Brand Audit-Buddha Air Group Members: Amrita Acharya Kanta Subedi Kripa Shakya Nischal K.C. Prakash Bhusal
Oct 15, 2014
Brand Audit-Buddha Air
Group Members:Amrita Acharya
Kanta SubediKripa ShakyaNischal K.C.
Prakash Bhusal
First airline in Nepal : Nepal Airlines Founded in July, 1958 Previously Indian Airlines ruled the Nepalese
sky From 1960, internal flights from NAC.
Introduction
More than 10 domestic carries Government of Nepal has adopted open sky
policy Tourism sector has been positively affected
Domestic Airlines
Threat of new entrants◦ Capital requirements◦ Technical expertise◦ Government Policy
Industry Analysis of Airlines Industry in Nepal
Rivalry among existing firms◦ Number of competitors◦ Rate of industry growth◦ Diversity of rivals
Threat of substitutes◦ Road transport
Bargaining power of buyers◦ Suppliers are plentiful◦ Cost of switching suppliers is low
Bargaining power of suppliers◦ Related to fuel prices
Founded on April 23l, 1996 Largest fleet of aircrafts Places safety at the highest Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil
Aviation honored Buddha Air for being the first among private sector airlines in foreign exchange earnings during the fiscal year 060/061.
Buddha Air
Strengths◦ Innovation
Introduced first e-ticketing First to introduce frequent flier program, the Royal
Club◦ Differentiation
First to install Aircraft Data Acquisition System (ADAS) device in all its aircrafts in addition to the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR).
First to introduce Beech craft and ATRs
SWOT Analysis
Weaknesses◦ Buddha Air's aircrafts require 1000 meters runway.
This limits its access to STOL(short take off and landing aircraft) market (Remote areas) where runways are shorter.
◦ The mileage card Buddha Air offers is not appropriate with the business clients.
Opportunities◦ Rapidly changing technology always provide
opportunities to adopt new technology and implement them to improve customer experience
◦ Formation of Alliance: The alliance with international airlines will prove beneficial for Buddha Air as it provides opportunity to work with other friendly airlines and would enable them to reach to other different destinations around the globe.
Threats◦ Increase competition
Increased number of competitor in the domestic airlines
These are the cheapest airlines that provide similar kind of services at lower rate
Buddha air-relatively expensive airlines
Sample size-30 Conducted both qualitative and quantitative
research Qualitative- Focus Group Discussion Quantitative-Questionnaire
Research Methodology
Tribhuwan International airport Participants-Passengers Discussions on
◦ comfort factor◦ safety◦ time◦ fare ◦ service ◦ schemes of the airlines and ◦ promotion
FGD
Favorability ◦ Safety Records
Strength ◦ High quality new aircrafts◦ Brand image◦ Motivated and well trained staffs
Uniqueness ◦ Beech craft and ATR
Brand Association
Brand Name Logo Brand Awareness/Image
◦ Schedule time◦ Flight speed◦ Comfort
Strong relationship with Business House; including most United Nations organizations, all major diplomatic missions, international non government organizations as well as national level organizations.
Enhanced the overall BRAND EQUITY of Buddha Air.
Brand Elements
Brand Recall
Airlines No of Respondents Percentage
Buddha 21 70%
Yeti 4 13%
Agni 2 7%
Others 3 10%
Total 30 100%
Brand Recall
The criteria that we selected for evaluating the domestics airlines are :
timesafety fareservice comfort and Promotions.
Leveraging Primary brand knowledge to Build its Brand Equity
TimeOut of total 30 respondents, 37% of respondent fell that Buddha air flights are on time; 33% feel Yeti airlines are on time whereas 30% responded with Agni in terms of timely flight. Thus, Buddha Air’s flights are on time.
Safety:Out of total 30 respondents, 47% of respondent fell that Buddha Air is safer to travel along; 40% responded with Yeti and 17% responded with Agni in terms of safety. Thus, the safer airlines was Buddha.
Fare:Out of total 30 respondents, only f 27% feel that fares of Buddha air are higher; 33% responded with Yeti and 40% responded with Agni in terms of ticket price. Respondents feel that flight rates of Yeti & Agni are higher.
Service:Out of total 30 respondents, 30% of respondent were satisfied with service of with Buddha Air; 37% responded with Yeti and 33% responded with Agni in terms of service. Thus, the passengers were not satisfied with the service provided by Buddha Air.
Comfort:Out of total 30 respondents, 37% of respondent found Buddha Air comfortable to travel; 33% responded with Yeti and 30% responded with Agni in terms of comfort. Thus, respondents considered Buddha Air as comfortable airlines.
Promotion:Out of total 30 respondents, 37% responded with Buddha Air; 37% responded with Yeti and 27% responded with Agni in terms of promotion. Thus, passengers found both Buddha and Yeti Air as visible airlines in terms of promotion.
Secondary associations of Buddha Air are as follows:
Channels of distributionSelling Buddha Air tickets through large and established travel agents has added on to the image of Buddha air.
Corporate Sponsorship In 2000 Buddha Air started an agricultural extension program as a pilot project in Morang district
Buddha Air- Leveraging Secondary Brand Knowledge to Build its Brand Equity
Buddha Air funded the seed money to start Smallholder Agribusiness Support (SABS)
Buddha Air donates over Rs. 1.5 million to Dangihat VDC of Morang district every year for health and education from 2010.
Buddha Air conducted a one day health camp in the Dangihat VDC of Morang for 1200 people.
Contd..
Third party sources – awardHighest Safety Award given by the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation of the Government of Nepal
Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation honored Buddha Air for being the first among private sector airlines in foreign exchange earnings during the fiscal year 060/061.
It has also been awarded from various sources such as Pacific Asia Travel Association, United Nations World Tourism Day, 3rd World Aviation, Education and Safety Congress, and Pratt & Whitney, Canada Corporation.
RESONANCE
SALIENCE
JUDGMENTS
FEELINGS
PERFORMANCE IMAGERY
CBBE MODEL
Salience:◦ The depth of brand awareness tells us how easily
the customers can recall the brand◦ The breadth tells us about the range of purchase
situations the brand comes in mind. Buddha air has placed itself as the top air
transport providing brand in Nepal which people easily recall.
Brand meaning:◦ Brand performance (relates to how Buddha air
serves the functional needs of the customer and that is air transportation.)
◦ Brand imagery (relates to the intangible aspects of Buddha air, the extrinsic properties that relates to the customers social needs)
Brand response:◦ It shows the customers personal judgmental
opinions about Buddha air.◦ The customers’ emotional responses and
reactions with respect to Buddha air like the security, warmth and social approval people feel.
Brand resonance:◦ The relationship that people have with the brand.◦ Behavioral loyalty, attitudinal attachment, sense
of community and active engagement with Buddha air.
Increase its brand awareness and build a strong position in the consumer mindset.
Arrange refreshment such as newspaper, magazines, vending machine in case of delay in flights over an hour.
Add on newer aircrafts which could even travel to stall routes and shorter runways.
Make the customer service form available both in Nepali and English languages
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS