Introduction
A document that outlines all that a business undertakes as a marketing strategy define a marketing plan for the organization. A marketing strategy will only focus on what the management wishes to achieve for the organization. Therefore, its outline on how to achieve it can clearly define the marketing plan of an organization. The marketing plan will include a detailed description of the target market, competitors and that of all the products and services that a company deals with. The primary goal of this Emirates marketing plan is to grow the business to the next level. A marketing plan for Emirates gives us all that pertains the company marketing strategy. This essay is a brief marketing plan that explains growth stages for the enterprise, and the challenges faced. It covers an assessment of the agency where detailed information about the company is discussed to provide an insight into the entire company from history and the early marketing strategies that the company was applying in the past. The second section covers the target market assessment where market segments for the corporation are discussed. A competitive analysis for two competitors to Emirates Airline company to compare the performance of the company with that of others is undertaken. The competitor comparison helps us understand how the corporation sustains itself for survival. Moreover, the essay gives an analysis of the marketing mix, promotional and the communication mix for the corporation.
Agency Assessment
Company History
The Ministry of Dubai established the Fly Emirates business back the year1985. The first operational aircraft back then were two. The company had the potential to expand because it exists two decades later having eighty-three aircrafts that had over seventy-eight destinations in fifty-five nations across the globe (O’Connell, 2011). Currently, the company has increased its crew to reach ninety-eight countries. Currently, Emirates are not only the highest purchaser of super Airbus but also the airline making the greatest number of trips bring billions of money as revenue in the entire world. The Emirates Airline received an award for the airline of the year in 2011 in the air transport sector. It has taken the title up to date.
Organization Philosophy
Mission Statement. The mission of the company is that “We exist so that we can offer the world the best experience in the field of flight.” The company is committed to achieving the corporate mission statement.
Company values. The company has core values that they uphold. These values have been company culture to live by these values. They include the following according to Evans (2011).
Responsibility and customers’ safety awareness. The company is committed to ensuring safety in all operations. The company achieves safety through excellent security safety guards in the business airlines. The company collaborates in supporting international agreements to ensure best practices in the aviation industry.
Independence. The company engages its stakeholders in decision making to ensure that ethics of the enterprise are highly appreciated.
The transparency of the company is our pride. Communication to all stakeholders of the company is a priority to be done in time and clear fashion. The transparency ensures trust among all investors.
Competency. At Emirates, expertise is the call to all employees. The company has mandated the human resource to recruit experts from all over the
Belief. At Emirates, they believe that the future embraces the business that they strive for when they work as a team. Ensuring the success of the customers will assure the company recognition for its success in the aviation industry.
Description of facilities, products, and services
Emirates has created many employment opportunities. At the end of the year ended 31st of March 2014, the human resource department had a record of forty-eight thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine staff members. To manage the company, the corporation has a board of governors as the highest-ranking management level. The company CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum reports to the board. Below the CEO, there are various managing directors for the four prominent support groups. They comprise finance, corporate affairs, support services and the information & technology unit. Below this, the structure at Emirates records the operational managers as the lowest rank in the hierarchy.
The products and services offered at Emirates belong to three sections that are a cabin or in-flight services, cargo and the ground services. Cabin services have three classes, which include first class, business class, and the economy class. The cargo product operates through the Sky Cargo service where there are thirteen dedicated aircraft designed to transport products through the Dubai International Airport. The ground services offered are mainly customer services where clients check in their departure time, and as they visit the airport, they enjoy services available at the kiosks.
Strategic Objectives of the Company
The main purpose defining where the company is heading to be in the future is that of increasing the business market share from 55% in 2012 to 65% by the end of 2018.
Historic Marketing Materials and Organization Image
For quite some time, Emirates Airline has been marketing its products through brand image. The message that the brand has been displaying and passing to the world is that the company is geared towards improvement. The slogan that made the airline 2004 read that, “the Fly Emirates; keep discovering.” The message that the firm has had to its customers is that the corporation is the finest in the sky. The Very attractive slogan that will make someone wonder how it feels to be in the sky and admire to go there. They say, “When was the last time you did something for yourself for the first time.” The saying will make someone want to do it first with Emirates. Any person will admire to experience the services of this airline. It has been a marketing strategy that the company attracts new customers to use their airline. For many decades today, the company has been involved in sponsorship especially football clubs in Europe making it be widely known to the public.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths. The Emirates Company has the advantage of size. The vast size of the corporation has helped the company to have a competitive advantage. The aviation industry deals with diversified industry, and thus, the decision to have a focus on the market by the company CEO is a strength the Emirates. Entering the cargo shipping as part of the enterprise business will bring more incomes to the company.
Weaknesses. The company does not tour some regions. For instance, Emirates failure to cater about the US seem to be a weakness to the enterprise. The company does not cater to the middle-class travelers. This limits its incomes because the revenue that is in the middle-class travelers is enormous than that of any other class. Many people belong to this class of individuals.
Opportunities. Budget travelers is a great opportunity to the company. Many people belong to this class and offering them a chance to travel with the Emirates Company will improve performance regarding revenues. Aviation industry is developing thus having the innovative staff to improve the industry is another opportunity. A development of continuously advanced airline will attract more customers because it is the dream of every person to have an experience of air transport in one section of their lives.
Threats. Rivalry remains the greatest threat to any business. There has been unrest in the energy sector causing an increase in fuel prices. The unstable fuel prices may make the airline incur extra cost leading to losses. Some airlines charge lower prices than Emirates making customers shift to the affordable services.
Target Market Assessment
The core aim of any marketing plan remains solely that of helping the business to grow. Focusing more on the customers gives an organization an added advantage because the company will offer the customers what their needs demand. At Emirates, the company offers many services as described in the product and services section of this essay. All these services are based on the purchasing power of customers. The amount that an individual or a company is willing to pay for the Emirates services define the market segments for the enterprise. The market segmentation, therefore, lies between middle level and corporate level. Based on the services offered by Emirates Airline, the main segments comprise first, business, and economy classes. The first class services are the best that the company is offering and has comfort. The company charges more for these services, but they ensure the customer appreciates the services provided.
Demographic and Geographic Characteristics
Some features that are of significance to the market segmentation at Emirates Airline are based on class. The society has three types of people based on a class that is the rich, middle class and the have-nots. The company has already identified the rich people and serve them as one market segment. The first class cabin aircraft are designed for the rich because the services offered in the service are quite expensive. All that this segment pertains is a comfort. The other demographic characteristic is that of gender whereby upon entering the aircraft, the services offered depend on gender. For the business class, most companies are the target here. They send some of their staff to attend conferences and thus the aircraft is designed such that it offers services based on the gender of individuals. One particular service is that of sanitation services because different gender needs these services in various forms. The geographic characteristic is that the company views the atmosphere before releasing our aircraft for the safety of our customers.
This market demands luxurious services to the customers. The cabin designers offer all the services that one may describe as comfort. They have reading rooms, a bedroom, washroom, and sitting room that are designed with all necessities. All customers have attendants who serve them and help the clients to take most of the trip. The aircraft are intended to ensure that the clients feel like they are at home. The company services are available at Dubai International Airport. The company has also utilized the available technology to allow customers visit their website and have access to various services. The twenty-four-hour customer service line facilitates ticket booking and any customer inquiry.
Air transport is meant for the rich people in the society as the main target customers. The rich love traveling long distance for business and leisure activities. Taking these people as the main target market is a strength to the company because they have the potential to support the company. The approximate size of the first class market segment at Emirates contributes about two percent of the total company revenues. On the other hand, the business segment brings more revenue by about 5 percent. Most businesses are making trips to various destinations to attend corporate meetings. In the overall market, the business segment is significant in the overall market.
Competitor Analysis
Competition is always a major threat to most businesses. Having an environment scanning allows the company to understand their competitors well to counter their strategies for the sake of continued survival in the market. The main competitors to Emirates Airlines are the Etihad Airline and the British Airline. Etihad Airways serves the UAE and the region in Abu Dhabi. It currently operates fifty-four aircraft and shares code with over twenty world airlines. The number of airplanes gives Etihad a competitive advantage over Emirates, which is independent. Malaysian and American Airlines are a significant support to Emirates. The company s international. Hence, it has a wider market than Emirate Airlines. The advantage that Emirates has over Etihad is that of brand image. The British airline serves the same market as Emirates but has the benefit of price leader as the competitive edge over Emirates. They offer all customers services that they may require at reduced prices. As compared to other players, Emirates Airline has placed itself strategically through stressing more on the quality of their services. The brand image of the company gives it is a competitive advantage over rival companies.
Marketing Mix
Any company needs marketing tool so that it can analyze the business situation using the four Ps. The tool helps the company to ask itself several questions, and if they come up with the right answers, the firm is favored to stay in business. Most businesses operate in competitive markets doing businesses to opting to strategic management so that they can know how best to fit in the firm (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). In the aviation industry, there exist many options for the customers to choose. Having the right marketing mix for the company is the only way to stand out as an exceptional company. The marketing mix for Emirates Airline Company is discussed as follows:
Product. As pointed out in the description of the business products and services, the company offers three main categories of products. To make the right use of the marketing mix tool, the company ensures quality as the core of any undertaking by the corporation. The company stands out in the products it offers because of quality. Emirates has consistently remained relevant in business through the consistent quality products it offers. The company incorporates new technologies in all the operations to improve on quality and satisfy best their customers. Since 2012, the company has been providing travelers with an opportunity to communicate from their airlines through emails and short text messages.
Price. Emirates Airlines cannot be given the title of being the cheapest airline, but all it does is offering quality products, which in most cases the company associates quality with price. The company is using premium-pricing strategy to charge for the services they offer. This premium price makes the company expensive than other airlines.
Place. The services offered by Emirates cover a wide region. The company has eleven travel shop outlets in the United Arab Emirates and more than one hundred outlets outside the UAE around the globe that offer exemplary services. Apart from the manual system of receiving customers and giving out air tickets, Emirates have an online website that operates with many languages to allow customers enjoy their services without the difficulty of communication.
Promotion. Advertising is done through newspapers because most clients who belong to the first class segment love reading newspapers like the Gulf News. In cities, the company has adopted the billboard as a promotional tool. The billboards make the cities decorative. Thus, the conspicuousness will allow people to see the advertisements.
Promotional Mix
Most businesses invest in promotional activities so that they can sell the company image to as many people as possible. The marketing strategies for Emirates comprise the promotional mix of the enterprise. The marketing strategy Emirates include that of brand building achieved by the slogan of discovering. At Emirates, they create product awareness through the advertisements don through newspapers, televisions and in sky ads (Melewar, Turnbull, and Balabanis, 2010). The company CEO is committed to driving the business forward by remaining innovative. The company also promotes the Abu Dhabi as the place to celebrate holidays. Since the company dominates the airline service to the city, they will get more customers who plan their summer vacation to travel to the city. Offering special flights to the city assures the company increased revenues.
The number of trips that the business makes to various destination describes the company brand. Emirates operate about one thousand and two hundred flights every week. The company fleet looks the youngest in the sky. By 2012, the company had developed its cabin crew to about fifteen thousand that have destinations to more than one hundred and twenty nationality destinations. The brand value has experienced growth for the past one decade. The main property associated with Emirates brand is a quality that is why they charge premium prices.
The corresponding changes for the company are that the firm needs to cater for the middle-class citizens. They have segmented the market and left out the middle-class person. Strategizing on how to fix them as the new market segment is an excellent opportunity that will increase the company revenues. In business, merging is a strategy that improves the performance of a company by lowering the costs and assuring increased returns (Nataraja and Al-Aali, 2011). For Emirates to continue having a growth in the revenues that company is getting, they need to merge with small airlines so that thy work as a block to counter the big rivals like the Etihad Airline Company. Introducing more services that fully meet customer needs assures increased customer base. The introduction of luxury services in the company Airlines is an assurance that the firm will improve performance. The business cabin does not have the television services thus introducing these services will attract most businesses to use Emirates services.
Communication Mix
Communication mix in the discipline of marketing involves that particular mix in the fields of publicity, sales campaigns, personal selling, direct marketing as well as the public relations tool so that the company achieves its marketing objectives. At Emirates, the marketing department has mandated the duty to carry out these practices for publicizing the company. To achieve the marketing strategy, Fly Emirates is involved in intensive advertisements on televisions, newspapers and on Sky News (Heracleous and Wirtz, 2012). The company is also engaged in activity sponsorship. Most people love football and thus the initiative to support various teams by the Emirates Airline allows many people identify the company products. Some customers turn out to be loyal customers merely because they feel part of the business.
Through these sponsorship activities, the company has managed to increase revenues. The various market segmentation allows the company to identify the market that is offering more revenues than the other hence they invest more in that segment to ensure customer loyalty. Through various ads, the company has achieved the goal of communication mix by reminding and persuading customers. Under the popular tagline, the Gulf News, the company has released various advertisements that have influenced many clients. In-flight advertisements keep customers lively and have more advantage than other social media.
Public relations as a marketing tool for Emirates. The company seeks to remain active in participating in the public policy debates. The company is the catalyst that is helping bring Europe to Dubai. The company has sponsored many activities in Europe, and this is likely to bring a significant connection between the two regions for development (Alserhan, 2010). Creating new relations in the aviation industry is paramount not only for the company but also to the nation. Combined efforts by the two areas will help initiated various development projects.
Sample Promotional Material for Emirates Corporation
Press release
There have been security issues Turkey and as our safety policy suggest that it is our responsibility to ensure the security to our customer, the CEO has released a public announcement that the Emirates Airline is counseling all trips scheduled this August to Turkey for the safety of the clients. All customers who have paid their tickets will be refunded the full amount. “Customer safety is our concern and business.”
A publication advertisement
EMIRATES AIRLINES
We are the leader in safety in the entire aviation industry. The company is pleased to advertise that it will reduce the first class services by two percent this vacation. To add on this, the first ten customers to apply for the service will enjoy an added discount of 10 percent on top of the normal two percent. Pay now and grab your discount.
Billboard Advertisement
We are the artificial eagles. Touring all the heights in the safest manner. We rule the sky.
Social media
In the company social media group, the company reaches many fans who are part of the team. The admin has designed the page such that there is trending news in almost after one hour so that it keeps all fans informed about the company. One advert that I consider to have an impact is that,
Like the wind, which moves to almost all parts of the globe, enjoy the safe and luxurious flight to all regions of the world. We have expanded our trips to all destinations. Let the news trend to our entire esteemed clients. We connect on Facebook and other social media, but Emirates Airline physically takes you to that dream place. Tour with us this summer.
References
Alserhan, B. A. (2010). Entrepreneurs and trade names: evidence from the United Arab Emirates. European Business Review, 22(2), 232-245.
Evans, N. (2011). Collaborative strategy: an analysis of the changing world of international airline alliances. Tourism Management, 22(3), 229-243.
Heracleous, L., & Wirtz, J. (2012). Strategy and organization at Singapore Airlines: achieving a sustainable advantage through dual strategy. In Energy, Transport, & the Environment (pp. 479-493). Springer London.
Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2010). Principles of marketing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Melewar, T. C., Turnbull, S., & Balabanis, G. (2010). International advertising strategies of multinational enterprises in the Middle East. International Journal of Advertising, 19(4), 529-547.
Nataraja, S., & Al-Aali, A. (2011). The exceptional performance strategies of Emirate Airlines. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 21(5), 471-486.
O’Connell, J. F. (2011). The rise of the Arabian Gulf carriers: An insight into the business model of Emirates Airline. Journal of Air Transport Management, 17(6), 339-346.
