Running Head: INTERNET MARKETING

AirFrance Case Analysis

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Institution Affiliation

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AirFrance Case Analysis

Executive Summary

The travel industry and e-commerce have been identified to have a very close correlation.

The industry is documented to be among the first industries to adopt e-commerce in order to

improve their sales. Business sales vastly increased and there was also a wider reach to existing

and potential consumers. Therefore, online marketing developed as a very effective sales

medium for airlines. Air France is one of the airlines that have embraced online marketing in

order to increase its ticket sales. In this particular analysis, the main focus will be on three fronts;

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assessment of the current situation faced by Air France in regard to online marketing, the

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strategic options to apply and the tactical plan to employ for the identified strategies. The search

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engines that have been highlighted in the case study include Kayak, Yahoo!, Microsoft MSN and
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Google. Optimizing these platforms in order to achieve maximum returns require an evaluation

of each search engine differently. This is based on the fact that different search engines have
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different inherent advantages and it is wise for an organization to focus on investing in a search
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engine that meets its needs in entirety. However, this cannot be attained in an haphazard manner.

Assessment of Current Situation

The travel industry can be identified as one of the industries that were in the best position

to incorporate e-commerce in their sales strategies. Based on the introduction of the internet, Air
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France has been able to utilize the platform to easily access its customers and explore the
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potential of boosting its ticket sales. In reference to the case, the element of optimal search

marketing campaign has been based on selecting effective placement of financial resources
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across different search engines. It is a strategy that also requires that there is an appropriate

selection of keywords on the search result page that is presented to the internet users. When it

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comes to the aspect of determining the optimal strategy for online marketing, the case study has

presented background information concerning the airline and has also presented the various

internet search options available to the organization. These search engines include Kayak,

Yahoo!, Microsoft MSN and Google. In addition, the case provides background information on

SEM and other related costs and the kind of techniques to use when it comes to measuring the

effectiveness and success of various marketing efforts. Table exhibit 6 presents information for

keywords and relevant keyword groups that should be used on specific campaigns on given

search engines. This concept implies that the strategies that are used on each search engine are

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relatively different even though they are applied using the same principles. For example, when

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customers are searching on Western European destinations, the words ‘flights of Florence’ had an

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estimated 1500% return on Google but did not give any results on Yahoo. Interestingly, most
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buyers who seek to look for information on the internet tend to follow links that are availed on

the editorial section of the results page. However, it can be argued that most on-line sellers are
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quite conservative when it comes to investing to search engine optimization. Most of these
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sellers prefer paid placements which does not give them a higher ranking in the search results. It

is important to note that such online sellers argue that SEO is relatively more expensive than paid
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placements and do not directly translate to a higher ranking in the search results. Therefore, the

results that are produced by SEO approaches do not necessarily justify the costs associated with
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them. However, it is vital to consider that even in cases where SEO had the same costs with paid
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placements and produced higher rankings in search results, most online sellers will still prefer

paid placements. Interestingly, there is no search engine marketing strategy that incorporates that
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the element of SEO. This concept is very important to online sellers who aim at justifying paid

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placements when there is substantial evidence that shows consumers prefer following the links

on the editorial sections rather than following paid placements.

In regard to the fact that most airlines have adopted an e-ticket approach, they have been

able to avoid many logistical problems. This has prompted Air France to focus their energy on

online service providers. There are three main types of online service providers; metasearchers,

aggregator websites and direct websites. Between the year 1996 and 2005, it has been

documented that the number of customers getting their tickets online increased by approximately

263%. Compared to other segments of the retail industry, it can be identified that the element of

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e-commerce was better suited for airlines. This is accentuated by the fact that by 2005, an

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approximated 32 million households within the United States of America had high-speed internet

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connection.
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According to the case study, Air France serves more than 185 destinations located in 83

countries. Its total fleet size at the time included 383 aircraft.
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Strategic Options
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In order to fully optimize and enhance the sponsored campaign, Air France has been

subjected to improve on several aspects such as performance by engine, return per transaction,
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revenue per transaction, net revenue, and increase in bookings and cost per clicks. The

organization is also prompted to consider any other performance metrics that would eventually
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increase the net revenue of the various campaigns across different search engines. The main
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objective is to understand how to improve the net revenue of each of its internet campaigns

through the application of a number of strategies. Improving online performance would also
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depend on innovative thinking and exploring new approaches.

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The main effective strategy that can be applied by Air France is that it should focus on

paying for the keywords that yield the highest return and are considered the most effective on the

each site. One should keep in mind that different sites will require different approaches even

though they still operate on the same principles. From this perspective, Air France will be able to

curb the rise of travel aggregators and maintain a competitive edge on a highly competitive

airline industry. From the data provided in the case, one can easily decipher that the campaigns

which are geographically based are effective and sensitive to particular cities, for example

destinations in France. This data should not only be used to analyse frequency of search

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regarding certain cities but should also be used in determining dynamic pricing. The pricing that

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is based on the city from which the search was identified must be relatively efficient and

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correspond to the airport from which one accesses and uses Air France. On a deeper approach,
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this can be effectively implemented on a publisher basis. The marketing team should focus on

the inherent advantages that are experienced in different sites so that this strategy can be
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implemented based on the different cases at hand. This includes incorporating such words as
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‘international’ or ‘cheap’. As far as this strategy can be viewed as an idealistic approach, it is

expected that it will eventually increase web traffic and eventual ticket sales and the long-term
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effect will be more valuable and will be worth the initial cost. When returns on different

campaigns remain high on each website, this model, which mainly focuses on cost, is expected to
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remain effective. Eliminating useless terms increases the profit margins by reducing on expenses
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and also increasing advertising costs for the competitors.

Tactical Plan
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The first step is to determine the key performance indicators which will be used in

guiding the evaluation and comparison among different SEM campaigns. It is quite important to

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note that cost per click and the chances of producing a substantial sale will vary from one

publisher to another. From this perspective, this tact can be accentuated by using a portfolio

model’s quadrant in order to determine which the optimal publisher strategies are. The pivot

tables assist in illustrating strategies and campaigns that have been successful in previous online

marketing endeavours ventured by Air France. The tactical plan will majorly incorporate

analysing each service provider in order to understand how to allocate dollar ads effectively.

When evaluating Kayak, one would easily note that it has several competitive

advantages. Kayak can be viewed as a travel aggregator based on the notion that it sourced the

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internet mainly for travel service and business. Kayak also presents itself as having an alternative

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and effective business model. It has also established itself as a provider that has good and reliable

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technology architecture. However, Kayak does not have very impressive results when it comes to
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business, though it can be argued that the forecasts are quite promising. In order to determine

whether to use this search engine or not, the only analysis is to evaluate whether customers use it
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to book for tickets. It should not be viewed as a substantial priority for online marketing
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campaigns.

Just like Kayak, Metasearch is also considered to be a futuristic force to reckon with.
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While other search engines have arguably reached their peaks since they are designed with the

daily habits of internet users, the two have embraced travel booking thus making them the most
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attractive platforms when it comes to advertising. In reference to the case study, one can easily
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evaluate the effectiveness of Kayak when it generated more than $250,000 within one week. This

translates to approximately 1% of the organization’s total revenue. The legitimacy and

importance of search engines in business cannot be questioned. However, the use of the sites

should not be used on the basic approach of maintaining web presence but on maintaining a

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substantial presence on the consumer’s mind. In the case study, it is pointed out that consumer

behaviour has changed and people are now more familiar with the dynamics that are involved in

marketing. Therefore, if such consumers aim at becoming more precise in their travelling

endeavours, sites like Kayak are expected to become more popular. Most consumers will focus

on sites that gives them price-sensitive options and will eventually avoid simple website searches

that gives basic information on air fare.

m
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co
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o.
rs e
ou urc
o
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vi y re
ed d
ar stu
is
Th
sh

This study source was downloaded by 100000829615349 from CourseHero.com on 11-19-2021 03:51:44 GMT -06:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/17986656/81585079-AirFrance-Case-Analysis/
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