Corporate Branding Singapore Airlines Limited

Question: Describe the term of Corporate Branding for Singapore Airlines Limited. Answer: Introduction: Singapore Airlines Limited is the flagship carrier of Singapore. Singapore Changi Airport is the heart of this airline. The airline has used the concept of a Singaporean girl as a unique strategy for its corporate branding.. Singapore Airlines operates in more than thirty-five countries across six continents and also flies in more than sixty destinations globally (Singaporeair.com 2016). It has a strong presence in the Southeast Asian region. Currently it has a total of one hundred eight aircrafts operating in the air (Singaporeair.com 2016). Singapore Airlines offers five classes of service, namely suits, first class, business class, premium economy class and economy class. The most attractive feature of the airline is the Suites. These suits are available on the Airbus A380 (Singaporeair.com 2016). The suit is pretty luxurious and comfortable than the other classes, thus making Singapore Airlines famous among the business travellers. It is one of those flights, which offer comfort for the passengers, excellent facilities and attentive individual service from the vastly trained personnel. The essay discusses about the company background and the services offered, it also finds out the business strategies of the Singapore Airlines Limited and the problems related to it. In the industry environment, Singapore Airlines has constantly outperformed its competitors. It has always accomplished extensive and superior returns compared to the industry. Singapore Airlines has achieved this exceptional performance by executing a dual strategy (Heracleous and Wirtz 2012). Singapore Airlines mainly focuses on the cost leadership and the strategy of differentiation. Cost leadership strategy: This strategy discusses the low cost producer of an industry for a given level of quality. The company tries to sell its goods either at the standard industry prices to earn a higher profit than its rivals or beneath the average industry prices to gain a great amount of market share (Stauss 2013). In the time of price discrimination, the company can sustain some profitability while the opposition suffers losses. Any Company, that succeed in cost leadership have the strengths of accessing the resources well. The recourses pays an important part during the investment of the company. Skills are necessary to plan the products for efficient manufacturing (Fan and Lingblad 2016). Singapore Airlines is one of those aircrafts which has shown that operational effectiveness and innovation can bring about a commercial business. The airline tries to manage the two main resources, namely planes and people. The airlines mostly invest in the business areas where the customers can be satisfied with its innovative offerings. This can also enhance the premium positioning of the airline. Singapore Airlines invests more than their competitor in significant areas. The company mostly focuses on the aircraft, training, employee satisfaction and more. New aircraft: SIA tries to replace its fleet more frequently than any other flights, as it reduces the maintenance cost and also improves the experience of the customers. Proper training: SIA tries to hire the best of people from the industry, and train them properly in order to retain them for a long time. Labour Cost: SIA offers more crew members in a flight than its rival, which helps them in a better customer experience. The flight offer more customized service to its customers. Innovation: The Company invests equally in fundamental and incremental innovation. Apart from these strategies, Singapore Airlines has gained a reputation for doings things very differently from its rivals. It was the first airline which used to serve free drinks along with the customers choice of meal to its guests (Fan and Lingblad 2016). Moreover, the food served was prepared by gourmet chefs. It was also one of those flights which introduced in flight entertainment system in few selected flights. It was the first airline, which used krisworld entertainment device (Heracleous and Wirtz 2014). The device is mainly a satellite based flight telephone, which made the journeys more enjoyable for the travellers. Singapore Airlines was the inventor of the most interesting live teletext information service and also an interactive in flight shopping service. Singapore Airlines has always observed its customers closely. Customer satisfaction is the main motto of the company (Fan and Lingblad 2016). It hired the best chefs of the industry to serve the best cuisine for its passengers. It also tries to satisfy every customer by introducing a special meal, which is healthier and lighter. To create an impression on the travellers the company tries to update the menu more frequently. The airline not only developed the in flight services but also improved the facility of the Changi airport with introducing some innovative technologies (Smit and Dula 2014). It was the first flight to introduce the wireless gatelink technology within the area of the airport, which can share numerous data among the aircraft, terminals, baggage handling, ground staff and other important areas (Heracleous and Wirtz 2014). It has increased the operational efficiency and also improved the performance. To motivate its employees, the company has introduced more than four training centres within the company. The company gives special attention to each of its employee to bring the best out of them. In turn, the employee learns the best of business and customer satisfaction. SIA published a range of departmental newsletters and monthly magazines to keep a track and performance of the employees. Differentiation strategy The strategy of differentiation discusses the progress of a product or facility, which offers exceptional attributes that are specially appreciated by the consumers. The consumers perceive the product they are using is better than the competitors. The firm might charge some premium price for the unique value added product or services (Rothaermel 2015). The unique attribute of the product helps the firm to charge a higher price which might cover all the extra costs incurred in the offerings. Differentiation strategy of a company requires a team that is highly skilled and creative, who can think innovatively. A well-maintained sales team is the strength of a company; the sales team has the capability to showcase the companys product in a unique way. The strategy also requires corporate reputation for quality and innovation. The two main points of differentiation includes service and low cost. These maintains the service levels in the course of the procedure of recruitment, strong training and a fit industrial culture. Moreover, the flights also maintain low costs through precise consistency, low maintenance cost, outsourcing of ticketing, payroll management and many more. The connection between the service and low cost of differentiation helps the company to move forward. SIA maintains a fleet comprising of comparatively new aircrafts. As a result, mechanical failures are very rare these flights (Baker 2013). This has aided in the timely arrival and departure of flights and has also limited the instances of cancellation of flights. The new planes are very fuel efficient. It also requires fewer repairs and the cost of maintenance of this aircrafts are also low. SIAs aircraft spends more time in the air rather than on the ground. Conclusion Singapore Airlines is doing a great job in the market against its competitors. However, the continuation in improvement is necessary in order to survive in this competitive and challenging market of airlines. The airline should also remain aware of the peripheral threats and opportunities. In command to deal with all the various forces of the business environment, the company needs to hire the best quality managers in various departments of the airlines. With customers become demanding, as they have become more price sensitive and want the best of services in minimum price, airlines businesses need to stress greatly on cost and differentiation . The company should maintain a proper operations strategy. Also the managers of the organisation should make sure the decisions which have been taken are supportive for the business strategy of the company. References Baker, D.M.A., 2013. Service quality and customer satisfaction in the airline industry: A comparison between legacy airlines and low-cost airlines. American Journal of Tourism Research, 2(1), pp.67-77. 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