1MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS Executive summary The paper intends to give a close study of marketing strategy plan of the leading airline company of Australia. The paper begins the discussion by describing the existing marketing strategy of the company and then the study recommends marketing strategy. In this regard, the discussion elaborates on the target market. It recommends how the company can increase its customer base. Along with that, the study also states the suggestive measures to position its business. It gives an overview of the positioning theory. Besides, the study also discusses other theories which are related to the positioning theory. In the second part of the discussion, the study analyses the marketing mix of the company.
2MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS Table of Contents Introduction......................................................................................................................................4 Overview of the company................................................................................................................4 Target Market..................................................................................................................................5 Market Positioning...........................................................................................................................7 Marketing mix.................................................................................................................................8 Products.......................................................................................................................................8 Price.............................................................................................................................................9 Promotion..................................................................................................................................10 Place...........................................................................................................................................10 Extended Marketing Mix...............................................................................................................11 People........................................................................................................................................11 Process.......................................................................................................................................12 Physical Evidence......................................................................................................................12 Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13 References......................................................................................................................................15
3MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS Introduction The purpose of this paper is to give marketing plan of Qantas airways. Qantas is the leading airline company of Australia conducting both domestic and international flights. Over the years, the company has been able to mark itself as the biggest airline services in terms of its size and in terms of its service (Armstronget al.2015). The paper elaborates different aspects strategic marketing. The discussion begins by describing the existing marketing strategy of the company and then the study recommends what could be the marketing strategy for the company in future so that the company improves and reaches out to more customers. In this regard, the discussion sheds light on the target market. The paper also recommends how the company can increase its customer base. Along with that, the study also states the suggestive measures to position its business (Wrenn and Mansfield 2014). To discuss this in detail, the study gives an overview of the positioning theory. Besides, the study also describes other theories which have relevance to the positioning theory. In the second part of the discussion, the study analyses the marketing mix of the company. The four essential elements of marketing mix have been discussed in the study. The four elements which have been discussed are product, pricing, place and promotion. Additionally, the study also sheds light on three other elements of marketing mix that are considered as the extended marketing mix. Overview of the company Qantas airways is the leading airline company of Australia conducting both domestic and international flights. The company has been able to mark itself as the largest airline services in terms of its size and in terms of its service. Qantas stands for Queensland and North Territory
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4MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS Aerial Services (Huang and Sarigöllü 2014). It deserves mention that the company is the oldest airlines company of the country. Over the years the company has been continuously working on towards the improvement of its services. Located in Sydney, Qantas airways operates nearly 5000 flights weekly basis over Australia, Africa, North America, Europe, South America, New Zealand and Asia. Qantas airlines now has many brands under it. Under the brand name of QantasLink, the company operates near about 2000 flights across the Australian countries. Similarly, the company operates flights at low fare under the brands Qantas Freight and Jet Star. The airlines company being the largest company n the sphere of airline services, it connects over the 1000 places across the entire world. The company is partnered with over 25 airlines to build a worldwide network. The company started its business in the year of the 1920, while it launched its first aircraft (Mintz and Currim 2013). From then, the airlines company now has been able to mark itself as the leading brand within the aviation industry. As mentioned earlier, the company has many brands under which operates flights over national, international, regional sector. Qantas also offers in-flight catering services for both the international and domestic flights. The brands that the airline has under it are Qantas freight, Qantas holidays, Qantas frequent flyers, Qantas link and Jet Star.Apart from flight services, Qantas also offers airport ground services. More than 30,000 employees presently work in the company (Fan, Lau and Zhao 2015). The employees are hired from different language background all over the globe. Target Market The marketing plan in case of the firms operating in the airlines sector is both interesting and challenging to frame as these firms provide services that are hardly affordable by a huge section of most countries of the world and so before entering into the market, it is very important
5MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS toidentifythetargetmarket(Johnson2016).Marketsegmentationisveryimportantin determining the target market for any firm operating in any industry. It is the act in which a broader consumer base is broken down into different segments usually based on demographics like income level or age or frequency of usage of the products or services being extended by the firm. Sometimes this is also determined on the basis of consumer tastes and preferences and lifestyles of them. Consumers can be segmented based on whether the services are business to business (B2B) or the products and services being sols are business to consumers (B2C) (Varadarajan 2015). Marketing segmentation in fact determines different features like the types of offers that will be provided and the distribution techniques that will be applied to market and supply the product. The target market essentially comprises of the section of the customer base belonging to the entire airlines industry that shall be focused on in an attempt to be persuaded in particular for attaining the services provided by Qantas Airlines. Qantas Airlines operates in the airlines industry and is looking to attract customers who can afford and maintain the services and the products offered by the firm. As it has operating for quite some time now, the firm does not need to consider the possibility of any section of customers as it would have to do in case it was opening up on a new front. Further the firm had to incur a lot of investments to bring about a change in the variety and quality of services and so the firm will focus on gathering the attention and the focus of mainly the high end customers. In the new attempt the firm will in fact be using a new disruptive business model that will help in bettering and improvising the already extended level of services (Wuet al.2013). In fact, the target market for the firm will include most of the existing loyal base of customers and the services will be designed to cater to their changed patterns and trends of demands. In this case, as the services are business to consumers (B2C) so the distribution and marketing of the services and products will be done through direct measures
6MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS including direct communication and primary data collection based on their own set of tastes, preferences and incomes. The target market thus essentially consists of high end and high income level customers who are frequent flyers and want to enhance their flight experiences (Grant 2016). The business needs of the business class shall be particularly monitored and state of the art services and products will be provided to speed up the travels and make the services more reliable and convenient. Market Positioning Market positioning is also another important aspect of a marketing plan. It is the part where the marketing team estimates and perceives the impression of the brand or the company on the consumers and clients. This is in turn used by the firm again when it markets or advertises a new product, that is, launches a new product or service in the market. The firm places and determines the advertising of a product in such a way that the consumers perceive the new product in the same existing way or in a new way depending upon the needs of revenue generation or sales generation that the firm is faced with (Fournier 2014). The theory of positioning strategy states that the firm should meticulously assess the strengths and weaknesses of its position in the market and especially in comparison to the already existing products and services provided by the other competitor firms operating in the same industry. This helps the firm to figure out the areas and sections in the industry where the other firms are lagging behind and where they can add features and improvise their services so as to gather a larger share of the customer base than the already existing one (Mules 2013). It helps the firms to overcome their weaknesses and build on the strengths simultaneously.
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7MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS Qantas Airlines has developed their strength in terms of improvising specialized and customized services to the business class customer by increasing the frequency of flights across the most busy business routes across the continents where they already operate. The firm is also increasingly using improved technological innovations and smart products to propel up the speed of most flights that mostly the business fleets (Bamber 2015). Compared to most of its competitors Qantas Airlines is going to provide the means and equipments within the flights that will not only help the customers to conduct simple meetings within the flight r prepare for oncoming meetings and events but will also specially allow them to schedule meetings and conferences while undertaking the journey. Further, the cost of the flight tickets will be at a rate that is slightly higher than before so that it is easily affordable for these high end customers and business class consumers (McIlroy 2014). This will also help the firm to bear the costs that it has incurred to bring about the change in the first place and ensure recurring benefits in the form of revenue generation in a progressive way. Marketing mix By analyzing the marketing mix of Qantas airline, the 4ps are evaluated. The 4ps are product, price, promotion and place. Therefore this part of the discussion highlights the company’s promotional strategy, pricing strategy and product specification. It can be said that the marketing mix analysis is the crucial part of strategic marketing. This analysis is done so that the marketing g managers will be able to figure out issues and then control these parameters. It must be mentioned that Qantas airlines have a major dominance on its domestic sphere as the company is Australia.
8MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS Products The vigorous competition in the aviation industry encourages the company to improve its product specification to make itself stand out among the other industries. The company gives immenseimportancetoitsproductspecificationaswellasproductplanning.Qantas continuously researches towards developing its products as per the current market trends. The products offered by the company are domestic as well as international flights, ground services, catering services. It strongly focuses on offering premium quality of services and products. In order to satisfy the customers belonging from different economical backgrounds, the company offers several price ranges. For example, it has different brands under it. While its one brand offers flight services with high fare for the affluent class, it other brands offers low air fare for middle class people so that it can achieve a large range of customer base. Beside flight services, the company also offer in-flight catering services. For long trips, catering services are given as the complimentary service and for domestic trips, catering services are offered but at extra charges (Bamber 2015). The primary aim of the company is to combine its products with better services. The customer service of the company offers different services to its customers like they keep direct and constant contact with the customers. They notify the customers about the fight booking, flight timings and also about seasonal discounts. Price The company uses ‘cost plus margin’ strategy for product pricing. In order to compete with other airlines within the aviation industry, the company uses lower pricing strategy to reach out to more customers. While the company begins its operations in new destinations, it offers flight services at lower price. Different offers are given to the customers throughout the whole year. Seasonal discounts are offered in order to keep a hold on the customer base (Mules 2013).
9MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS The pricing strategy of the company has been designed keeping different customer segments in mind. Promotion Promotional strategy is one of the crucial parts of business strategy. Therefore Qantas also undertake different strategies as well as plans in terms of promoting its products. Traditional as well as social marketing strategies are being adopted by the company. As part of the traditional media marketing strategy, the company airs its advertisements mainly over television and radios (Grant 2016). At the same time, its social media marketing strategies focus on reaching out mores customers within a short time span. Through the social media marketing, the company keep a direct contact with the customers. Whenever it launches a new product, to be more specific in case it starts operation from anew destination, it advertises it over the social media platforms so that customers get the information instantly. As part of the promotional plans, Qantas focuses allows its customers to give feedbacks which makes the customer relationship stronger (Fournier 2014). Its other parts of promotional strategies include sponsoring prestigious events, company social responsibility activities, and direct campaigns and so on. Public relation activities is one of the noteworthy strategies go the company that is undertaken for the purpose of promoting its brands. Place Mainly located in Australia, Qantas offers fight services to both the international as well as national destinations. Qantas airways operates nearly 5000 flights weekly basis over Australia, Africa, North America, Europe, South America, New Zealand and Asia. Qantas airlines now has many brands under it. Under the brand name of QantasLink, the company operates near about 2000 flights across the Australian countries. Similarly, the company operates flights at low fare
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10MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS under the brands Qantas Freight and Jet Star (Grant 2016). The airlines company being the largest company n the sphere of airline services, it connects over the 1000 places across the entire world. The company is partnered with over 25 airlines to build a worldwide network. Extended Marketing Mix People Considering the data and value of the people involved in the process of marketing forms a very important component of the marketing mix. This does not only include the consumers or the customer base targeted but essentially includes the staff and associated with the organization whether directly or indirectly. This is one of the most important ingredients considered by any firm and so even by Qantas Airlines as the perceptions and the impression formed by the customers and also the reviews generated by them depend on the behavior and accountability of the workers and employees of the firm to a huge extent (Whyte and Lohmann 2015). Thus the training and development imparted to the employees before as well as after the launch of the product is very important as it helps in grooming of the already existing skill sets and in increasingthecapacityutilizationoftheworkers.QantasAirlinesinfactworkswith organizations that provide accreditation to the employees working under the firm in order to achieve an unbeatable level of customer servicing. This helps provide signals to the customers that they are being provided the best quality services from the certified and experienced workers (Whyte and Lohmann 2015). All the workers of Qantas Airlines ranging from the Board of Directors to the Auditors in different departments make sure that each worker maintains a certain code of conduct as well as high scores of performance parameters.
11MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS Process In case of Airlines Industry the factor of processing that is the line of activities included from ticketing to landing forms a very important ingredient in determining the marketing mix and positioning the firm. The process includes the time wherein the customers but their respective tickets, travel, land at the desired location and then collect their baggage. The ticketing system and the setting up of ticketing centers is such that all the customers can efficiently and easily book their tickets either through the already developed application or can avail going to the nearest location as all these locations are close to most business hubs in different cities in different countries (Dobni, Klassen and Sands 2016). Qantas Airlines ensures that all the customers are easily able to book their tickets and are continuously and responsibly kept informed of the timings and necessities of check in at the airport and also the date and timing of the arrival for that matter. The firm makes sure that the process after the customer reaches the airport is easy and smooth including the activities of check in, baggage and security check and also the travel in between the airport and the flight. After the arrival of the flight at the destined airport Qantas Airlines makes sure that the customers are greeted in the best way and are able to collect their baggage conveniently without any harassment. Care is also taken of the fact that the baggage f the customers are not tampered with. Physical Evidence In the truest sense of the term, there are no specific physical evidences that need to be provided by the company or be taken care of. However, even then there are certain aspects that need to be maintained and taken care of by the airlines industry. Qantas Airlines having been involved with providing it services for over a number of years, is fully aware of how the consumers rely on the small material evidences associated with the airlines industry. These
12MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS factors include packaging of goods carried in certain cases, the webpage details and the details of the tickets on the webpage, brochures and furnishings, the paper works including tickets, boarding passes and invoices (Whyte and Lohmann 2015). The infrastructure of the flights and the head quarters also form a very important component. Conclusion To conclude, it can be said that marketing plan is an integral part of business strategy which helps a company to decide its future goal. The aim of this report is to give marketing plan of Qantas airways which is the leading airline company of Australia conducting both domestic and international flights. Over the years, the company has been able to mark itself as the biggest airline services in terms of its size and in terms of its service. The paper elaborates different aspects strategic marketing. The discussion begins by describing the existing marketing strategy of the company and then the study recommends what could be the marketing strategy for the company in future so that the company improves and reaches out to more customers. In this regard, the discussion sheds light on the target market. The paper also recommends how the company can increase its customer base. Along with that, the study also states the suggestive measures to position its business. To discuss this in detail, the study gives an overview of the positioning theory. Besides, the study also describes other theories which have relevance to the positioning theory. In the second part of the discussion, the study analyses the marketing mix of the company. The four essential elements of marketing mix have been discussed in the study. The four elements which have been discussed are product, pricing, place and promotion.
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13MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS Additionally, the study also sheds light on three other elements of marketing mix that are considered as the extended marketing mix.
14MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS References Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015.Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education. Wrenn, B. and Mansfield, P.M., 2014.Marketing planning guide. Routledge. Huang, R. and Sarigöllü, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand equity, and the marketing mix. InFashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors(pp. 113-132). Springer, New York, NY. Mintz, O. and Currim, I.S., 2013. What drives managerial use of marketing and financial metrics and does metric use affect performance of marketing-mix activities?.Journal of Marketing,77(2), pp.17-40. Fan, S., Lau, R.Y. and Zhao, J.L., 2015. Demystifying big data analytics for business intelligence through the lens of marketing mix.Big Data Research,2(1), pp.28-32. Johnson, G., 2016.Exploring strategy: text and cases. Pearson Education. Varadarajan, R., 2015. Strategic marketing, marketing strategy and market strategy.AMS review,5(3-4), pp.78-90. Wu, Z., Liu, X., Ni, Z., Yuan, D. and Yang, Y., 2013. A market-oriented hierarchical scheduling strategy in cloud workflow systems.The Journal of Supercomputing,63(1), pp.256-293. Grant, R.M., 2016.Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons.
15MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS Fournier, K., 2014. The qantas/emirates decision: How the competition commission of Singapore used the net economic benefits exclusion to regulate the air passenger market.Singapore Academy of Law Journal,26(2), p.436. Mules, R., 2013. The long haul: The QANTAS-Emirates Alliance.Busidate,21(3), p.2. Bamber, G.J., 2015. Low-cost airlines’ product and labor market strategic choices: Australian perspectives.Members-only Library. McIlroy, J., 2014. The case to renationalise Qantas.Green Left Weekly, (1002), p.9. Whyte, R. and Lohmann, G., 2015. The carrier-within-a-carrier strategy: An analysis of Jetstar.Journal of Air Transport Management,42, pp.141-148. Dobni, C.B., Klassen, M. and Sands, D., 2016. Getting to clarity: new ways to think about strategy.Journal of Business Strategy,37(5), pp.12-21.