Qatar Airways Marketing Mix (4Ps) & Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategy of Qatar Airways through marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion).
Qatar Airways Product Strategy:
Qatar Airways provides a wide range of services to passengers before boarding and also during the flight journey with entertainment and food services. Currently Qatar Airways has a fleet size of 190+ comprising of Airbus and Boeing in its product offering under its marketing mix. Its exclusive fleet comprises of Bombardier and Gulfstream variants. Different cabin services for Qatar Airways include:
First Class: The seating arrangement in Qatar Airways is provided with leg rest and additional services like message and entertainment provisions. However it is planning to remove these services in some of the existing aircraft and newly induced fleets.
Business Class: This is one of the premium services offers by Qatar Airways in most of its plane. This cabin services are characterized by its comfortable seating with extra spacing and touch screen facilities for the passengers.
Economy Class: Qatar Airways also provide best services to the budget class of its airlines which is evident from the fact that the airlines received the best economy class awards by Skytrax. Passengers are provided with better seats and personalized television for entertainment in this category. Plans are being made with possibility of Wi-Fi and GSM telephony usage and USB ports for different uses.
Inflight Entertainment of Qatar Airways involves the use of Oryx One system with provision of television and other entertainment portals are available on board. Also internet facilities are being provided in some of the flight to ensure the passengers can avail facilities of sending mails and surf the internet during their journey. Apart from inflight services Qatar Airways also offers some of the best lounges at its airports to ensure the passengers have better experience and also offer revenue for the airline. There are duty free shops, check in services, nursery, conference area, restaurants and Jacuzzi etc.
Image: Wikimedia
This concludes the product strategy in Qatar Airways marketing mix & strategy.
Qatar Airways Price/Pricing Strategy:
Below is the pricing strategy in Qatar Airways marketing mix strategy:
Qatar Airways prices its tickets in line with competition strategies. One of the major competitive advantage and reason for preferring Qatar Airways is the provision of providing quality services at reasonable prices.
It has value based pricing and offers different price range for its premium and economy classes. Qatar Airways adopts a market follower strategy in its marketing mix in terms of pricing its tickets and prices are normally set based on the competitors pricing which is generally the Emirates operating in the same geographic location. This method adopted by the airlines with respect to its pricing is also known as the going-rate pricing strategy. Qatar Airways generally targets the rich upper and middle-class segments which includes business corporates and executives. However it clearly needs to be understood that the falling global prices of crude oil plays a major role in determining the prices of tickets of such Middle East airline operators and bring changes in their pricing strategies accordingly.
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Qatar Airways Place & Distribution Strategy:
Following is the distribution strategy in the Qatar Airways marketing mix:
The brand has established presence in all the routes connecting major cities across the globe with more than 150 destinations. The hub of the airline operation is at Hamad International Airport and has hub and spoke kind of operations. The airline offers wide range of services through its lounges with its subsidiaries and divisions like Qatar Duty Free, Qatar Airways Holidays, Qatar Aviation Services etc.
It offers various options of availing its tickets through different sources for its customers.
Qatar Airways Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Qatar Airways marketing mix is as follows:
Qatar Airways have always identified in promotional strategies which further increases their visibility across the globe. Qatar Airways has used platforms like being the sponsor of FC Barcelona and also been the face of Asian Games held in Doha in the year 2006 and recently signed the world cup sponsorship of FIFA. Qatar Airways undertakes such promotion with the status of being associated with such high profile events and also improve brand visibility. The printed advertisement and visual commercials are mainly targeted towards the upper and middle customers and provides better understanding of the brand. Qatar Airways has become epitome of being rated as the best airline by all agencies including Skytrax awards in all its services. This provides a positive image of the Qatar Airline brand and its advantage over other airlines competing against it. Qatar Airways offers Privilege Club Membership to retain its customers and thereby has agreements with different airlines and additional services like hotel and car services.
Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of Qatar Airways.
People:
Qatar Airways is always focussed on providing quality service and facilities to its passengers travelling to worldwide destination. This government owned company has more than 40 thousand employees working for it and among this around 50 percentage are directly employed by Qatar Airlines the remaining are indirectly working for the operations of the airline. Qatar Airways has received wide recognition for its services dedicated to customers with awards and ratings. This is evident through various training programmes it initiates for its employees.
Process:
Qatar Airways have developed a strong process of delivering the value to its customers through its infrastructure and technology. It offers best in service through its lounges which is the premium terminal offering duty free shops, conference room and other facilities. Also the airline has spread its wings internationally by opening its lounges at Dubai, London and Paris. Qatar Airways offers wide range of services for its passengers from their process of booking tickets to their journey. Also the world class and award winning services has made the airline operators a differentiation factor among all the airlines.
Physical Evidence:
Qatar Airways had carved a name for itself in aviation sector with being ranked as the world’s best airline. With its facilities in terms of on ground services and in flight experiences for its passengers Qatar Airways has displayed wide visibility for its brand. The lounges, provision for additional facilities in terms of hotels, restaurants, car service etc. provide the brand with better brand image. It has been the most preferred airline in terms of the ranking in different categories by Skytrack thereby earning an edge over other competing airlines. Also with its expansion in international arena by opening its lounges in other cities Qatar Airways has been widely known airline services. The inflight provisions and services of cabin crew and customer desk have vastly helped in gaining better brand image. This completes the marketing mix of Qatar Airways.
About Qatar Airways:
Qatar Airways, one of the major airlines operator is the national flag carrier of Qatar and based in Doha. Rated as one of the best airline operator in the world the company had its origin in the year 1993 and commenced its operation a year later. Qatar Airways is owned by the Government of Qatar and serves in more than 150 destinations across the world. Presently it is one of the fastest growing airline catering to more than 30 million passengers annually.
The airlines is known for its hospitality services and has been given five star ratings and employees more than 40000 people as a part of its operations. Qatar Airways is also the member of Oneworld alliance which aims to be one of the frequently preferred operators for international travellers.
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