Brendan is just one of the countless Australians who hold Qantas as their top-of-mind air transportation provider. This is interesting when you consider that in 2014 the airline went through some challenging times, facing profit loss and industrial action among other things. These challenges impacted consumer perceptions of the brand significantly.

So how did Qantas overcome these challenges and turn consumer perceptions back around?

The Dark Days

Almost three years ago, the airline carrier reported its biggest ever annual loss at $2.8 billion AU. The airline cited poor consumer spending, rising fuel cost, and tough competition internationally and domestically, as some of the factors that contributed to its challenging financial position. At that time, Qantas dealt with a fair amount of negative publicity and the question of whether it would survive the crisis was on the minds of many people.

The Winning Approach

Qantas needed to reconnect with its target market. Once the airline began to leverage the data it was holding onto from their website and Frequent Flyers feedback among others, it was able to draw on customer insights to identify marketing opportunities. Qantas compiled insights from 30 years of data history, around:

• Customer flying behaviour;
• Frequent flyer profiles;
• Customer NPS and feedback; and
• Web and social media interactions.

Once Qantas had the foundations for market segmentation in place the ‘Feels like Home’ campaign was developed and launched in 2014, with follow up campaigns in 2015 and 2017. The videos featured real Qantas customers and employees and reached over 20 million people across the world. Moreover, based on House of Brand’s January to March 2017 Brand Tracking Research, 75% of Australians felt more positive about the brand after seeing the videos, while 59% of Australians were encouraged to fly with Qantas.

When we fast forward three years and look at Qantas now, it looks completely different.

Qantas had been busy repositioning its brand, with a focus on improving the customer experience. It seems that Qantas’ efforts have paid off, as Qantas now has the highest level of brand trust compared to other major competitors in Australia (based on the Corporate Trust Survey conducted by Actuity). Qantas’ Investor Day Report, which was presented in May 2017, revealed that Qantas is focused on positioning itself as a well-known and respected, transparent and honest airline, known for putting customers before profits and providing quality service.

Recipe for Success

“Setting up the right content, technology and channel execution on top ultimately to deliver business change is what is key to success.” – Stephanie Tully, CMO, Qantas

So, what did Qantas do to get out of its’ ‘dark days‘? To begin repairing the brand and improving customers’ perceptions and experiences, Qantas made investments in leveraging its extensive data warehouses, its people, its brand, and digital technology.

Having been around for almost 100 years, Qantas was sitting on a mountain of data that It wasn’t doing much with. Qantas used this data to inform and validate decisions in marketing and other areas of the business. The airline utilised a combination of digital and offline tools and methods to improve customer service and brand perceptions, focused on strengthening consumer trust in the brand.

Qantas’ Marketing Chief, Stephanie Tully, said that balancing these have been essential to achieving positive outcomes from the airline’s improvement initiatives.

Key Takeaways

Qantas employed a holistic approach to improving its brand perception, ultimately improving its overall business performance. Based on customer data that Qantas has collected, it tailored its awareness campaign to appeal to its target market and utilised digital channels and tools to reach them.

Wouldn’t it be great if we were all able to replicate the success of Qantas? But where does one even start? Here are some hot tips to help you get started.

• Know your Target Market – Knowing your target market will enable you to understand who they are (demographics and psychographics) and better understand how to appeal to them.
• Map the Customer Journey – This will enable you to identify what your target market is feeling, needing and thinking, and what they are doing at each stage of the path to purchase. It also helps you identify the possible touch points or channels to reach them at each stage of the purchase journey. You can also identify where most marketing support is needed to help guide them down the sales funnel.
• Develop a Strategy – With information on hand, you can now develop an approach for reaching your target market. Start by selecting the marketing channels and tactics that would most likely appeal to your target market.
• Implement Your Plan – Execute the activities as per the strategy and begin driving meaningful action (website traffic, sales, sign-ups, etc.).
• Monitor and Measure – To gauge the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, regularly collect and analyse data, taking note of trends to uncover insights. Begin setting up monthly reports that identify key metrics that will help you guide future efforts to continually generate success.
• Use data to inform decisions – Use the insights uncovered from your activities to guide your decision-making.

Interested in exploring how Reload Consulting can help build or rebuild a strong, customer-focused brand for your business?
Contact Us for an obligation-free consultation, or give us a call on 1300 714 146.

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They have a Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

A unique value proposition is a promise to bring value to the customer through the product’s features or service. It usually is represented in the form of a statement or statements that summarise the reason(s) why the product and/or service is valuable and special – aka why customers should purchase it. Below are some essential questions to ask when identifying and articulating (often forgotten!) your UVP.

• Who is your target market? – The value proposition should be aimed at meeting the needs of certain or specific groups of people within an industry.
• What needs will your product/service satisfy? – The product or service is designed to meet a specific need of the customer.
• Who are your competitors and what do they offer? – The product or service should be different, ideally better in specific areas, than those offered by the competitor.

They execute their Promise

The thing about a UVP is that it doesn’t really mean anything unless you deliver. Below are the three most important things to aim for when carrying out your promise.

• Quality– There is no doubt that quality is high on the list of the things customers look for in products. Quality goods and services (relative to the price point) satisfy customers and encourage them to become loyal to your business.
• Value for Money- Whether or not the economy is thriving or takes a downturn; one thing that is constant is the desire of customers to get bang for their buck. Customers want to know that their hard earned money will be worth it regardless of the price.
• Customer Service– People like to hear and feel that they are important. Having a customer-centric business is one of the most powerful ways of generating word-of-mouth, a free and most effective marketing tool. Your product may not be the best but if your customer service is superb, it can be enough to keep them coming back.

They Market the UVP and Promise Well

So you have a compelling UVP and you execute your promise to a T, but without marketing your product/ service, you may well disappear into the background and even worse, be forgotten. To ensure that your product/service stays top-of-mind with your customers, consider these marketing strategies.

• Consistent Branding – It is important to display consistent branding across all marketing channels. The purpose of which is to differentiate from competitors, increase customer recognition, and reinforce brand identity.
• Establish an Effective Online Presence – Studies show that digital marketing can no longer be ignored. A study conducted by Google and Shopper Science found that shoppers are most likely to switch from ‘undecided’ to ‘decided’ while researching online. To have an effective online presence it’s about determining the where, when and how your customers look for information and then presenting them with the right ‘what’ regarding your product or service information at those critical research points.
• Collaborate with Influencers – Since influencers are viewed by people as credible sources of information, the tendency is to listen to their suggestions and opinions. Collaborating with influencers can potentially increase brand awareness and transfer credibility if you’re in a particularly difficult market to crack.

These are by no means exhaustive, but they offer a really good place to start!

Interested in discussing options for refining your brand’s competitive positioning?
Contact Us for an obligation-free consultation, or give us a call on 1300 714 146.

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Take Toyota and Lexus for example, which are both car brands of Toyota Motor Corporation with very different positioning strategies. A Toyota Camry and a Lexus IS may be comparable in shape and size, but the two models are designed and marketed to reach two different consumer groups. The Camry is for consumers wanting reliability and economy, and the IS is for high-end consumers wanting prestige and luxury.

When you take a proactive approach to your product positioning, you can influence the market on how they perceive your product. Failure to actively promote and position your product will inevitably result in the market doing it for you, and this can be detrimental to your company’s ability to gain a strong competitive position.

So how do you position your product?

First, you need to select the target market that will be most receptive to your product’s positioning. Segmentation decisions are instrumental in developing your company’s product positioning strategy.

Knowing your target market allows you to effectively position your product to meet the needs of that specific market. With this in mind, you are then able to develop and implement more cost-effective and efficient marketing strategies.

Once you have determined your target market and their needs, you need to formulate a positioning strategy that will appeal to the targeted demographic. You must decide how you want to position your product in the minds of your targeted customers.

A solid understanding of your market and your competitors will assist in being better able to position your product. Comparing your product’s features to that of your competitors and identifying your unique selling points is a good way to determine what differentiates your product.

Revision of your positioning should be an on-going process to help refine your position according to changes in the market. Environmental changes or shifting consumer preferences often force firms to rethink their positioning strategy.

How do you communicate your product positioning?

There are a host of resources available to assist you in communicating your positioning statement to your target market.

Social media is an important modern day marketing channel that, if utilised correctly, can give a company valuable, market-specific exposure and vital product related feedback. A social media presence backed by a solid following creates an environment for open discussion on your product.

There are many innovative marketing tools available today to assist companies in achieving their positioning strategies. Different tools will suit different products, but the key to success is choosing the right mix to match your product and the goals of your company.

So, if it has been a while since you last thought about your product’s positioning, now would be the time to do so.

The post Product Positioning: Stand Out From the Crowd appeared first on Reload Consulting.