Southwest Marketing Strategy

Southwest Airlines is the industry leader in low-cost airfares. They began operations in 1971, had three Texas routes, and in 1978 started an interstate route. When Southwest Airlines entered the market in 1971, they adopted a market penetration pricing approach. They want to offer the best service at the lowest price. They think that if they cut down some unnecessary benefits, they can lower the fare to a level far below the competition. They do not have flying movies, meals or first classes.

This report is aimed at evaluating the recent marketing methodology that enabled Southwest Airlines to succeed in aviation operations and the marketing strategy used to influence productivity and quality of service. In addition, the report discusses marketing strategies designed to meet Southwest Airlines marketing goals to increase sales next year, and analysis will suggest ways to increase the growth of Southwest Airlines. The actual characteristics of the product is to provide top quality customer service, warmth, familiarity, personal pride, and corporate spirit (South West 2010)

The fourth and last strategy of Southwest Airlines is their aggressive marketing approach. Southwest Airlines is trying to differentiate itself from other aviation industries through its marketing strategy. They tried to describe them as the airline they wanted to play. The focus of marketing is to communicate with customers, they provide real value while flying and having fun. They also advertise the ability to provide safe, reliable and low cost benefits. Their commitment to this commitment has brought them a reputation in the airline industry and the highest cumulative consumer satisfaction record.

Southwest Airlines is a US domestic airline company aiming to enter the global market. This strategy requires a benchmarking process. Southwest Airlines needs to try to establish a global airline industry leader like British Airways to get effective technology. Southwest Airlines can measure two points, fuel economy and international experience. To reduce costs in the world market, fuel economy is important. As airlines around the world tend to travel much longer, fuel costs have to be kept to a minimum. British Airways set concrete targets for fuel efficiency to minimize costs. Because the competitive advantage of Southwest Airlines is on its low fare, fuel management is inefficient and the company can not afford to raise prices. As British Airways did, Southwest Airlines should set goals to maintain fuel costs. Southwest Airlines learns a lot and maintains competitiveness by examining how British Airways maintains fuel costs.

essay.com/Benchmarking: Quantitative and qualitative research on Southwest Airlines and British Airways