Qantas Airlines: An Analysis of Competitive Advantage & Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Qantas Airlines' competitive advantages, focusing on its marketing and channel strategies. It delves into the airline's target market analysis, highlighting the application of the Theory of Reasoned Action in understanding consumer behavior. The report examines Qantas' current marketing strategy, which combines cost-leadership and differentiation, and its channel strategy, which includes owned outlets, e-bookings, and third-party partnerships. An analysis of the current strategies is presented, followed by strategic recommendations, including the integration of social CRM and employee training, to enhance customer engagement and brand awareness. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of continuous improvement and customer relationship management for Qantas Airlines to maintain its competitive edge.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1MANAGEMENT
Executive Summary
The report has thrown light on the overall analysis of the competitive advantage which has
been used by Qantas Airlines in the entire competitive business market. The different kinds
of analysis on the target market along with the channel strategy have been used which helped
in managing the business operations successfully. The given report follows a structured
format with respect to which it can be mentioned that the report begins with a brief
introduction about the concept of Customer relationship management which is then followed
by the analysis of the different strategies which are being currently employed by the firm. An
analysis into the strategies have been made and recommendations have been provided to
improve the current situation.

2MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Overview of Company...............................................................................................................3
Target Market Analysis..............................................................................................................3
Current Marketing Strategy........................................................................................................4
Channel Strategy........................................................................................................................5
Analysis......................................................................................................................................6
Strategic Choices and Recommendation....................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

3MANAGEMENT
Introduction
The customers are considered to be an integral part of the organization and with
respect to this, it can be considered to be crucial for all the firms to ensure that they are able
to undertake considerable initiatives to keep their customers satisfied and reach out to the
right customers at the right time (Buttle 2004). The companies in the dynamic business
environment will be required to develop creative strategies which will assist them to engage
the different customers and in the same manner increase their market size and improve their
brand image in the market. Hence, the primary objective of the report is to highlight the
overall target market and current marketing strategy of the chosen company Qantas Airlines
and analyse the same in order to provide recommendations to the firm in order to assist them
in adopting the right customer relationship tool.
Overview of Company
Qantas Airlines Company is one of the flag carriers of Australian economy along with
largest airline in accordance to the fleet size and it is one of the international flights and
destinations. It is third oldest airline in the overall world and the company was founded in the
year 1920 (Qantas.com 2019). Qantas owns the different low-cost airlines which operates
internationally and domestically. The number of employees working in the organization
includes 26150 and the total equity till the year 2017 is A$3.54 billion and the revenue which
has been earned by the company is A$16.1 billion till 2017.
Target Market Analysis
The target market analysis can be stated to be the analysis of the customers which the
organization is catering to and helps an organization to identify the right kind of customers.
Moreover, the analysis of the target market also assists in understanding the kind of consumer

4MANAGEMENT
behaviour theory which will be adopted by them and will have a long term impact on the
sales of the organization (Payne and Frow 2005). According to Fishbein (1979), the theory of
reasoned action theory, is one of the most crucial theories which can be adopted by the
different customers while making the purchase decision. The Theory of Reasoned Action
states that there exists a strong relationship between the attitudes of the different consumers
and their behaviours. The theory assists in predicting the manner in which a particular
consumer will react and whether it will have an impact on their purchasing decision or not.
The primary motive of the theory is to understand the aspect of the offering which tends to
motivate the customer in purchasing the product. Hence, in the case of Qantas Airlines, the
motivating factors will be stated to be the price of the ticket, the comfort provided to
travellers during the flight or other additional incentives (Churchill and Iacobucci 2006). The
target market of the Qantas airlines can be stated to be those frequent travellers who like to
travel with luxury but affordable prices. Qantas airlines can be stated to be targeting all
strata’s of consumers in order to ensure that the company is successfully able to gain the
maximum target market and in addition to this, will also be able to engage into the maximum
sales (Reinartz, Krafft and Hoyer 2004). Hence, with respect to this, it can be understood
from the side of the firm that it would be required to offer the customers with considerable
and attractive deals in order to ensure that it is able to maintain its position in the market.
Current Marketing Strategy
Qantas follows the cost-leadership and differentiation strategy as to improve the
overall customer service along with gaining competitive advantage in the competitive
business environment. As per the brand of Qantas, the company tries to provide premium

5MANAGEMENT
price with the full-service option as to serve them in a premium manner. The safety along
with security are the major aspects which is provided by the Qantas Airlines which is the
other differentiation aspect. There can be inclusion of the differentiation in the services
provided by them to become more desirable (Chernev 2018).
On the other hand, cost-leadership strategy is the other aspect which is being
managed by the company Qantas as the company focuses on low cost airline strategy to gain
the strong market share in the market (Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch 2017). Due to the low-
cost airlines, the firm is trying to offer cheaper prices of the airlines to deal with the other
competitors present in market. With the implementation of cost-leadership strategy, it will
increase and improve the sustainability of the business and it will reduce the competition
from the business. Through the help of the cost leadership strategy, it can adjust the other
strategy as to build main strategy wherein they will be effective in managing the operations
and gain competitiveness (West, Ford and Ibrahim 2015).
Channel Strategy
Qantas Airlines have started their operations from Queensland and with time, the
company has tried to spread their operations in the international level which included various
services to the different countries. The headquarter base of the company is situated at Sydney
which is the major hub and it controls the different operations from the main hub itself.
However, there are different major hubs of the company which is inclusive of Melbourne and
Brisbane airport which are considered as the secondary hubs (Vellas 2016).
Furthermore, Qantas Airlines has started various kinds of avenues for the customers
as it will be easily using their services without much difficulty. The tickets are being made
available at the different outlets which are being owned by them along with the agents. The e-
services have become the major part of the everyday life and the airlines have their own

6MANAGEMENT
website that allows booking along with cancellation which plays a vital role in managing the
business operations successfully (McDONALD 2016). Additionally, the airlines have created
various tie ups with the other airlines and agents which has allowed the third-party websites
along with e-portals and the bookings are made available through apps and SMS.
Analysis
According to Churchill and Iacobucci (2006), Qantas airlines can be described as an
airlines which is following a multiple channel strategy. As the product being sold by the firm
can be stated to be a service, the company is being able to bring in flexibility into the
channels it is using. Chen and Popovich (2003) states that, the channels which are currently
being used by the company can be stated to be the Qantas owned outlets, e-bookings on the
website, third party websites as well. In addition to this, the company has also introduced the
medium of mobile booking for itself through SMS and other such applications. Moreover, in
order to gain a wider market, the company has also enabled itself to make use of the third
party travel agents which allow the firm to cater to all the customers (Lovelock and Patterson
2015). However, after analysing the channel strategy, it can be stated that, the company is
also required to include the e-commerce websites in its channel strategy and other social
media websites as the use of these applications and websites have increased considerably and
hence, the trend needs to be followed.
Strategic Choices and Recommendation
As per the overall analysis of the organization named Qantas, it can be analyzed that
there are few strategic recommendations which can be helpful in improving the overall status
of the company in a suitable manner.

7MANAGEMENT
The CRM strategy can be made social by Qantas Airlines as it is aligned to the social
media tools such as through Facebook and Twitter. The social customer relationship
management is the coordinated kind of effort between the marketing, sales and customer
service departments of the organizations which will be improving in engaging the customers
and increase the brand awareness of the company. The social CRM is used in order to
provide insight into the interactions of the customers with the brand and it will improve the
quality of the engagement among the customers.
Secondly, it is being recommended to the Qantas airlines that, if it implements
the CRM strategy of the firm using the medium of social media, the firm will also be required
to ensure that it makes use of the training techniques to ensure that, the different employees
are successfully being able to make use of the system in the right manner. In addition to this,
when the employees will be provided with the right training it will ensure that the
organization is able to implement the entire system in the better and ensure that, the audience
is appealed in the right manner.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that there are different advantages which can be
helpful for Qantas to become successful and gain competitive advantage in the competitive
business environment. However, there are few strategic recommendations such as
implementation of the CRM practices in all the departments in the organization to gain
competitive advantage. Qantas can make the CRM strategy social through social-media
channels which will influence the purchase decisions in managing the overall productivity of
the company. Lastly, Qantas needs to improve and analyze the different kinds of strategies to
improve the relationship with the customers as they are the major assets of the company and
they are required to be valued.

8MANAGEMENT

9MANAGEMENT
References
Buttle, F., 2004. Customer relationship management. Routledge.
Chen, I.J. and Popovich, K., 2003. Understanding customer relationship management (CRM)
People, process and technology. Business process management journal, 9(5), pp.672-688.
Chernev, A., 2018. Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press.
Churchill, G.A. and Iacobucci, D., 2006. Marketing research: methodological foundations.
New York: Dryden Press.
Felix, R., Rauschnabel, P.A. and Hinsch, C., 2017. Elements of strategic social media
marketing: A holistic framework. Journal of Business Research, 70, pp.118-126.
Fishbein, M., 1979. A theory of reasoned action: Some applications and implications.
Lovelock, C. and Patterson, P., 2015. Services marketing. Pearson Australia.
McDONALD, M.A.L.C.O.L.M., 2016. Strategic marketing planning: theory and practice.
In The marketing book (pp. 108-142). Routledge.
Payne, A. and Frow, P., 2005. A strategic framework for customer relationship
management. Journal of marketing, 69(4), pp.167-176.
Qantas.com (2019) Qantas- Fly with one of the world's most experienced airlines (online)
Retrieved from https://www.qantas.com/in/en/book-a-trip/flights.html [Accessed on 6
February 2019]
Reinartz, W., Krafft, M. and Hoyer, W.D., 2004. The customer relationship management
process: Its measurement and impact on performance. Journal of marketing research, 41(3),
pp.293-305.

10MANAGEMENT
Vellas, F., 2016. The international marketing of travel and tourism: A strategic approach.
Macmillan International Higher Education.
West, D.C., Ford, J. and Ibrahim, E., 2015. Strategic marketing: creating competitive
advantage. Oxford University Press, USA.