3. Delivering the Kiwi experience
Scenario time. You have a fantastic product, you have a receptive market, but you also have competitors that have the same planes, fly the same routes and have pretty similar price points. How do you ensure your product is preferred to that of the competitors? Hint: the answer lays within.
Air New Zealand played to an inherent competitive strength that none of their competitors or their marketing strategy’s could replicate: the Kiwi experience.
Being able to deliver a 360 degree Kiwi brand experience – whether flying high or in the call centre – was crucial to delivering an ownable point of difference. Which brings us back to people, without the buy-in from staff, fulfilling this inherent competitive advantage would simply not be possible.inherent competitive advantage would simply not be possible.
So where are the gaps?
Sure it’s easy to be complacent when you’re sitting at the top of the world. But isn’t that when businesses become the easiest target to be knocked from their perch.
So what should Air New Zealand be doing next?
Global Brand:
While Air New Zealand has a global presence is their brand and core proposition as robust offshore as it is here in New Zealand?
Is there a need to differentiate an international strategy from the New Zealand one?
Strategic recruitment:
Air New Zealand must continue to invest in recruiting and retaining staff. Which is in its self an expensive exercise.
By all accounts Air New Zealand receives more than 50,000 job applicants every year. But the question needs to be asked, what percent of these applicants are top of their field? Do they need to be more strategic in order to attract the best in class, e.g.
• continue to develop the employee brand with a focus on using social media
• update the careers website
• redirect resources to actively pursue candidates
• develop a hyper-targeted smart campaign that separates the good from the very good.