The Marketing Strategy of the American Airlines - Term Paper Example

American Airlines 18/11/14 The American Airlines is based in the United s of America. Commonly known as the A Airlines, the firm commenced its operations in 1934 after it was established in 1930 (Szurovy & Yenne, 2007). The firm has been at a greater heights in air transport across the globe. Apart from taking a centre stage in the United States of America, the American Airlines has also established a still completion in the global sphere. The flights offer services to countries in all the continents of the world. Stiff competition is a common aspect in an open market. Air transport is an open market in the global sphere. Countries across the globe have established and branded airlines that appeal the world to their favour. The exhibition means that for an airway to be competitive, it must offer services that are extremely good to outdo the holding airways. Apart from offering the best services, the airways need to do a lot of marketing that will enable the potential customers about the services offered. Introduction American Airline is one of the largest air company in the U.S. having been established in early 1930. The company is based in Dallas, Los Angeles. In addition, the company serve over 260 airports over 50 countries (McAuley, 2013). This provides the company with the most destination with a daily flight of about 3000 flight (Centre for Aviation , 2014). However, the company have stiff completion from other airlines such as Delta Air Lines, Air Tran and southwest Airlines. In addition, such other company like United Airlines compete with American Airlines in similar destinations around the world. One of the things that make American airline the biggest airline in the world is because it merges with the U.S. Airways to provide the best air travel in the globe. Moreover, American Airline have got two conglomerates companies, the American Connection Airline and the American Eagles company. American Airlines, therefore, has to strategies it is marketing to penetrate to new and existing air destination to enable it remain profitable. The free market require for individual companies to outdo each other in service delivery so as to attract customers from all age groups. Therefore, American Airline needs to carry out survey of its customers to establish it weakest and strongest market segments. American Airlines can boost its customers through advertising. Advertising is important because it reaches a large audience and explains the different kind of services offered by a company. The American Airlines, hopefully, carries this kind of marketing via the local and global media. The media, such as television are necessary as most of the potential customers around the world do view television every day. Therefore, they get to learn of the availability of the airline and the special features. These features include hospitality, medical cover, insurance and gifts. Because of these, customers will value their travel through specific airlines such as American Airlines. American Airlines need, therefore, to design different advertising techniques that are specific on different age group. The company need to customize advisement of educative destination to attract more youthful customers. Moreover, American Airlines need to offer value addition such as entertainment parlour. This would attract students and employee to travel by American Airlines rather than other options. Literature Review Marketing is the act that firms use to promote their goods and services in the market. Marketing, therefore, is a step that firms take to attract more customers towards their goods and services (Davidow, 2012). There are various methods that firms use in marketing their products. In order to make marketing effective, firms need to know various things in the market. Firm need to know who their potential customers for their commodities. The sole purpose of marketing in this case will be to raise the market segment of the firm. The American Airlines carry out the online marketing for its product, that is, its air services. The tool has become useful given that the world is migrating towards the use of internet in distributing information. Being among the first in the world to enter the online marketing system, the American airline have enjoyed a lot in terms of advantage. The system came into be after a lengthy survey that the company took on the online marketing system. The survey established that most of the developed and the developing countries have access to the internet (Clair, 2013). Since the majority of this population move from one country to another in search of better business partners, the firm aimed to attract them as their travelling agent. The action was slow but with time the American airline online marketing system became vibrant. The online marketing system is vital as the customer does not need to enter extra cost of traveling to the airline agents in the country. They only need to have access to a computer that will enable them to view all the services offered by the company. One of the main selling point for the American Airlines is that it is the safest means of transport for all. In addition, the American Airlines have more destination in America and outside the country, thus it maximises customers travels need than any other mode of transport. Therefore, the company have potential to attract a younger generation and the older people to use the company services. Therefore, American Airlines need customised marketing targeted in different age group to maintain and increase it revenue. One of the most important groups of target would the students, and the employed. This is because student and employee travel much than any other group of people. The youth has the potential to travel given that they do not have families. Moreover, most people who are second to students are workers. Moreover, employees at their late 20s and early 30s do not have a lot of responsibilities and tourism can suit their choices for holiday destination. The American airline had done various survey towards the creation of the online marketing system. The findings established that there was a willingness from majority of those interviewed to do online shopping. Therefore, there was a call for marketers to sell their goods and services via an online service. Since the airline offers services, the company was able to enter into the online market. The market have been received well, and most of the customers are more than willing to continue with the service. Result Analysis American Airline does not carryon a blind marketing strategy. The company does involve in conducting a survey to establish the performance of the air travel and how best it can be improved to increase the market share and boost revenues. Pie chart diagram of the frequency of different age group by American Airlines. American Airline enjoys a variety of customers from women and men of different age group. However, the youth of 17-20, 21-25, and 26-30 years contribute the lion’s share of the Airlines customers. In addition, of all the companies’ revenue the largest percentage come from individuals of 21-25 years old. Moreover, children below the ages of 16 years and adults in the blanket of 41-50 years travel less than any other group as shown in the diagram. Frequencies [DataSet1] C:\Users\HP\AppData\Local\Temp\Rar$DI00.219\airline survey.sav Statistics how old are you N Valid 30 Missing 0 how old are you Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid uner 16 2 6.7 6.7 6.7 17-20 4 13.3 13.3 20.0 21-25 10 33.3 33.3 53.3 26-30 7 23.3 23.3 76.7 31-40 4 13.3 13.3 90.0 41-50 3 10.0 10.0 100.0 Total 30 100.0 100.0 Discussion Target Market Analysis American Airlines need to target the highly potential travelling group such as student and the employees. The group has chosen a high rate of travel than any other group in the airline travel survey. Therefore, in order to maintain customers of the age 18-29 the company require to ensure that they consider the prices of travel and how efficient the services should be (AmericanAirlines, n.d.). Among the most travelling individuals, the students are ranked at the top. This is because the student from around the globe keep is keen on studying in American Universities. Moreover, while learning student have frequent learning trip in America and the other part of the world. Student and employees require efficient travel and American Airline should consider enhancing the efficient of booking for travel. This can be done by establishing more agents in cities where people and show up and book for a flight at their convenient moment. Moreover, the airline needs to reconsider it luggage handling, in-flight food and airport terminal services (Ausick, 2014). American airline lags behind compared to other airlines on the above issues. In addition, the company need to reconsider its pricing for the group of young employees and student. The market for student is so elastic, and a drop in the price of travel can increase the numbers of customers. Therefore, the company need not fear about decreased prices. Furthermore, the American Airline needs to prepare itself to handle high demand without hurting some of the customers. The American Airline needs to revolutionize its website to enhance customer’s communication the company. Student are savvy of technological require a better platform to access America airlines information on it scheduled flights across the country and internally (Guinn, 2007). Therefore, a good website would increase chances of more student choosing to travel with the airline. The American Airline needs to provide free snacks to long distance travellers as well as those travelling to short destinations. In addition, to encourage children and the older generation to travel with the company, the airline need to provide blankets and pillows for free ensuring that customers would not budget for the same when travelling. Furthermore, the American Airline needs to services and provide better terminal furniture for it customers. This would help improve the image of the company to it targeted customers. Therefore, the company need to offer specialised services to children and the aged. These groups of people hold the largest portion of the income of the country. Individual above the age 40 also care for the children. Children below the age of 16 years need to be cared for when travelling as well as their parents. This would ensure that parent would be comfortable travelling with their children as well as ensuring that they would allow their kid to travel alone. In addition, the American Airlines need to establish valued added services for the aged generation who do not have the energy to climb stair casing and carry out their luggage. Use of lift and trolleys can help people above the age of 40 years and the sick to comfortably travel by air with ease. Therefore, the American Airline can vigorously advertise for these additional free services via the print and digital media. Depending on the age, the American Airlines have inaugurated some special treatments that would see to it that the elderly comfort is taken into consideration. The measure is taken to ensure that the old age customers feel comfortable at all stages of their journey. The airways’ section usually ensures that the elderly are exempted from the long queues that may be present. This action usually makes the customers mostly choose the American Airlines as their travel agents. Going online have also led to a good relationship between the customers and the American Airlines. One of the advantages the customers get from the online marketing is the promotional activities that the airline offers. The airline does not spend a lot of money in making adverts but rather usually posts them on the website (Shaw, 2012). When there are promotions such as a percentage decrease in air tickets, the company only need to post them in their websites. The customers then can enter into the airline website and read. The use of the online system to promote the American airline industry have attracted many customers as they usually get the information simply and make a date travel with the service provider. The American airline usually offers different rates according to the distance the covered. Since the company operates in almost all the nations in the world, it offers charges depending on the distance the customer is travelling. Those whose are travelling to countries far away usually covers greater miles than those travelling to the neighbouring states and countries (Mitsloan Executive Education, n.d.). The customers who travel to cover great miles are rewarded by paying less per mile covered. The percentage decrease per every mile increases with the distance covered. The American Airlines have attracted clients from far countries (Reed & Reed, 2014). The customers who usually travel to the far countries usually find this service promotion very important to them. They usually book the same flight ticket to their destinations. The American airline system has also ventured into another market that is attracting clients from various backgrounds. A system such as the Sabre system allows the customers to choose the plane and the number of the passengers in the plane (AmericanAirline, n.d.). Wealthy customers can choose to travel alone in the whole plane. The customers can also choose to travel on their own with specific jets that are designed to carry a specific number of people. People with less money to spend on air tickets can choose to travel on airbus that are not expensive and carries a lot of people. The airways have thus diversified the carrier system and give every potential customer an opportunity to travel. The American Airlines have also used the good reputation of the United States of America to promote its international trade. The United States of America is well known globally as the world leading in economic and military strengths. The country is thus mentioned as the world super power nation. The American Airlines usually use this tag to the source for the world opportunities in terms of trade. Every person usually feel attracted when he or she gets an opportunity to travel with an airline from the world’s greatest country. The marketing tag usually brings in a lot of clienteles from the world. These customers henceforth add to the revenue of the firm. In addition to the use of the name of the country to market for the company, the company also uses some of the American dignitaries a chance to travel with the airlines. The action is always taken to give confidence to the customers that the American airlines planes are safe and comfortable. The customers will, therefore, come into the airlines to seek their services. The airlines have a long standing safety measures that are developed by both the staffs and the government of the United States of America. The measures have in a long time seen the company as leading airways in terms of safety. Therefore, customers usually choose the airways as their travelling agent for they are sure that they will get to their desired destinations. The American Airlines management are highly competent and accomplished in the administration of the airlines. One would ask what role the management plays in marketing of the airways. The answer is that qualified workers usually give better services than the unqualified ones. Most of the managers managing the air services of the American Airlines holds master in business administration, MBA. This stuff usually offers excellent services to their customers. The customers usually feel happy after the service offered. The staff training is also continuing. The new recruits usually go a thorough training that enhance their performance in handling the customers. Indeed, a close supervision is usually carried out to the new staffs to ensure that they train and offer good services on the ground. Competent is usually emphasized in the event of offering services. The company also invest on customers by issuing of tickets to their clients on promotions that goes for free. The firm does this by generating a promotion where regular user of the American airline wins tickets for free to a specific destination. Therefore, during this period, customers usually buy this firm’s tickets hoping that they will win a free air ticket to a specific destination. The tool of promotion that is aimed at offering free ticket has been mentioned to be one of the most appropriate tool in airline marketing. For many decades, the American airline has utilized this tool to market its services to many regions of the world. The tool has seen the American airline become one of the popular airways in the world. Other than offering services that directly link the client to the company in the course of marketing, the company also chooses an alternative route. One of the route used to market the American Airlines is the provision of social services to the needy. In many countries that are affected by natural calamities such as floods and droughts, the American Airlines have come into an action to offer some necessary aid. The help is mostly offered in terms of food and medicines. The action is usually taken with collaboration with other re-known organizations. The kind of promotion where a company gives part of its income to the local and social society usually attract a lot of people. In the long run, the company acquires new friends who eventually become part of their customers and promote trade in the company. The American Airlines also participate in social programs such as eradication of poverty within the third world countries, education and in human right activities that are regarded as essential in human development. These actions usually create an awareness to the people of the community it operates. The marketing tool is very essential as the local communities find it possible to categorically notice the effort of the company that leads to them being attracted to their services. This program also creates a cohesiveness between the firm and the client that exist for many decades. Therefore, whenever this community of people wishes to travel, they usually use these airlines to travel. The customers, therefore, rewards the airways with their willingness to remain as their customers. Conclusion American Airlines must always come up with the very best method that will attract the customers towards their commodities. Since marketing is very expensive, firms usually seek to utilize the least expensive but convincing tools. They usually do so in order to evade the huge loss that may be incurred in the course and either cause the closure of the business. The respond of marketing does not always have an immediate positive feedback. Sometimes it may take long. Therefore, the firms carrying out marketing need to have patience and consistency in this activity. The American Airlines usually carry out marketing every season. This ensures that there is an existence of the attachment between the customers and the firm. The activity ensures that the company remains one of the greatest air carrier of all times. References AmericanAirline. (n.d.). Migration to a Single Passenger Services System to Mark Key Milestone in Providing a Seamless Customer and Employee Experience. 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