profile sponsorships, extension of product lines and competing with the likes of Nike and Adidas, it also aims to project the premium concept. This creates confusion. Li Ning has to sort this out by deciding on a clear posi- tioning strategy. Moreover, with the current generation of customers prefer- ring Western brands amidst a growing sense of individualism, and Li Ning still not able to match up the quality and technological innovations of Nike, Reebok or Adidas, it has an enormous task of doing its homework right and coming out with a resonating positioning.
Li Ning has enjoyed success by combining some crucial factors which at once proved to be a competitive advantage. With the decades-long investment of Nike and Adidas paying off, those factors have ceased to provide any competitive advantage to Li Ning. Now it seems that Nike and Adidas have the advantage, with their strong brand names that resonate well with Chinese customers. If Li Ning is to recapture its leadership posi- tion, it should start on a targeted brand building journey. By combining its unique history and legacy with clear positioning and relevant sponsor- ships, Li Ning surely stands a chance of reclaiming its leadership position in the Chinese market.
CASE 3
Airways was one of the 17 airlines that entered the market. With the cut- throat competitive pressures and capital constraints of the industry, only 2 of those 17 managed to stay alive – Jet Airways and Air Sahara. From then on, Jet Airways has come a long way in the last 10 years. Today it operates 270 flights daily to 44 destinations across India and commands a total market share of nearly 43.1 percent.24
Aspiring Asian brand cases
177Courtesy Jet Airways
The success of Jet Airways is a standing tribute to the commitment and investment of its corporate management in driving a strong management team coupled with cost-effective and robust operation systems to build a strong brand. Right from the start, the mission of the company has been to be the most preferred domestic carrier in the country. The entire corporate and brand strategy of Jet Airways has been based on this under- lying mission.
Brand strategy
Jet Airways has built its brand by focusing on the ingredients required to realize its stated corporate mission – to be the most preferred domestic airline in India. When Jet Airways entered the market, Indian Airlines was the market leader and was a virtual monopoly as it was state-owned. Indian Airlines had built a reputation for providing pathetic service, delayed flights, bad food and grumpy and irresponsible staff.25These things initially made it quite easy for Jet Airways. Understanding the concerns and require- ments of Indian customers, Jet Airways took steps to address those
concerns. Flight safety, on-time flights, world-class service, sumptuous food and friendly and responsive staff were to become the foundations for the Jet Airways brand.
Jet Airways began by flying what was then, and still is, the newest fleet of airplanes in India, which provides two benefits. First, it was able to instill confidence in consumers about flight safety because of the technical superi- ority of the new aircraft and, second, it was able to optimize the fuel costs.
The technical superiority has helped Jet Airways to maintain 99.6 percent technical dispatch reliability, to have 83 percent of all its flight departures within 15 minutes of schedule as against 65 percent of flights for Indian Airlines. Fuel cost constitutes the biggest portion of any airline’s costs.
With a modern fleet, Jet Airways was able to reduce its fuel costs to 26 percent of its total cost as against 40 percent for other airlines.26 Jet Airways also placed strong emphasis on recruiting well-trained and effi- cient pilots by conducting extensive in-house training to all of its pilots to ensure safer flights.27
Till the late 1990s, the majority of people who opted for air travel were business executives. With air tickets being so expensive, air travel was beyond the reach of the common man. This prompted Jet Airways to set a high standard of in-flight service. As the company professes, it wanted to be the “Businessmen’s preferred airline”. This objective has led to many service innovations like the first in-flight mail order shopping program called Jet Mall,28 a frequent flyer program called Jet Privilege, offering frequent flier rewards, special deals for vacations, hotels and The Econo- mist, and a co-branded credit card with Citibank to provide the best of both the big brands,29to name a few.
Jet Airways has also established a benchmark in ensuring on-time flights, something that was a major concern of passengers with Indian Airlines. To complete the service experience, Jet Airways has been proactive in ensur- ing a friendly and responsive customer service on the ground. From cancel- lations, rescheduling of tickets, frequent flyer programs, to garnering feedback from customers during baggage collection to constantly pushing its own limits, Jet Airways has been a pioneer. All this has endeared Jet Airways to its core segment of travelers – business executives. Now, with more leisure travelers also opting for air travel, Jet Airways has once again taken the initiative to delight them with its promotional packages, seasonal discounts, apex fares and so on.
Brand communication
Jet Airways has not followed the traditional rules of brand building by spending huge sums of money on advertising. Instead, it has depended heavily on third-party endorsements like national and international awards, public relations and word-of-mouth publicity. This communication strategy has worked well for the airline.
Right from the start, Jet Airways captured the attention of all major awards for all the right reasons. It has won awards in literally all major cate- gories – from the best domestic airline in Asia Pacific by TTG Asia, best technical dispatch reliability award from Boeing Company, air transport world market development award for market development, to being declared a “superbrand” by the international Super Brands Council.30These awards have communicated Jet Airways’ emphasis on its core brand promise
Aspiring Asian brand cases
179Jet Airways focuses extensively on the service aspect to distinguish its brand from other local competitors
Courtesy Jet Airways
and its consistent delivery in a credible and efficient way more than any advertisement could have ever done.
While the initial endorsements built the brand awareness in the market, the subsequent brand experience that passengers had with Jet Airways helped to cement close ties. This positive experience spread by word of mouth among the various segments of the market. It created a buzz about Jet Airway’s impeccable service, its friendly staff and its on- time flights. All of this enhanced Jet Airways’ image in the eyes of its prospective customers.
With this positive buzz going on in the market, the media was not to be left behind, and there were articles and stories in the press based on the writers’
own experiences. With prominent newspapers and magazines giving positive reviews about Jet Airways, its equity with the public rose even higher.
Jet Airways was successfully able to leverage its positive image by consis- tently delivering on all its promises. Thus Jet Airways was able to build strong brand equity without going the usual and expensive advertising road.
By building a successful brand, Jet Airways has achieved tremendous success in the last 10 years of its existence. It has the leading market share in the domestic airline industry with 43 percent as against 38 percent of Indian Airlines and 13 percent of Air Sahara, the other two major domestic carriers.31 Jet Airways has managed to have a seat factor of 65 percent when 61 percent would enable it to break even.32It has won major interna- tional awards which has helped the airline to increase its awareness beyond Indian borders. This will be important, given Jet Airways’ plans to fly on more international routes. It already operates flights to Colombo, Kath- mandu, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and London.
Future challenges
Despite all the success Jet Airways has enjoyed, the coming years will bring some unique challenges. Jet Airways has to remain focused on its mission of being the most preferred airline and the consistent delivery of its brand promises if it is to stay ahead of the increasing competition.
The emergence of low-cost carriers
The biggest challenge will be the emergence of the low-cost carrier which threatens to alter the dynamics of the domestic airline industry in India.