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