Airline marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Airline marketing - Essay Example There is a widely held misconception that marketing is about selling what is being produced. It is much more than that. Marketing is involved in deciding what should be produced. Marketing is involved in deciding what should be produced as well as how it should be sold. As such it is the lynchpin of any industry. It is all – pervasive. It is important to recognize that everyone in the airline can contribute to the marketing process. The essence of marketing is to identify and satisfy customer needs; to be consumer-or- market oriented rather than production – or supply oriented. If an airline concentrates on merely selling what is produced before identifying what customers want and are prepared to pay for, it is doomed to failure. The first step in marketing is to identify markets and market segments that can be served profitably. To do this one uses the whole range of market research methods, from desk based statistical analysis to survey of current and prospective user s of air services. The aim is to gain at the understanding of the needs of different market segments and also the degree to which such needs are not currently being satisfied. This leads on naturally to the production of traffic forecasts, which should be as detailed and segmented as possible.The second stage of marketing is to decide, in the light of the preceding market analyses, the air services that should be offered in the market and their product features both in the air and on the ground. This is product planning. ... The third stage is to plan and organize the selling of the products on the basis of a marketing plan. This involves setting up and operating sales and distribution outlets both airline-owned, such as sales office or telephone and internet sites, and indirect outlets involving a range of agents, sub-agents and on-line agencies. In order to attract potential customers, the marketing plan will also include a detailed program of advertising and promotion activities. Lastly, marketing is concerned with reviewing and monitoring both the degree to which the airline has been able consistently to meet the service standards and product features planned and customers responses to them. Such monitoring through weekly sales figures, customer surveys, analyses of complaints and other market research techniques should enable airlines to take short term corrective action, where possible, and also to make longer-term changes in their service and product features. We would be discussing here the marketing approach adopted by one of the best international airlines - Singapore Airlines. Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA), the national airline of Singapore and a major carrier in the Pacific region with routes to Europe and North America, is known for its unparalleled customer service as well as for its continuing efforts to upgrade its aircraft and technology. A long-established strategic seaport, Singapore is an important transit point for travel to other areas of the Far East. Even during times of severe recession in the airline industry, SIA has been the world's most consistently profitable airline and, unlike most, a virtual stranger to debt. The "Singapore Girl" flies to 90 cities in 40