Communication Strategy - Malaysian Airline - Case Study Example

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION GY-MALAYSIAN AIRLINE Executive Summary “Malaysian Airline System is a major airline operating flights from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and from secondary hubs in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching to destinations throughout Asia as well as a handful of destinations in Europe and Oceania”. (Anonymous, 2010) The company has been in existence for many years and communication strategies have enabled it to be on the competitive advantage. The company situational analyses which entail the 5Cs have been scrutinized in terms of company’s profile, its collaborators, customers, competitors and the context. The company has strength of having strong financial positioning, Weakness is the in established communication networks. The company is using the advantage of technology to have an opportunity of growth. The major company threat id the fly emirates which is the competitor.The company communication strategy involves the public address, social and the print media. A. Situational Analysis The company analysis will consider the 5C: (Boundless, 2013) Company. Malaysia airlines provide the transport of the customers. There are also restaurants around. The company has established a strong brand in the market which enables it to be popular and be on the competitive advantage. The goal of the company is to increase the profitability and be the number one provider of the airline services. Collaborators. The company has distributors and suppliers such as logistics international of the spare parts that may be in need of the information. They are vital for the maintenance of the airplanes. Customers. The customers are looking for the services that are cost effective and have a lot of safety and assurance. Malaysia has the customer’s requirements and this makes it to be on the competitive advantage. Competitors. The competitors, the Fly Emirates which try to reach the same target audience just like the Malaysia. However the Malaysia has positioned and established its brands so well. The competitor has strategized well in the usage of time and is timely in their transaction as compared to the Malaysia. This is an area that needs improvement. Climate. The climate or macro-environmental factors are: Political & regulatory environment. The Malaysian governmental policies which involve the taxation policy have affected the profitability of the company Economic environment. The inflation rate and the interest rates affect the performance of the company in terms of profitability. B. SWOT Analysis The airline communication strategy has been affected by the various internal and external factors. The SWOT analysis revealed the company condition in reference to its communication. I. Strengths. The company has strong company brand. The established brand has enabled it to thrive and be at the competitive advantage. The company has strong financial positioning. There was a recession in the previous year’s which was solved by the presence of strong brand. II. Weakness. The company has weak communication structures. There are no sufficient communication telephone links between the departments. This is said that they often affect the operations of the airline and thus the internet is used most of the time. The media that is used to reach the customers is the website and not all customers are able to access the websites to book the tickets. III. Opportunities. With the advancement in technology, Malaysian airlines is taking advantage of the technology to spread its information towards all the target audience such as the members of its departments,customers,suppliers,distributors of the cargo and all the other alliances that facilitate the running of the company. IV. Threats. The company is threatened by the existence of other international airlines such as Emirates that tend to provide the same services. Therefore, the company has to strategies in terms of communication so as to have a large number of customers and be on the competitive advantage. C. Communication Strategy Malaysia through the support of HR and IT department has been able to channel all its communication to its members. The company ensures that the information that circulates in the organization is not grapevine for this can destructive to the company. The company ensures that the information is reliable and reaches its client fast. The following strategies are to be used: I. Public address. They should have working public address with speakers that are allocated at all strategic places. This is to announce all the departure time and emergencies. This are usually destined for all who are under the sound of the voice. II. Social media. The Malaysia airlines should use the social media platforms such as tweetwe, faebook, tweeter, whatsup and instagram to communicate to its customers. The product and services of the company are made known to the customers through the channels. III. Print media. The company communicates its financial position to its shareholders by the release of its financial accounts. The company information is also written in the Periodical journals that are issued quarterly. IV. Level of communication. Malaysia should use both the top to bottom level and the bottom to top level of communication so as to ensure the reach of the information. The managers make decisions for the employees and customers to follow. The employees and customers are the eyes of the managers for they see what is on the ground. V. Use of videos and screens. There should be functional strategic positioning and placement of the screens to give the information towards the customers waiting for flight and also will give the employees information concerning the progress of the company. (Maxwell, 2014) D. Identifying the Target Audiences The company identifies its communication audience through the people involved in the day to day running of company. The company communication strategy is meant to enable various stakeholders to get the information in time. Ordinarily, proper communication in the company will bring proper administration of the company’s goals. The communication should always be in line with the objective of the company. The company target audience will consider the ages between 14-80 years old. All the customers from the geographical areas will consider. Both genders will also be liable to the company information. Malaysia airlines communication strategies target the following I. Airlines departments. The departments require information to move smoothly. The information should reach the people in the departments in time so as to enable the tasks to be completed in time. The company should use appropriate channels to ensure that the information reach the departments in time. II. Employees. The company updates are transferred to the employee’s emails to enable them to understand the functionality of the company. The objectives of the company are also emphasized and shared to them to enable them to stick to the vision. III. Customers. The company communicates the schedules of the flights through the various channels such as broadcast media, social media and email. The customer’s knowledge of the departure time enables them to be time conscious. IV. Suppliers and distributors. The supplies of the spare parts of the repair of the airlines in the maintenance department need communication in the case of the brakedown.The company have strategized to reach all the suppliers and the distributors in case of emergency. E. Determining the Communication Objectives (SMART) Malaysia airlines have a vision of establishing its brand across the globe and are the number one provider of airline services at a friendly price. It also desires to provide extra safety and comfort to all its customers so as to be in a competitive advantage. Ordinarily, communication is vital for this company since there has been increase in population and this has made the company to use technology to reach the rising population. The objectives of communications are: Safety and reliability of information. There has been the presence of the grapevine in the recent past. The grapevine always crumples the operations of the airlines. The objective of the company is to ensure that the information is free from doctoring by the malicious people. The information should also be measurable. This means that the information should be quantified so as to enable the appropriate channels to be used.Ordinarily,more information will require journals for publishing while short information will require instants SMS or briefs in tweeter. Saves time. The information should be able to save time and not to waste a lot of time. This means that the information should not be complex but easy to comprehend. Ensures the smooth running of the company. The company ensures that it communicate the information that is required to run the organization. This ensures that reliable information is shared between the departments to ensure the smooth running of the organization. To enhance the acceptability of the information. The information should be understood and should have smooth tone so as to reach a wide spectrum of the customers. F. Designing Message The company should have the messages that are acceptable towards to the stakeholders of the information such as the employees, various department, suppliers and distributors. The messages should be specific. This means that the purpose of the message should come out clearly since there are various audiences to receive the message and there is need to specify the audience of the message. The message should have a catchy title to enable the audience understand the message at a glance. This will ensure that the target audience gets the information earlier without confusion of the meaning. The company should also consider content creation in the messaging to its target audience. This means that the messages should be made artistically. The messages inform of videos should take captivating features and adds. The print messages should be edited in colorful ways to ensure that they are creative. (Csheing, 2010) The messages should also be acceptable by the target audience. The company should avoid the usage of slang as not all the students understand the usage of the slang. This will make the message to seem unofficial. The company should use official language since not all the audience understands the usage of the slang. The messages that the company should share include: Financial information. The financial performance and the account are shown quarterly in the journals. The company also uses face book for the travel fares and other changes. Malaysia airline profile Company updates and time schedule. G. Choosing Media The company should have various optional media to reach the customers and other target audience. The company uses social media channel such as face book, instagram and tweeter. They also use the email to ensure that the staff gets the information in time. The company should choose the media that is affordable. It should consider the following while choosing the media: Costs. The media should be cost effective towards the company and also the users. Ordinarily, production of Journals is expensive. This is the reason why the Company produces it once in a while.Facebook is considered to be the cheapest and it reaches more target audience. Coverage. The most acceptable and accessible media by the customers is the facebook.This is because apart from people socializing, there is information sharing among the stakeholders. The media should be able to reach all target audiences at the right time. H. Media Schedule Face book being the cheapest is commonly used by the company since it saves the cost and it also reaches many. This is revealed in the table below (Anonymous, 2010) Media Number Cost $ Social media Face book 10M 1800 Instagram 8M 1200 Tweeter 7M 1100 Print media Journals 2M 2200 I. Summary The company will use the desired media-face book, to reach all the customers and public address to which will ensure that the employees and the customers which are in the vicinity of the company. This will ensure that more customers to access the airlines in time and use their services effectively. This will increase the customer base raising the brand of the company. This will also enable the company to save costs and time since the communication is done at the time and disasters avoided which might cause unnecessary expenditure. PART B THE SMART AIRLINE The company has been in the service close to a half a century and many have the full trust in the company. Most of the grandees when questioned about this airline tend to agree on the sweetness of the cruise. The Malaysia Airlines has been on the move to provide unique services and products and this have worked in success. The company has fleet of jets that enables the customers to get their services at the right time. The jets and liners receive maintenance services at frequent times to ensure that the safety and the comfort of the customers are guaranteed. The brand of the company is so much established across the globe over the decades. This has made most customers to built loyalty towards the company. Most of the customers have the perception that the airlines are well maintained and that their safety is guaranteed. The established brand has enabled the company to have increased number of the customers who may want to use the airlines. Ordinarily, most customers have the nature of saving. The company ensures their demands are met. This is done through the establishment of a competitive price. The prices are lower than the competitors and that they do not compromise the products that the company offers. The services are of quality at that friendly price. There is no need for the customers to have doubts about the company. There is total guarantee of the value for your money. Malaysia airlines are a place to be in case one wants to travel. There is much comfort and safety not only for the luggage’s but for the lives of the individuals. Though scrutiny of the airlines is done before the plane leaves. This is to detect any defects upon the plane so that they may be solved in advance to avoid the loses. The statement of financial position reveals increasing profitability. This implies that this is company that is a going concern yet worthy of building loyalty to. There is need for the customers to have trust in the firm and act as marketing apostles to invite more for it to get more customers. The presence of kind, understanding and competent staff has made the Malaysia airlines a go zone. The services offered are stanning.The welcome with some soft drinks accompanied by some few interesting journals makes the customers feel at home. The sweet sharky voice accompanied by the smile of the attendant will chase all the negative pangs that one had. The food is sumptuous, a bite of the food will leave a party in the mouth all down the stomack.This is a place to be, a comfortable place where there would never be regreats.Malaysia Airlines! Works Cited Anonymous. (2010). Malaysia airlines. Retrieved 2015, from http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/my/en.html Boundless. (2013). Conduct a Situational Analysis. Retrieved 2015, from https://www.boundless.com/marketing/textbooks/boundless-marketing-textbook/marketing-strategies-and-planning-2/steps-to-creating-a-marketing-plan-28/conduct-a-situational-analysis-151-7221/ Csheing, Y. (2010). Digital marketing. Retrieved 2015, from http://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/marketing/digital-marketing.html Maxwell, P. (2014). digital marketing best practices. Retrieved 2015, from http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-best-practice/ Read More