Intl. Airport Rio de Janeiro - Galeão
The concept of airport marketing did not really exist before the 1980s. Before this, airports reacted basically to requests for new slots from airlines by providing use- of- facility information and by providing safe and efficient airport infrastructure. Airport promotion used to be very simple, mainly consisting of the production of a timetable and advertising brochures, and responses to press enquiries.
Those days are gone; deregulation of air transport markets, globalization, privatization and increase in number of airports has made the airport business more competitive. Airports have become more proactive and have developed a range of increasingly sophisticated techniques and tools of meeting the demands of their complex mix of clients such as passengers, airlines, freight forwarders, tour operators and so on.
Travellers have also become more demanding regarding their airport expectation and more sophisticated in making their travel decisions. Thus, airlines had to come up with pretty aggressive and complex marketing strategies to position themselves in the market. Marketing has become an essential element and a core activity within the commercial airport business. Fields like quality assessment and improvement, environmental neighbourhood communications and the development of non aviation activities play a large role in airport marketing as well.
The main target groups for airport marketing can be divided into two types, the airlines who buy the airport facilities direct and the general public who use the airport product. The marketing techniques for these two types are very different. Furthermore, there are segments such as local businesses and residents who must be tended to.
Even within the passenger group type, different patterns of consumer behaviour exist, such as the frequent flyer business traveller, the holiday passenger, the first time fear of flying passenger, the control freak, etc. For each type of customer, choosing an airport is the result of a variety of factors. Factors like distance, cost, and ease of surface access to a certain airport as well as cost and convenience of car parking, all are part of the airport product. Passenger surveys in the UK have shown that location and flights on offer were most of the times the key factors for choosing an airport. The passenger sometimes ends up confusing competition between airports with competition between airlines.
The airport product consists of a supply of services, both tangible and intangible, to meet the needs of different market segments. Marketing theory often divides the product into the core, actual or physical, and increased elements. The core product is the essential benefit that the consumer is seeking, while the actual product delivers the benefit. Product features, quality level, brand name, design, and packaging will all make up the physical product. The increased product is then additional consumer services and benefits that will be built around the core and actual products, and will distinguish the product from others.
Related to the concept of the airport product is the idea of an airport brand. In marketing theory a brand is represented by a name, logos, design, signing, merchandising, and advertising, all of which give the product an identity. These tangible and intangible features of the identity differentiate the product from its competitors.
Successful airport marketing involves focusing on understanding and responding to the needs of various customer segments. Clearly every airport is unique and needs to be marketed in its own specific way. Moreover, airports must also need to promote themselves to the travel trade such as travel agents, tour operators and freight forwarders, for example at exhibitions such as ITB Berlin and the World Travel Market in London. Last but not least, airports have to market themselves to passengers and local communities, using soft approaches such as loyalty schemes, lounges, shows, exhibitions, T-shirts, environmental projects, broadcasting and print media, raffles, etc. A good example in this context is Munique Airport that has got its own brewery in the airport and attracts a fair share of customers from close by communities. The airport also hosts music concerts and surf competition for people from the attached communities. Abu Dabi Airport hosts fancy raffles with a very limited number of tickets to win a luxury car. .
Nowadays airports use sophisticated market research instruments to determine elements like passenger satisfaction, catchment area, immigration services, baggage claim, size of market, quality of shops in the airports, parking, and so on. Airport marketing has clearly arrived at a new level and thanks to globalization more and more airport operators are focused on improving services and efficiency.
In Brazil airport marketing still has a long way to go. All airports are operated by state owned company Infraero, thus lacking competition. Although, within the given structure the airports will not be able to attend to the growing demand of passengers and cargo. In March 2012, the first round of airport privatizations was held, auctioning three of the crown jewels, Guarulhos, Viracopos and Brasilia were sold, i.e. 51% of each, as Infraero still holds the other 49%. The winners, groups consisting of several companies and smaller airport operators, have to face to lion task to reform the infrastructure and overhaul management in order to increase efficiency and passenger numbers, while keeping an eye on their return on investment. Viracops for example has got potential to become the country´s largest airport, for passengers and cargo, but for now there are only six airlines flying to Campinas.
One of the marketing challenges of the new operator will be attracting new airlines to the airport. President Rousseff and her team were not really glad about the first round as none of the large international operators gained the upper hand. Companies like BAA, Fraport, Schipol and Aéroports de Paris didn´t get in as the auction was primarily based on highest bid. For the next round of privatization the BRA government has been assessing different concession and licence schemes for the tender. The degree of participation of Infraero is a major issue in these discussions. On the privatization list are Confins (Belo Horizonte), Galeão (Rio de Janeiro), Luís Eduardo Magalhães (Salvador) and Eduardo Gomes (Manaus). In any event, the Brazilian and international traveller can hope for a better marketing mix and a more efficient airport service in the near future.
*Reference. Managing Airports, Third edition, Anne Graham.
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