airline selling and advertising

3. INTRODUCTION
• Aviation provides the only transportation network
across the globe and it is crucial for global
business development and tourism enrichment.
By serving tourism and trade, it contributes to
economic growth. Air transportation is essential
for the fast movement of people and cargo
shipments around the world. Finally, air
transportation improves the quality of people‟s
lives by leisure and cultural experiences.

4. • In order to be successful airline must convince and
persuade potential customers to buy from them rather
than from their rivals. The early stages of marketing
should certainly make this process easier. It will always
be more straightforward to persuade people to buy
value-for-money products which will meet well-
understood customer needs, rather than those which do
not. sales task is not an easy one, given the levels of
competition which now prevail in the industry. A great
deal of planning and hard work will be needed.

5. AIRLINE SELLING (THEANATOMY
OF A SALE – AIDA model)
• Identify the prospect and gain their attention. Using
methods such as advertising, direct mail, telephone etc.
• generate interest in customer by identifying the
problems faced by the customer.
• Converting interest into the desire to make the
purchase. Promoting desire may also involve the
handling of objections. Objections, must be handled
professionally.
• The last stage is action. Salespeople must have the
courage to risk rejection and ask for the deal, intention of
customer will be understood by body language or verbal
buying signals. for example, asking about the details of
deal rather than concluding it.

6. Sales Planning
An overall sales and marketing plan will be needed for
the airline as a whole, and preparing this will be the
responsibility of the Executive Vice-president for
marketing.
The Sales Budget
• To support sales and marketing
• Competition in market (domestic and international) and
number of competitors.
• To launch new routes, or when a major product upgrade
is to take place.
• For brand positioning.
• cost of the different forms of marketing communication.

7. MARKET COMMUNICATION
TECHNIQUES
1. Sponsorship Policy
The term „Sponsorship‟ is used to describe a situation
whereby a firm has its name associated with an event, a
team or a competitor, in exchange for money. It is
valuable for a new airline, or for an established operator
opening a new route into a market area where it has had
no previous presence.
2. Database Marketing
Sound information of customers is essential for
successful Database Marketing. Carriers are seeking to
make better contact with their customers to secure
greater control of their distribution channel. Airline finds
database marketing as a way of doing so.

8. Continues. . .
3. Media relations
Air transport must have strong media relation,
an airline which fails to cultivate strong Media
Relations can suffer bad publicity when things
go wrong. Media relations have to be well-
placed to obtain favorable coverage when
positive things happen such as new route
introductions or product and brand re-launches.

9. ADVERTISING
• It is a form of communication that appears in the
media to inform and persuade the consumer to
buy the product. Advertising is carried out by a
number of media such as newspapers,
magazines, journals, brochures, display boards,
radio, television, motion pictures etc.
• Airline marketing is the marketing
communication method available to airlines. It
needs a special section of its own. The purpose
of this is to look at what advertising can and
cannot do for airlines.

10. Objectives of advertising
1. To increase sales directly by
a. Encouraging potential purchasers to visit distributors
b. Announcing special sales, contest or other promotions
c. Securing new dealers and inducing opinion leaders to
recommend product.
2 . To create awareness and interest in the company‟s
product by:
a. Informing potential buyers about product features
b. Announcing the availability of new products
c. Demonstrating the benefits of product‟s use
d. Publishing a new brand name or symbol

11. Advantages of Advertising
• Wider coverage (it can be placed before large number
of prospective customer as compared with efforts of
sales man)
• Frequent appeal (it can make its appeal frequent,
whereas the calls of salesman are usually not so
frequent)
• Accessibility (it will reach customer through different
distribution channels)
• Lower cost (large numbers can be reached
economically)
• Selling task (advertisement may be used to do a variety
of selling tasks)

12. Planning the advertising
• Careful consideration must be given to gain attention
and interest of customer and secure the action desired
by seller
Eg - color scheme, size, layout of advertisement.
• Present the advertisement frequently because people
are inclined to believe statements they hear or see
repeatedly.
• Early in the campaign they should be used close
together because consumers forget rapidly at first and
much more slowly later on.
• After the facts are retained by the prospectus, the
advertisement can be presented at longer intervals

13. Selection of media
• Selection depend on factors like area to be
covered, type of audience to be reached, the
appeals to be made and upon the services and
facilities of particular medium in relation to cost.
 The factors which influence the media selection
are
a. Media habits of target audience
b. Product characteristics (Eg,demonstration of
flight operation for effective impact on target
audience)
c. Cost of the media.

14. MESSAGE SELECTION
• Message selected for advertisement should retain
interest in the minds of customer.
 Important characteristics of an effective message are
a. Information – should be adequate for decision
b. Interest – should catch attention
c. Authenticity – should avoid exaggerated claims
d. Persuasion – should create favorable conviction in
target audience
e. Memory value – to have something which help target
audience to remember it.

15. Cost effectiveness
• The advertiser must relate the estimated cost of the
objective planned and the contribution expected from
advertising.
 The various method commonly used are
a. Affordable method – budget set on the basis what an
agency can afford
b. Percentage sales method – budget on the basis of
specific percentage of sales.
c. Competitive parity method – agency set its budget to
match those of its major competitors.
d. Objective and task method – budget required to
perform various tasks that are necessary to achieve
the objective

16. Determining advertising
effectiveness
 The commonly used methods are
a. Inquiry – the amount of response is an indication of the
effectiveness of the concerned advertisement.
b. Recall Tests – here respondents are shown the
magazine cover or other media in which advertisement
had appeared. They are then asked to recall.
c. Recognition test – asked whether respondents have
read them
d. Sales test – sales results are examined before and
after the advertising

17. Features of „Good‟ Airline Advertising
 Good research data helps in deciding whether
advertising is working or not
 Showing an understanding of the customer‟s True
Needs, and demonstrating the ways in which the airline
can meet these needs. Offer a Unique Selling
Proposition to the customer. ( Eg, “First Flight of the Day”
or “Only Airline Flying the A380”).
 It will be necessary to study the advertisement very
carefully to make sure that it is compatible with the
airline‟s long term development of its brand values.
 Marketing communication with its freight customers
important to many airlines as air freight consistently
growing faster than the passenger

18. The Future of Airline Marketing
• Airline industry facing rapid change and continuing
financial problems.
• Issues like terrorism and rising fuel charge has serious
consequences in the travel industry.
• New business models is need to deal gloom prevailing in
the market.
• Airlines will certainly have a substantial demand for their
product
• Leisure traffic will have greater demand in future, and it
will be even lower-yielding ahead. Airlines with the
keenest levels of operating costs will be able to carry
profitably.

19. • One bright spot will be continuing growth of the air freight
market, which is not vulnerable to wars and the threat of
terrorist attack.
• Environmental issues will limit the growth and freedom of
action unless they demonstrate that they are taking all
possible steps to minimize the environmental impact,
even if it involve substantial costs.
• Technology will also affect airlines. There will be fall in
the proportion, average of 70 – 50 % of ticket sold by
travel agents because of the ability of airline control their
distribution channels effectively.

20. Marketing strategies of air India
• In order to boost the sales of its tickets, it
launched many schemes to attract clients. It
promoted its services through various media like
leading news papers, reputed TV channels.
• Leaf lets and brochers where issued to travel
agencies.
• The air line was able to suppress the threats of
terrorist attack and other negative thoughts by
media blitzkrieg sponsored