Mkt 571 Week One Individual Assignment free essay sample

Classic Airlines Scenario NAME MKT 571 DATE INSTRUCTOR Classic Airlines Scenario The purpose of this paper is to review the marketing issues identified in a fictional Airline called Classic Airlines. I was presented with a scenario in which I will attempt to identify several things about the company and its situation as presented in the scenario. I will first discuss the nature of the product that Classic is offering. Next I will analyze the types of challenges the company is facing and discuss the corporate culture within the company. Last I will attempt to apply some market concepts to the presented scenario that I believe may improve the situation for the airline. The product offered by Classic Airlines is a service. Though different facets make up the product offered, it boils down to a service to the consumer to move him or her from one place to another in a cost-effective and pleasant manner. We will write a custom essay sample on Mkt 571 Week One Individual Assignment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Classic must find a way to provide this service in this manner and still produce a profit or the company will likely go under. The challenges facing this airline are many. The most important of which may be the corporate culture within the company. The leadership of the company has a leaning toward looking solely at the numbers without considering the impact of marketing or even customer service to the bottom line. â€Å"Financial success often depends on marketing ability. Finance, operations, accounting, and other business functions will not really matter if there is not sufficient demand for goods and services so the company can make a profit† (Kotler Keller, 2007). Within this framework of difficulties the marketing department must also deal with the market for larger airlines like this one which have been on the decline over the last several years. Customers are seeking better deals in a sinking world economy while also expecting decent customer services and at least a modicum of comfort. It also appears that many of the airlines competitors have found a way to draw some of Classic’s customers away. Smaller airlines can operate at lower costs and are likely to draw customers away from larger airlines. As an example analyst only expected Southwest Airlines to report a profit among the largest airlines in the United States for the first quarter of this year (Southwest Airlines ekes out 1 cent per share profit for quarter, 2011). To address these problems the company will have to address some issues with marketing and customer service. The company is basically working on a production model at this time with very little concern about customer issues. No one is listening to the customer because the company has attempted to go to an automated system that while efficient for tracking numbers does little to make the customer happy with the service provided by the company and gives the customer the feeling that the company would rather not have to deal with him or her. The airline needs to undertake a marketing strategy that will show the customer that he or she is the most important thing to the company. The possibility exists to form an alliance with other airlines that could present opportunities to share in the successful marketing strategy of those airlines that would likely improve the outlook for classic, if company leadership can be convinced to undertake the plan. I have attempted in this paper to discuss the product offered by Classic Airlines as well as the corporate culture and challenges faced by the company. I also have attempted to apply some simple marketing concepts to help alleviate the issues being faced by this company. References Kotler, P. , Keller, K. L. (2007). A Framework for Marketing Management (3rd ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Southwest Airlines ekes out 1 cent per share profit for quarter. (2011, April 21). The Daily Record, 1, 1. Retrieved from http://thedailyrecord. com/2011/04/21/southwest-airlines-ekes-out-1-cent-per-share-profit-for-quarter/