Marketing Strategy of Aer Lingus - Assignment Example

? Marketing Strategy of Aer Lingus Executive Summary In this paper, the researcher will shed light on marketing strategy of renowned Irish airline company Aer Lingus. In the first part, the paper will try to discuss the business portfolio of Aer Lingus while the second part will shed light on segmenting, targeting and positioning of the company. Discussion about the integrated marketing policy of Aer Lingus will be core essence of this paper. In the next part, the paper will discuss about the pricing policy of Aer Lingus. Consumer behaviour of patrons of Aer Lingus will be discussed from the view point of means end chain analysis in the later part of the paper. Concept of service gaps model and service profit chain will be discussed in this paper in order to understand service matrix of Aer Lingus in comprehensive manner. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Aer Lingus- Business Matrix 4 Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning (STP) 5 Aer Lingus- Competitive Positioning 9 Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) 11 Advertising & Public Relation 11 Sales Promotion & Digital Marketing 13 Product/Service & Distribution 14 Pricing 15 Business Class 16 Flex Fare 16 Consumer Behaviour 17 Services Marketing 19 Service Gaps Model 19 Service Profit Chain 20 Recommendations 21 Reference 24 Introduction In this paper, the researcher has selected Aer Lingus, which is a renowned Irish airline company, as the sample organization to conduct marketing audit. In the marketing plan of Aer Lingus, the researcher will cover facets like business profile of the company, industry environment analysis, competitor analysis, previous marketing strategy of the company. Segmenting-targeting-positioning (STP) of the company, integrated marketing communicating communication (IMC) plan of Aer Lingus, service marketing mix of the company, consumer behavior regarding the offering of Aer Lingus. In the next section, the report will try to gauge the business profile of Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus- Business Matrix Birth date for Aer Lingus is dated back to 1936 when Irish Government founded the airline in order to provide air service between Ireland and United Kingdom (UK). The company has headquarter in Dublin Airport, Fingal, Ireland and it the Irish airline giant was listed in Irish and London stock exchange during the year 2006 (Competition Commission, 2013). Currently, Irish government holds 25.1% of shareholding in Aer Lingus. The airline company operates as ‘value carrier’ while it has signed number of agreements air line companies of other countries such as Aer Arann, Air Bus etc in order to manage its low cost services. Primary market for Aer Lingus includes Republic of Ireland, continental Europe, UK and USA. In the year 2012, the Irish airline company has carried more than 9.6 million passengers across the boundaries. In the year ended 31 December 2012, the company has reported annual revenue of more than €1,350 million with operating profit hovering over €65 million. The company has established its base airport in Belfast City and shown the interest to expand its destination routes by 2 times in next couple of years (Competition Commission, 2013). The Irish airline carrier has established its base in Belfast City along destination points include Manchester, Birmingham, Gatwick and Heathrow airports of UK (Competition Commission, 2013). Great Britain-Ireland destination root contributes 30% to 33% of the top line growth and 45% of total passengers for Air Lingus. Until 2001, Aer Lingus operated as full service carrier but after 9/11 world trade centre terrorism the company has transformed itself as low-cost carrier. Since 2009, the company has completely changed its positioning statement has become ‘value carrier’ by serving centrally located airports in order to decrease its travel path and save the fuel cost in order to deliver service to customers at competitive price. The company has also entered in partnership with existing low-cost airlines in order to deliver low cost services to customers (Competition Commission, 2013). In 2013, Air Lingus has signed wet lease agreements with Virgin Atlantic Airways which one of the global giant in the field of airline industry. Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning (STP) STP is the strategic vertical of any marketing plan. Noronha and Singal (2004) have pointed out that providing quality service in terms of affordable price, promptness of service delivery; timely flight departure etc is the main value quotient for any airline company. In such context, Aer Lingus focuses on catering demand of both price sensitive and time sensitive customers. After 2001, Aer Lingus has repositioned itself as value carrier rather instead of being a mere low cost carrier. There are some basic elements in the ‘value carrier’ positioning statement of Aer Lingus such as lowering the fare of flight booking for customers, increasing the frequency of flight, providing point to point service, fare specific seat selection facility, reducing benefits in short haul flights, charging for additional benefits in long haul flights. To ensure its value driven positioning, Aer Lingus has entered in number of agreements in order to increase its flight frequency, decreasing cost of providing service to customers. Aer Lingus has segmented its point-to-point scheduled passengers on the basis of any other demographic variables instead of income (competition commission, 2012). Berkowitz (2011) has segregated airline consumers on the basis of their capability to pay. As Aer Lingus is trying to position itself as value carrier which can differentiate in terms of service offering hence there is no surprise why the Irish Airline has segmented its customers on the basis of their disposable income. Before going to that discussion, the researcher will try to understand the previous positioning of Aer Lingus. (Source: O’Cuilleanain et al, 2004) In 2004, Aer Lingus has positioned itself as an airline which is able to offer range of services to customers but within the span of next 9 years, the company has repositioned itself as value carrier which offers flights to fly from Dublin to any other cities (Aer Lingus, 2013). Economic recession and sovereign debt crisis has decreased the disposable income level of majority of travelers across the world and in such circumvented situation, lowering the fare of ticket was viable choice for Aer Lingus in order to attract customers. Another important thing is that, entry of large and resource (both financial and non-financial) rich international players such as British Airways, Virgin Airlines in the Ireland-UK channel has decreased scope for national players like Aer Lingus to differentiate. Hence the company dropped some of its unprofitable services in order to become value carrier which is able meet specifically the demand of price sensitive customers (competition commission, 2012). Recently, the company has announced its merger decision with Ryanair which is a pure low cost airline service provider. Industry analysts have suspected that, in future course of time Aer Lingus will further reposition itself from value carrier to low cost service provider. A mix model of income, education, age and psychology can be used in order to define the market segment for Aer Lingus Table 1: Customer Segment Segment Age Group Annual Income Level Education Customer Segment & Reason to Fly Consumer Behavior Segment 1 18-25 > $25,000 High school education, college level education and university level education Mainly students who want to go for study in universities of UK and USA, young professionals who want to visit other countries and Ireland for work purpose and young couples who want to visit exotic locations for holidays. These customers do not have much access to wealth and do not have sufficient money to afford luxurious flying experience. Working professionals have to fly frequently for work related matters hence they prefer low cost flights in order to save money. Segment 2 26-55 $25,000-$60,000 Masters degree education, college level and doctoral level education. They prefer to use flights for business traveling and visit to families. Some of these customers also fly in order to spend holiday in exotic location of Europe with families. They are business class travelers and prefer to buy standard priced tickets while travelling with families. Segment 3 35-65 >$60,000 Education levels hardly any roles in their purchase decision. They often fly due to work related purpose but prefer luxurious flying experience. These customers perceive flying as symbol of social status and they want sacrifice these status by flying in a low cost airline. (Source: Competition Commission, 2013) Based on the above segmentation, it can be clearly be clearly surmised that demand segment 1 and segment 2 matches well with the current value proposition of Aer Lingus. As Aer Lingus is planning to become low cost carrier by establishing partnership with national and international low cost airlines such as Ryanair, Aer Arann etc hence it can be assumed that the airline is distancing itself from segment 3 or affluent class customers. Target customers of the AER Lingus can be depicted in the following manner. Table 2: Target Market Customer Profile Target Personas In the age group of 18-40 Income level $20,000-$45,000 College level degree, masters degree Many of these customers are frequent flyers and prefer flex fare in order to book or change flight schedule in customized manner. These customers both prefer plus fare and low fare scheme in order to travel across nations. In the age group of 30-60 Income level $45,000 to $70,000 College level degree, masters degree and doctoral degree These customers prefer business class seats in Aer Lingus in order to fly in luxurious manner by paying affordable price. (Source: Aer Lingus, 2013c) Aer Lingus- Competitive Positioning Although Aer Lingus has tried to expand its destination routes and distribution channel but till date the Irish giant has failed to attract customers of USA or continental Europe. Till 2013, domestic air services and Ireland-UK destination route contribute almost 70% of its business portfolio. Hence, it can be assumed that Aer Lingus decide its marketing strategy on the basis of its competitive position in context to air services between Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland (Competition Commission, 2013). Apart from these two companies, there are small domestic carries which operate through the Northern Ireland route to London. Aer Lingus has signed franchisee agreement with Aer Arann in order to cater demand of price sensitive customers of Ireland who want to fly to UK or different parts of Ireland in low cost manner. Aer Lingus maintains the following competitor profiles while deciding the marketing strategy. Competitor Service Business Model Flybe It is a regional player which provides short-haul services to customers. The company operates through different routes such as Southampton to Dublin, Exeter to Dublin etc. The company follows hybrid business model by offering both low cost frills and full service specification. Aer Arann Although the company provides under the brand name of ‘Aer Lingus Regional’ but individual services of the company can be classified as competitive threat for Aer Lingus. Majorly focus on low cost air line services. British Airways In 2009, the company has withdrawn its London Gatwick to Dublin airline services but in 2012, it has acquired BMI in order to enter London-Dublin and London-Belfast corridor. The Airline giant provides both short and long haul services. Focuses on full carrier service to customers but there is possibility that price sensitive customers might get ready to shell out extra bucks in order to experience the comfort and luxury of service provided by British Airways. EasyJet The company provides point-to-point low cost carrier services to customers. The company provides services from Belfast City airport to airports like Luton, Gatwick etc. Direct competitor of Aer Lingus because value positioning of both the company is same that is providing low cost airline services. (Source: Competition Commission, 2013) Market positioning of Aer Lingus can be depicted in the following manner; (Source: Competition Commission, 2013) Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Although IMC includes a comprehensive list of promotional techniques such as advertising, sales promotion, public relationship activities and direct marketing but there is hardly any company which uses all of these techniques simultaneously due to reasons like fear of message clattering, wasting of money in irrelevant activities and lack of scope to contact directly to customers. Similarly, Aer Lingus uses only advertising, sales promotion, public relation and digital marketing to promote their brands. Advertising & Public Relation Aer Lingus is trying to reposition itself as low cost carrier in order to maintain its competitive position in fiercely competitive airline industry. Hence Aer Lingus has taken help of VCCP Blue which is a advertising agency in order to run TV commercials, billboards, posters, radio campaigns, poster etc positioning Aer Lingus as value carrier or better to say low cost carrier (VCCP Blue, 2008). Recent TV commercial and radio advertisement of Aer Lingus contains the ‘take a fresh look’ in order to attract customers. (Source: VCCP Blue, 2008) Even the company has hired some local celebrities in order to endorse the low cost positioning of Aer Lingus through TV commercials. An instantly recognizable green shamrock is being used by the company in order to promote low cost fare offering to customers. Hollywood celebrities such as Colin Farrell (who is Irish born) promote the brand through print mediums such as magazines and news papers. Print advertisement and TV commercials of Aer Lingus also promote its three unique features of its service offering. (Source: Aer Lingus, 2013d) TV commercials and print advertisement of Aer Lingus promotes its Sky Deli service which offers fine dining experience to customers, comfort & entertainment which offers customized movie watching experience in LCD screen to customers and sky shopping which gives opportunity to customers to shop retail merchandises while flying. Aer Lingus also offers privately published Cara magazine as in flight offering to customers. The company also posts its advertisement renowned magazines and newspaper of Ireland. When it comes to public relation activities, Aer Lingus has established partnership with UNICEF Ireland. Both of the organization has created the advertisement campaign “Change for Good” in order to raise fund for unprivileged segment of the society. Recently, top officials of Aer Lingus had visited Zambia and other African nations as Part of “Change for Good” campaign. Aer Lingus also use press release format of public relation measures in order to promote their humanitarian work and connect with customers. Apart from conducting road shows, press release and “Change for Good” campaign” have helped Aer Lingus significantly to raise brand awareness about the company among customers. (Source: Aer Lingus, 2013e) Sales Promotion & Digital Marketing Aer Lingus offers discounts, seasonal reduction in price in order to attract customers. For example, the ex-Irish national airline offers Gold Circle Club as part of its Frequent Flyer Programme in order to increase loyalty of customers who travel frequently through Aer Lingus. Members of Gold Circle Club earn fly point which can be realised by them as discount on ticket price OF Aer Lingus and its partner airlines. Frequent flyers also have the opportunity to use fly points in order to access range of quality services as in-flight experience. The company also provides the opportunity to customers to purchase gift vouchers having Aer Lingus signature through the online website of the company. The company organizes Luck Draw contest among the buyers of gift vouchers and the winner gets comprehensive discount on flight bookings. Even customers can redeem their price money by converting the gift voucher into monetary return (Aer Lingus, 2013a). As part of sales promotion, Aer Lingus has also created partnership with local and international travel agencies in order to provide discounted and affordable tour package including food, lodging, travel etc. For example, Aer Lingus has recently launched a 5 day tour package of Ireland to customers of USA. Now, when it comes to digital marketing, Aer Lingus can’t be classified as forerunner in this division. Generally, Aer Lingus uses social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and its own website to post ads and exciting offer. The company has designed its website in attractive manner in order to engage customers and offer latest services to customers. The Irish airline also promotes online voucher and merchandise to customers through its website. Promotional e-mails regarding latest offering and customer loyalty cards are sent through e-mails to customers. Product/Service & Distribution According to some Parasuraman et al (2005) service marketers can use its service offering as part of promotional mix in order to attract customers. Aer Lingus is service marketer; hence there is hardly any tangible element in the service mix of the company. Research work of Rugman and Verbeke (2004 and 2005) has shown that large air line companies need to create a demarcation in their service mix in order to provide services which require low transactional cost. In such context, Aer Lingus has rightly repositioned itself to low cost carrier in order to decrease its transactional cost. Enright (2005) has argued that airline industry is cost intensive industry where restraining business in domestic market only increases the amount of transactional cost hence expanding the distribution centers or destination routes outside Ireland was strategic choice for Aer Lingus. Aero planes of Aer Lingus carry passengers from different airports of Ireland to countries like Portugal, UK, USA etc and this is the main service of the company. Basically, Aer Lingus provides ferry service by helping passengers to travel between Republic of Ireland and Great Britain. Major airports such as Belfast, Dublin, Rosslare, NW England, Scotland and Wales act as cross border channels for Aer Lingus (Competition Commission, 2013). Customers can save more than four hours of travel time in comparison to other transportation modes such as train, ferry etc while using the air service of Aer Lingus to travel between London and Dublin (Competition Commission, 2013). There might be question about attractiveness of flight path of Aer Lingus to non-time sensitive customers but fact is that level of substitutability between airline service and other modes of transport is very limited. Hence it can be assumed that current service offering of Aer Lingus will continue to attract customers. Aer Lingus offers both ‘from host country Ireland’ and ‘from destination country’ airline services to customers. For example, the company states that it offers Ireland as base for customers who want to travel from Dublin and Belfast to different countries of Europe and North America (Aer Lingus, 2013a). (Source: Aer Lingus, 2013a) Over the course of time Aer Lingus has changed its business positioning by establishing alliances with other air lines. Recently, it has decided to merge with Ryanair which is basically the founder of the concept low cost carrier in Ireland and offers more low cost services than Aer Lingus. Research scholars such as Doganis (2001) and Oum et al (2000) have argued that there can be three types of alliances such as, 1- route by route- where merging airlines provide services in few routes only, 2- broad commercial airlines- where merging airlines match all of its commercial and passenger services and 3- equity alliances- when merging companies involve in joint promotional activities and flight code-sharing. Aer Lingus use only route by route alliances in order maintain their control over alliance decision. Pricing Careful analysis of the positioning statement of Aer Lingus shows that it has repositioned itself as ‘value carrier’ not exactly a ‘low-cost carrier’ as Ryanair. Ticket price of Aer Lingus is not the not the lowest in the industry or it is lower than ticket fare of existing low cost carrier such as EasyJet. Value for money service of Aer Lingus depends on its ability to offer full range of services, wide range of destination, carrying business passenger and normal passengers etc in competitive ticket price. The national air carrier follows both competitive and bundle pricing in order to attract customers. For example, under bundle pricing, Aer Lingus offers full travel packages including flight, hotel booking, 6 days travel and car service at price of $699 to $999 (Aer Lingus, 2013b). When it comes to offering only flight services, Air Lingus has segmented its customers into four price bracket, business class; flex fare, plus fare and low fare (Aer Lingus, 2013c). Business Class Business class customers need to pay additional price in accordance with their distance of destination in order to access benefits like separate check-in areas in airport, reserve seating arrangement with 58" seat patch and personal entertainment arrangement and many other benefits. For example, business class customers might need to shell out more than $400 bucks for buying Aer Lingus ticket from Ireland to USA while ordinary ticket price may varies within the range of $240 to $300 (Aer Lingus, 2013c). Flex Fare In flex fare, customers have the option to change the date and time of travel even before two hours of actual departure without paying a single penny as change fee or late fare differential. In short haul flight service for Europe, customers have additional benefits such as refundable ticket, free of charges for checked bags, fee waiver for late check-ins which might or might not present in flex fare scheme for long haul distances to USA (Aer Lingus, 2013c). Plus Fare & Low Fare   In plus fare scheme, customers can get benefits like free seat allocation, carrying checked bag up to 20kg etc without paying additional charges. Low fare scheme has been created by the Irish airline company in order to cater to the demand of price sensitive customers who are ready to compromise with the service benefits in order to get low cost flying experience. In the low fare option, customers do not have the choice to select their seat and have only four check-in options. Customers get some additional benefits when using low fare scheme for long haul flights to USA such as carrying additional 13kg of baggage without paying charges, watching movies on demand etc which are not present in short haul flights to Europe (Aer Lingus, 2013c). The company also follows seasonal pricing techniques in order to reduce the price of flight ticket during festive season. Seasonal price of Aer Lingus can be depicted in the following manner. (Source: Aer Lingus, 2013a) According to the above diagram, Aer Lingus will provide short haul air service at price lower than €40 and long haul air service at a price lower than €270 during Halloween season. Similarly, the company will reduce its fare to further extent during the Christmas season in order to attract customers. Consumer Behaviour Gronroos (1984) pointed out that service is an intangible product and customers are the co-producers during service delivery process. Hence it can be easily assumed that service providers have hardly any control mechanism when it comes to controlling the consistency of service experience. Finnish marketing scholar Gronroos (1984) has defined service quality as; “The consumer compares his expectations with the service he perceives he has received, i.e. he puts the perceived service against the expected service. The result of this process will be the perceived quality of service”. - (Gronroos, 1984, p. 37) In such backdrop, Aer Lingus has designed its service matrix in order to enhance the perceived service quality among Airline passengers. The Irish airline giant has strategically used its 3P’s such as people, process of service delivery and physical evidences in order to reduce the gaps in perceived service quality. As Zeithaml (1988) has pointed out that purchasing behaviour of customers depend on ability of the brand to deliver value to customers. Hence, it can be assumed that service marketers like Aer Lingus has the ability to direct consumer behaviour through its service offerings. In case of Aer Lingus, the company has repositioned itself as value carrier by adjusting its service offering, price and service benefits (Competition Commission, 2013). Reduction in disposable income of consumers caused by economic recession and Euro zone crisis has forced them to think about low cost carrier in order to fly in affordable price. Means end chain analysis can be used in order to understand the consumer behavior of patrons of Aer Lingus. Table 2: Consumer Behaviour Map Attribute Low price of the ticket Customization of booking status and carry extra baggage Luxury arrangement for business class buyers Functional Level (Benefits) These customers can frequently fly to their desired destinations without spending huge amount of money. Customers can change the booking status or carry extra baggage without spending additional bucks. Business class customers can get personalized attention and customized luxury at affordable price. Psychological Level (Values) Customers feel happy that the airline has understood their problems of lack of access to wealth. Customers feel that the airline is professional and responsive enough to help them to carry more items for their nearest ones without paying additional money. Without charging additional money by Aer Lingus for changing flight time also creates professional image of the company in the mind of customers. Business level customers of the company believe that they are getting additional benefits by spending minimum amount of money. These customers also might think that Aer Lingus is offering them value at affordable price. (Source: Aer Lingus, 2013c) Services Marketing Service Gaps Model Parasuraman et al (1985) have defined the elements and ethos of service quality gaps in the following manner. (Source: Parasuraman et al, 1985) In context to the above model, gap 1 and gap 5 are the most important in context to service matrix of Aer Lingus. In gap 1, the management of Aer Lingus might face challenges for establishing symmetry between offered service which are being perceived as valuable by management of Aer Lingus and expected service of customers. In gap 5, management of Aer Lingus faces challenge regarding the deliverance services that can meet the expectation of customers. Parasuraman et al (1985) has pointed out that hospitality and airline industry should satisfy the 5 dimensions to reduce the service quality gaps such as, 1- using the infrastructure and physical elements to ensure tangibility, 2- delivering quality customer service in order to ensure reliability, 3- communicating the benefits of using the service to patrons, 4- knowing the customers and rewarding them for loyalty and 5- being responsive in handling the query of customers. Aer Lingus displays its offered lowest fare in order to attract customers and call centres & customer representative of the company also helps customers in selecting travel plan or flight price in accordance with the requirement of customers. Such cordial service process helps customers to get the expected service from Aer Lingus. The company personally notifies customers about the flight delay, cancellation etc due to unavoidable circumstances such as bad weather, air traffic control etc in through systematic display board and prior announcements (Aer Lingus, 2013f). Offering quality foods, decor inside the flight and trendy merchandises in Sky Shopping helps the company to provide the physical evidence of services to customers. Aer Lingus takes help of local market research agencies in order to understand upcoming trend and demand related to air services. Now, the researcher will discuss people driven aspect of service marketing. Service Profit Chain Heskett et al (1997) has given a structural approach where service providers can satisfy the demand of customers by channelizing employee satisfaction (ES) and service value (SV) altogether. (Source: Pritchard and Silvestro, 2005) The concept of service profit chain can be understood in simplified manner through the following phrase; “Satisfied employees have such positive energy and such willingness to give good service that the customers get at the least a perceived better product or service, so that they in turn become much more satisfied and loyal to the company” - (Abbott, 2003, p. 334) Aer Lingus uses its staff such as airhostess, call centre executives, cabin crew, customer support team as the customer touch point who are ready provide responsive and quality service to customers. Offering quality service will automatically satisfy the requirement of customers and subsequently increase loyalty among these customers. For example, customer care executives of Aer Lingus address all complains of customers regarding the service of Aer Lingus within 60 days of receiving the complains (Aer Lingus, 2013f). The company provides sufficient monetary rewards such as compensation, incentives and bonus and non financial rewards such as work-life balance, recognition etc to employees in order to make them satisfied. For Aer Lingus, the satisfied employees has not only helped the company to meet customer demand but also helped the company to achieve 15% rise in profits (Competition Commission, 2013). Recommendations After analyzing the marketing strategy of Aer Lingus, it has become evident for the researcher that the Irish airline is moving through an industry shift where international airlines are consolidating the industry through merger & acquisition of small airlines. Conjoint impact of reduction of disposable income of consumers and entry of resource rich international airlines have pushed Aer Lingus to reposition as value carrier. Hence it can be said that, although the problem for Aer Lingus is strategic in nature but the brand can reposition itself with the help of integrated marketing communication strategy. However, let’s try to understand changing macro environmental challenges for Aer Lingus in terms of PESTLE Analysis. Factor Impact Political After 9/11 attack, governments of Europe, USA have imposed various security measures on airline companies and these security measures have also increased operational cost of airlines. Economy Conjoint impact of sovereign debt crisis and economic recession has halted the economic and per capita income growth of people of European Union (EU) and USA. Stagnation of economic growth of countries has negatively affected the demand for airline industry. Social Customers are showing the preference for low cost airlines in order to save money, which can be used for future purposes. Technology Airline companies are stressing on latest technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID), system automation in order to meet the emerging customer demand. Environment Government of EU and USA has asked airline companies to decrease carbon emission throughout their value chain and use much of renewable energy. Legal Merger and acquisition of airline companies are governed by European Commission and other respective legal authorities. In many cases, complex legal procedures and formalities delay the overall merger and acquisition decision. (Source: Competition Commission, 2013)   VCCP Blue (2008) has pointed out that Aer Lingus spends only €2 million for implementing its IMC plan which is way below than the industry average of advertising to sales ratio (A/S ratio). Hence it is recommended for the company to increase its advertising position in order to use all channels of communication in effective manner. On the basis of PESTLE analysis, it can be said that the company needs to promote its green initiatives such decreasing the carbon emission in short haul travel, creating greenery in African nations etc in the form of press release. They need to use the print media advertisement in order to release key benefits that can be achieved through merger & acquisition in order to create positive word of mouth regarding the event among customers. Such kind of indirect lobbying also help Aer Lingus in legal proceedings. The company should invest more money on social networking activities such as creating online competition in social media page, posting blogs about latest events, search engine optimization (SEO) etc in order to engage customers with the brand and create awareness regarding low cost offering of the company. 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