By Satyendra Pandey
As the privatisation push for Air India gains traction, bidders have to contend with a unique challenge: brand Air India. Given the brand legacy, the government wants the buyer to continue with the brand. Indeed, retaining the brand is one of the conditions laid out in the sale’s terms—and, justifiably so. There is no denying the fact that the Air India brand is high in both recall value, and familiarity quotient. Yet, with over a hundred planes connecting 97 destinations, there is a large disconnect between expectations, and reality. Addressing this will be critical to the airline’s future.
A brand, at its core, is a set of associations that translates to a higher willingness to pay, a high mindshare, and ideally, a lower cost. The ultimate goal is for the brand to become synonymous with a category. This extends to airlines as well. Ideally, the name of the airline should resonate with certain characteristics—for instance, low cost, punctuality, safety, technology, or reputation. These, in turn, are delivered via a consistent focus on mindshare, marketshare, and service delivery.
In the case of Air India, the mindshare and recall value is high, but purchase behaviour does not point to the brand delivering on a premium experience, on price, or on value. Add to that a weak loyalty programme and weak positioning, and the willingness to pay driven by the brand value is non-existent. Nor does the brand value lead to a lower cost of doing business. Yet, ironically, the recall value remains strong.
This paradox is explained by the narrative on Air India. Every conversation on Air India’s woes and challenges is often accompanied by references to its glorious past—a golden age of flying that boasted of extremely high service levels, and luxurious cabins. This image is repeated to the point where it starts forming expectations. Unfortunately, the present is anything but that. Due to the cash flow situation at the airline, the on-board product has not been upgraded for years, and is awaiting additional investment estimated to be north of `700 crore at the minimum. This could be alleviated partly via the service standards, but here, too, the airline is found wanting. Schedules and frequencies remain unaligned. Together, this narrative distortion—on the ground, and in the air—plays out in the consumer’s mind, and is amplified due to the mismatch between expectations and reality.
To overcome this challenge, Air India has to deliver consistency—of product, of design, and of experience. But, this is where it falters. It is not that all experiences on Air India are negative, but they are inconsistent. Passengers, including myself, can testify to the fact that we’ve had the best of experiences on Air India; and, we’ve also had the worst of experiences on Air India. One cannot tell what to expect, and for a brand, not to deliver consistently is akin to suicide.
The consistency challenge is not limited to the consumer. This plays out for the 21,364 employees—direct, and indirect—and the internal teams as well. Air India has some of the best talent. But, it also has talent that no airline will touch. It has some of the greatest assets, but also assets that no buyer wants. And, while it has many—inside and outside—who (rightly) take immense pride in the airline, it also has many who don’t see any point in continuing with the airline.
Air India’s brand paradox also traces to its marketing efforts. To begin with, something as simple as the colour scheme carries a very different connotation than what the airline delivers on. Air India uses orange, and white. In the Ogilvy colour association, orange signifies energy, rejuvenation, and affordability while white is symbolic of purity, cleanliness, and simplicity. None of the six associations find resonance.
The marketing challenge is also driven by the fact that the ecosystem is fast evolving. Traditional means just don’t work. One sees Air India advertising on TV, metro-stations, and trains, but this strategy overlooks the fact that screens have become integral to the decision making process. Thus, the content, the design, and the ease of use of screens (mostly mobile phones) has to be a core focus area. Yet, the Air India app, website, and social media accounts leave much to be desired. To be fair, this is not limited to Air India. Rather, it is a global challenge. And, one that requires constant iteration, best highlighted by a recent tweet that indicated how a large company bought an advertisement slot on TV during the Superbowl—one of the most watched sports event in the US—only to find that during breaks, users were busy looking at their phones. A $5 million advertising spend was rendered worthless. And, for the same amount of money, one could purchase six to eight months’ worth of mobile advertising, which, presumably, could deliver better outcomes.
Similarly, if ones speaks of price, it is unclear what Air India is attempting to deliver, or what it is trying to communicate. On several sectors, its pricing is higher than the competition while on others, it is much lower. The variation, at times, can range upto 70%.
Branding, and marketing are also evolving in that advertising is no longer one-sided. For every advert that is put out, and for customer experiences both good and bad, there is validation in the form of customer reviews, feedback, posts on social media, photographs, and complaints. Brand, in that sense, are no longer what one says about oneself. It also includes what others say, what one says about others, and what others say one says about them. In the context of Air India, the brand paradox is evident from the feedback of consumers, suppliers, and employees.
As a successful bidder emerges, the challenge will be revitalising, and repositioning the brand. Either way, ultimately, the Air India brand must deliver on a higher willingness to pay, a high mind-share, and on lowering costs. This can only be achieved by sticking to core values, delivering consistency, and a clear and well-articulated value proposition. Failing that, the customer simply has too many options.
The Air India brand paradox remains.
The author is former head of strategy, GoAir. Views are personal