Marketer2Marketer – Frank van der Post

Robin Sutherland, managing director at TravelSupermarket, asks…

Robin Sutherland

How can British Airways differentiate its brand in an increasingly commoditised market and prove its relevance to customers who want to pay the lowest price possible to get to their destination?

Frank van der Post: You can’t be everything to everyone, so you need to identify who your market segments are and make sure you have the relevant products for each of those segments. So, for example, we have the Club World service for business class passengers and the World Traveller Plus service for premium economy. It’s important to find the most cost-efficient way of delivering those products and services because that allows you to be competitive on pricing. But when you deliver more than someone else, you’ll always have a price premium.

So part of the answer is that yes, it is a commoditised product and we’re delivering a service that is more ‘bundled’ [inclusive of all charges]. You therefore need to educate the public on the value difference between low-cost flying and high-value flying and really get that message across.

Recommended