Marketing Plan of Qantas Airways: Strategy and Recommendations

This report provides a comprehensive marketing plan analysis of Qantas Airways, the leading airline company in Australia. It begins by examining the existing marketing strategies of Qantas and recommends future strategies, focusing on target market identification and customer base expansion. The report delves into market positioning, discussing relevant theories, and analyzes the marketing mix, including product, price, promotion, and place. Furthermore, it explores the extended marketing mix elements of people, process, and physical evidence. The analysis covers Qantas's product specifications, pricing strategies, and promotional activities within the competitive aviation industry. The report highlights Qantas's efforts to improve services, cater to diverse customer segments, and leverage its various brands to offer a range of flight options. The marketing plan also focuses on the company's focus on customer service, and in-flight catering services.

Running head: MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS
MARKETING PLAN OF QANTAS
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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.

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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

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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 (Armstrong et 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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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
to identify the target market (Johnson 2016). Market segmentation is very important in
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 (Wu et 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

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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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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.

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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
immense importance to its product specification as well as product planning. 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

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
increasing the capacity utilization of the workers. Qantas Airlines in fact works with
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.

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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

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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.

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
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