Marketing Communication Plan of Ryanair - Case Study Example

Full Full Marketing Communication Plan of Ryanair Introduction Ryanair is an international airline company basedin the Irish city of Dublin with a long record of providing the needs of customers with low fares to travel to a number of destinations across the Americas, Africa and Europe (Calder, 2002, Creaton, 2007). The airline has a total stock of one hundred and sixty eight aircrafts plying all the routes the company operates. In the 1990s the company enjoyed tremendous success largely due to the thriving capacity of the low cost business model. Unfortunately, in the last few years Ryanair has come under increased media lambasting for alleged inefficiency in service provision (Mulligan, 2008, Creaton, 2007). There is no doubt that this unpalatable media propaganda about the lapses in the operations of Ryanair is threaten to exacerbate the dwindling fortunes of a potentially successful company in the wake of stifling competition in the low cost industry. It is against this background that management have committed themselves to the goal of reversing the tide of negative publication against Ryanair through a comprehensive media communication plan to be implemented in the 2009 business year. Ryanair understands that the process of realizing the comprehensive goals enshrined in the communication plan must of necessity reverberate amongst our global clientele base. We risk being pushed out of business by the contemporary challenges of the twenty first century. As an outcome of a broad based consultation exercise, Ryanair's immediate formal marketing quest is to target low and medium income earners, civil servants, students and seasonally unemployed people. For good reasons the current recession in the global economy as predicted by the World Bank is expected to run into the whole of 2009 into the early parts of 2010; the effects of the economic slowdown is definitely a fall in income levels which will compel people to opt for low flights to serve their traveling needs. The Role of the Marketing Communication Plan within the Marketing Program To achieve the stated marketing goals of the company, the following elements of the marketing communication plan is being highlighted as part of the process of achieving the goals: The primary mission of the communication plan is to generate and sustain awareness about the innovative ingredients contained in the customer service package for the medium to long term framework. Aggressive promotional materials that will purposefully address the customer's needs as an integral component of the operations of the company. The plan will also allow for the efficient location of relevant customer information. For the 2009 marketing year, there will be considerable attention on such vital issues policy decisions, facilities, the introduction of new services, online platform for the discussion of enhancing marketing programs. Whilst pursuing these provisions, the communication plan will encourage continuity in the current list of workable marketing strategies that have served customers well in the last few years. It is expected that by so doing, the platform will be created to usher in the communication plan using a workable coordination of marketing activities. Objectives of the Marketing Communication Plan The strength of the communication plan lies in its ability to explicitly identify and recognize the following foundational objectives as the key to the success of the marketing policies of Ryanair. To positively impact on the attitude of our discontented customers with the view of attracting new customers; To be able to reach out to approximately 80% of air travelers within and outside Europe with the message of innovation in our transforming company; To create the enabling environment through incentives in the marketing strategy to boost the attractiveness of Ryanair to customers across the world. Message Strategy The increasing demands of the business climate in the twenty first century are characterized by tough competition brought about by globalization and its attendant effects. It is based on this realization that Ryanair is poised to implement a strategy that is not only consistent with its core values but also placing it one step ahead of its main competitors as part of the drive to satisfy their traveling public. The following factors listed below are of paramount importance to the strategy that defines the communication plan. I) Message Peculiarity Essentially, the marketing communication plan is conspicuously going to highlight the value placed on each customer through enhanced service delivery, user friendly information data base for customers, investors and other interested stakeholders. The company's visual image and identity will be used in all communication materials in a fashion that is consistent with the company's communication policies as stated in the stylebook. There will also be an internal mechanism that will allow for innovation from departments and employees liaison with the Marketing and Public Relations departments as part of the drive to address the marketing needs of the company. II) Design of Ryanair kits The company will produce a special list of kits to offer to its customers during the regular flight sessions as well as during special occasions like the New Year holidays. The content of the kit includes: - A mug that bears Ryanair's logo; - Informational brochure; - Promotion business-size card that bears the Web addresses on the sides; - Bookmark. III) Media Relationship Ryanair will pursue a multifaceted approach to relate with the media using wide assorted mediums such as electronic and publication message propagation, sustainable marketing and advertising strategies etc. Over the years the company expended so much energy in being reactive to unpleasant media publications, this is progressively going to give way to a more constructive and proactive methodology. Within the framework of this new strategy, the relationship between the company and the media institutions both at home and abroad will be built on the publication of news items that have a direct connection with the goals, values and mission of the company. In addition will implement a method that allows for an online data base software to keep a detailed record of all news publications and their respective reporters and press houses. In doing this, it is expected that there will be a firm relationship between the company and the media institutions. It also has the added advantage of facilitating the process of monitoring and evaluation of the policy's success or other wise within the context of the communication plan. Target Audience The Marketing Communication Plan of Ryanair is designed to produce a self-regulatory feedback that will be generated from the target audience through a series of activities and strategies. Management within this context is fully aware that the company serves a whole variety of customers from a variety of social dispositions and demographic groups. To this end, the communication plan needs to be an all-encompassing integrated policy that will not leave any part untouched. It should be admitted that within the short term framework the plan has chosen to target customers within the low income group, believing that in the near future the plan will be expanded to reach the groups that are outside this domain. Inasmuch as it is absolutely necessary to have a wide target group the emphasis is being placed on the low income group customers for the reasons given below: They by far constitute the greatest lump of our customer base; Low income earners are more conditioned to seek for low fare tickets should they consider traveling by air; The global economic recession has hit so hard that the real income levels of most people have being eroded thus increasing the total number of people who will be potentially be grouped under the low income group. - Creating a comprehensive marketing plan that addresses effective ways to reach low income level customers will also serve to help the company in its bid to reach its other audiences moreover going for a particular target group is an integral part of marketing activities within a time scheduled arrangement. Campaign Execution The successful execution of the marketing communication plan of Ryanair requires a well consented collaboration between all sectors of the company. It is also crucial to gain the confidence of stakeholders thereby roping them into the early stages of program down to all aspects of the implementation stage. Team work is a requirement that can never be compromised granted the plan will succeed. In order words through out the implementation stage the plan should be accepted and implemented internally within the company before selling it out to the public. The marketing department also has crucial role because of the frontline role they occupy in the company's overall marketing agenda; thus making their involvement highly imperative. Marketing executives will keep senior executives within the plan as part of keeping track of the plan at all levels of the implementation stage. It is also necessary to point out that the main publicity gear will be set in motion as soon as the year begins. The publicity process will begin on a modest scale to pick up steam as the year progresses and also based on the intermittent feedbacks generated. As part of the process of carrying out a sustainable implementation program it is prudent to identify a specific element within the target group so as to ensure a consistent view of the implementation process (Onkvisit, 2008). Doing this has the advantage of creating the platform for the transmission of timely indicators contained in the feedback process. Ryanair will choose an accessible travel and tour agency that has a solid experienced in the low fare industry to partner it in the communication plan. The choice will be carried out in each of the main routes that Ryanair operates; on the basis of this relationship there can be contact between the customers on the one hand and the company on the other hand. Ryanair is fully aware that the feedback that will be generated will be both negative and positive. The company will give equal premium to both the negative and positive feedback that will be generated based on the realization that whilst it is imperative to highlight the positive feedback generated there is also a compelling need to view the negative feedback as an open-ended opportunity to smoothen all the rough edges in our customer service delivery package through effective marketing. In a related work Callan (2006) proposed the following factors stated below as the main forces that will influence the process of selecting a specific section within the broader target group in order to achieve positive record in the implementation of the communication plan: Identification and nurturing some early adopters that are responsive and in tune with the dynamics of the industry; It also necessary to target and deal with experienced players in the industry; target some high-status researchers; charge them to spread the message to their colleagues. Conclusion In many ways the marketing communication plan of Ryanair is in harmony with the description presented by Fill (1999) that fundamentally the communication plan will highlight "all strategies, tactics, and activities involved in getting the desired marketing messages to intended target markets, regardless of the media used." As with most marketing communication plans, Ryanair's plan inputs several marketing communication mediums to reaffirm its stated goals and objectives within the context of twenty first century corporate activities. There has being a conscious effort to maintain a regular and understandable flow of the goals and objectives of the plan within the overall corporate agenda of Ryanair. Reference: Ace, C. (2001). Successful marketing communications, Butterworth Heinemann/CIM, Oxford. Alan, R. (2007). Michael O'Leary - A Life in Full Flight. ISBN 9781844880553 Baker, M. (2007). Marketing Strategy and Management, MacMillan, Basingstoke. Black, F. (2007). "O'Leary plans new all-frills airline for flights to US". Retrieved on 17th December 2008 Calder, Simon (2002). No Frills: The Truth Behind the Low Cost Revolution in the Skies. ISBN 1-85227-932-X Callan, P 2006, 'Effective strategies for making your repository popular and well-loved', QUT, viewed 16 December 2008, Creaton, Siobhn (2007). 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