Assignment TakenMarketing Plan, Brand Journey projection

Case UnderstandingAirway Delivery is a well-established courier service and wants to venture into the hyperlocal delivery space by redefining the market standards by using drones to cut time and costs, thus increasing service value. There is a high need to create awareness about drone service and address the related issues to win the confidence of the customer. Many other businesses are also looking forward to introducing similar model which has made it imperative for Airway Delivery to capture the market quickly with the help of aggressive marketing and expansion plan. The company also looks forward to leading in process and product and hence must focus on research and development. This will act as a competitive barrier and make Airway Delivery the standards setter and as the drone attributes and supply chain improves the business model will become more sustainable. While being aggressive the company has to be cautious enough to break even in the first year so that it can attract more investments while keeping the current stakeholders happy. This will further discourage competitors and attract businesses to use our delivery model to improve their own product value. The customer Airway Delivery focuses to serve already has high time constraints and might not pay heed to traditional forms of advertising, thus the business needs to be innovative to capture the customers' focus and create curiosity

BCS Solution SummaryAirway Delivery aims to launch its hyperlocal delivery services in Bangalore and rapidly expand in neighboring metropolitans to increase its service offering by introducing drone-driven courier service. The company aims to have a pan-India service by 2026. The reason for such rapid expansion is attributed to avoiding competition from entering the market. The company aims to attain this by aggressively marketing towards the young population who prioritize swift delivery. Guerrilla marketing and awareness campaigns will be the main focus strategy to attract new customer followed by reward system to enhance retention. B2B campaigns and cobranding will be the main profit making proposition for Airway delivery. The company will initiate expansion with focus on b2b followed by b2c and c2c model.

Solution

Porters Five Force Model

The Five Forces model is widely used to analyze the industry structure of a company as well as its corporate strategy. Porter identified five undeniable forces that play a part in shaping every market and industry in the world. The five forces are frequently used to measure the competition intensity, attractiveness, and profitability of an industry or market.

COMPETITION 

Zomato, Swiggy, ShopX, and Google-backed Dunzo, Reliance Industries-backed Asteria Aerospace have reportedly received approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to test fly drone deliveries in India. The regulator has permitted over ten groups to start testing beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone flights. The new development could help enhance essential deliveries in the country. Companies including Amazon have been testing orders deliveries via drones in the US for some time.

POTENTIAL OF NEW ENTRANTS

The main barrier to new entrants seems to be regulation. The hardware itself is easy and cheap to procure. Access to technology and the selling/licensing of technology has allowed companies planning to enter the drone delivery segment to acquire innovation easily but this will become harder as the technological advantage gained by these companies increases.

POWER OF SUPPLIERS

There are currently about 10 indigenous drone manufacturers in India. the largest global supplier is China-based DJI which as of 2015 owned 70% of the total market for consumer and commercial drones. The enterprise drone market is the fastest-growing segment and therefore new suppliers are always becoming available.

POWER OF CUSTOMERS

The drone delivery service industry would be dependent on the interest and intention of the end-user. Because many of the drone services being offered are very new and have significant cost savings to traditional methods, it is reasonable to expect buyers' power to be low.

THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES

Drones are effectively a new technology. They are versatile and cost effective. There is no better substitute to drones for delivery services yet

 

SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, and is a technique for assessing these four aspects of your business.

SWOT Analysis helps to make the most of organizations capability, to its best advantage and you reduce the chances of failure, by addressing what the business is lacking, and eliminating hazards that would otherwise catch one by surprise.

 

STRENGTH

• Cost effective
• Time saving
• No Contact delivery
• Can provide service in remote locations
• Can continue operation in lockdown

 

WEAKNESS

• Safety Issues- no established drone safety records to prevent accidents
• Privacy due to drones hovering around in close proximity to residences.
• Cannot provide service in restricted airspace
• High noise pollution

 

OPPORTUNITIES

• Consumer Drone shipments will hit 29 million, a CAGR of 31.3% by 2021 according to business Insider
• Demand for faster delivery
• Surge in usage of internet of things (IoT) in drone delivery system

 

THREATS

• Research intensive
• Changing regulations and airspace restrictions
• Need for heavy support system

 

Market Needs

Airway delivery wants to add drone services to add value to its customer by providing quicker and more economical hyper-local delivery services. Airway Delivery will try to satisfy the accompanying advantages that are essential to clients

• Flexibility- Unlike some of the contemporary shipment services, the customer will be able to receive the delivery at any time of the day or at a remote location.
• Selection- Delivery of items from more than one origin/ eligible store at once will be possible thus providing greater independence
• Customer commendation- By addressing the safety and prioritizing the needs of the customer

 

Keys to Success

• Promote start-ups and small businesses by equipping them with delivery services at par with big players which have their own delivery system and providing them with an online platform to expand their business
• Provide superior service thus attracting businesses to outsource their delivery system from Airway delivery
• Provide end-user with greater freedom to shop from numerous businesses and receive all products in just one delivery.

 

Critical Issues

Drone delivery service is a new concept in the market and potential customer isn’t aware of its abilities and benefits. There are a number of companies getting ready to enter this market, thus, it is empirical to have an aggressive marketing strategy to gain market share quickly and discourage entrants. Some of the other issues that are needed to be addressed are:

Privacy: Privacy safeguards will need to be put in place for people to be comfortable with many of these hovering around in close proximity to their residences

Safety: Since drones are still relatively rare in everyday usage, there is no established safety record. Once a large number of drones are in operation in dense urban areas, the possibility of getting into accidents increases.

Environmental: Flying drones can create loud noise along its flight path. If there are a lot of them flying around, it can create a noise pollution problem that needs to be dealt with. Since drones are typically flown at low altitude, it might also collide with birds in its flight path and create additional environmental concerns.

 

Marketing Strategy

 

It is critical for airway delivery to provide maximum utility to the consumer and boost the customer value of service by aggressive marketing to gain maximum market share in order to demotivate competitors from entering the market. To do so Airway delivery will provide hyper delivery solutions thus broadening its product mix which will have a positive quality of life effect for the end-user.

 

Mission

Airway delivery aims to integrate the supply network between various businesses and end- user, and provide reliable, high quality and inexpensive delivery solutions.

 

Market Positioning

Airway Delivery will position itself as:

• Service differentiator
• Reliable
• Professional
• Low-cost leader

 

 

Marketing Objectives

• Ensure consistent growth in number of users
• Create brand and service offering awareness
• Ensure Collaborations with other businesses to gain delivery rights for their product

 

Marketing Research

Market research is conducted during the initial launch and promotion phase to understand the needs and expectations of the customer by getting views of potential customers at the promotional gatherings. A survey form is sent to every customer after successful delivery in order to address the issues and improve the service.

 

Marketing Mix & Strategy

To capture the market share Airway Delivery will focus on improving the 7Ps of marketing in a systematic manner in order to increase the value of the service and gain an early competitive advantage.

Product

Service for other Businesses

Airway Delivery will equip small businesses with not only the ability to deliver their product at the doorstep of the customer but also have a presence on the Airway Delivery app from where our customers can easily buy their products. We will initially start with empowering small businesses and then offer our services to larger businesses that already have the traditional time-consuming delivery services.

Return service will be introduced at a later stage for businesses that accept the return where the customer will allow the drone pilot to inspect the product before accepting the return order.

Service for Consumer

The consumer will be able to use the Airway Delivery website or app to order products from nearby businesses and also use our courier and return services from the ease of home. Customer will get an easy instructional manual as to how to safely pack the product so that minimum human contact is made during the delivery/ return process. 

Customers will also get the option to ask for delivery at remote locations near the city where there might not be any structure or landmark in the vicinity. The drone pilot will deliver the package with the help of the customer's mobile GPS system.

In the case of a courier delivery service, the drone pilot will weigh the package with the weigh scale installed in the drone and inspect the packaging of the drone camera. The drone will then fly the courier to the nearest courier hub. We plan to introduce a completely drone driven intercity drone driven courier service by 2026.

In order to promote accountability and transparency, both the customer and the business will be able to track the delivery process live.

 

Process

When an order is placed by the customer on the app or a business that uses our delivery services receives it directly, a drone is sent to pick the package from the business and then delivers it to the customer. The whole process is transparent and can be tracked by both the business and the customer using our app/website and receive a notification when the package is successfully delivered with an attached link to review the delivery.

In the case of courier service, the drone picks up the package already weighted and paid for by the customer and delivers it to the shipping depot where it is weighted and prepared for delivery with other packages.

 If the customer doesn’t choose the long-range drone delivery service, then it is transported to the shipping depot nearest to the destination via the traditional method and then delivered from the shipping depot to the destination through the short-range drone. This, therefore, provides a slightly less time consuming but very economical service

If the customer chooses the long-range drone delivery service, then it is transported to the shipping depot nearest to the destination via a long-range drone and then delivered from the shipping depot to the destination through the short-range drone. This method provides lightning-fast service which is almost at par with the market prices for the traditional courier service.

Price

For other Businesses

A subscription-based model will be introduced for the businesses which will be using our services for home delivery. In order to offer high flexibility, the model will have different pricing depending on the number of orders that the business plans to receive during the month and the time within which it wants the product to be delivered. If the number of orders exceeds the subscribed plan, the business will have the option to either modify the existing plan or pay separately for the additional delivery.

Businesses will also have the option to split the delivery charge with the customer in any given ratio they choose thus giving the business higher flexibility

 

For Customers

Customers will be able to order from both the Airway Deliveries app and website. For the Businesses in collaboration with us, the customer will be able to enjoy either free or discounted delivery prices (the delivery fee will be paid by the business either completely or partially according to the plan they choose).

If the customer wants to buy from a business not yet in collaboration with Airway delivery. The customer will have to pay the delivery charges.

Customer can also use Airway courier delivery services by ordering the service from our app or website and getting their package picked directly from home instead of visiting our courier office

 

Promotion

All Airway Delivery drones will have luminescent logos and adequate lighting as stated under the government directive. This will not only address the safety issues regarding delivery at night but also increase brand recall.

For other Businesses

• Campaign

Airway Delivery will initially run a b2b campaign aimed at promoting and uplifting start-ups and small businesses. The campaign will include a combination of mediums, including a social media ad, physical marketing like posters, billboards, and vinyl on empty shopfronts that are splashed with quotes like “let’s make your business buzz your customers door”, and videos that highlight why Airway delivery is the best delivery platform. 

 

• Co-branding

Airway Delivery will start providing branding rights for its drone to businesses which will allow them to put their logos with that of airway Delivery and personalize its paint job, this drone fleet will be majorly financed by these businesses but will rely on Airway Delivery technology and software. This will help the business to increase their brand recall while using our delivery services thus providing the dual benefit

 

For Customers

 

• Guerrilla marketing

Guerrilla marketing through drone holographic light shows will be conducted to create curiosity and hype among people.

 

• Reward system

Customers will be awarded coupons and discounts for ordering from businesses on the app or website of Airway delivery services. This will boost our customer retention. Also, they will get incentives which will be given in the form of markdowns on delivery charges for signing up customers and businesses near them for using our services.

 

• Awareness campaign

Awareness campaigns highlighting the benefit of using battery-driven drones for delivery instead of traditional modes like bikes and the benefits to the ecosystem will be highlighted. The public will be made aware of our stringent policies to address privacy and safety issues. Their input in order to improve our services will be noted and acted upon.

 

• Promotional activities

Collaborations with local influencers will be taken up and discounted delivery of their merchandise will be provided which will mutually benefit both parties.

Printed advertisements will be periodically published to spread awareness to the older generation and a modern form of addressing the youth like wall art be utilized. Active marketing sites on all social sites will be undertaken and the company will actively interact with its consumers on these handles

 

• Research competitions and robotics workshops

In order to boost the technological advantage over the competition, incubate new ideas in the field of drone avionics and interact with the young generation, the company will hold annual research competitions in the field of drone avionics and will periodically organize workshops and seminars to interact with specialists from allied fields to discuss and improve rules and regulations set by the company regarding drone safety and improve the utility of current drone models.

 

Place

To decide the city where Airway delivery will start its drone delivery services, the radius, population density, availability/set-up cost of support infrastructure and eagerness of the population to try new things must be taken into consideration

According to a census conducted by the Indian government, the population density of Bengaluru is 4378 persons per square kilometer and the city is spread over an area of 709 km2. It is the IT capital of India and garners a young population full of innovator and early adaptor customers. It will be easier to set up support infrastructure and hire skilled employees from the city itself.

Bangalore also called the aviation monopoly capital of India. It accounts for India's more than 65% aerospace business. World Aerospace giants such as Boeing, Airbus, Goodrich, Dynamatics, Honeywell, GE Aviation, UTL, others have their R&D and Engineering centers which will help our organization to maintain better quality swarm of drones and will open possibilities for future strategic relationships with such giants.

Bangalore has a large number of businesses and has the problem of high traffic thus making it difficult for businesses to deliver in time. The drone delivery service will be able to undercut the existing system in terms of time and cost and will provide high growth potential.

The company will expand to Hyderabad and Chennai as these cities have similar characteristics to that of Bangalore and being within 750km of each other will allow completely drone-driven courier service between the three cities and later in South India.

 

People

The working youth of Bangalore is not only early innovator customers but also are constrained by time and hence appreciate quicker service. The company will target its promotion to this segment through social media, digital advertisements, and influencers. At the same time, it will create awareness and increase their knowledge in the field of drone avionics with the help of workshops and seminars held at the college and school level. After getting well established in Bangalore, the company will then shift its marketing campaign towards the broader audience and generate brand awareness by including all media. With an easy interface and tutorial videos, the older generation will also be able to use our services. We plan to localize the app and website to make it easier to avail our purchase and bring people closer.

 

Physical Delivery

The order is delivered in a waterproof corrugated cardboard tray with walls which will reduce the impact of landing and protect the package from external environment. The bottom of the tray will have a luminous brand logo which will be visible to pedestrians looking at the drone from the surface and enhance brand recall and hype associated with introduction of such new system. The drone will slowly descend to the destination and maintain safe distance from organic life form as to not to disturb or hurt them. The drone will also be able to multiple delivery with a system where the customer will be able to open the container his package is in after scanning the QR which will verify the mobile number. Once the delivery is completed the customer is called to make sure they are satisfied and note if they experienced any issues. The issues are addressed immediately and a personal message of thanks.

 

 

 

ConclusionAirway Delivery must rapidly expand into the market and highly emphasize improving its product quality by promoting research and development of drone technology. Airway delivery needs to spread awareness about the benefits of the drone delivery method and focus on interacting with its users to provide the best possible service. It is empirical that the company keeps expanding and keep raising the competitive barrier to be the industry leader