I was on board and I was not very keen on going because we kind of packed all kinds of suits and tuxedos and what have you in a lot of suitcases, what was called some holiday. So I was not too optimistic about how that would go. But on the second night, I was standing with my wife in the Santee bar at the stern of our vessel, and was looking into the water of the ocean. And I was telling her well, listen, at one day, I need to work for this company. Because if there's a company who can do those things like they do here on board, I need to work with them. And then well, a couple of years later, I joined.

Claudine Pohl: 00:03:21

Wow, that's amazing. That's incredible. And tell me a little bit more. So your first time cruising, what was that like for you?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:03:29

Well, the first time cruising, I was a totally newbie, to cruising. And again, this is now 206. So it's quite a while ago. And for me that felt surprising because it was the good old way of luxury cruising was dinner jackets and tuxedos and formal dinner nights and so on. But still, I was immediately captivated by the vastness of the ocean, which opens your mind. I was curious what the next day would bring always in new harbor a new endeavor, a new little surprises, and I was astonished by the service they were doing. But it's very intimate personal service, you know, if you get to know each other a bit better after a couple of days on cruising. So that was really mind blowing. For me. I've never experienced that before. It took me a couple of years until I joined. So I joined McKinsey and Company first to be strategic consultants. But then former CEO of Hapag Lloyd asked me whether I would do a little project for them, which was Europa II. And so I joined and est. And yeah, I have to say I'm still proud to be a part of this brand, over after more than 10 years.

Claudine Pohl: 00:04:34

That's amazing. Thank you for sharing that Julian, and having been in the industry for some time now. Have you seen the cruise industry evolve over the years? I'm sure you have. And, you know, what are some of the changes you've noticed since you've been in the industry from when you started?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:04:49

Well, first of all, I think it's fair to say that we've brought a little bit of change into the industry ourselves. So when I started, at least in Europe, Hapag Lloyd Cruises was more or less the only brand around with luxury cruise vessels as well as tradition vessels on a certain level. And with the introduction of Europa II, we kind of went down the road to go for relaxed luxury, quote unquote. So one of our mottos was 21 knots and no tie. So we wanted to kind of losen, a bit, the strings of classical cruising in the luxury segment, and brought the idea of relaxed luxury. It was a first and there was a lot of discussion about whether or not this would be the right path to follow. However, now we see that this is the industry standard in our segment, as well as to answer your questions, we see a lot more brands following into this little niche where we are operating as well in the luxury segment as well in the expedition segments. So we see more brands to come, we see more guests into this area of our industry, which is good, because there's room for everybody.

Claudine Pohl: 00:06:00

No, that's excellent. And then that is a huge niche market. Now it's growing. And you guys are leading the way. That's great. Julian, let's talk a little bit of a leadership and marketing. Your background includes rules and marketing. And and in that sort of the business, how was your experience in marketing, influencing the decisions you make as a CEO today?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:06:22

Well, you're absolutely right, I started my career in doing marketing for consumer goods. And then with McKinsey, I did marketing and sales product as well. So yes, there's a strong marketing background and marketing at the end of the day is nothing else but trying to understand or even better try to define who you are communicating to, and who you're selling a certain product to. And getting a grip on and wrapping your head around whom you are talking to, and whom do you want to position the vessel or product for is key as well in the cruise industry. And if you are trained to look through these lenses on certain business questions and challenges, that helps a lot and helped me a lot, especially as let's be honest, we market our products to a client to where we are not necessarily part of. So you need to find ways to understand their needs and behaviors without being part of them as well. And their marketing is a good training.

Claudine Pohl: 00:07:21

Yeah, definitely. And I think that that the marketing arm really helps a lot with the luxury cruise segment. Right? You're definitely you're really reaching them that way.

Julian Pfitzner: 00:07:32

Yeah, it is. Although you already said it's a niche market. And that holds true. So the very small percentage of every society, which is target or target audience for us. So the classic marketing toolkit, you kind of study at university, or you get to learn in the in the normal one on one of marketing, they don't help us. So you need to find your own specific ways, very personal, individualized ways of marketing your product. And obviously, it's no secret that digitalization helps a lot in this area.

Claudine Pohl: 00:08:05

Oh, excellent. Now as the CEO of Hapag Lloyd cruises, what defines your leadership and philosophy and style? And how do you approach leading a team in the cruise industry? Are there any specific like principles or things that you follow? Share with us your insights?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:08:24

First of all, I'm not too good in talking about myself. But however, I shouldn't leave this question unanswered/ So let me give you an example. If I was talking about, what do you do, I always said, Well, I'm looking after a cruise vessel when I was solely responsible for Europe II before my CEO role, and always was saying, I have two children, a dock and the vessel, because this vessel was part of the family, because it was part of my everyday life. And if I say...

Claudine Pohl: 00:08:55

Ah!

Julian Pfitzner: 00:08:56

...and but this this thought that our vessels are part of our family kind of explains as well to our leadership, we feel we are a family, with the crew on board, the crew ashore, we kind of step in for each other and, and we kind of behave a little bit like a little family with all the good and the bad things, you know, like families are you can debate very intensively. But then you're stepping in for each other, if bad comes to worse, and if one thing is good about the corona pandemic, then I can clearly say that the idea of being a family and sticking together really lived up to his best there. And yeah, now me being head of the family. That probably explains my, my way of thinking about my colleagues and my leadership style. Oh,

Claudine Pohl: 00:09:42

that's excellent. And you're very humble. Just you didn't even want to talk about yourself. That's incredible. You know...

Unknown: 00:09:49

Yeah, well, you know, at the end of the day, let me kind of paint a picture of from from losing again. If you're the captain, you're nothing without the guys who are doing the lines on there. So, yes, I am happened to be the CEO, and I'm very happy with this role. However, it's me, I'm nothing without my team.

Claudine Pohl: 00:10:11

Wow, I love that. Thank you for sharing Julian. And reflecting on operations of Hapag Lloyd cruises in 2023. What are some of the some of the key highlights or milestones for the company? Were there any particular strategies or initiatives that played in significant role in shaping this year's success?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:10:31

Well, I'm happy to say that 2023 is a year where we are back and we are strongly back, we are really happy with this year. Although in the beginning, we still had to work with the negatives of COVID-19, and all the test regimes which were still around in the world. And unfortunately, we see a lot of uncertainty in the world as well, if it comes to politics, if it comes to war situations, and so on to false and ever since still, we managed to have a really good year, where the year of premieres we're both for the first time in the Arctic with three expedition vessels. We never did that before. But we did have three. Now, after 10 years, we are back in the Great Lakes of North America with our hanseatic, which is tailor made to fit through the locks. In order to cruise the Great Lakes. That was fantastic. We have again done the Northwest Passage, which is another highlight of this year. But then there are little things as well, we can now have legal and binding weddings on all of our vessels. Well, if you want to get married and want to have a legally binding act of marriage, then you're happily Welcome on any of our vessels. And you now can even do marriages in Antarctica. So while we are talking, we have people getting married in Antarctica, which was pretty cool.

Claudine Pohl: 00:11:55

I think that is super cool. I think you guys had something out on that not long ago. Right? Yeah, I read something, I think yeah, I read something on that. That's amazing.

Julian Pfitzner: 00:12:05

Yeah. But then there are little things as well. We are further enhancing our shore power concept. So the Europa 2 or Hanseatic we're taking shore power in more and more harbors, which is good, and it makes us very happy. But then there are things as well. Coming back to get initial questions. We now pride ourselves of having the biggest champagne selection of float. So if you're into champagne, welcome on board we currently serve, I think, over 150 variations of champagne. So

Claudine Pohl: 00:12:40

are you serious? Wow. Yeah, that's epic. That is really, really cool. I like that. Now, do you find that people go on there? And they're like, Yeah, this is this is part of the reason why I picked us.

Julian Pfitzner: 00:12:55

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, that we have champagnes, which you can't get hold of ashore because you can't buy them you need to kind of get your allotment from the makers. And we for example, do Solan Champagne, which you probably haven't heard because there are so little bottles...

Claudine Pohl: 00:13:13

Where are they from?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:13:14

They're from France. Champagne maker called Salon like saloon, but only one 'O', and they do so little bottles that you get your allotment, your document is between two and six bottles a year. So yeah, so that is pretty cool. I have to say we enjoyed our guests really enjoyed it and the value that because we have a three star Michelin chef on board. So why should we have a very nice wine and champagne section as well. And, and to sum it up, we are measuring our guest satisfaction with the Net Promoter Score NPS. As you know, it's between zero and 100%, which you can achieve as a maximum. But I think 100% is not doable. However, we are ever seeing around 90, which is from my perspective, probably the best value in the industry. So we are very proud of that. And that makes us looking to deploy in a very optimistic manner. Wow.

Claudine Pohl: 00:14:11

Absolutely. That's great. And you're right, 90 is really good. Like I think that's a great number. That's, you know, you remaining 90 steady,Do you find?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:14:25

this varies obviously from cruise to cruise, but that should be our aim average. Yeah. Congratulations.

Claudine Pohl: 00:14:31

That's great success and really shows that reflects your leadership as well. Now, Julian, anticipating 2024 Looking ahead to the coming year. What can our listeners expect from Hapag Lloyd Cruises in 2024? Like, are there any exciting developments, new initiatives, emerging trends that you foresee shaping the brand and the upcoming year?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:14:56

Well, I mean, this will then be our 135 third year of doing cruises. And I think in every year ever since we have come up with new and exciting news and 2024 will be no exception of that. Although we are only close to Christmas, I can't unwrap all the little parcels we have already packed for next year. But what I can say already, we will do again this zoom is circumnavigation of Antarctica or the Arctic Peninsula. So Schreier, Argentina, and you end in New Zealand. And in between, you just go on the eyes of the Antarctic Peninsula, which is a 30. day cruise, which is pretty cool. That's a real adventure, I can say it's one of the last adventures around. So that's pretty nice. We're looking forward to this, our Europa will have a big anniversary next year, which we will celebrate in style. But then as well, I already saw that we have new routes, and even again, new ports. I mean, we do over five, I think even 600 different ports a year. But still we find new ports. And we will have new ports and our itineraries as well next year. And then for our guests, we will introduce a completely new price and tariff model. So Hapag Lloyd will have three tariffs, which will make it way easier for our clients and guests to book and to find their right price and their right tariff to fulfill their needs. I know we are not the first in the industry to do so. But it's now new with Hapag Lloyd and for us, it's a big thing as well.

Claudine Pohl: 00:16:29

That's incredible. You have a lot like a lot has happened in 2023. And it looks like you guys just keep going and go in 2024 looks incredible as well. Antarctica looks you know, you said it was 30 days?

Unknown: 00:16:43

days to go from Argentina to New Zealand via the Antarctic Peninsula.

Claudine Pohl: 00:16:50

That is correct. Julian, I love that you said Aregentina not Argentina, that you said it correctly.

Julian Pfitzner: 00:16:59

We try to immerse a little bit into the areas and to be honest, our home pod is Hamburg in Germany, because that's where the company is. And that's why you have the Hamburg flag on all of our vessels. But the port we're going to most is Ushuaia in academia. So that's why there's a lot of commitment to the country and to the port.

Claudine Pohl: 00:17:20

Oh, wow. I did not know that. Julian, Tell, tell our listeners, how many vessels do you have in total?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:17:28

At the moment, we have five vessels, three vessels of our Hanseatic class, which are luxurious expedition vessels and two vessels over Europa class, which are ultra luxury vessels. By the way, I just got five stars from the Insiders guide to cruising, and therefore we are the only fleet in the world which five star vessels concerning to this guide.

Claudine Pohl: 00:17:54

WHAT?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:17:54

So pretty pleased with it.

Claudine Pohl: 00:17:57

Congratulations! Yeah. So how did you guys get that? Like, was there a process? Or how does that happen?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:18:06

The Insiders Guide to Cruising, which was called the Berlitz guide to cruising for the last 20 years, it's? Well, it's a it's a cruise testing guide, if you want to put it this way. And they come on board the test vessels, they rely on independent test persons where we don't know who they are. And they kind of give the feedback, as well as letters from our guests and so on to false and then they have a secret kind of point scheme and come up with points. And at the end of the day they collect the points and they sum it up. And since 10 years, you're about to collect the most points and now we priding ourselves that five out of five, under the top five.

Claudine Pohl: 00:18:50

WOW! like incredible, well done, congratulations, you and to your entire team. That is... That is excellent. Like, you know, you think of excellence, you want to be at that level, right?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:19:04

Absolutely. That is our goal every day. But to be honest, the overarching goal is to make our guests happy and to make sure that we have experience and moments, which they will always remember that is normal. The rest follows.

Claudine Pohl: 00:19:22

Yeah, definitely. Julian, where are your most of your guests coming from? Like, what is your target area like Germany?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:19:29

Well, we are a German company. We're a German based company. So we have obviously a strong client here from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, so from German speaking countries, we see a lot of people now every year even more people from abroad coming in. So the US actually is an interesting market for us as well as the UK. While we are talking we have a lot of people from Taiwan and even from China on board. So we are positioning our vessels more and more international and we are happy to welcome people from all over the world and acquaint them with our way of doing things.

Claudine Pohl: 00:20:04

You're diversifying a lot like people are seeing, wow, I want to try this line or they've heard or, you know, this is great.

Julian Pfitzner: 00:20:13

You know, I think it was, I don't know, nine to 10 years ago, I was in New York, and we had a little press conference and NHF of The New York Times wrote about the best cruise line you've ever heard about. In his article, he said, Well, there's a special way about German hospitality and the way they're doing things. And if you look around in the world, five star hotels, you tend to find quite frequently, our hotel directors, which are from German speaking or northern European countries. So this is the way we do things. I'm not saying that we do it better, but we do it differently. And we like it. And so maybe your listeners want to try it. We can only congratulate them to the decision if they do.

Claudine Pohl: 00:20:54

No, that's excellent. Yeah, definitely. You know, I've never cruised with you.

Julian Pfitzner: 00:20:58

That is a scandal in its own. You have to cruise with us.

Claudine Pohl: 00:21:03

Yes, Fran and I from Seatrade. She's our producer, we're gonna come. But it's interesting to hear I love the perspective and like, you've painted a picture of what your brand represents, and what your brand offers. It's beautiful. I, you know, I thought of your brand before and you know, you hear you see you imagine, but when I'm hearing it from you, you painted a picture. And I love that it just all of a sudden you just put your brand way up for me. It's it's incredible. And congratulations again, you, you and your entire team have really done amazing work.

Julian Pfitzner: 00:21:44

Thank you very much. Yeah, we try hard, we do our best. And as you say, quality is the sum of the details. And that's what keeps us busy every day.

Claudine Pohl: 00:21:54

What is that? Again, quality...

Julian Pfitzner: 00:21:56

is the sum of the little details.

Claudine Pohl: 00:21:59

I love that. That is beautiful. Now, Julian, you've been with us almost half an hour, I'm going to ask you our very last question, right? This is the question we ask every guest that we have. And the question is, are you ready?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:22:15

I am ready. The pressure is on.

Claudine Pohl: 00:22:18

Get excited. Julian, come on.

Julian Pfitzner: 00:22:22

What about my sausage dog?

Claudine Pohl: 00:22:25

All right. So last question is, if you look back at your younger self, if there could be one piece of advice, what would you tell your younger self?

Julian Pfitzner: 00:22:35

I have to say that there are probably three things I will tell myself in the youngest stage. The first thing is, Be a little patient, good things come to those who wait at least a little. The second thing is do things you love, and your job will not be work. And the third thing and that's the most important, it's always the people that matter.

Claudine Pohl: 00:23:01

Wow, Julian, I love that advice. I truly, truly love it from the heart. I have never met you in person. And I was in Hamburg. But I look forward to meeting you and at least getting a picture with you. I thought you were pretty cool. And that's why I invited you on the show. But now that I've you know had the opportunity to talk to you. You went way up to my books. I really think the world of you and I love your leadership style. Thank you so much for being part of Cruise Convos with us.

Julian Pfitzner: 00:23:31

Thank you very much. It's been a pleasure.

Claudine Pohl: 00:23:33

Thank you Julian and Keep shining! Take care!