Aiza Day
Qantas is a predominant airline company starting its roots in the 1920s. With more than a century of innovation and undying excellent service to its passengers, it has made a name for itself in the airline industry with a lot of competition. With some getting bankrupt and other airline companies getting acquired by bigger ones, one could not help but wonder how Qantas still exists up until this day regardless of the wars, economic recession, and pandemic, and still establishes its brand for the masses.
Qantas’ name lies primarily in its marketing strategy. Sure, the great service and the amazing flight crew and customer service are their facades, but underneath lies how the airline does wonders for its clients. It has become the largest fleet-size airline in Australia and has made an image that is uniquely different from its competitors, creating popularity and familiarity not only for Australians but in the international arena as well.
Yet, how do they do it?
4Ps (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)
Product
Most companies always incorporate the 4Ps in marketing strategy for their product and services. The 4 components never fail to service and satisfy clients hand in hand, creating a mutually beneficial partnership for the company and the masses as well.
For Products, Qantas Airways is known to be the oldest airline in Australia. Nevertheless, it has made a foundation in the international arena, wherein they also service domestic and foreign customers inside and outside of Australia, making it a viable tactic to broaden and extend its customer base. Yet, the key characteristic when it comes to Qantas uniqueness is the product and excellent service everyone will experience onboard and off-board. While the company offers different choices for individuals where they can book First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy, and Economy seat preferences, they have a strong policy of giving the most excellent services for their passengers; people with special needs are urgently helped, passengers can enjoy manual and electronic entertainment while flying, airports with lounges for a comfortable waiting time, some airport with valet parking, and even a chauffeur driver for First Class passengers. The range passengers get by booking Qantas is seemingly so much that they prefer it over any other airline. Hence, everyone can experience convenience and reliability that later on generates loyalty due to customer satisfaction.
All the more, the company does not only rely on flying passengers but on delivering packages as well. Qantas Freight, the delivery service of Qantas, offers domestic and international freight for documents, baggage, and pet transport – they offer a wide range of services where they can also extend their flight services on flying items. This enables Qantas to corroborate their resources when flying passengers, making every flight a valuable outlet to do other types of transactions. To date, Qantas Freight is Australia’s leading air freight carrier.
Place
Geographical location is also in Qantas’ marketing strategy. Primarily catering only to Australians in its first few years, they have envisioned and realized stretching its main hubs to different countries, to solidify its bases and spend efforts and resources not only for Australians but with foreign individuals as well.
With this, they have made a quantifiable subsidiary in other states – Jetconnect which caters to clients flying from New Zealand to Australia, and Jetstar which is one of the leading budget-friendly Airlines in Asia (based in Singapore). Consequently, Qantas enables individuals in different landscapes to experience their service. This also connotes the economic levels of each hub to control the prices of their flights, ensuring that there is always ample consideration for passengers with regard to their capability of availing ticket prices. This strategy in geography mitigates their limitations to one area only, and enables the expansion of customers but still considers how they price tickets so different people in different areas will be keen on availing them – Qantas being able to secure innovative and strategic places makes them a good role model that summons inclusivity, where other airlines are also imitating their way of securing passengers for each flight they venture on.
Hence, Qantas sees to it that they have hubs at major domestic and international destinations and that they also have avenues for ticket services via their outlets and through agents. Nonetheless, Qantas has 31 international destinations and 65 domestic destinations along with its subsidiaries, inculcating a strong presence in the airline industry.
Price
Along with the target market of Qantas, they have made sure that all ticket prices are with what their passengers are eyeing. They enable pricing ranges through market segmentation, alongside variations in passenger classes.
Luxurious and comfortable services are offered to first-class passengers with its premium pricing that also includes premium and benefits following their quality of service, and makes sure that every first-class passenger will get their end of the bargain with what they pay. For mass markets, economy tickets are made affordable under their reasonable pricing, where passengers can also get basic amenities that are more than enough to satisfy them. More so, Qantas has also associated a pricing technique that pools customers to choose them; they have adopted a competitive pricing scheme that keeps prices a little bit lower compared to rival airlines – a tactic that lures passengers into choosing them more over the other. Still, Qantas makes refunds and rebooking easier and achievable for passengers, which generates trust from new and frequent flyers.
Interestingly, competitive pricing strategy is one of the key components to luring passengers and drawing preferences directly to Qantas and strategically, they also offer lower prices for new destinations to build a strong foundation over their clients’ perceptions. This entails that Qantas has higher bargaining power over their competitors, where they can create more choices for their frequent flyers (mostly middle class and business individuals), and regularly seeks a pricing parameter where such customers will certainly come back to them regardless if they have discounts or not. As they are more price sensitive, Qantas offers better prices yet still with quality, and passengers can primarily instil their money’s worth while still getting the best services airlines can provide.
Promotions
Marketing to various platforms is always a necessity to gain a presence. Qantas is always beyond par at creating ads to gain visibility not only domestically but also internationally.
The airline company always displays airline tickets and promotions on print ads, brochures, billboards, newspapers, radio, and television. All the more, as technology and social media is a fast-paced platform for advertising, they always do landing pages on various blogs and websites, and have social media account on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram where they regularly post to gain brand visibility worldwide. Apart from this, they are also present in big events where they offer sponsorships, maintain a presence, and inculcate brand relevance to different types of individuals. Hence, they utilize all marketing channels in such a way that customers will be aware of what they offer to manifest brand awareness to all domestic and foreign clients.
On another note, discount vouchers and promotions are also offered to frequent and new flyers. With this, Qantas markets a customer-centric approach during low seasons when flights and bookings aren’t coinciding with their average sales. This creates a way for the company to book the unbooked, and leave seats full even at the lowest of times.
Ergo, the Spirit of Australia does not only reach Australians but worldwide.
Retaining Customer Loyalty
As part of the brand’s tactic to retain customer trust and confidence with the airline, Qantas always ensures that all individuals flying their airline get another flight with them – this is done with promotions and discounts where all types of passengers can be easily lured and retained through their Frequent Flyer Program.
Let’s say that it’s your first time booking Qantas for your trip. You avail the ticket, not knowing that there’s something that you can get even after the flight. But as part of Qantas’ Frequent Flyer Program, all passengers that can book flights with them will have points that will depend on the type of ticket and their destination. By then, all points that are earned by booking your flight via Qantas can be converted to free flight upgrades, and can even be a free ticket to your next destination. More so, points can also be used to avail discounts on flights, which makes it a significant reason for individuals to always book the same airline for all their trips.
This enables Qantas to retain its customer base, an approach that gives its passengers an advantage over their bookings no matter how cheap or how expensive they might be. Hence, a great strategy that sells customer experience through its excellent efforts in making sure everyone is accommodated, regardless of the type of class booked on flight availability.
Key Takeaway
Qantas makes sure that all individuals regardless of geographical location will have a reason to fly with them. From products, price, promotion, and place, each marketing component generates sales and a better brand identity for them – ensuring that the customer experience is always regarded with utmost efforts and excellence lets them have a positive connotation for their company where they are visible, affordable, and customer-centric year after year.
