Classic Airlines and Marketing - Essay Example

Marketing is one of the most dynamic aspects of business management. It is not only about keeping up with the competition, but more importantly, it is also about keeping up with the needs of the market without sacrificing the quality of the product or the service. This entails of the company to constantly be in touch with the customers and keep posted of what is in and out with the competition’s product and strategies. Marketing, thus, is a never-ending and ever-evolving process. There should be no time to relax.

Considering especially that the customers in this day and age are more empowered by the wonders of the Internet and other new technologies that give them the information that they need with just a click of a button, marketing strategies need to adapt to change as quickly and as appropriately as possible.It should be borne in mind, however, that at the core of every product innovation or fresh marketing approach is the need to address the customers’ needs. Seeing them as mere statistics won’t do the trick.

More than anything else, the customers are human beings, and they always appreciate the high regard in which companies hold their needs. Their needs change from time to time, and often without warning. Thus, customization of products and services has become pronounced today more than ever. And if this end were to be achieved, the company needs to invest on more interaction with the customer. It is the best way to establish a “relationship,” not just a “transaction.” This investment ultimately reaps an “enduring relationship” of mutually satisfied needs.

The case of Classic Airlines tells us that the challenges that it faces are the very same challenges that most companies are meeting today. Its mind-set is likewise commonplace. Most companies think that cutting on operating cost is the answer to their woes. However, a closer look at this would reveal that simply cutting down costs does not address more serious issues, such as customer loyalty and satisfaction. Obviously, no company is spared from the financial crisis. But this should not stop the company from delivering quality services to its customers, before and after the fact of selling.

Companies should not forget that marketing does not end the moment the product or service is sold. Relationship marketing tells us that the company should aim to develop an enduring relationship. Thus, while it is important to know what products or services the client wants, it is just as essential to know what they think of the product after the sale and to know what they think would make them buy or avail of it once again. Feedback is, thus, likewise indispensable to cultivating a lasting relationship.

But yes, not all managers or companies “think customer.” Often, managers “think numbers” or “think spreadsheets.” Things such as company orientation are usually set by upper management, and if no one could convince them that the company needs to invest in long-term, relationship-based investments, then companies like Classic Airlines are surely bound to face more serious challenges.Compromising quality while cutting down on costs is what every company is doing now, consciously or unconsciously.

It is about time for the others to learn from that and do something new, something different. These are one of those times when we need to take risks and make bolder actions. Source:Marketing Management, Twelfth Edition, by Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller. Published by Prentice-Hall. Copyright © 2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.