Marketing Mix MKT421: Southwest Airlines

Currently, Southwest Airlines Company achieved the higher net income in 2013 and widened its field of operations by the integration with AirTran Airways. It seems Southwest’s business is going pretty well. However, there are numerous problems from competitors who will cause negative effect on Southwest’ market leader position and market shares. This marketing plan will make a careful analysis of the current activities of Southwest Airlines Company, and then this marketing plan will create how the company develop Southwest’s market leadership and higher market shares within 5years.

The target demographic for Southwest is very broad. The fact the airline has a brand that appeals to price-conscious travelers who do not mind the airline’s no-frills philosophy means it attracts lots of small business owners, young adults, middle-class families, and those who are traveling a short distance. Southwest operates a simplified airline to keep costs down. It only operates one type of aircraft, and its no-frills plan includes no assigned seats or class seating, no meals, and no onboard movies. The company has a strong emphasis on customer service and a differentiation strategy to keep customers happy and loyal. When hiring for customer service positions within the organization, Southwest focuses on attitudes rather than skills and encourages peer hiring. This strategy helps the company identify those who fit the organizational culture and who are most likely to further the company’s philosophy of

Kerin, R. A., Hartley, S. W., & Rudelius, W. (2013). Marketing. (11th ed.). New York, New

Southwest Airlines also has flexible policies to ensure customers have a great experience. An example of their flexible policies is you can cancel a reservation up to 30 minutes prior to the flights take off. Southwest also have rewards programs that consist of earning points, points for purchasing flights that customers can use to purchase booked flights. It also has a partnership with Chase Bank and offers customers a Southwest credit card that allows them to accumulate points that they can redeem for future flights (Investopedia, 2015). Southwest also price matches on airline tickets. The competitive tactics that this airline is using are very effective price matching on the airline

Ferrell, O.C., & Hartline, M.D. (2014). Marketing Strategy: Text and Cases (6th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning

Perreault, William D., Joseph P. Cannon, and E. Jerome McCarthy. Basic Marketing: A Marketing Strategy Planning Approach. 19th ed. N.p.: McGraw Hill, n.d.

David J. and John F. 2009, Foundations of marketing, 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill higher Education,5: 120-122

Perreault, Jr., W.D., Cannon, J.P., & McCarthy, E.J. (2011). Basic Marketing: A Marketing Strategy Planning Approach [University of Phoenix Custom Edition eBook]. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, MKT/421 website.

Differentiation strategies refer to the strategies that are adopted by businesses in a bid to gain competitive advantage in a given industry and over their competitors. Through differentiation, the company’s products or services stand out among other products that are offered by their competitors. Therefore, differentiation in essence refers to a scenario whereby, a company offers products or services which are unique or have features which are unique and which makes them stand out among its competitors. The airline industry is termed as an industry that experiences rapid and volatile changes amidst growing competition among many competitors in the globe. With this in mind, different airlines have to adopt different strategies that are to differentiate them among the many competing airlines in the world. This paper will focus on Southwest Airlines in the discussion of the differentiation strategies that it has adopted. Also, recommendations will be made will be done in reference to Southwest Airlines.

 ReferencesKerin, R. A., Peterson, R. A. (2013). Strategic marketing problems cases and comments (13th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall

As per Ian Ruskin Brown and Greg Clark “ Marketing mix is the term used explaining the different elements comprising the offer that the different companies makes to their customers”. (Brown and Clarke, 2000:44). E.Jerome McCarthy in early 1960s came up with the four Ps in the marketing mix. According to him these 4ps are “ Product, price, place and promotion”.( McCarthy and Shapiro 1975: 35). Refer Appendix I for the pictorial representation. But the view of Richard Sandhusen is that the four marketing mixes should be ‘price, product, promotion and distribution’ (Sadhusen, 2000:319). According to Steven Stralser ‘in order to create a marketing strategy and plan that touch all the areas of marketing to position a product, maximise revenue etc a few more components have to be considered which are, Marketing segmentation, Marketing Strategy, Marketing research , Pricing, placement and value chain.’(Stralser,

Product, Price, Place and Promotion also commonly known as the 4P’s are the major factors or tools with which a firm or an organisation operates in the market by offering a superior value proposition to its clients and customers and thus earning value back from them in return to achieve the objectives of its shareholders. These 4P’s are combined together to form the marketing mix of a firm.

Building the Brand: Southwest Airlines is well known as a Texas-based company that has a human side and a “down-home” attitude. Because of its large size, Southwest Airlines uses a variety of larger promotional methods, such as national advertisements and strong public relations to promote an image of a fun-LUVing brand. But, flight crews are the closest interactions that a customer has with the product, budget flights, which are a simple, undistinguished product. The quirky commercials and cheap flights appeal to a target market that is budget-conscious but still enjoys the fun side of life. The flight crews bridge the gap between the fun, unique commercials and the actual flight experience. By interacting with customers and joking around with passengers, they are able to grow customer allegiance in this market by acting in the same way that the brand has tried to portray itself.

Based on understanding about customer behaviour, the companies tend to depend on their created marketing mix to promote new products, which consists originally four key elements (4Ps) namely product, price, promotion and place. Today, marketing mix is developed and includes other Ps like physical evidence, processes, and people as critical elements (CIM 2009).

Kotler, P, Keller, KL, Ang, SH, Leong, SM & Tan, CT 2009, Marketing Management: An Asian Perspective, 5t