Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Critical issue : if you can change the shape of the triangle by finding
out how to get closer to customers than the competition can manage to
do, you win; conversely, you lose.
As the environment changes rapidly, the need to constantly re-evaluate
what is needed to win increases
Customer Focus
..then we have to concern ourselves with :
Defining the customer : customer and prospect,
first-timer, repeat, regular, solus (loyalist),
advocate
Consumer motivation : needs, wants
Customer decision-making roles and processes
Specifier, user, influencer;
Co. decision on travel class, carrier, etc
Market information
Market segmentation
SWOT
Objectives and strategies
Develop and implement plans
Continuously review and correct
Market information
Scan the environment
Travel market overview : mkt size (dom/intl, other modes,
etc), major mkt segments, growths, forecasts, character
Macro-economic environment : eco growth (GDP), eco
recession, money supply, inflationary factors, foreign trade
and investment, foreign currency trends and interest rates,
stock mkt, national BOP
Micro-economic environment : changes in consumer
disposable income, changes in travel expenditures, price
sensitivity, shifts in expenses trends, consumer credit
Thru internet
For advice,
booking,
ticketing &
rebates
How people
travel
As part of a large
group
As individuals or
families
Where people go
traditional
destinations, eg
Paris / New York
adventurous
destinations like
Kilimanjaro /
Brazilian rain
forest
Range
Capacity
Weight
Fuel burn, etc
Company mission
Capital structure and access to funds
Assets and advantages
Skills and remuneration levels
Internal relationships
New routes
New fares
Marketing campaigns
New aircraft launches
Capacity evolutions
Marketing Research
MR Programme
Continuous Projects : regular and actionable updates on specific
key trends that are important to your airline
Inflight surveys
Surveys of FFP members
Travel agent surveys
Surveys of internet web users
Enables obtaining mkt profile data dealing with reason for travel, destination,
socio-demographic profiles (age, sex, income, residence, nationality), previous
travel experience, and future travel plans
Buying and usage behaviour eg plng / bkg lead times, internet usage, length of
stay, travel companions
Customer satisfaction ratings for key aspects
contd
Special Projects
Competition
Cos performance
Specific missions or product projects
Urgency of results required for decision-making
Research Methods
Qualitative Research
Involves the collection of a significant amount of data from a relatively
small number of people in a fairly unstructured way, usually thru g d or
in-depth personal interviews
Due to the small scale, process can be completed quickly
Provides real insights
Guides in identifying which key issues are important to the customer
Statistically not so reliable, sample being usually too small
Research Methods
..contd
Quantitative Research
Involves the statistical analysis of information provided by surveying a
representative sample of respondents from the target mkt using a
carefully designed questionnaire
Personal interviews
Telephone interviews
Self-completion questionnaires mailed, emailed or distributed during the
travel process such as inflt surveys
Web-based surveys
Techniques above are listed in order of cost
Selecting the right method will depend on the trade-off between cost per
interview and your judgement of the value for money that each method
can deliver for a particular project
In some cases, your objectives will make the choice of method. However,
more often than not a mix works, or one method to start with and
based on that go on the more extensive quantitative route
Research Design
Designing Qualitative Research
Focus groups
Individual depth interviews
Defining the profile of the respondents
Marketing Audit
Internal :
Competition :
Evaluate and compare on above points
Any additional attributes
Mktg Audit
..contd
Customers
Total market
Volume
Types of traveller
Destinations
..contd
Environmental scanning
Political : stability factor, policies
Eco : GDP growth, trends by business sector, per
capita income, currency trends
Social : foreign nationals, ethnic, holiday travel
Tech : innovatives affecting which areas eg internet
Market Segmentation
Segmenting the market means dividing it into different customer
groups that are distinct from one another in order to :
A mkt segment is an identifiable group within a mkt that seeks the same
benefits or has the same needs
Develop and launch new customer propositions that cater for each
segment
Establish the relative attraction of each segment
Airline marketers have used the following segments over the years :
Business travel
Holiday travel
VFR (visit friends and relatives) travel
Business Travel
Needs
Good schedules
Speed
Comfort
Wants
Excellect service
Price sensitivity
Low prepared to pay for
quality, flexibility
Holiday Travel
Needs
Package of air+land content
Pre-planned solution
New places to see
Wants
Security
Price sensitivity
High low price is key
VFR Travel
Needs
Air fare only
Pre-planned solution
Price sensitivity
High low price is key
Approach Deficiencies
Over-generalisation
Applying the same yardstick to all : there can be sub-segments pricesensitive business traveller
Holiday trvlrs seeking quality and willing to pay higher
Fqy of travel
Travel pattern destinations, seasonality, indiv or group
Decision-making who decides for the travel
Socio-demographics business profile, social class, ethnicity
Further to the listing in the last slide, there are several other
Is there a very specific reason for trip being made, eg religious,
honeymoon etc
Who is paying and deciding on travel class and airline
Individual travel or goup
Market Segments
Business Segments
(sponsored by a co.)
Corporate business trvlrs
Individual business trvlrs
Meetings and conventions
Incentive groups
Ship crews
Labour traffic
Leisure Segments
(Self-sponsored)
Group vacationers
Indiv vacationers
Sports interest trvelrs
Adventure trvlrs
Cruise pax
Eco-cultural trvlrs
Other Segments
(sponsored by an orgn)
Govt workers
Refugees
Non-govt orgns (NGOs)
Teachers
Military
Other Segments
(self-sponsored)
Students
Immigrants
VFR
Religious trvlrs
Segmentation ..contd
Each of the foregoing can be further subdivided to give a more
detailed segmentation for mktg purposes
This is particularly true of the first of the 6 business travel segments.
Corporate business trvelrs - this large segment contains all the
business trvl rerated by large orgns.
Can range from senior execs trvling in F Class down to relatively junior
emps in Y (job status is the main criterion used by these orgns to decide
on the class of travel
Airlines have learnt a great deal thru analysing the customer data from
FFP
This enables airlines to develop and use additional criteria to refinie their
Mkt Segmentation approach, related to individual customer behaviour
Why Segment ?
Benefits of segmentation
Strengths
Mkt leader based on share &
approval
Superior schedules & svc
Effective FFP
Weaknesses
Lack of some key routes
Recent punctuality poor
Shortage of account mgt staff
Opportunities
Continued total mkt growth
New fleet = better reliability &
comfort
Be a leader in better ground
service
Threats
Temporary economic downturn
FFP competition
More use of substitutes
Marketing Strategy
Three main forms of strategy
Aggressive : where the objective is to increase mkt share
Defensive : where the objective is to maintain mkt share
Customer focus : where the objective is to obtain customer commitment or
loyalty
With each of the above, a strategic mix is used that focuses attention
on 4 key issues :
Important customer needs and wants that the competition provides for
Important customer needs and wants that the competition does not provide
for
Unimportant customer needs and wants that the competition does provide
for
Unimportant customer needs and wants that the competition does not
provide for
outmatch
do not offer
upstage
Customer
Viewpoint
unimportant
match
monitor
for change
do not offer
Customer
Viewpoint
unimportant
Dont match
monitor
for change
do not offer
important
Customer ->>>>>>>>>>>>
Viewpoint
Respond to
the customer !
unimportant
Airline Examples
In sequence
Virgin Atlantic
British Airways
Icelandair
Selecting Strategy
Segment
Suggested Strategy
1.
Customer focus
2.
Independent holiday
Aggressive
3.
VFR
Strong defensive
4.
Group holiday
Weak defensive
Marketing Plan
The preceding act as inputs to the Marketing Plan
At this stage, we need to analyse the major strategic considerations
related to :
Product Hardware
PRODUCT
Scheduling features
A/c type, fqy,
timings, no. of stops
Class of svc features
Inflt : cabin, seat
access, seating,
Catering, IFE
Ground : Chk-in,
lounge, baggage
Supplementary
features
Reservations,
bookings, spl svcs
Customer touchpoints :
Product Design
Length of haul
Short haul : first frequency, second timings, third ifs
Medium haul : timings, frequency, ifs
Long haul : ifs, timings, frequency
Redesigning Cabins
Seats
Specs
Pitch
Premium class seating variations
PSU features
FSC and LCC models
IFE
Cabin features : windows (size, shades, etc), overhead lockers
Section bulkheads
Lavs
Lounges
Baggage handling
Airport sales/ticketing point
Limousine service ?
Scheduling features
Class of service features in the air and on the ground
Clarity on service model essential - the FSC LCC conflict
Significance of Brands
What is a Brand ?
A brand is what the customer sees, feels and thinks about one
particular make of product that makes it distinct and preferable over
other similar products on offer
Master Brand / Sub-Brand
Eg Singapore Airlines
S-b are all the individual names that an airline will have for its different
products and services. Eg Raffles Class (Business C); KrisFlyer (name of
SQ FFP)
..contd
Brand positioning - where your brand fits into the market in relation to
competitors brands
Brand image - how the brand is perceived : eastern carriers are exotic,
German carrier is efficient
Brand value - perception of the brands capability to satisfy needs of
the target mkt segment
Brand preference
Brand loyalty
Brand premium
Brand management is the process of building on the strengths of
your brand family - working on the all the above aspects, then
auditing, and modifying as needed
Customer satisfaction
High aircraft utilisation
High load factors
High connectivity
Generate and maximize financial margins
Productivity of human resources
Flight Patterns
Major types :
O-D non-stop
Linear : multi-stop
Triangular : co-destination
Connectivity patterns
Hub and Spoke
Multi-Hub and Spoke
Promotional Mix
Personal selling
Advertising
Joint promotions using direct mail
Electronic media
Personal Selling
Benefits of Personal Selling
Focus
Flexibility
Effectiveness
Disadvantage
Expense
Advertising
Types of advertising media
Co-operative advertising
With hotel chains, travel agents, etc
PR
Sales Promotion
Corporate sales
Corporate prospecting
Corporate contract