Marketing Strategies Of Qantas Airways
Overview of Qantas Airways
The diversification of the modern day business world becomes apparent not only in the wide range of products or services which are available to the customers of the present times but at same time in the diverse range of the strategies which are being followed by these organizations for the process of their business (Perreault, Cannon and McCarthy 2015). This has increased the amount of competition within the world of business significantly and the diverse business enterprises are thus finding it very hard to sustain themselves in the business world (Solomon et al. 2014). It is here that the concept of marketing as well as the diverse strategies that the various companies often take the help of becomes especially important. The various business enterprises of the present times are taking the help of the diverse kinds of business strategies so that they are not only being able to reach out to more customers but also to earn an increased amount of profit as well (Hansen, McDonald and Mitchell 2017). This report will discuss about the marketing strategy of the business organization Qantas Airways and will at the same time provide some recommendations that the concerned organization can follow to further improve the prospects of their organization.
The Qantas Airways, founded in the year 1920 became operational in the year 1935 and is the third oldest airways of the world (Qantas.com 2018). The concerned company specializes in providing air transport facilities to not only the people of Australia but also to the people from the other parts of the world as well. It is significant to note that the concerned organization is the largest airlines organization of the nation of Australia in terms of the number of fleet which it boosts of (Qantas.com 2018). The name of the organization is an acronym for “Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services” and is at the same time called by the name of “The Flying Kangaroo” (Qantas.com 2018). The organization is based in Sydney and holds a monopoly of more than 65% over the domestic airlines market of the nation while carrying more than 14.9% of the passengers who enter as well as exit the concerned nation (Qantas.com 2018). Furthermore, the concerned organization is at the same time is known for the high quality services that it provides to the customers and also the because of the diverse kinds of CSR activities which it regularly undertakes to contribute a positive value towards the cause of the society and also the nation. The organization under discussion here stands at the 1,126th position among all the organizations of the world and has a net market value of $7.7 billion (Forbes.com 2018).
Target Market and Customer Base
Qantas Airways provides domestic as well as international flight services to the diverse customers of the nation of Australia (O’Connell and Williams 2016). In addition to this, the concerned organization is also known for the high quality of services which it provides to the customers (O’Connell and Williams 2016). Furthermore, with the objective to enhance the quality of the services that the concerned organization provides to the various customers they provide smart phones services to the customers inside the airplanes, there are various segregations within the plane like the business class, economy class, premium economy class, first class and others (Qantas.com 2018). Furthermore, the concerned company initially used to provide only limited services to the customers and that too within the nation of Australia and in addition to this it was also seen that the services that the concerned company provided were designed especially for the upper middle class people (Whyte and Lohmann 2015). However, in the recent times it is seen that the concerned company is trying to expand its customer base and the acquisition of low cost carrier Jetstar Airways is a reflection of this particular fact (Qantas.com 2018). Therefore, it can be said that in the present times the concerned company is trying to merge the two aspects of quality as well as quantity.
The initial target market or the customer base that the company under discussion here originally targeted in the airlines business market of the nation of Australia were the people belonging to the upper middle especially the white collar ones who needed to regularly travel to different locations of the nation for the process of their business (Lovelock and Patterson 2015). In addition to this, at the same time it is seen that the concerned company also targets the various holiday goers and others individuals who needed to travel on a regular basis (Gudmundsson 2016). It is significant to note that the people of the nation of Australia are more accustomed to the luxurious way of life and thus they generally prefer the air mode of transport and the concerned company capitalized on precisely this particular need of the people. However, at the same time it needs to be said that the majority of the services that the concerned company offers to the customers are solely designed taking into consideration the demands of the upper middle class people (Wehner, López-Bonilla and Santos 2018). The concerned company inspite of being the third oldest airlines company of the world was not being able to have as many customers as the other ones were having (Wehner, López-Bonilla and Santos 2018). It was thus with the objective to have a much larger customer base and thereby to earn a much higher amount of profit that the concerned company started to offer low cost services to the customers (Jarach 2017). The launch of this particular service by the concerned company has enabled it to not only increase its customer base but at the same time has enabled it to taste success. Therefore, it can be said that the company is focusing both the customers who belong to the upper middle class as well as the ones who belong to the middle class so that they can have the opportunity to earn a higher amount of revenue.
Marketing Strategies of Qantas Airways
The marketing strategies are the strategies that the various companies use for the marketing of the goods or the services that they provide to the customers. In the light of the present urge of the diverse organizations to earn extra amount of revenue the various marketing strategies become especially more important. There are various kinds of marketing strategies available to the diverse organizations like promotion, cost leadership, product differentiation, effective use of CSR and others. At the same time it needs to be said that the effectiveness of these strategies depend largely on the context and also the purpose for which they are being used by a particular organization.
The Qantas Airways follows a unique marketing strategy for the process of promoting the services offered by them to the service users of the airlines industry (Lawton 2017). For example, the most common strategy that the concerned company normally takes the help of within the framework of their organization is the process of effective promotion. It is significant to note that the company since the year of its foundation and also its initiation has banked on the process of effectively conveying the services that they offer to the customers (Albers et al. 2017). Furthermore, at the same time it is seen that at various point of times it is seen they endorsed diverse sports teams and organizations to promote the services offered by them in the best possible manner (Albers et al. 2017). A typical example of this particular fact is sponsorship of Cricket Australia by the concerned company and also of the Rugby team Qantas Wallabies (Qantas.com 2018).
The effective use of the concept of corporate social responsibility is another important marketing tool which is being used by the concerned company for the process of the growth of their business enterprises (Taoketao et al. 2018). The business enterprises are taking the help of the diverse kinds of CSR policies as well as frameworks for the enhancement of the brand and the market image which they have in the business market (Wensley 2016). This is important since in the present times the service users have become much more concerned about the brand or the market image of a particular organization. The organization under discussion here takes the help of diverse kinds of social events as well as issues like LGBTIQ issues, Marriage Equality, the fight for the causes of the aboriginals and others (Qantas.com 2018). The use of these CSR activities has contributed in a significant manner to not only enhance the brand or market image of the concerned company but at the same time to attain a significant amount of success as well.
Recommendations
In addition to the above mentioned marketing strategies, the company under discussion here followed the strategies of product differentiation and cost leadership. The company taking the help of the strategy of product differentiation used to offer the kind of services which were not only different from the ones offered by the other airlines companies but at the same time superior in terms of quality as well (Lusch and Vargo 2014). The effective use of this particular marketing strategy enabled the concerned company to not only earn a higher amount of profit in comparison to the other airlines companies but at the same time attain a significant amount of success as well (Lusch and Vargo 2014). The use of the strategy of cost leadership by the company, on the other hand, is a recent one and started with the introduction of the diverse kinds of low cost carriers. The effective use of this particular strategy enables the company under discussion here to provide the best quality services to the customers and that too at very affordable prices (Jaworski 2018). The use of this particular marketing strategy by the concerned company is basically designed to enhance the customer base of the concerned company and at the same time to focus on the customers belonging to the middle class. Thus, it can be said that the effective use of all these strategies have helped the concerned organization to not only attain a significant amount of success but at the same time to gain a significant amount of success as well.
Conclusion
To conclude, the prospects of a particular business enterprise are dependent on the kind of strategies it follows. In this context, the role which the various marketing strategies play within the framework of the modern business world is very important. It is seen that the effectiveness as well as the revenue earned by an enterprise depends on the kind of marketing strategies which the concerned organization is following for the marketing of the products that they are offering to the customers. Furthermore, there are various diverse kinds of marketing strategies that are available to the organizations however the effectiveness of these strategies depends to a large extent on the context and also the manner in which they are being used by the concerned organization. Thus, it becomes all the more important for the various business enterprises to take into effective consideration the marketing strategies which they are following for the process of their business.
Although the company is one of the largest ones not only of the Australian nation but of the entire world itself yet there is a room for improvement which can help the concerned company to gain a much higher level of success. For example, the company for the improvement of the quality of the services can take the help of the strategy of total quality management which will not only increase the performance level of the individual but also help it to offer better services to the customers. In addition to this, the company can at the same time enter into collaboration with the various tourism organizations which will help it get even more number of customers and thereby increase the annual revenue.
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