At a time when domestic airlines are reeling under huge losses and the growth of a foreign aviator in India is debatable, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific is further spreading out its wings to grab a bigger piece of the Indian skies. Ratan Lal Bhagat catches up with the man in the cockpit to find out how…
It’s no more a secret that the global economic turmoil has really been harsh on the aviation industry. The financial chaos has not only forced aviators across the globe to take on to various cost cutting, capacity cut and route rationalisation measures to stem their bleeding bottomlines, but has also compelled them to resort to various marketing tactics to stay relevant in this cat-eat-cat world. However, there is a purple cow in the herd who has dared to go against the tide even in these times of crisis. Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong-based airline (which offers scheduled passenger and cargo services to 114 destinations in 36 countries), is not only going all out in its expansion plan in India, but is also leaving no stone unturned to earn itself a set of loyal customers in the subcontinent. But then, will it be able to make it through the turbulent zone in which Indian aviation seems to be stuck at the moment? 4Ps B&M gets candid with Rakesh Raicar, Marketing & Sales Manager (India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan), Cathay Pacific to find out the answer to not one such question, but many more...
4Ps B&M: Considering the ongoing sectoral turmoil, how does Cathay Pacific plans to make its presence felt in the Indian skies?
RR: The year 2008 has been a landmark year for Cathay Pacific in India as we were able to obtain more traffic rights. With these rights we can now operate on a much larger scale and thus encash the potential that the Indian market offers. For instance, while the number of flights operating from Delhi has been raised from 4 to 14, for Mumbai the number has been increased to 10 flights. Further, we have also started our services from Chennai and are even catering to Bangalore customers through our sister airline Dragonair. Moreover, it’s important for us to inform our travellers of the new network benefits that we are offering. During these difficult times we have aligned our schedules and routes and have also lowered our fares to destinations like Bangkok. We have been continuously advertising our new routes, lower fares and schedules through campaign like ‘Launching Bangkok’ via print media, outdoors and lot of online advertisements.
4Ps B&M: Cathay Pacific too has joined the low-fare bandwagon. But, don’t you think with every other player resorting to low fares, brand differentiation has lost its meaning. So, how does the brand Cathay Pacific plans to differentiate itself from the herd?
RR: The low fares are only for our flights to Bangkok. Nevertheless, we offer a price bandwidth to our travellers who can benefit by booking earlier and paying less. Our brand is in the premium airline category and the service that we provide to our travellers is what actually differentiates us from the competition. Moreover, we offer direct flights to Hong Kong that saves a traveller from lot of hassles.
4Ps B&M: How different are the marketing and brand building strategies of Cathay Pacific when one compares India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan with the rest of the world?
RR: We opt for mostly similar marketing strategies for all our markets because we follow a standard service catering pattern, network, frequency, on time service, et al. We aim to maintain a similar level of brand value for all destinations that we fly to. We focus in highlighting our services and benefits to get repeat and new business. Moreover, we have expanded our reach in a big way in the Indian market by increasing the number of flights from each of our destinations and this we have brought to the notice of our customers in the country by advertising this increase in the number of flights in a big way.
4Ps B&M: Cathay Pacific has recently started to specifically cater to the Indian film industry, a niche segment. What is the strategy behind the move? Is the airline looking to tap any other specific segment in the near future?
RR: The film industry, especially the Indian film industry has been doing phenomenally well for quiet some time now and most of the film producers go out to shoot their films at foreign locations like Australia, New Zealand, et al. As we are well connected to most of these desirable foreign film shooting destinations, they prefer flying with us because apart from providing the world class service to these celebrities and their technicians, we have also devised special rates for the large number of equipments and baggage that they carry with them, which is far below to what is charged to a normal passenger. Apart from the film industry we are also working with various tourist boards on such schemes. We are also looking forward to tap the travellers flying out of Mumbai for marine business apart from the usual frequent business flyers.
4Ps B&M: How important is it for Cathay Pacific to serve what has been promised? What are the initiatives that it is taking to fulfill the same?
RR: Cathay Pacific has built a brand over the years based on the high quality services that it offers to its customers. In fact, we, at times, even go out of our way to serve people who travel with us. We always ensure that our travellers have a hassle free journey and the entire crew is working together to serve the customers in the world class way which proves to be the differentiating factor between us and our competitors. We also encourage our staff members to give their best by recognising their services through accolades like the Betsy Award.
4Ps B&M: Apart from the financial constraint, what are the marketing challenges that Cathay Pacific might face in the Indian Sub-continent?
RR: The comparatively higher cost of the various medium of advertisement i.e. print, television commercial (TVC), et al, is one of the biggest challenge in the Indian market. One cannot think of having a TVC with such high costs. Thus, for us the challenge is to work within our budget and reach our target audience at the same time. We, at present, are using our public relations to gain the maximum mileage and promote ourselves in this sub-continent.
Ratan Lal Bhagat
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN
IIPM Related Links
Detail of all IIPM branches
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
Exclusive In chat with Society Magazine - Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri
It’s no more a secret that the global economic turmoil has really been harsh on the aviation industry. The financial chaos has not only forced aviators across the globe to take on to various cost cutting, capacity cut and route rationalisation measures to stem their bleeding bottomlines, but has also compelled them to resort to various marketing tactics to stay relevant in this cat-eat-cat world. However, there is a purple cow in the herd who has dared to go against the tide even in these times of crisis. Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong-based airline (which offers scheduled passenger and cargo services to 114 destinations in 36 countries), is not only going all out in its expansion plan in India, but is also leaving no stone unturned to earn itself a set of loyal customers in the subcontinent. But then, will it be able to make it through the turbulent zone in which Indian aviation seems to be stuck at the moment? 4Ps B&M gets candid with Rakesh Raicar, Marketing & Sales Manager (India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan), Cathay Pacific to find out the answer to not one such question, but many more...
4Ps B&M: Considering the ongoing sectoral turmoil, how does Cathay Pacific plans to make its presence felt in the Indian skies?
RR: The year 2008 has been a landmark year for Cathay Pacific in India as we were able to obtain more traffic rights. With these rights we can now operate on a much larger scale and thus encash the potential that the Indian market offers. For instance, while the number of flights operating from Delhi has been raised from 4 to 14, for Mumbai the number has been increased to 10 flights. Further, we have also started our services from Chennai and are even catering to Bangalore customers through our sister airline Dragonair. Moreover, it’s important for us to inform our travellers of the new network benefits that we are offering. During these difficult times we have aligned our schedules and routes and have also lowered our fares to destinations like Bangkok. We have been continuously advertising our new routes, lower fares and schedules through campaign like ‘Launching Bangkok’ via print media, outdoors and lot of online advertisements.
4Ps B&M: Cathay Pacific too has joined the low-fare bandwagon. But, don’t you think with every other player resorting to low fares, brand differentiation has lost its meaning. So, how does the brand Cathay Pacific plans to differentiate itself from the herd?
RR: The low fares are only for our flights to Bangkok. Nevertheless, we offer a price bandwidth to our travellers who can benefit by booking earlier and paying less. Our brand is in the premium airline category and the service that we provide to our travellers is what actually differentiates us from the competition. Moreover, we offer direct flights to Hong Kong that saves a traveller from lot of hassles.
4Ps B&M: How different are the marketing and brand building strategies of Cathay Pacific when one compares India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan with the rest of the world?
RR: We opt for mostly similar marketing strategies for all our markets because we follow a standard service catering pattern, network, frequency, on time service, et al. We aim to maintain a similar level of brand value for all destinations that we fly to. We focus in highlighting our services and benefits to get repeat and new business. Moreover, we have expanded our reach in a big way in the Indian market by increasing the number of flights from each of our destinations and this we have brought to the notice of our customers in the country by advertising this increase in the number of flights in a big way.
4Ps B&M: Cathay Pacific has recently started to specifically cater to the Indian film industry, a niche segment. What is the strategy behind the move? Is the airline looking to tap any other specific segment in the near future?
RR: The film industry, especially the Indian film industry has been doing phenomenally well for quiet some time now and most of the film producers go out to shoot their films at foreign locations like Australia, New Zealand, et al. As we are well connected to most of these desirable foreign film shooting destinations, they prefer flying with us because apart from providing the world class service to these celebrities and their technicians, we have also devised special rates for the large number of equipments and baggage that they carry with them, which is far below to what is charged to a normal passenger. Apart from the film industry we are also working with various tourist boards on such schemes. We are also looking forward to tap the travellers flying out of Mumbai for marine business apart from the usual frequent business flyers.
4Ps B&M: How important is it for Cathay Pacific to serve what has been promised? What are the initiatives that it is taking to fulfill the same?
RR: Cathay Pacific has built a brand over the years based on the high quality services that it offers to its customers. In fact, we, at times, even go out of our way to serve people who travel with us. We always ensure that our travellers have a hassle free journey and the entire crew is working together to serve the customers in the world class way which proves to be the differentiating factor between us and our competitors. We also encourage our staff members to give their best by recognising their services through accolades like the Betsy Award.
4Ps B&M: Apart from the financial constraint, what are the marketing challenges that Cathay Pacific might face in the Indian Sub-continent?
RR: The comparatively higher cost of the various medium of advertisement i.e. print, television commercial (TVC), et al, is one of the biggest challenge in the Indian market. One cannot think of having a TVC with such high costs. Thus, for us the challenge is to work within our budget and reach our target audience at the same time. We, at present, are using our public relations to gain the maximum mileage and promote ourselves in this sub-continent.
Ratan Lal Bhagat
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN
IIPM Related Links
Detail of all IIPM branches
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
Exclusive In chat with Society Magazine - Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri
