International Brand - Emirates - Resonance Building Blocks

Brand Resonance Model:

A brand resonance brand e model ensures identification of the brand with customers, establishes the totality of brand meaning in the minds of customers, elicits the proper customer response to the brand and convert brand responses to create

brand resonance and an intense and active relationship between customers and the brand.

Emirates, a subsidiary of the Emirates group is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates along with Etihad Airways and is based in Dubai. The airline is the seventh largest airline in the world in terms of revenue, and is the largest airline in the Middle East in terms of revenue, fleet size, and passengers carried. Emirates has built up a strong brand name as a leader in the aviation industry, particularly in terms of service excellence and rapid growth.

Components of resonance model for Emirates:

Salience: As of 2014, the airline is the fourth-largest airline in the world in terms of international passengers carried and third largest in terms of scheduled passenger-kilometers flown. This clearly says that Emirates is at the top of mind of the customers and is one of their top priorities when deciding airlines. Emirates as a high brand depth as it is very likely to come to people’s mind and whenever people think of travelling, Emirates pops up in their mind right away.

Brand Performance: Emirates is an airlines that always works on meeting the customers’ functional needs. At the very core service, Emirates has been consistent over time. It is the fourth-largest airline in the world till date in terms of international passengers carried and third largest in terms of scheduled passenger-kilometers flown. The airline is also the third-largest in terms of scheduled freight ton-kilometers flown. Emirates is further expanding its fleet as it shoots for 70 million passengers per year by 2020, versus 40 million today. Emirates cares about their passengers and through different loyalty partnerships tries to create a lifestyle brand for their customers.

The Hello Tomorrow Campaign, 2012

At the heart of different plans, Emirates aims at not only business travelers but also the everyday flying public. In order to make the brand more accessible to the average flier, the airline and agency Strawberry Frog came up with the current “Hello Tomorrow” push. This campaign “portrays a multicultural, tech-savvy company which is aimed at worldly consumers. In terms of style and design, the airline’s stylish flight attendants, with their red hats, white veils and tan suits, are a big part of its marketing strategy. Emirates considers their cabin crew members as their most recognizable brand ambassadors.

Imagery: In order to meet the increasing demand from customers of all tiers of income, Emirates has separate facilities for different status group. They have first class, business class and economy class. They have exclusive travel extra for children where they give presents to kids which is a very positive gesture. However, Emirates’ launched a global campaign called Hello Tomorrow in April 2012. With that Emirates appeals to globalistas –which is thought to be a new generation of global consumers who are looking for new experiences across cultures. Personality wise Emirates would be a sophisticated brand which focuses on prestige and elegance. Customers who choose Emirates consider it a matter of prestige.

Brand Judgement: Customers form brand judgement based on the different brand performance and imagery associations. Emirates has proved its consistency throughout all these years and have earned the right to be called a credible brand. Emirates is such an airlines that people rely on. The credentials came from the numerous awards that Emirates won. Emirates was ranked 8th by Air Transport World for "Airline of the Year" in 2012. Emirates has been rated as a four-star airline by aviation consultancy group Skytrax. The airline was voted Airline of the Year in 2013. In the 2014’s top 500 ranking of companies, the names of six airlines are included and for the third consecutive year Emirates is regarded as the most valuable airline brand worldwide. All these credentials speak for the brand itself and with all these Emirates has been able to portray itself as a trustworthy brand. In addition to these, these indicate that Emirates is superior to rest of the carriers that are operating around the globe.

Brand Feeling: Out of all the components of brand feeling, the one component that passengers of Emirates feel is the essence of self-respect. The general mass have this sense of accomplishment or good feeling when they choose Emirates as their career. This is because of Emirates’ dedicated and consistent service till date and the fact that it tries to innovate and improve every day. 

Brand Resonance: Emirates focuses more on relationship than on transactions and is currently working on building a lifestyle brand through different loyalty programs. This is because Emirates aims to become more relevant geographically. Recently they partnered with American Express Membership Rewards and the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty programs in order to gain relevance in the U.S. market. Emirates believes that it actually has larger goals and it wants people to love and trust them, to build a never ending positive impression about them. Emirates has Emirates Skywards where a lot of its loyal customers are members. It’s actually very easy to earn Skywards Miles and thus loyal customers get to spend them with Emirates and their global partners.

Recommendation: Emirates should consider reviewing its pricing categories and put some effort to reduce the price for its first class passengers. The reason is that Emirates need not worry about their economical seats, its the first class chairs they need to fill in. Besides, Emirates should strengthen its loyalty programs so that its customers are more in affiliation with its activities.

Reference: 

1. Kevin Lane Keller, (2013). 'Customer-Based Brand Equity and Brand Positioning'. In:Stephanie Wall (ed), Strategic Brand Management. 4th ed. Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE, England: Pearson Education Limited. pp.79-93.

2. ADWEEK- Joan Voight (2014). Emirates Is the World's Most Glamorous Airline The American-bound carrier has rivals feeling turbulence. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/emirates-worlds-most-glamorous-airline-160714. [Last Accessed 14.04.15].

3. Wikipedia (2014). Emirates (Airline). [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_%28airline%29#Incidents. [Last Accessed 14.04.15].

4. Samantha Shankman (2015). Emirates Tries to Build a Lifestyle Brand Through Loyalty Partnerships. [ONLINE] Available at: http://skift.com/2015/01/28/emirates-tries-to-build-a-lifestyle-brand-through-loyalty-partnerships/. [Last Accessed 14.04.15].

Bangladeshi Brand - Shwapno

Brand Positioning:

Generally three parties exist in a value chain- producer, intermediary and consumer. Shwapno, which is a subsidiary of ACI came up with a goal to remove the exploitation of the intermediaries who tend to pay price below the production cost to the producer and charge premium price to the customers. Shwapno determined its positioning based on three dimensions. The target market for Shwapno is people ranging from 25-55 years of age who actively shop from super stores. They will generally be from an upper middle class family otherwise they would prefer visiting the local bazars to shop similar goods. The target market is behaviorally segmented as the independent segment as they generally seek a lower price. Their direct competitors in the market are Agora, Meena Bazar, Nondon. Besides, other than this frame of reference, all the other local bazars work as competitors for Shwapno. Shwapno practices category points of parity as they ensure the very generic product level and are at the expected product level as well. They offer each and every product that their competitors offer. In fact, argument will say they offer a competitive point of parity by providing better quality product than their competitors. On the other hand, the point of difference for Shwapno would be their low pricing. This is one benefit that customers strongly associate with Shwapno. Customers positively evaluate them and believe that they cannot find this low price in any competitive brand. As for the brand positioning guidelines, Shwapno follows communicating the competitive frame of reference. Shwapno has already established a category membership in the minds of customers that they sell mostly the fast moving consumer goods and goods that are required on a daily basis. Customers expect them to sell all the goods needed for a day to day life. Shwapno has chosen the POD considering desirability, deliverability and differentiation. The fast moving consumer goods are such that customers cannot but desire. These are goods that people need every day. Hence finding a cheaper deal of these goods with better quality is crucial. Shwapno believes they can deliver their POD and offer products at the lowest price possible. They go with the slogan-‘’Koshter Takay Shreshtho Bazar.’’

Koshter Takay Shreshtho Bazar

This clearly says that people will get the best out of their shopping if Shwapno is what they choose. The point of difference that Shwapno has is different from all its competitors. Shwapno does little separation of their PODs and POPs. They showed in one or two advertisements- ‘’Cholun egiye jai’’ to generalize their vision or to represent their POP. However, in every advertisement they publish, they show the POPs that is they are offering every product that their competitors provide. Nonetheless they mention prices of every product alongside to grab attention of the customers and to remind them that they are the market leaders in terms of affordability and quality. Shwapno has also straddled two frames of reference with one set of POD and POP. For instance, it combines low price from all the regular bazars and high quality from other super stores and thus have converted their PODs into its POP.

Recommendation: 

Shwapno needs to establish the PODs and POPs separately. Shwapno gives a hint of low pricing in every advertisement that they publish, hence consumers find it hard to differentiate POP and POD. In addition to sales promotion and Bill board ads, Shwapno should focus on television commercials and PR activities and should work on an IMC campaign to integrate all their forms of communication and deliver it to the common mass. 

Reference:

1. Shwapno (2009). The dream behind Shwapno. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.shwapno.com/about.php. [Last Accessed 27/02/15].

2. Kevin Lane Keller, (2013). 'Customer-Based Brand Equity and Brand Positioning'. In:Stephanie Wall (ed), Strategic Brand Management. 4th ed. Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE, England: Pearson Education Limited. pp.79-93.