Introduction
Marketing mix also known as the 4p’s refers to the marketing of a product, place, promotion, and price. The four components form the basis of marketing as all marketers always find them in the center of their plan. Though the marketing mixes do not follow a particular order or sequence they are interrelated and none can be overlooked. Marketing is customer-focused. The main intention of a marketer is to establish a new customer and persuade him/her to buy their products or use their services
These, however, should pave way for the establishment of a permanent and long-term contract between the consumer and the marketers. The marketer should undertake to serve the ever-changing customers. For Emirate group this has necessitated the establishment of trained marketing personnel who carries surveys to understand the needs of the customers.
The first p’ refers to the product. In our case since Emirate Airline deals with air flight, this becomes our product. It precisely refers to the product or the service the company is involved in (Jones, 2008, p.17). The other p’ refers to the place. These refer to the medium the company uses in reaching their product and or services to the people. This may include a website since we are concerned with internet marketing.
The other p’ stands for a price, these means the returns the company gets in terms of monetary value on delivering (Kania, 2001, p.37.)The last p’ refers to the promotions. Promotion may vary in definition from company to company but it is essentially meant for sensitizing the customer of the existence of such product. It also includes free demonstration, after-sale services and also selling to some customers at a subsidized price. For a company like Emirate Airline who offers services, the 4ps are merely enough to satisfy the need of their customers (Lamb, 2008, p. 1). One of the key objectives of a company is continuity as well as profitability and hence the priority of customers is given greater regard. Customers’ satisfaction has been itself a marketing tool as those customers spread the good news about the company.
The traditional four marketing mix applies best where the tangible goods are involved but where the intangible products are required it becomes insufficient (Nixon, 2000, p.65). The inclusion of three more p’s namely; people, physical evidence and the process ensures Emirate Airline survives even during the hardest economic downturn. People refer to the companies employees who directly or indirectly are involved in the service delivery. Their personalities are crucial as they represent the image of the company (Jones, 2008, p 109.
The other mix is the physical evidence. This is mostly concerned with the tangible component involved in the execution of the service. The process involves the sequence of activities that the company undertakes to execute the service. The internet is a vital tool in Air ticketing as customers can get real-time information about plane ticketing, securing their booking without traveling to the airport, and also on the flight schedule. Internet marketing is increasingly gaining popularity due to its effectiveness and cost-efficiency (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, & Mayer, 2009, p.98).
Due to technological advancement, people can access the internet using devices including phones, laptops, and personal computers. Moreover, the silent billboards and the adverts posted in the magazines are less reaching to the targeted group. Internet blogs are cheaper as companies don’t require owning websites to place their adverts (Huckins, 1968, p. 71). Some social sites like Twitter and Facebook offer to post such commercial adverts for free. The Emirate Airline like any other business sometimes tends to give more emphasis on one the marketing mix. For instance, they may promote their airlines based on services provided without necessarily having to reduce their prices (Nixon, 2000, p.91). The most important thing is however maintain a bank of customers and at the same time fetch returns on the investment.
Marketing mix strategies
Evaluation of the Internet marketing mix strategies
There is a great relationship between the marketing mix and the creation of a brand (Kania, 2001, p.43). The marketing element is related to quality and also brand awareness. The Internet develops an awareness to the consumers and sensitizes them on the availability of the product or services and the selected avenues where it can be found (Peters & Donnelly, 2004, p.87). Emirate Airlines uses the internet to market their planes, especially during the festive season.
They also promote their business by sponsoring the tournament and sponsoring other activities. This creates an image of corporate responsibility and instills the customer’s confidence that indeed Emirate Airline is the best (Nixon, 2000, p.57). Embracing the internet has seen Emirate Airline withstand the recent economic recession with its major competitor declares almost insolvent.
Branding strategy
A brand is the unique identity of a specific product or service that distinctly distinguishes them from other companies offering the same commodity or service (Silverstein, 2002, p.87). Branding has helped Emirates Airline continue enjoying enormous profit alongside an increased number of satisfied clients. Due to their longevity in Air traveling, Emirate group can come up with a classic brand of services that requires huge investment but it has a high return on the invested capital.
This has proved the demise of a number of its competitors since some of them are not even able to meet the cost of branding let alone making any profit. Emirates’ reputation has also been on the front line in giving them a competitive edge over the others as it has a relatively lower number of air clashes and it has never been on record for involving itself in any unethical behaviors (Huckins, 1968, p. 84).
Though sometimes customers are influenced by the price of the product or service alongside with quality, branded services hold an upper hand even with higher prices as it appears genuine. Like most companies offering services, Emirate groups target the customers particularly youth, business people, and tourists as they fetch much of their profit from this group. Their services are tailored to meet the tastes and preferences of their customers (Jones, 2008, p119). For example offering as a subsidiary convenient e-banking for their customer to deposit or withdraw money anywhere (Nixon, 2000 p57). Also, most of their airplanes are equipped with radio and other entertainment gadgets to ensure the comfort of their customers.
Since most of the information posted over the internet has the intention of marketing or sensitizing customers of the existence of such services, it should be posted precisely to avoid ambiguity or misrepresentation (Chaffey et al, 2009, p.45). The use of unpopular language may single out some people and this may appear discriminative. Also some people especially the visually impaired may find articles like blogs hard to read.
Emirate group has designated flairs for those visually impaired and also adopted a standard method of data representation over the internet (Huckins, 1968, p. 49). In some extreme cases, the data or information over the internet requires the representation of data as required by the ISO where it carries Booleans, single and long integers, date and time, and strings. Internet marketing is the actual engine in driving the business into its prospects. With its proper appreciation, it has helped the Emirate group to make great strides in pushing for a bigger slice in the airline business. With the technology expected to grow, companies like the Emirate group continue to enjoy an increased profit margin and accreditation as well as a high number of customers (Jones, 2008, p.52).
Conclusions and recommendation
The adoption by the Emirate group of the concepts of the marketing mix has been tremendously been successful as has seen hit the top of the list of the most profitable companies (Jones, 2008, p 73). The appreciation and recognition of each of the seven segments are paramount because they work hand in hand. The Emirate Airline as evidenced in the research has realized the importance of their customers as business comrades as opposed to the traditional view of customers as a tool of making a profit.
Due to the changing trends of business and the changing tastes of customers, companies should be able to cut down on their expenses and instead focus on investing in customers by ensuring their interest in the forefront (Sis man, 1998, p98). Branding of both products and services is seen as a good strategy to raise the profit margins of companies though it also requires substantial investment.
This is a clear indication of the stiff competition and the importance of improving quality to stand any chance in the changing world (Jones, 2008, p 45). However, even with all the goodies associated with internet marketing and e-commerce at large, care should be taken as these are the popular avenues of fraud Some websites are not secure although they may look so appearing.
People are known to have lost lots of money through dubious deals involving unscrupulous people who require the ignorant web browsers of their credit card numbers among other personal details. There have been unfounded assumptions that any internet business must be succeeded. However this is not the case as some business conducted over the internet has proved unworthy (Jones, 2008, p 22).
The ethical issues concerning internet fraud make it difficult for buyers and sellers to conduct business due to fear of loss of capital. Still, a substantial number of individuals have dropped internet due to inadequacy of stock, or where one company is not able to supply all the products required by the customer. Online marketing also faces legal challenges as the most consumer who prima facie are enticed by the low prices, end paying even higher prices due to transport and custom duties (Schefren, 2009, p.35). Although the traditional marketing mix is growing extinct especially in service providing industry, the emirate group warns that total disregard of these principles of marketing can be disastrous.
However, internet marketing which involves placing advertisements remains to be the most popular and cheaper mode of advertisement and accounts for 80% of the profit realized by Emirate Airlines. Moreover, with the world transformation into a global village nearing to be a dream come true, Emirate Airline is expected to reap big.
Reference List
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