Air Berlin Marketing Mix (4Ps) & Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategy of Air Berlin through marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion).
Air Berlin Product Strategy:
Air Berlin is a leading German airline, serving customers worldwide, specially having many destinations across Europe. Air Berlin’s strategy is of providing Hybrid Carrier services, i.e., taking advantages of low cost carrier and traditional full-service airlines by providing high service quality mixed with average service at low prices. The main target audience of the airlines are the tourists, shopping travelers, and families. Its fleet comprises of 11 Airbus A319, 64 Airbus A320, 6 Airbus A321, 7 Airbus A330 and 20 Bombardier Q400. Air Berlin offers economy class and business class services in its marketing mix for short haul, medium haul and long-haul flights. The services are differentiated with each other based on the duration of flight and the class of reservation booked. Customized services are offered in the business class while on the other hand standardized services which includes entertainment services are offered in the economy class. Further several arrangements have been made for people travelling with young children and expecting mothers.
Image: Wikimedia
This concludes the product strategy in Air Berlin marketing mix & strategy.
Air Berlin Price/Pricing Strategy:
Below is the pricing strategy in Air Berlin marketing mix strategy:
Air Berlin charges different prices to different set of customers based on the class and duration of the flight. This comes under hybrid pricing in its marketing mix.
Further under Economy class, in short medium and long haul, it offers three variety of fare options for the passengers – Economy Light, Economy Classic, Economy Flex with different set of frills offered. While on the other hand, there is no such segmentation in business class in short and medium haul but three options are offered in the business class of long haul flights, i.e., business saver, business classic and business flex with the most expensive option being the business flex option for the passenger which allows the passenger to re-book or cancel his reservation free of cost. Further Air Berlin also earns its revenue from advertisements on and inside the aircrafts.
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Air Berlin Place & Distribution Strategy:
Following is the distribution strategy in the Air Berlin marketing mix:
Even though Air Berlin operates mainly in domestic Germany and European routes, it has also started serving other routes as well growing rapidly and has built a global route network to compete on the market and attract new customers. Air Berlin flies to several destinations such as Toronto, Havana, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Vienna, Prague, Copenhagen, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Budapest, Milan, Rome, Venice, Warsaw, Barcelona, Stockholm, Zurich etc. across 15 countries across the globe. Further, Air Berlin is part of codeshare agreement with several other airlines such as British airways, Etihad airways, Finnair, Niki, Lufthansa etc.
and is also a part of oneworld global alliance.
Air Berlin Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Air Berlin marketing mix is as follows:
Even though Air Berlin is considered a low-cost airline, it is among the few LCA which offers frequent flyer program to its passengers with bonuses offered on collecting air miles based on three categories Gold, Silver and Red to book subsequent flights, cars and hotels. Further, Air Berlin also promotes itself through collaborating with the payment gateway Visa by introducing a credit card with additional features. Further, it relies on digital media for marketing communication such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It also undertakes sales promotion activities as well as maintains a dedicated website and a 24-hour reservation hotline.
Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of Air Berlin.
People:
Air Berlin has always focused on its employees and customers. Since airline service is a high contact service with high experience attribute, it employs 8400+ people working in several cities for the smooth functioning of the airlines which is used by approximately 28.9 million passengers annually. Further, the Air Berlin invest heavily in the training of their employees as they are responsible for the passenger safety and with that purpose in mind, it offers trainee programmes, vocational training, sandwich courses to train the employees and develop aviation professionals. Air Berlin have a dedicated career portal on their website for potential employees as well.
Process:
Air Berlin airline service is people processing and is a high contact service. The process involves making reservation through either charter companies which results in approximately 40% of the total reservations or other travel agencies and websites. The customer can also make hotel and car rental reservation as well using the Air Berlin web portal. Further, after the passenger’s arrival at the airport, the passenger can access the lounge facilities if they are entitled to it in their passenger class. The airlines takes care of baggage handling, and other flight services included in the reservation made.
Physical Evidence:
Air Berlin aircrafts are its biggest evidence of physical presence. As it is a high contact service provided by Air Berlin, the Physical Evidence plays a major role to provide a tangible proof of the quality of the service. On the ground, the physical evidence includes the reservation counter, the tickets, the brand logo, the customer service counter, lounge facilities while the in-flight evidence includes the aircraft size and interiors, the seating configuration, cleanliness of the place, the uniforms of the employees, and the other passengers. Hence this completes the Air Berlin marketing mix.
About Air Berlin:
Air Berlin is a German Airline located in Berlin and has consolidated itself as the second largest airline in Germany after Lufthansa and is one of the leading airlines in Europe securing the fifth position in the market. Air Berlin operates mainly in domestic and European routes but has also launched intercontinental routes also recently. The airlines was introduced back in 1978 by its founder Kim Lundgren as an American airlines as German airlines were not allowed to land in the divided city of Berlin.
However, after the reunification, it registered as a German airline in 1991 and started serving major European cities. Air Berlin has occupied a unique position in the market of being a hybrid carrier.
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