CHAPTER 1: Situation Analysis

1. Industry Analysis
The tourism & hospitality industry has emerged as one of the key drivers of growth of services sectors in
India. It has been an employment generator, bringing in foreign investment as well as foreign exchange
for the country and also supports the economic activity that helps local and host communities. India is a
large market for travel & tourism. Tourism in India accounts for the 6.8 percent of the GDP in India and is
the third largest earner of the foreign exchange in the country. It offers a diverse portfolio of niche tourism
products - cruises, adventure, medical, wellness, sports, MICE, eco-tourism, film, rural and religious
tourism. Over 7.757 million foreign tourist arrivals were reported in 2015. There are various segments
that come under travel industry such as online booking, hotel, civil aviation (airlines), tour operators.
India's affable flight industry is on a high-development direction. India means to turn into the thirdbiggest flying business sector by 2020 and the biggest by 2030. The Civil Aviation industry has
introduced another period of development, driven by elements, for example, minimal effort transporters
(LCCs), present day air terminals, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in local carriers, propelled data
innovation (IT) mediations and developing accentuation on provincial integration. India is the ninthbiggest common aeronautics market on the planet, with a business sector size of around US$ 16 billion.
In the second quarter of 2015, residential air traveler movement surged 19.2 for each penny to 20.3
million from 17 million in the relating period a year back. Overall passenger carried in June 2015
expanded 13 for every penny Y-o-Y to 8.8 million from 7.8 million in June 2014. Worldwide and
household traveler activity grew 5.3 for each penny and 16 for each penny, separately, in June 2015. In
June 2015, aggregate cargo conveyed rose 5.4 for every penny Y-o-Y to 222,990 tons opposite 211,590
tons in June 2014. Worldwide cargo development saw higher development (7.1 for every penny)
contrasted and household cargo development (2.6 for every penny). In June 2015, aggregate flying
machine developments at all Indian airplane terminals remained at 141,620, which was 8 for every penny
higher than June 2014. Worldwide and household air ship developments expanded 6.5 for each penny and
8.4 for every penny, individually, in June 2015. Throughout the following five years, local and universal
traveler activity are relied upon to increment at a yearly normal rate of 12 for every penny and 8 for each
penny, separately, while residential and global load are assessed to ascend at a normal yearly rate of 12 for
each penny and 10 for every penny, individually. The carriers working in India are anticipated to record
an aggregate working benefit of Rs 8,100 crore (US$ 1.29 billion) in financial year 2016, as per Crisil
Ltd.

Porters Five Forces Analysis:

Competitive Rivalry:
Competition among major players is very high in low cost carriers (LCC).
This is because the airlines companies compete in middle income group & also passengers

travelling through AC class of railways. This group is highly price

sensitive and hence showcases no brand loyalty.
Threat of New Entrants:
Threat of new entrants is low because of the
Highly dynamic nature of the industry and regulatory
compliances. Moreover it is capital intensive industry.
Substitute Products:
This threat remains low as no other means of transport is as quick and as swift as airlines.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers:
This remains high as there are very limited suppliers
aircrafts and fuel. Also the availability of qualified
pilots, engineers and other staff is limited.

Bargaining Power of
Customers (Low)

Threat of New
Entrants (Low)

Competitive
Rivalry
(High)

Substitute Products
(Low)

Bargaining Power of
Suppliers (High)

Bargaining Power of Customers:

Bargaining power of customer remains low as the
demand for low cost airlines is considerably high.

2. Competitor Review
In the years when Kingfisher was functioning, its major competitors were Jet airways, Air India,
Spice Jet and off late Indigo. Due to the growing economy, the demand for leisure travel and
business travel had been rising day by day. Jet was preferred by the business sector since it had

developed a reputation of good service and punctuality. In 2003, the opportunity in the airline
industry was grabbed by many new entrants in the market because of the emergence of new
Indian middle class. With its base in Lucknow, Sahara had become known for its connectivity.
Kingfisher airlines started its operations in 2005 with a steady growth in the initial few years. At
that time Indian Airline was nowhere close to the class a part carrier and thus only Jet Airways
and Sahara were considered to be the main players. Kingfisher soon became synonymous with a
five star air travel experience. Compared to its competitors, Kingfisher was the first airline to
offer an in flight entertainment by partnering with DTH Ltd.
Air Deccan that had emerged as an airline for the economy class with low airfare being its USP,
was in talks with Kingfisher for an alliance. In 2007 Kingfisher had acquired nearly 46% stake in
Air Deccan and this part of Kingfisher now operated as the low fare basic class known as
Kingfisher Red. It had two other classes. One was Kingfisher first: Premium Business class and
other one was Kingfisher Class: Premium Economy or the basic economy class. In 2008, it
started operating on international routes facing competition from the foreign airlines as well. In
all these years, Kingfisher wasnt making any profits and the shareholders were yet to get their
first dividend.
In 2010, the clouds darkened further. Jet Airways surpassed Kingfisher Airlines by becoming the
largest passenger airline by a 25% market share. The tragedy with Kingfisher Airlines was that
even though their flights were increasing, the revenue wasnt increasing and thus it was still
under losses. Finally in 2012 it was declared to dead and nothing could be expected off it.
Competitors Spice Jet, Indigo and GoAir, all three operated on a business model whose main
purpose was to offer low fare airlines to the masses. This had never been Kingfishers USP and
thus blindly acquiring Air Deccan would have been the wrong decision For Kingfisher.
Kingfisher was the main attraction for the business sector and it should have been given more
importance rather than walking on the paths of its competitors without understanding their
business models.
Airline industry faces an indirect competition from the Indian railways. In India it is considered
to be a safer mode of travel and also it offers shorter routes. So the only way airlines will be
preferred over railway would be the one differentiating factor of quality. Thus the upper middle

class was ideally the best market for these airlines who offered low fare flights since these people
were ready to spend some more amounts if they got better quality service in these airlines
compared to the railways.

3. Buyers analysis
Kingfisher airlines were the first to introduce First Class Premium cabins onboard its flight for
the beneficial and ease of the premium costumers. It significantly defines the difference between
the premium customers of kingfisher and other airlines.
Kingfisher network includes newer and widespread geographical location and thus fulfills the
needs for customers to reach the distant locations.
Kingfisher provides the A never before experience to its customers in the flight. The flight not
only commutes faster but it also provides entertainment, comfortable space, luxurious seat,
relaxed travel and quality food. The kingfisher airlines displays the information like distance
remaining, weather etc. creates curiosity among customers. Kingfisher airlines provides certain
convenient paths to travelers with the help of roving agents that help them to directly approach
the security check-in counters. Also provides facility to them to print their boards via
www.kingfisher.com. Kingfisher airlines
Buying Process:
The buying process of the kingfisher airlines is as follows:

Total Set
Awareness Set
Consideration Set
Choice Set
Decision

Total set
Decision

Air India

Awareness set

Consideration set

Air India

Air India

Air India

Jet Airways

Kingfisher
Airlines

Kingfisher
Airlines

Kingfisher
Airlines

Indigo

Jet Airways

Jet Airways

Spice Jet

Indigo

Kingfisher Airlines

Air India

Choice Set

Kingfisher
Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines provide major channels of Buying which enhances the consumer Behavior to
travel in flights. The channels of buying are:

On-phone Booking (Call Centers).

Online Booking.
City Offices.
Airport Booking.
Travel Agents.

Chapter 2: IMC Plan

A. Target Market and Positioning and Rationale:
Segmentation: Kingfisher Airlines in the times when it functioned earlier tried tapping
the masses after acquiring Air Deccan through the low airfare business model. Although
it used to be an attraction for the working professional, it didnt focus much on that target
market which turned out to be a huge mistake.
In re-launching the airline, the segmentation was done specifically keeping in mind the
business sector or the corporate as the target audience. Thus professionals within the age
of 25 to 55 working with corporate in major urban cities were selected as a segment to be
tapped as regular fliers. Within the corporate itself, two segments were identified:
1) Ones at the Senior Executive level- all CXOs
2) Other employees at managerial level or below (not very senior in age and designation)

Targeting: According to the segments identified above, a tie up had to be established

with corporate of certain cadre for which the travel agents or the HR department that took
part in the travel planning of the employees had to be targeted. Especially the frequent
fliers who are moderately price sensitive and who seek comfort had to be focused upon.
Also the ones who wanted a timely and a quality service along which being economically
conscious were the right target audience for Kingfisher Airlines.

Positioning: The positioning strategy was a tricky one since the airline had to be
positioned as the one that provides quality commutation experience between meetings of
the professionals, being considerate with their pockets at the same time. One more crucial
step was to position it as a journey for the passengers where they could network easily
with the other working professionals since most of the passengers travelling through
Kingfisher would be the frequent fliers of the corporate world thus making it a good
opportunity for them to build their professional network.

Rationale:
The rationale behind coming up with this target audience was that it was already doing
well in appealing the business sector before acquiring Air Deccan. But the focus has

diverted towards the masses and the economy class due to which Kingfisher had started
offering low fare flights similar to its competitors Spice Jet, Indigo and GoAir without
understanding their business model. This was a big mistake which needs to be rectified
before re-launching it. The competitors which persist even today are following the same
strategy and catering the masses and thus rather than competing with them directly, it is
advisable to focus on the new target audience which used to be its USP once upon a time.
Tying up with the companies also makes sense because due to the globalization, business
travel is increasing day by day and thus it is necessary for the companies to work it out in
a cost effective manner. Thus focusing on these two segments within the business sector
might prove to be fruitful since Kingfisher gives an economic solution to the business
travel of the professionals along with quality service. While Jet Airways has a quality
which is absolutely hard to beat but the air fare can definitely be challenged.

B. IMC Objectives, Strategy and Rationale:

Objectives:

To re-launch and reposition Kingfisher airlines.

To increase the demand of air travel of the business sector through Kingfisher

Airlines by building a good brand image.

To encourage repeat commutation through loyalty programs.
To increase the customer traffic on the companys website.

Strategy:
Our Integrated marketing strategy is taking advantage of a combination of
communication tools and media to promote the message and Objective of Kingfisher
Airlines. By combining various tools, the marketing team is able to ensure that the
working professionals are reached and can leverage the various tools in ways that are
most effective. Integrated marketing draws upon the power of traditional media
advertising and PR efforts as well as the use of digital marketing tools that include social
media, website, mobile applications, etc. As a part of the IMC strategy we use the
traditional media tools that are magazines, newspaper and TV commercials. All these are
given the highest weight age in our media plan since they are the most effective ways to
reach our target audience. Television Commercials will exemplify the experience that a
corporate professional will have while travelling in Kingfisher Airlines. Apart from that a
lot of focus will be diverted towards digital advertising that is explained in detail in the

later part. The role of PR is equally crucial since a major chunk of our target audience is
the corporate tie ups with the companies and they can be taken into confidence only
through the PR activities like events conducted annually. Sales promotion is something
that will work in the later stage of the IMC plan since the customers will start becoming
part of loyalty programs and the points in their accounts will give them extra benefits
which are also described in detail further.

Rationale:
The rationale behind choosing such a marketing strategy for an IMC plan is to take care
of the budget, target audience, objectives all at the same time. Since it has to make an
impactful comeback, the media plan will play a critical role since that will be the first
exposure of the target audience to the re-launch of the brand. Once they come in for a
trial and have a good experience with the airline, they will have to be retained through PR
and sales promotion activities. With the technological advancements, the process of
booking and tracking will have to be made easier through online facilities on the mobile
and laptop. Thus creating a proper website will also be mandatory in this case. In order to
keep the brand recall intact rather increase it, a constant visibility will be required on
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn mainly.

C.Media Recommendations
Media Mix Recommendations:
The media channels that are recommended by considering the budget and justifying the use of
this media channel. The table justify the allocation i.e. Share of Voice and the rationale according
to it. The table is as follows:
Medium
TV(News
Channel)
Magazines

Allocation
20

Rationale
It provides an entire experience with the airlines through a national

30

appeal of the quality and Timely service.

It has considerable reach to target audience specifically to the

(Business)

corporate. It enhances the tie ups between companies and airlines.

Business

And it is an impactful way to reposition the brand.

It provides maximum reach to target audience. It the direct way to

30

Newspape

tap the corporate sector.

r
Hoardings

10

It targets widespread of audience and grabs the attention of

Email

10

audience. It directly connects them to Kingfisher Airlines.

The most frequent medium for any kind of direct marketing in
corporate world. It is used for personal and direct communication
with the customers as well as target audience. This will enhance
customer loyality.

The budget used for this media plan is around Rs.5 crore.

Geographic Scope:
Kingfisher network includes newer and widespread geographical location and thus fulfills the
needs for customers to reach the distant locations. But, it should mainly focus on 1 and 2 tier
cities.

Scheduling Pattern:
Television ads (news channel):
The total budget for television ad would be 1 crore and 20% is provided allocation. There are
two types of television ads in which one will be of lengthier time costing around 2 lacs and other
would be shorter time costing around 1.25 lacs.
According to that if we apply permutation and combination,
32 small ads and 30 lengthier ads can be used around year.
1.25*32=60 lac
2*30

=40 lac
1 crore

Magazines (Business):
The total budget for magazines would be 1.5 crore and 30%is provided allocation. The ad which
will be used will cost 1.25 lacs each.
Thus,
1.25*120=1.5 crore.
Business Newspaper:

The total budget for Business Newspaper would be 1.5 crore and 30% is provided allocation. The
ad which will be used will cost 1 lacs each.
Thus,
1*150=1.5 crore
Hoardings:
The total budget for Hoardings would be 0.5 crore and 10% is provided allocation. The ad which
will be used will cost 1.25 lacs each.
1.25*36=0.5 crore
Email:
The total budget for email would be 0.5 crore and 10% allocation is provided. In the email, in
each month around 4 lacs is to be paid to the employee who mails the direct mails to the
corporate customers and thus for 12 months it would caters a budget of 0.5 crore.

Medium

Jan

Feb

Tv
Mag.

5
10

5
10

Ma

Apri

Ma

Jun

Jul

5
10

6
10

5
10

5
10

5
10

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Total

Budget

6
10

5
10

5
10

62
120

1 crore
1.5

5
10

5
10

Paper

12

13

12

13

12

13

12

13

12

13

12

13

150

crore
1.5

Hoardin

36

crore
0.5

Email

4la

4la

4lac 4 lac

5lac

5lac

4la

4la

4lac 4la

4la

4la

crore
0.5

crore

Frequency and Reach:

For each medium the frequency would be different. The table shows the reach and frequency of
various medium.
Medium

Overall

Target

Frequency

Reach

Total

Total

CPP

CPM

Tv

Rating
10
16

Rating
8
12

Mag.
Paper
Hoardin

20
20
10

15
18
8

32
30

40
40

120
150
36

80
100
25

GRPs
320
480
800
2400
3000
360

TRPS
256
360
616
1800
2700
288

7750 10064.94

5000 6666.67
5000 5555.56
1000 1250

E. Other IMC Tools:

Sales Promotion
Objectives:
Keep existing customers
Stimulate repeat purchase
Reach new customers

Rationale:
Other tools of communication would play an important role in attracting customer
towards your brand. However sales promotion here will act as basic value proposition i.e getting
more for less. Sales promotion this way will help in stimulating frequent customer purchases,
enhancing selling effectiveness and efforts of the sales force. Sales promotion is assumed to
provide an extra incentive for target audience to prefer Kingfisher Airlines over competitors
brand. It will also enhance the loyalty of existing customers by stimulating their repeat purchases
due to various promotional offers for frequent flyers.

Sales Promotion Plans:

Executives who travel through corporate accounts will be given a personal dedicated
account and each time they travel through our airlines they can earn certain points which
will be credited in their account. They can redeem these points for their personal &
family travels. That way corporate would also encourage their companies to book flight
via Kingfisher Airlines.
Moderate price points- special, same day return offers for business travelers who usually
return within a day.
Provide extra shelf services in the flight and branded give away and merchandise during
flights.
Customized tour packages in collaboration with various online travel agents like goibibo,
makemytrip.com, yatra.com etc. and also collaboration with various state tourism boards.

Public Relations
Objectives:

Enhance identity of Kingfisher Airlines

Increase brand awareness & share of mind of KFA
Building long-term relationship with loyal customers & major corporate clients
Reinforcing the brand
Stimulate demand
Promote goodwill of the Kingfisher Airlines

Rationale:
Public relations will play a crucial role in the marketing communications of Kingfisher
Airlines. Kingfisher Airlines have failed earlier and it is taking re-entry in the market. Hence it is
necessary to create goodwill of the company among its target market to change old perceptions
about the brand. Goodwill of the company can be created by various positive news articles,
interviews of opinion leaders talking about KFA etc. The goodwill created through these PR
activities in turn would stimulate the demand. Moreover, target audiences are already aware
about the brand however PR activities will increase share of mind of the brand as well as
reinforce the brand through various events and sponsorship activities. Thus PR activities would
enhance the overall brand identity of KFA. These PR activities in the pursuit of achieving its PR
objective would also support to a greater extent the main objective of IMC plan that is
repositioning of the brand.

Public Relations Plan:

Events & Sponsorships:
o Corporate tie-up event:
Organize an event for building tie-ups with corporate in the 5 major cities:
Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad.
The event would be with lunch & high-tea.
In the event various offers will be discussed with the visiting executives
and customization of offers can also be offered as per the needs of the
companies.
Also a re-launch of the product will be done in the event.

 We will add some entertainment in the event by bringing in some standup

comedian or flash mobs by dance group with Kingfisher theme.

o Sponsorships:
Sponsorship as flying partners for major events: iifa awards & IPL
matches.
An attempt to get associated with iifa awards as their official flying
partners for the event.
This way the display of the Kingfisher Airlines brand name during these
events would reinforce the brand and also increase the share of mind.
Interviews & Articles in newspapers & magazines:
After launch of the KFA several positive articles would be published in newspapers &
magazines. Also articles stating the reviews and preference of KFA by travel experts and
opinion leaders in this field would help generating goodwill for the company.

Budget:
This part requires huge budget for organizing events and sponsorships.
The breakup of event would be:
o 5 cities
o No. of pax (corporate executives) in each city: 70 max
o Lunch & High-tea cost per pax at a 5 star hotel: 1200/o Total Cost for lunch and high-tea: 1200 x 70= 84000/(they dont charge hall rental if no. of pax is above 50)
o Entertainment cost : 2-3 Lacs.
o Total cost for 5 cities= (84000 + 3 Lacs) * 5 = 19,20,000/-

Direct Marketing
Objectives:
Personal & customized communications to customers & target audience
Reaching to specific target audience
To lay a ground work for cold calling to corporate giants for tie-up proposals
To provide information
Rationale:
Other IMC tools would such as PR would bring brand awareness and create goodwill. However
it is very important to target specific group of customers. As our main target market is corporate,

it is required to craft personal communications customized and suited to their needs. This is
where direct marketing comes in the picture. It helps achieving these objectives which are not
achieved effectively by other communication tools. Thus it bridges the gap.

Direct Marketing Plan:

Customized emails to existing customer with various offers designed on the basis of their
past travel patterns with Kingfisher Airlines.
Emails to potential customers with information brochures and offers designed to attract
them and convert into potential customers.
Providing brochures to the passengers.
Sales people visiting to companies with the brochures and proposals for corporate tie-ups
and also inviting them to the corporate tie-up event. They will explain them about the
corporate tie-up proposal. This could be done through cold calling as well as through
prior appointments. In the case of cold calling an email containing information brochure
would be sent to them prior to visit.

Budget:
Printing & Designing Brochures:
Each brochure costs around 250. These brochures are to be distributed across 6 major
cities: Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai. Hence an estimate of
approximately 2000 brochures will lead to 1500 x 250 = 375000. The approximate
budget that can be allotted to this could be 5lacs.

Digital Marketing
Objectives:
To increase the reach
To provide in depth information regarding products and services to the existing as well as
potential customers
To increase interactivity and connectivity with customers
To engage customers
To entertain customers
To provide ease of usage

Rationale:
Nowadays all the businesses are trying to engage customers and make them the part of entire
process. It has become necessary to increase interactivity and connectivity with customers
through various mediums such as website, taking feedback of customers, solving queries, taking
suggestions, connect them to another customer. Once the target audiences are converted to
customers to retain them it is required to provide the great experience and ease of using the
services. Thus digital marketing plays an important role in retaining and entertaining customers.

It also acts as modern way of providing information. Here creative ways of communication your
message to the customers can be adopted through various social media websites like facebook,
twitter, youtube, instagram etc.

Digital Marketing Plan:

Tweet #ExperienceKFA campaign:
Under this campaign passengers are required post tweets on their twitter account on the
day of their travel with hash tag #ExperienceKFA- this tweet could be about- current
happenings, their travel experience, about Kingfisher Airlines. At the end of the day or
flight the person with best tweet and person with most number of tweets would be given
some goodies or offers for future travels.

Interactive Simulation Website:

The website created would not be and ordinary website. It would act as a simulation of
shopping of airline tickets. In brief, it would take customer inside the office of
Kingfisher Airlines and there would be audio visual interactions with customers. Also
there would be an option available to switch to normal website who are not interested in
this kind of interactive simulations.

Short Films & Advertising videos on youtube page:

Different short films on public issues, humor, satire can be made an posted on KFA
youtube page. This would act as an entertainment for customers as well as reinforcing
the brand.
Mobile Application:
It is developed for ease of usage for customers to facilitate their check-in, queries
related to flight timings. It also facilitates customer in customizing their flying
experiences by pre ordering the services they wish to receive during their flight.
Facebook, linkedin, instagram:
These social media websites are used for running various campaigns to bring brand
awareness and increase share of mind. It also acts as medium for providing information.
Here various hash tags for KFA can be promoted. Also creative ads and offers can be
posted.

Budget:

Interactive Website: 4 Lacs

Mobile Application Development: 1.5 Lacs
Recruit for Managing Social Accounts Salary: 5 Lac p.a
Approx.Total Cost (Initially): 10.5 Lac

F.Campaign Flow Chart

Appendices:
Competitor ads:

The competitors are highly focusing on the print ads and thus, the kingfisher airlines too.
There are some ads as follows:

How kingfisher shows there print ads:

Thus, kingfisher airlines need to improvise their print ads by putting certain attractive print ads.
A recommended ad is as follows:

(Competitors Position in the Market. www.ibef.org)

References:
www.ibef.org