Kingfisher Marketting Strategies

Kingfisher Airlines Marketing Strategies Kingfisher airlines launched its domestic air service operations in May 2005. KFA was promoted by UB group and offered a single class- “Kingfisher Class”. KFA successfully   leverage the youthful and vibrant image of its kingfisher beer brand and called its airlines as ‘Funliners’ to emphasize the fun-filled experience.

Within the first six months of its launch, KFA managed to corner a 6% market share in the domestic air travel mark.KFA started its operation in May 7, 2005, positioning itself as a budget carrier and not as Low Cost Carrier (LCC). Following strategies were followed to make it one of the leading Airlines in India. • It came up with a very appealing promotional line “Fly the good times” and it reflected in the experience the company offered to its passengers. • KFA is also  launched Kingfisher express in order to tap into the growing LCC segment. • It planned to re-launch its commercial air service called UB Airway again which it had to withdraw it due to government restrictions.

The company gave best services to its customers that were like providing world class interiors, and in-flight entertainment systems. • The company came up with only one class airlines rather than other airlines that had Business Class; Economy Class the idea was to combine Business Class experiences and Economy Class experiences in one. Having a single class freed up more leg space for passengers when compared to normal economy class flights. • The company started addressing its customers as “GUEST” rather than passengers. The company made its mark by providing its guests with more legroom and bigger seats so as to provide better comfort.

KFA has set its sight to become India’s largest airline both is capacity and in market share. KFA’s Promotional Strategies As part of its promotional strategy the marketing team of KFA showcased the airline as “the new flying experience”. The following initiatives were taken as part of its promotional strategy… • Advertisements hoardings at airports depicted the stylish interiors of the “Funliners”, which conveyed youthfull, fun-filled, and world class image. INOX multiplexes in Mumbai publicized KFA’s  special offers for a month. • KFA was the official travel airlines for the cast and crew of “Mangal Pandey”- the movie. • KFA made use of various fashion shows, celebrity golf matches, New Year parties all to build its “Kingfisher” brand.

• The UB groups monthly magazine called “Pegasus” published information about KFA along with other information related to UB group. • KFA launched many attractive offers to promote its sales like the “King Card” in association with ICICI Bank, in August 2005.This was ment to creat loyal customers for KFA by providing benefits like privileged access to lounges, restaurants, free refreshments at airports, access to 180 golf clubs across India, special invites for lifestyle shows . • In October, KFA launched “Chill Times Offer” in the month of August 2005 and September 2005. • In October they launched the “King Saver Offer” which said “Fly like a King, don’t play like one”. • KFA targeted the frequent fliers business traveler segment, which was dominated by Jet Airways.By offering a “King Saver Booklet”, This booklet contained six free flight tickets and was presented as a free gift if the passenger bought two such booklets each worth Rs. 26,999. Passengers could avail off this offer if they showed there Jet Privilege Member (Gold or Platinum) card. These airlines are using social media tools to post updates about new products and services, interact with the consumers and encourage consumers to give feedback and suggestions for improvement.

Our domestic airlines might have been a little slow in adopting social media tools, but most of the Indian airlines now have an active presence on major social networking sites, and online platforms. Simplify360 conducted a study to find out which domestic airlines are actively using social media and which ones are still reluctant to take the plunge? Check out some of the findings of this study: [pic] • Though domestic airlines are using social media, their interactivity level on social media platforms is still less, when compared to International Airlines.For Instance, Southwest Airline ranks high with the social media grade of 4. 43, when compared to Jet Airways that obtained a grade of 2. 9.

• Jet Airways is the most active domestic airline on social media, followed by other airlines like Spice Jet, Kingfisher, Air India, Indigo and Go Air. It uses different social media channels to engage with customers like Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. While the Twitter profile is used to make announcements and have conversations with the clients, the Flickr profile is used to give customers an insight into what the brand is all about. When the online conversations about various domestic airlines were studied, Jet Airways was found to be the most popular one.

The airline received over 4000 conversations on various networking sites, in a time span of 2 weeks. • Though Jet Airways lead other airlines on social media, the airline is not the most liked one. When it came to positive mentions about the airline on social media space, Kingfisher Airlines ranked higher than Jet Airways showing 67. 37 % positive mentions, over Jet Airway’s 55. 71 %. Twitter demographics showed that both Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways are used by the people of same age group.

To attract more customers, these brands need to differentiate their services and reach out to target consumers, instead of serving a general crowd. • Kingfisher has a better international presence, when compared to Jet Airways. Jet Airways needs to alter its marketing strategies and think of ways to expand the brand internationally. The study indicates that domestic airlines are performing well on social media space, but they have to invest more time and resources, in order to soar higher.