Air Canada Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps)
Marketing Strategy of Air Canada analyzes the brand with the marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). These business strategies, based on Air Canada marketing mix, help the brand succeed in the market. Let us start the Air Canada Marketing Strategy & Mix to understand its product, pricing, advertising & distribution strategies:
Quick Glance:
Air Canada Product Strategy:
The product strategy and mix in Air Canada marketing strategy can be explained as follows:
Air Canada belongs to Canada’s airline and is the largest domestic and international in the country by fleet size and passengers carried. It serves more than 200 airports on 6 continents. It has several subsidiaries as a part of its marketing mix product & service offering viz:
Air Canada Cargo – Cargo service of Air Canada. It is Canada’s largest provider of air cargo services.
Air Canada Vacations – Leisure travel packages tour operator
Air Canada Rouge – Low cost airline of Air Canada
Air Canada Express – Holds four regional airlines viz Jazz Aviation LP, Exploits Valley Air Services, Air Georgian and Sky Regional Airlines.
These connect smaller cities with domestic hub airports and prime cities.
Air Canada Jetz – Charter aviation service of Air Canada that offers business class service to corporate clients and professional sports team.
Air Canada offers business (executive pod and classic pod), premium economy and economy classes to its customers. It also operates Maple Leaf Lounges across the world where access is complimentary for customers travelling by business class or to elite, platinum and gold members. It has a provision of a frequent flyers program wherein a customer can collect and spend points along with gaining status and rewards.
Image: company website
Air Canada Price/Pricing Strategy:
Below is the pricing strategy in Air Canada marketing strategy:
Air Canada has a unique feature of lowest price guarantee wherein they claim that in case customers find a lower priced ticket elsewhere, within 24 hours of completion of a ticket purchase on their website, a promotion code valued at $50 along with the difference of price would be awarded to that customer. That in itself shows their faith of delivering affordable tickets as and when compared to other airlines in the country (considering Canada is one of the most expensive countries in the world).
They have provided the customers with a Basic Economy fare class which is apparently even cheaper than regular Economy Class. Although it is a more restricted version of Air Canada’s cheapest price range – Economy Tango.
Read more about Air Canada
Air Canada Place & Distribution Strategy:
Following is the distribution strategy in the Air Canada marketing mix:
Air Canada has its headquarters located in Montreal in Quebec. It has 4 major hubs in Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Toronto Pearson International Airport is the largest hub of the airlines.
It flies to 183 destinations over 6 continents.
Air Canada Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Air Canada marketing strategy is as follows:
Air Canada has created an online community of customers using social media platforms wherein they leave direct links to the app that have henceforth increased their usage. They started with hashtag campaigns this year and actively implemented it on various social media platforms till fall of 2018.Time to time, they have targeted to attract Canadians as well as non- Canadians who intend to travel in countries where they operate. Few examples of their popular campaigns are “Hello/Goodbye” in the 90s, “You and I were meant to fly” sung by Celine Dion. Their brand tagline ‘Your World Awaits’ invites the customers to experience their service.
Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of Air Canada.
People:
For every strategy they unfold, Air Canada has kept customer satisfaction as one of their primary objectives. It gained a significant position in Canada’s Top 100 employers and Montreal’s Top Employers. Employee feedbacks are recorded on storage space design as well as final décor and they are provided with unique financial perks. Since this is a service company where employees come in contact with customers on a daily basis, it is very important to have a good employee rating. Their “Flight Path” tagline shows their commitment to professionalism which has been created in order to ensure that every person in the organization is on the same page. Hence this completes the marketing mix of Air Canada.
Process:
Air Canada, like any other airline has streamlined processes, for employees as well as customers. For customers the booking process is through online & web apps, and ensures end-to-end customer delight as well as inflight experience. Business processes comprise of efficient & timely deliverables for every department from pilots to ground crew to booking department to accounts & management. The processes are aimed to give high customer satisfaction.
Physical Evidence:
Earlier Air Canada was carrying the light blue colour which gradually changed to black and white with red Maple Leaf accents and a black belly which apparently came into life after 24 years of its absence. It basically reflects Canada’s vast and contrasting seasons as well as the wildlife and First Nations’ heritage as the mask was created from Canada’s indigenous birds as well as wildlife representations. The rebranding was also done in order to make the employees feel more confident and positive about the brand for whom they are working for such long hours. The upgradation of the design was to etch a premium airline position in the mind of the customers.
About Air Canada:
Air Canada is the flagship airline carrier of Canada. Air Canada is positioned among the top 50 most valuable Canadian brands, being the only Canadian Airline to rank within the top 50. The airline upgrades itself by introducing new routes and destinations to position itself as a global international carrier.
Air Canada – Your world awaits, the tagline has been devised to tap the emotional and lasting impact of travel. It has gained a significant position in Canada’s Top Employers and most engaged workplaces in North America.
This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
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