Wednesday, April 15, 2015

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].

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