MAY 10, 2010
The document compares and contrasts British Airways, Southwest Airlines and Singapore International Airlines; focusing on their positioning, brand identity, segmentation and performance.
MGMT E-6020 Final Project
Value Proposition and Positioning “In its simplest form, a value proposition is the summation of the brand’s functional, emotional and self–expressive benefits that bring value to the customer.”1 Southwest Airline’s value proposition is simply to get passengers to their destinations on time, at the lowest possible cost, and to have fun while doing it. This value proposition is summarized on the Southwest website (www.southwest.com) in the first paragraph of the section, “The Southwest Difference” “History” as follows: “More than 38 years ago, Rollin King and Herb
Kelleher got together and decided to start a different kind of airline. They began with one simple notion: If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline.” Southwest clearly articulates its value on its website and other marketing and trade materials. Its advertisements clearly emphasize cheap flights, are usually colorful and fun. (Exhibit …) Former Chief Executive Officer, Herb Kelleher, was well known for having fun and doing things that his peers might regard as outrageous. An example of an outrageous incident was an arm-wrestling match he had with the Chairman of Stevens Aviation, Kurt
Herwald, in 1992 in the Malice in Dallas, for the rights to use the slogan, “Just Plane Smart.” Although Kelleher lost the match, the event generated so much publicity and good will that Kurt Herwald allows Southwest to continue using the slogan.2
British Airways (BA) and Singapore International Airlines (SIA) on the other hand do not have a value proposition that
Bibliography: a. Ramaswamy, Kannan & Modi, Manesh. ““Singapore International Airlines: Strategy with a Smile.”” Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management. TB0173 Dec 2001. b. ““Why Fly Southwest.”” 6 May 2010. c. Nissim, Bill. ““The ABC’’s OF Great Brands.””6 may 2010.