Fly The Good Times.

Ghanshyam Gupta ghanshyamgupta7@gmail.com

Presented By :

Kingfisher Airlines is a subsidiary of the UB Group, one of the largest beverage companies in the world. The branding of the airline is linked to that of Kingfisher Beer, Indias largest brewery. The airline, which is headed by the charismatic Dr Vijay Mallya, took to the skies in May 2005, and attracted attention for its high quality product with personal inflight entertainment in every seat; custom interior designs for each aircraft; valet assistance at airports and complimentary hot food and beverages. The airline initially operated a single class service but subsequently introduced a highly acclaimed First Class, allowing it to compete with Jet Airways for the high yield corporate market. In addition to its A320 family aircraft used on domestic routes, Kingfisher Airlines also operates ATR-72 turboprops on regional sectors. Under current Indian regulations, which require airlines to operate 5 years domestic service before being granted international rights, Kingfisher will not be permitted to operate overseas until 2010. However, the airline has very clear international ambitions, with an order book for 45 wide body aircraft, including A330s, A340s, A350s and A380s.

Operates more than 400 flights a day and has a network of 72 destinations. Has a 50 percent stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red, formerly known as Air Deccan. Is one of only six airlines in the world to have 5 star rating from skytrax. Has strategic code sharing agreement with jet and has alliance with hiltons hotel.

 Owner

of the kingfisher airlines. Is among the 1000 richest people in the world with a net worth of dollar 1.2 billion. Master behind the UB group.

Market segmentation is the division of markets into homogenous groups of customers, each of them reacting differently to promotion, communication, pricing and other variables of the marketing mix. It is considered to be the best strategy for targeting the markets.

BASIS OF SEGMENTATION

SEGMENTATION

INCOME

DEMOGRAPHIC

PURPOSE OF TRAVEL PHYSIOGRAPHIC LOCATION LOYALTY GEOGRAPHICAL BEHAVIOURAL

Kingfisher Airlines in the Aviation industry to study its Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning strategies. Seeing the above characteristics, we can infer that airlines like Kingfisher target the Elite Fliers. There are certain specific characteristics observed in this segment: Airlines like Kingfisher targets young married professionals (age group 20-35) with small kids and with income levels more than Rs 7 lakhs per annum; who generally commute between Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities ; travel for business and leisure ; frequent fliers ; enjoy the luxuries of life and have a bent towards flamboyancy. These fliers are generally observed to be hard core loyals.

Positioning is the aggregate perception the customer has of a particular company, product or service in relation to their perceptions of the competitors in the same category. Positioning in the truest sense indicates what people perceive of a product or a company. Its the brand image that people have about the company. From the above table, we can see that Kingfisher has a very distinct style of positioning itself in the minds of the consumers. Rather than promoting their brand as fast service provider or reliable etc, they have taken a different tangent by saying that flying with Kingfisher is an experience in itself. Taglines like FLY THE GOOD TIMES makes a passenger feel that Kingfisher is not just about flying from a place to another but its much more. The company is not just selling tickets per say but also selling Experience.