Sangeeta Sharma, Manager Marketing, South Asia, Lufthansa in conversation with lufthansa4Ps B&M reveals the critical importance of gathering customer intelligence
Most domestic airlines and some international ones too are advertising on TV; do you think it works? Does Lufthansa also have similar plans?
Yes and no. TV is the quickest medium but cannot hold the brand on its own. I think one should go into TVCs after certain recognition as a brand. What is really important is to have a great marketing mix and to make sure that the money is being utilised effectively. If we can achieve that through an effective marketing mix, then TV is not important. We were the first ones to do TV tickers and they really worked very well for us.
In that case, are you saying that TV advertising doesn’t make sense at all when it comes to the aviation industry?
I think that TV is a way to engage customers while others are done to create awareness about the brand. If you have not established a relationship with your customer, if you have not created enough awareness about yourself, then even a television commercial will fail to achieve its objective. So according to me, TV should be used as a tool for customer engagement. We have advertised using other media like radio and a lot of BTL activities. We are there where the customers are least expecting us.
How have you measured whether your BTL activities have proven to be effective?
We do not do anything that we cannot measure. We tap everything through direct mailers, portals. There has been a special mix for this. We know exactly how many hits the website receives, the entire traffic. Customer intelligence is very very important and we keep that in mind. We have engaged our viewers through SMS contests giving out Lufthansa goodies and have received enormous replies. We wanted to give the brand some life and subsequently, got some good 18,000 hits on the website. We got responses from all major cities We knew exactly who we were talking to. We were bang on! It is important for us to know whether our campaigns have worked or not, because everything has to give an ROI; otherwise, the campaign is not relevant.
Today, we have a significant lot of travel portals. Do you consider them competition?
We do not think portals are giving any competition to us. In fact, they work like agents for us. We have a contract with makemytrip.com, which works with us very closely. They are not competing with us. They are working alongside. These distribution channels are very helpful.
Any plans to increase the number of routes?
Airlines are growing because there is more demand. We have 49 flights, 200 destinations in 81 countries. Lufthansa thrives on network. Network is our biggest strength and nobody can beat us at that. We have a JV with Star Alliance that makes it even more efficient for us.
In all, in terms of marketing and advertising, what kind of an edge does Lufthansa have over others?
In the last 2-Maybe years ago, it was [niche], but not anymore. Today, we do not want to be tagged as a niche brand. We want to diversify our target audience and this is a progressive change. You will see us everywhere possible.
Most domestic airlines and some international ones too are advertising on TV; do you think it works? Does Lufthansa also have similar plans?
Yes and no. TV is the quickest medium but cannot hold the brand on its own. I think one should go into TVCs after certain recognition as a brand. What is really important is to have a great marketing mix and to make sure that the money is being utilised effectively. If we can achieve that through an effective marketing mix, then TV is not important. We were the first ones to do TV tickers and they really worked very well for us.
In that case, are you saying that TV advertising doesn’t make sense at all when it comes to the aviation industry?
I think that TV is a way to engage customers while others are done to create awareness about the brand. If you have not established a relationship with your customer, if you have not created enough awareness about yourself, then even a television commercial will fail to achieve its objective. So according to me, TV should be used as a tool for customer engagement. We have advertised using other media like radio and a lot of BTL activities. We are there where the customers are least expecting us.
How have you measured whether your BTL activities have proven to be effective?
We do not do anything that we cannot measure. We tap everything through direct mailers, portals. There has been a special mix for this. We know exactly how many hits the website receives, the entire traffic. Customer intelligence is very very important and we keep that in mind. We have engaged our viewers through SMS contests giving out Lufthansa goodies and have received enormous replies. We wanted to give the brand some life and subsequently, got some good 18,000 hits on the website. We got responses from all major cities We knew exactly who we were talking to. We were bang on! It is important for us to know whether our campaigns have worked or not, because everything has to give an ROI; otherwise, the campaign is not relevant.
Today, we have a significant lot of travel portals. Do you consider them competition?
We do not think portals are giving any competition to us. In fact, they work like agents for us. We have a contract with makemytrip.com, which works with us very closely. They are not competing with us. They are working alongside. These distribution channels are very helpful.
Any plans to increase the number of routes?
Airlines are growing because there is more demand. We have 49 flights, 200 destinations in 81 countries. Lufthansa thrives on network. Network is our biggest strength and nobody can beat us at that. We have a JV with Star Alliance that makes it even more efficient for us.
In all, in terms of marketing and advertising, what kind of an edge does Lufthansa have over others?
In the last 2-Maybe years ago, it was [niche], but not anymore. Today, we do not want to be tagged as a niche brand. We want to diversify our target audience and this is a progressive change. You will see us everywhere possible.
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine
IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting
IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
