Digital Experience Report: Analyzing Sri Lankan Airlines' Strategy

This report provides an executive summary of Sri Lankan Airlines' digital experience, focusing on its strategies for mobile communication and customer engagement. It highlights the importance of mobile communication for profit generation and outlines the internal and external sources of customer data, including surveys, polls, and online data. The report emphasizes the development of customer personas to understand customer needs and requirements, and discusses the effectiveness of online and offline touchpoints. It provides recommendations for improving mobile communication strategies and includes key performance indicators (KPIs). The report also covers strategic options, implementation plans, and methods for measuring outcomes, offering a comprehensive analysis of Sri Lankan Airlines' digital initiatives.

DRIVING DIGITAL
EXPERIENCE

Executive Summary
Sri Lankan Airlines is known to be the largest National Carrier in Sri Lanka and known
to be one of the established aviation firm. With rise in the trend of Mobile Communication, it is
seemed to be an opportunity for earning a great profit and hence various strategies are implied in
order to reach a large amount of audiences
In this report it has been included that mobile communication has been very important
aspect for Sri Lankan Airlines which has proved to be a boon and a source for making the
strategies for targeting customers in order to increase the base of consumers for financial
stability. In all the tasks it has been covered that all the internal and external sources of
customer data such surveys, polls, online data that has been collected and the associated
customer insight research techniques like observing User Groups, using data analytics etc. Also
the development of persona is very important that represents every type of customers and their
associated needs and requirements which is beneficial for making effective strategies.
Effectiveness of online and offline touchpoints has been discussed with the journey of the
customer which is necessary to be mapped. Various Recommendation has been provided for
improving the strategies for targeting the mobile communications and with that the key
performance indicators has covered with their advantages associated.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
A. Summary of Organisation .................................................................................................1
1.1 Organisation summary...............................................................................................................1
1.1.1 Organisation Name .......................................................................................................1
1.1.2 Type of Organisation.....................................................................................................2
1.1.3 Size of Organisation......................................................................................................2
1.1.4 Product and Services.....................................................................................................2
1.1.5 Customer Base...............................................................................................................2
1.1.6 Competitors...................................................................................................................2
1.1.7 Digital Activeness.........................................................................................................3
B. internal and external sources of customer data and the associated customer insight research
techniques...............................................................................................................................3
C. Development of Personas for the organisation’s top two key customer segments...........5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
A. effectiveness of online and offline touchpoints ................................................................8
B. trends and innovation in digital experience, with a particular focus on mobile
communications. ..................................................................................................................11
C. Recommendation for best practice methods for monitoring customer insights.............13
in relation to mobile communications.................................................................................13
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................15
A. Recommendation for strategic options...........................................................................15
B. plan to implement recommended strategic option...........................................................17
C. the tools and methods to measure the outcome of the plan.............................................19
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................24
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................25

INTRODUCTION
Customer in every industry is the basic motivating source which act as a foundation for
making particular product which can satisfied needs, wants and desires of a consumer in a
market. But with the aspect of digitalisation, there are many reforms which has been introduced
with its commencement. Now every individual can experience the privilege of being a
company's consumer in transformed way (Casto and et. al.,2015). With digital technology,
access to every firm has become much easier and direct. Most of the companies in airline
industries are focusing on providing digital experience to every potential customer who is
willing to consume their services for several reasons.
Also, many air transportation organisation has introduced web based online sites and
mobile base applications so that it becomes easier for every customer to avail every services with
less efforts which would definitely provide them a satisfactory level that is considered as an
essential goal of every firm in order to sustain in particular market (Little and Kirkup,
BlackBerry , 2017). In this report, there are many aspects which is been covered such as external
and internal sources of data and many research techniques for creating customer insight for the
persona development and two segments of customer which has lead to increase the usage of
mobile communication in a market.
TASK 1
A. Summary of Organisation
Customer online behaviour, associated with the increase
focus on the use of mobile communication
To -Senior Management team, Srilankan
Airlines
1.1 Organisation summary
1.1.1 Organisation Name
SriLankan Airlines (IATA two letter code UL)
Revenue LKR 135,563.23Mn
Net Loss for Year LKR.28,339.51Mn
Total Assets LKR.55,413.77Mn
Passenger Carried 12,455.05
Passenger Load Factor 79.80%
Average Strength 8,029
FINANCIAL
TRAFFIC
STAFF

1.1.2 Type of Organisation
Sri Lankan Airlines was launched in 1979, being Sri Lanka’s National carrier, it is an award-
winning airline with a solid reputation for services, comfort, safety and punctuality. The
Airline’s hub is at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, Providing convenient
connection to its global route network of 103 destinations in 48 countries. (Source. Company
website)
1.1.3 Size of Organisation
During the year under review, Group’s revenue increased by 4.8% which is to LKR
138,563million. The main reason for the increase is attributable to many factors and the most
significant growth recorded from air terminals and other services (Swails, 2018). The growth in
the number of passenger carried, even though at lower yield in USD terms, improved group
revenue. (Source. Annual report 2017)
1.1.4 Product and Services
With the wide range of product and services available under the organisation, Mostly Sri Lankan
Airline passenger services, Sri Lankan cargo, Sri Lankan Catering and Sri Lankan Duty free
contributes major potion to group revenue (Maeda and et.al., 2015). Below are the other product
ranges and services,
1.1.5 Customer Base
The main three customer segments of Sri Lankan
airlines are Business travellers, Leisure travellers
and Direct customers whom which contributes 45%
to 30% and 25% to its revenue respectively. Also
using a fleet of narrow and wide-body Airbus
aircraft, Sri Lankan Airlines operates a network of regional services within Asia and the
Subcontinents, as well as services to the Middle East and Europe. (Source. Annual report 2017)
1.1.6 Competitors
With the increase of capacity by incorporating wider body aircraft, and frequency of services,
and level of service provided by other Airlines in the market like Emirates, Qatar Airways,
Etihad, Fly Dubai, China Eastern, Kuwait Airways, Malindo Airways, Singapore Airlines, Thai
Airways and Air India, Sri Lankan airlines is facing a stiff rivalry. In Addition, Several Airlines
Region 2016 2017
North and south America 2.40% 3.10%
Middle east 16.80% 17%
Europe and Africa 20% 14.10%
Asia 32.60% 34.70%
Sri Lanka 26.60% 30.20%
South west pacific 1.60% 0.90%

commenced operating services in to Sri Lanka including KLM, Gulf Air, Himalayas Airlines,
Ukraine International Airlines and Thomson Airways. Overall other airline capacity operating
into Sri Lanka recorded an 11% growth. (Source. Annual report 2017)
1.1.7 Digital Activeness
Sri Lankan Airline have 570k followers on FB 28.5k on Instagram 8.1k YouTube 56.5k Twitter
4.3k LinkedIn
B. internal and external sources of customer data and the associated customer insight research
techniques
Data is necessary for providing various kind of information which is being required for
any particular research. For the air transportation companies it is very necessary to build up
several techniques for creating customer insight. As with lots of competition in industry every
firm focuses on attracting more customers to avail their services in different manner. The sources
of data can be internal as well as external. The internal data is collected within the organisation
itself through various specialist which are being appointed for data analytics that provides
enormous information regarding every aspect.
Another source for procuring the data can be external sources which can be further
divided into primary as well as secondary data (Akaiwa, 2015). Primary sources of data can be
collected through direct polls and surveys which can be facilitated through questionnaire and
secondary sources for data collection can be journals, books and online sites which provides data
for implementing particular technique for attracting more customer to access their online sites
through electronic devices specially through mobiles.
These sources are discussed as below:
In house- There are various logs of past data which is analysed by many specialist in order to
understand the trend of consistency which is being followed in a particular series of a year. This
helps the company to make various strategies for future by performing statistical analysis of the
pattern of particular segment of data.
Customer Survey- Customer survey plays an effective role to collect various kind of data
directly from potential buyers in a market. This is facilitated by the formation of questionnaire
which is been filled by them and information is interpreted from collected data in order to form a
particular conclusion.

Social Media Data- As with the application of
social media techniques in order to promote
particular firm it is very important fro every
organisation to increase their followers so that they
can be recognised all around the world which is
very important to place themselves as in
international markets (Oertli and Williams,2016).
Therefore online surveys can be conducted and the
frequency of followers from various nations can be
mapped thorough various methods in order to know
which place around the world covers the maximum
followers and vice versa that would definitely help
to form strategies for promotion in order to attract
the customers from those places which have
showed least number of followers.
Polls- It is the most beneficial way in order to understand the direct and honest opinion of any
customer which is using their surveys or even interested to avail it in further future (Wu, Wang
and Youn, 2014). As it leads the company to know about their expectations and suggestions
which would definitely provide them to establish some effective tactics.
Their are various techniques which are being used for customer insight and has proved to
be very effective for increasing the base of potential customers who are now interested for
accessing their services through online medium (Romaire and et. al., 2014). But before
implementing any techniques it is very necessary to understand the online behaviour which
affects their decision which in turn influences company in many aspects. Some of the techniques
are discussed as below:
Establishing data analytics-As there is huge data present in this world and is having tendency
to get increased in coming years which would definitely result in maximisation of vagueness
and ambiguity of data which can distract the company from making impactful strategies which
would definitely provide many disadvantages to themselves. Hence, a team of data analytics is
hired so that one can quench out effective and vast data which can enlighten them for making
Illustration 1: Social Media Platforms
Source: Social Media Marketing

effective strategies for attracting more customer based on the analysis of their behaviour while
using online sources to avail the services (Han and et. al., 2015). According to the conclusion
which is made provides them an idea for improvisation of their online sites and mobile based
communication fro providing them a smooth experience.
Observing the user groups-Observing a particular sample can lead to provide an idea of the
whole population of customer which is using their services for the fulfilment of travelling
purpose. A user group is a selected segment of potential customer that is formed on the basis of
homogeneous behaviour and needs. It provides a company an idea regarding what are the
expectations while using the mobile applications and what problems they faced while using it.
Therefore it is very necessary to remove all technological bugs in order to provide them a good
experience while accessing the application for accomplishing certain aims (Alzahrani, Alalwan
and Sarrab, 2014). It helps the firm to make impactful strategies which can lead to attract more
customers thus providing benefits to them and leading to increase the base of customers which
would lead to provide a strong position in respective markets.
C. Development of Personas for the organisation’s top two key customer segments
There are two major segments of customers fro Sri Lankan Airlines which are basically
Business and Leisure travellers that constitutes about 45 and 30 percent among the totality of
consumers who are availing their services. It is very important for every organisation to develop
a persona which would lead them to provide a great experience and will be providing building up
of good reputation in air transportation industry. Persona is regarded as something which can be
concluded as virtual personality which is formed while delivering services to customer. It is very
important aspect of every service providing company (Tibbitts and et. al.,2016). It is the design
process which forms a visualisation of every services which is offered. One should know the
buyers who can definitely influence the perceptive of sales and leading to develop a detailed and
informative persona which facilitates them to form a powerful marketing plans.
There are many features of the customers behaviour which leads to take the decision
regarding the usage of services of any particular firm. They are needed to be tackled in different
manner by creating various segments of customers.
Business Travellers- This segment of travellers includes those individuals who travels
frequently for business purposes. So, their basic requirements would be associated with the aim
only. They requires effective transportation cost and can avail most luxurious services of the

airlines. They seek for all the comforts while travelling and focuses on the quality perspective
more. They are the segment which leads to generate a good revenue. Their behaviour can be very
complex and relative needs can be extra ordinary which makes them esteemed consumers which
requires more attention. Their webographic behaviour is very influential as the usage of
electronic devices vis maximum therefore they access the services through mobiles as it provides
them required services in less time. They psychographic aspect is very complex as they have a
formal personality even in travelling also (Ling, 2016). Their interest resides in those airlines
which are known for providing the luxurious comforts to travellers and needs an environment
which is light and relaxing so that they can continue their work immediately without any mental
distress. Therefore fro these travellers every airlines has made a different section where
luxurious services are provided along with the atmosphere which is light and relaxing so that
they does not get any stress while travelling. Also every services are instantly provided without
any late and every business traveller is provided special attention so that they get a good
experience with them. This to create an effective image in this segment which results in
providing them a competitive edge in the market.
Example of Persona for Business Traveller:
Enterprise Ed
 Vice president of Market operations
 Large Scale Company(200-1900) employees
 Market Team has about 20 members
 35, married
 Likes to write blogs and read books
Goals:
 To increase the sales of company's product
 Effective execution of campaign in a coordinative manner
Challenges
 To reach the clients across the world on time
 To bring up a stronger connectivity
 Maximise the customer base
Leisure Travellers- These are the segments of customers who travel in a spare time with the
purpose of getting entertained from their monotonous life schedules and also providing them a

chance for exploring the world. This segment is very price sensitive and seeks for those air
transportation services which provides an opportunity to travel in air by spending less amount
and availing services which can make their journey much comfortable. They seeks for
implementing those kinds of strategies which are suitable for every consumer who considers the
price first. These travellers are much influenced by several social media and gets attracted by
various schemes that are being provided for online customers (Burke and et. al., 2017.).
Therefore company seeks for making various promotional offers which are provided for this
segments such as special discounts on the first accessing of their services and also booking
tickets from the links of several social sites and earning points of loyalty on providing referrals
to friends and others. This is the best strategy in order to attract these travellers (Kim and et. al.,
2014). They constitute of second maximum population of customers in Sri Lankan Airlines.
Travelling is considered to be their hobby or interest which in turn considered as an essential part
of their lifestyle. They have a strong bargaining power as many other air transportation
companies are providing attracting packages of air travelling which has many suitable services
which can allure every customer on the basis of minimum price value (Cohen and Lotan, 2014).
Therefore it is very important to hold this segment so as to get many benefits which would be
possible through such kind of persona which is very fresh active fro them and also value their
price sensitive nature at the same time.
Example of Persona for Leisure Traveller:
Adventurous Avy
 Student of Commerce College
 25, single
 Loves to travel, photography
Goals:
 To explore the world
 To click incredible photographs
Challenges
 Travel expense
 Managing college and travel together

TASK 2
A. effectiveness of online and offline touchpoints
These are also regarded as online and offline touchpoints which are known to be business
facets that provides dealing with the aspect that how a company can communicates with all
customers in a market. They interfaces with numerous kind of individuals which can be
customers, shareholders and even employees. Most of the businesses focuses on maintaining
an effective relationship which is established with the help of product and services . There are
two types of touch points which are online as well as offline.
Online Contacts Points
These are considers as those
sources where customer can come in
contact with various product and services
of a particular firm through internet. These
can be advertisements banners which are
provided on websites, commercial videos,
results of search engines. Many businesses
provides the option for online accessing in
which they are required to login into their
accounts which are made for customers
for example in banks.
Offline Contacts Points
When the customers are encountering information regarding a particular business without
the help of any electronic devices and interacting with offline contact points of firm. For
example direct purchasing fro the salesman of the company or choosing any particular restaurant
at highway can be the example for offline contact points (Jaehyuk and Jeong, Samsung
Electronics Co Ltd, 2017). These can be considered as print medium advertisements, through
word of mouth and even phone calls can be considered as offline medium.
These are very important for acquisition and conversion of customers. As it helps to
influence the mind of every potential customers which is very necessary for increasing the sales
and maximising base of customers which is very important. The first and necessary requirement
of airline company is to set a benchmark which is regarded as a standard for measuring the
Illustration 2: Process for Customer Mapping
Source: Customer Mapping

service, product or practices in order to make in more modified against the competitors or the
leaders of industry. This leads to improve the standard of their services which is essential in
order to satisfy every consumer who is availing the services (Garland, 2018). This also leads to
influence the behaviour of other potential customers when they share their experiences with them
(Kim and et. al., 2014). The behaviour of a customer influences the company ans also the
formation of strategies in a market. The phases are described in the diagram.
Conversion and acquisitions of customers can be done by implementing following steps
in the particular scenario.
 Acknowledge the behavioural phases of a particular customer.
 Assign various goals which can be best suitable for every stage.
 Decides the strategy for implementing touchpoints which are effective for attracting
customers in a market.
 Ensure that customers are successfully achieving their goals with great ease.
 Providing any kind of recommendation which is suggested by any customer.
 Also, map the journey of a customer with their brand.
Customer mapping is very essential feature for helping several businesses for stepping
into the shoe of customer and also perceiving it through the view point of every customer. It aids
every business for gaining insights for several pain points of customers which are common. It
provides them an idea for improving the experience while availing the services of Sri Lankan
Illustration 3: Phases of Customer Behaviour
Source: Customer Behaviour