Marketing Management

Marketing Management

The study looks at the case study of Southwest Airlines and determines how it has managed to become competitive in the industry through the aspects of marketing management.

Southwest market positioning.

The airline founded in 1967 by Rollin King and Herbert Kelleher deals with air transport services as their core products target customers who travel by planes with a low-cost value in its services. Also, the airline provides various services for its customers, such as supplying love bites peanuts and love portions drinks, making it the admired company in the world at position seven (Kotler & Keller, 2016). Through its array of streamlined operations of low fares, it aims at reaching and providing customers satisfaction to generate loyal customers who always seek their products and services even with the existence of other competitive airlines. By delivering point to point routing systems, carrying more passengers per plane than any other airplane, and its various price differentiation, it can position itself in a competitive advantage position in the market..

Southwest pricing strategy.

The company utilizes various methods of price strategy in its operations, which aims at minimizing cost and maximizing revenue by attracting many customers. The company first cuts its cost by flying only Boeing 737-700s and 737-800s, making the training of its staff easy and faster (Desai, Patel & Quach, n.d.). Also, through minimizing cost, it buys its jet fuel in advance in anticipation of fuel price hikes, which helps it save while also enhances cost operations by ensuring that planes are lighter. Al these undertakings support it through the price differentiation of the airline and its competitors by offering low-cost services. For instance, when other airlines charge passenger bags, the company has a policy of “bags fly free” (Kotler & Keller, 2016). It also offers unique services and pricing programs ranging from ticketless travel and premium ticketing, allowing a customer to pay for the flight on the last day of their booking.

Southwest Airlines Risks.

Due to the growth of the airline industry, the company faces risks from similar services and high competition from its rival sectors, such as Delta Airlines, which offers many of its services with the same strategies of marketing and pricing. Its most profits come from sales of online ticketing, the services of the delta through online posts a risk to the profit generations of the company. Similarly, the growth of other means of transport such as buses and by sea gives customers many options for consideration (Team,2016). Also, the competition and emergence of more local airline travel with similar routes reduce the customer base and thus reducing the revenue of the company, making it have the necessity to develop and grow its international routes.

The future of the southwest airlines.

The airline though facing competition from other airlines which makes it have a run for its revenue it has anchored its operation well, shielding it from economic effects. The culture of activities and the training of staff offering friendly services from handling and relating with customers with a lighthearted attitude has earned them the loyalty of customers, which is hard to break. The price differentiation and market strategies enable it to make profits as other airlines struggle thus causing it to continue thriving even with hard economic times through its operations not going beyond its capabilities (Desai, Patel & Quach, n.d.). Its consistency in processes and rankings makes it the best customer service airline with the lowest ratio complaint against it, earning trust and loyalty from many customers.

References

Desai, K., Patel, V., & Quach, D. Southwest Airlines. Retrieved from https://www.mcafee.cc/Classes/BEM106/Papers/UTexas/351/Southwest.pdf

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th global ed.). England: Pearson.

Team, T. (2016). Factors That Have Strengthened Southwest’s Domestic Presence. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/09/14/factors-that-have-strengthened-southwests-domestic-presence/#1bdd07e12cbe