Easyjet Brand Position Analysis Essay

1. Who is/are currently the brand’s target market(s) and other important publics in the UK? Profile these groups in as much detail as you can, given word-count restrictions.
EasyJet Current Target customers and market situation
EasyJet is targeting the most potential customers as the private and government corporate business travelers who wants to save their time and require the higher quality of services and are willing to pay the higher amounts for the EasyJet airline services. This is the core reason of less market share in the UK for the EasyJet. It is having a most satisfied and loyal customers in the market. EasyJet is serving to the leisure travelers who just go for spending holidays and vacations with their families to their hometown or go to tourist’s spots like India, Singapore, and Malaysia etc Official Website, (2010). EasyJet also provides its travelers the facilities like hotel booking, arrange for the transportation, insurance services etc. Consumers are now more aware of the aircraft product and services and now they demand the high quality of services at very cheap prices.

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EazyJet’s major product includes the aero planes for the travelling purposes and there is no close and major substitute for the aircraft industry but now for vacations and travel people prefer sea travel via cruises than air travel which seems to be any threat for the aircraft industry. Airline industry is highly competitive. There are so many gigantic and competitive organizations that are operating in this market which mainly includes Airbus, Boeing, Ryan air, European, British airways and Space Company NV ‘ EADS etc. In aircraft manufacturing sector there is stiff competition that one single mistake can be very harmful for the any organization
There are so many barriers in Airline industry for new entrants. Foremost huge amount of finance and capital is required to set up business. Entrance of new business is not easy in this industry but still there is a threat of new entrants like India that is emerging player in this sector. There is a huge potential of business in Airline business due to the globalization and current business economic activities which are after depression now in revival phase. Not single aircraft manufacturing industry cannot make a complete aircraft independently Official Website, (2010). It is dependent on so many suppliers worldwide. The aircraft manufacturing companies need variety of parts to make an aircraft. They get plane tires from Goodyear, Bridgestone, and Michelin. Aircraft high tech components are bought by Siemens and Honeywell. Components like hull and the engines are bought by Rolls-Royce and General Electric. These are most important suppliers of the aircraft industry who are responsible for the plane’s efficiency and security. The bargaining power of the supplier includes raw material of the product and its labors. The bargaining power of supplier is very strong and it can affect the production line of business.
2. What is the brand’s positioning and how far is this integrated into its brand touch points?
Positioning is the process through which the company tries to create an image of the product in the minds of their target market. It involves identifying the target market, and then highlighting the attributes of the product to attract the customers, creating a positive image of the product in the mind of the customer will reap benefits for the company.
In this competitive environment of global business, customers are placing increasing importance on brands therefore, it is important for EazyJet to keep its image and brand positioning in Airline industry. EasyJet has achieved great success in the branding of its quality of airline services. EasyJet has the most satisfied and loyal customers in the world. It has very strong brand name(The Yellow Pages Series, 2009). EazyJet is giving special attention in providing the best quality of Airline services to its customer all over the worlds at low rates to gain the market share in the world airline market. Brand positioning is very important tool for the success of any organization including the EasyJet.
Today brand positioning is the most helpful and important aspect in people life. When people buy any service or product, they always try to have their own understanding about the features they will use. Of course, people mostly try to use the product and service they used to be satisfied and that services or products they trust and believe.
In current days understanding about brands is quite different in nature and intent from those which first emerged in the 19th century is clear, despite the continuity of so many names, from Starbucks to Sony and British Airways to Rolex. All brands and ideas behind them have evolved by learning to match the circumstances of the times. The importance of a brand positioning cannot be denied in any industry as well as in airline sphere. If to compare airline brand with others like clothes or computers we can see a big differences. Airline business one of the huge business in the world and key point in this has a financial aspect for example if EasyJet use an aircraft for million dollars and it does not satisfy customers, it requires big sum to change the aircraft to another one, on another hand, Next can modify design of its new suit on another one if that does not approve the customer satisfaction and does not lose so much money as in airline case. Easyjet has its brand positioning in the mind of people but still there is lot to do more for the Airline. EasyJet should emphasize in managing long term profitable relationships with the customers rather than short term relationships. It is the responsibility of the EasyJet to serve its customers the best services and products and in return should generate the profits. The success or failure of the brand positioning is hugely dependent on its customer’s satisfaction (The Yellow Pages Series, 2009). Effective CRM will help EasyJet in attracting new customers and also helps in retention of old customers.
3. Summaries the brand’s marketing communications strategy ‘ what is your evaluation of the degree of creativity?
EazyJet is using ‘Integrated Marketing Communication’ channel for advertising through mass media and also using all the media available to penetrate in the market and create awareness. EaszyJet is using now mainly the internet to sell its ticket and trying to minimize the role of the agencies and middlemen. Building good customer relationship not only depends on good product, its pricing, attractiveness and availability to target market. Companies also must communicate the value proposition to customers. Communication is the core activity of every business and company failure and success mainly depends on it. All of the communication of the companies must be planned and blended into carefully integrated market communications program (Tony and Philip, 2002). Good communication is crucial for marinating and building profitable relationships with customers. For implementing integrated communication, some companies appoint a marketing communication director who is responsible for all the communications of the organizations. There are two broad types of communication channels: personal and non-personal. Communication budget depends upon these methods. Personal communication channels are effective and have direct impact on consumer because they allow for personal addressing and feedback (Olof Holm, 2006). Personal channel is very cost effective as it does not require huge amount of money but it has a less scope. On the other hand, non personal communication channel has a very broad scope and is used for mass level communication. Print media (news papers, magazines etc.) broadcast media (televisions, radio), display media (billboards, signs, posters) and online media (email, websites). This channel is requiring huge amount of capital and finance. Today most of the companies are adopting integrated marketing communications (Tony and Philip, 2002). Planning is necessary for every decision and action in the commercial business activities so, as in integrated communication planning play also crucial role. Integrated communication involves identifying the target audience and shaping a well coordinated promotional program to obtain the desire audience response. Planned integrated communication helps organization in marinating healthy and strong relationship with its customers by showing how the company and its products can help customer in solving their problems (Olof Holm, 2006). It has seen integrated system produce more effective and efficient result. Integrated communication system eradicates the problem of conflict which can arise from the different media and promotional activities. Planned integrated communications is vital for delivering consistent and positive message about the product and company image. It helps in achieving the brand recognition and customers loyalty. In integrated communication marketing its implementation is also very important as it helps in achieving customer’s satisfaction and boosts the sales of the organization (Kristina Heinonen, Tore Strandvik.2005).
4. Following your evaluation of the brand under the above headings, propose and justify a new target segment, a brand proposition and campaign slogan.
Marketing research is essential for EasyJet to understand the consumer and market. This is not a new concept in business, but to do market research for E-business is something which is comparatively new but is quickly becoming popular. Most of the companies are now using the online market research. What are the online marketing research methods? What are the limitations and constrains in doing online market research and difference between online market research and traditional market research? On the basis of the market research EasyJet should decide the new target market. At present, the major target market of the EasyJet is the private and Government corporate business travelers. In my opinion, EasyJet should increase its market share by serving its services to all the government agencies and offices and also should focus on customers who want the services at low prices. For serving the services to customers at low prices company should take some serious steps and should manage the flow of customers online rather the traditional desk system. By eliminating the middlemen Easyjet needs not to pay any commission to those agents and travel agencies and this strategy will help the EasyJet in reducing its costs and also in providing better serve its customers. Business studies show that some huge brands build their sub-brands to make their core job easier by dividing the industry on segments. According to Shaw, S., (2004), in the airline industry, there have been few successful sub-brands as well. Many airlines have tried to launch sub-brands based on cabin classes, particularly on their business classes, but few of these have made a real impact. Exceptions are the British Airways Club World brand and also the Upper Class brand development by Virgin Atlantic. Consumers are now more aware of the aircraft product and services and now they demand the high quality of services at very cheap prices.
The most critical success factor for the EazyJet is to attract the customers. So the company needs to serve its customers best quality services and products than its competitors. The efficiency and effectiveness is also the important factor in attracting customers. For attracting customers company has to do so many promotional activities and will need to spend huge money on the advertising. Company can offer some special discounts packages to its customers. Organization needs to emphasize on the long term relationship with the customers than having a short term relationship. Organization need to adopt Cost leadership strategies to become successful in aircraft manufacturing industry and need to emphasize on delivering product and services at very low cost relative to its competitors. To gain competitive advantage through cost is one of the most critical success factors for any business in any industry
5. Finally, suggest and justify which, if any, newer and/or less conventional marketing communications approaches and media could be used to support the launch of the new positioning.
As far as marketing is concerned, marketing is all about creating customer value and transferring it to them for a profit. Different marketers and different organizations are using different marketing communication approaches in different terms depending upon their perceptions about marketing and the market requirement. Airline companies like all businesses in the world build their future on carefully prepared marketing strategies that bring them to high goals. Sometimes it is written in papers that good management is a heard of the company and business. Indeed, there are a lot of unsuccessful circumstances in airline management as well that involve the airlines in big problems. The most important marketing strategy in airline companies as well as in all companies depends on customer satisfaction to obtain customers’ trust and respect. There is different strategic thinking in any airline company. They need to have an overall strategic plan which charts the direction of the company as a whole. Once this is in place managers with regional or area responsibilities will need to formulate their own plans which will ensure that their region makes the necessary contribution to the overall success of the airline. The most important factor that influences marketing decisions is consumer behavior. In order to gain a competitive advantage, EasyJet needs to have strong focus on customer and competition. A strong focus on the two gives us customer and company intelligence. This will help EazyJet to better identify and solve customer needs. Also it will help EasyJet that what are their core competencies and what strategies are used by competitors? This strong focus will help them to develop products and services to gain a competitive advantage.
Now the air transport market is becoming increasingly liberalised in many parts of the world, the competitive strategies of the airline have become more complex. Scheduled airlines can no longer rely on the former comfortable network of commercial agreements to regulate capacity and fares, with competition confined to matters such product differentiation, and achievement of punctuality (although an approach to deal with these issues was, and still is, an important element in any competitive strategy). Ecommerce is a hot topic which is always in the news now days. People now prefers online buying and selling than physically go out to the market and buy due to several additional benefits which they get via e-commerce like saving in time, more choice, no boundaries constrains and low prices of goods due to the elimination of the middleman. So, it would not be wrong to say E-commerce is the future. It has become lethal for the Easzjet to use the innovative means of marketing and sales which includes the marketing and sales via internet. E-commerce has made people life easier and comfortable but at the same time. So, EasyJet should use the internet as the marketing and sales channel.