Australian Qantas Airline Marketing - Case Study Example

Australian Qantas Airline Marketing Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 20, 09, 2010 Outline Part 1 BRAND EXPLORATION BRAND IDENTITY Brand Salience BRAND MEANING 1. Brand Performance 2. Brand Imagery BRAND RESPONSES 1. Brand Judgement 2. Brand Feelings BRAND RELATIONSHIP Brand Resonance Part 2 GAPS/OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFIED FROM BRAND AUDIT Part 1 BRAND EXPLORATION Qantas brand associated with the Qantas airline is a widely known air transport brand in Australia and Europe. The brand has maintained its relevance with changing times and revolutions in the aviation industry since 1920’s. Qantas has been one of the leading Australian airlines. Its ability to be in a sustainable business for almost 90 year has earned the brand its reliability and trust from customers. Air travel safety standards have been one of the pillars of the brand equity. The brand also has been the leader in the airline industry innovation and this has given them an edge over its competitors. BRAND IDENTITY 1. Brand Salience Qantas Airline Australia associated with Qantas brand which is a recognisable brand with most of the current and potential customers in Australia and around Europe. The Logo of Qantas Brand is unique and easily identifiable. The name Qantas an acronym for Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd is a unique name. The brand logo does stand out as its originality and long term use has earned it unmatched association with Qantas Airline. The logo is easily identifiable amongst the Australian population since most of them have grown up knowing it. The Brand is also associated with airline services which are of high quality and wide in scope. The brands local and international packages do stand out with its related cabin ambience and quality services. Availability of different travel options and packages also enhance customer satisfaction in the airline. BRAND MEANING 1. Brand Performance Qantas brand is nonetheless one of the most formidable corporate in Aviation industry. The brand performance can be ranked as one of the leading service providers in Airline and aviation industry. The performance indicators can be associated with Qantas; High quality safety standards Qantas airline has maintained a high air safety standards and this has given customers a feeling of security and trust on the brand. The Qantas brand has an in-house engineering unit that ensures consistency to the international air safety standards. Aviation innovation Qantas brand since its inception in 1920’s has been one of the world leaders in the aviation industry revolution. It leads the development of business class travel product in 1979 and in 2008 it was the only airline offering premium economy with arm-in-flight entertainment. The company’s innovation history is huge and is a clear indication that it has a good growth strategy. Strong complimentary brands The strength of Qantas brand has also been enhanced by the introduction of a regional sub-brand to ensure the main brand concentrates on lucrative international market. The Jetstar sub-brand has ensure that Qantas has a holistic service provision. Sustainable and reliable operations With the customer charter of Qantas clearly showing a commitment of the brand to meeting the customer needs, the brand has been able to provide a sustainable service to the community at the same time satisfying the shareholders. Qantas brand creativity and innovation has ensured that it management operations are economical and of high quality (Agarwal 2000). Superior infrastructure The Brand performance has been rated high since it has always worked with superior infrastructure. It usually sets up state of art lounging facilities, modern planes, state of earth employee training facilities and superb cabin interiors. Great customer experience With regard to the customer experience, the brand has been associated with the best lounge facilities, best flight ambience and cabin designs, next generation check in systems, best travel management support, well differentiated travel products and customer focussed services. This has earned the brand great performance even during economic downtimes. Qantas brand has also been able to develop a localised product, Jetstar, which offers regional travel products. This has improved on the overall performance of the Qantas group while at the same time servicing a wide range of customers. Environmental responsibility Qantas brand has a commitment to environmental conservation and sustainable development. The brand has performed well as regards fuel consumption management and flight planning. Corporate social responsibility The brand has been an active member of the Australian community participating in sports, charity functions and cultural festivals. The corporate social responsibility aspect has enabled the airline to build strong relationship with the community and enhanced its market. 2. Brand Imagery Qantas brand has been associated with attributes which have contributed to the positive public perception. The image associated with the brand is that of; a) High quality services Quality image of the Qantas has been enhanced by high standards of safety, customer focussed products, adherence to world class aviation standards and superior infrastructure and renewal program. The brand has been associated with clientele that require the best services. b) Great products Qantas Brand has diversified its business and services so as to satisfy their customer adequately. The brand has several subsidiaries offering essential services to the main brand. These include; Qantas Brand pioneered the business class travel which been able to offer products tailored to different customers. The brand has been able to be specific in their services to the level of being compliant to the needs of people with disabilities. The innovative aspect of the brand has always given the brand customers a feeling of being part of creativity and innovation (Kapferer 2002). c) Reliability Reliability of the brand has been enhanced by its customer service charter and dedicated manpower. The brand has been known to offer customers services they requested for and on a timely basis and even in times of challenges the brand has been able to update customers on the progress. d) Great designs Qantas brand logo is unique; it stands out as one of the epitome of its artistic designs. The lounge and the cabin designs are superb. e) Innovation leadership Qantas Brand has an element of forward thinking which has provided confidence and trust to its clients. f) Enormous heritage Qantas brand has a huge heritage for the past 90 years of its operations. This history and networks has enhanced clients’ loyalty. g) Competitive pricing The availability of different products to different customers at varied pricing rates has enabled the brand to reach a wide range of clientele. Also with the introduction of a regional supplementary sub-brand Jetstar has enhanced the Qantas market leadership in Australia. BRAND RESPONSES Qantas brand has to a larger extend been responsive to the customer needs and stallholder interests. This has contributed to the numeral positive responses by the customers regarding their quality of service. The brand has mostly been perceived to be doing good but changing customer needs require that the company listens to their customers’ negative comments. 1. Brand Judgement With the client association to the brand, Qantas has proved to be one of the most appreciated brands. Customers’ opinions on the other brand have indicated that the airline has a wide acceptance and loyalty. With the launch of Jetstar sub-brand and its historical first day commercial sale has indicated that the brand has great credibility and value from its clientele. The client loyalty to the brand has been clearly been seen in the growth strategy and ever growing number of customers per year. The brand judgement is that of a reliable, stable and trusted partner. The Innovative aspect of the brand has induced the perception that Qantas brand is truly the market leader and offers superior services. Qantas brand has not only enjoyed positive judgement but also do have some negative comments that require attention in order to maintain their market leadership and customer satisfaction levels. The Qantas catering services have to be improved to be responsive to the global standards. The on flight meals must be global diets that are not discriminatory to some of the customers. 2. Brand Feelings The Brand elicits feelings of reliability and quality in the perceptions of many customers. The company’s perceived image of reliability induces the feeling of comfort, trustworthy, security and warmth. The Qantas brand has developed these feelings since every time they are on boards Qantas airlines, the ambience of the cabin creates a feeling of warmth. The availability of on flight medical personnel creates a feeling of security and self respect(Agarwal 2000). BRAND RELATIONSHIP Brand Resonance Qantas Brand has had intimate relations to their clientele. This has been confirmed by the overwhelming first day sales with the introduction of the sub-brand Jetstar. The huge sales indicated that the customers have greater loyalty and attachment to the Qantas brand. With its corporate social responsibility program, the Australia’s community feels that Qantas brand is part of them hence one of their own (Kapferer 2000). More so the brand has a loyalty program dubbed frequent flyer which enhances client relationship and enhances brand loyalty. Part 2 GAPS/OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFIED FROM BRAND AUDIT Qantas brand audit does reveal that it has great attributes of brand equity. However for the brand to maintain its market leadership, it should ensure that its quality standards and global outreach mechanisms are enhanced (Aaker 2007). The audit does include the following weaknesses with recommended solutions in the brand; Ensure global catering services Qantas on-flight catering service should not be biased to being only Australian delicacies despite the airline being of Australian origin. The catering service should serve global menus that are widely accepted or offer customized menus to different customers. This will ensure that international customers will feel as part of the brand (Randall 2003). Time management The brand should ensure effective time management and customer friendly down time mitigation plans. In cases of inconveniences the brand must be able to give updated information to the customers so that they are not left in the dark as regards their travel (Keller 2003). Global spread and networking The brand should not only concentrate on European markets but with effective networking and joint ventures with other airline companies in thriving to be a global service provider. This will ensure that the airline growth is not limited in the near future (Malhotra 2006). Global booking and check in systems The customer experience should be enhanced with global ticket payment facilitation and check in systems. This will ensure that the operations of the company are not limited by technological limitations (Keller 2001). References Aaker, JL 2007, ‘Dimensions of Brand Personality’, Journal of marketing research, Vol. 34, no.3, pp. 347-356. Aaker, JL, Benet-Martinez, V & Jordi, G 2001, ‘Consumption Symbols as Carriers of Culture. A study of Japanese and Spanish Brand personality Constructs’, Journal of Personality and Social Pschology, Vol. 81, no.3, pp. 492-508. Agarwal, MK & Rao, VR 2000, ‘An Empirical Comparison of Consumer based Measures of Brand Equity’, Marketing letters, Vol. 67, no.4, pp. 1. Kapferer, J 2002, Strategic Brand Management: creating and Sustaining Brand Equity Long Term, Kogan Page, London. Keller, KL 2001, ‘Building Customer based Brand Equity’, Marketing management, Vol. 10, no.2, pp. 14-19. Keller, KL 2003, Strategic Brand management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity, Prentice Hall, NewJersey. Malhotra, N 2006, Marketing Research, 2nd ed, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Randall, T, Karl, U & Jonathan, G 2003, ‘Laddering Theory, Method, Analysis and Interpretation’, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 28, no.1, pp.13-20. Qantas Airline website viewed on 23rd September 2010, http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/about-qantas/global/en Read More