There is no doubt Qantas has suffered a significant amount of damage to its brand that may take months, or even years, to repair.
While yesterday SmartCompany argued SMEs could learn a few lessons from how Qantas has conducted itself over the past few days, there’s no question its actions have soured its reputation among consumers.
With Qantas’ brand already tarnished by cries over chief executive Alan Joyce’s pay package, and the prospect of business moving offshore, the company has a lot of work to do. Here’s five ways it can improve its brand in the short term.
Don’t shock customers with bad news
On SmartCompany yesterday, we pointed out that Qantas was able to perform something of a marketing miracle by keeping its decision to ground planes a secret for so long. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it was the right thing to do.
Grounding the company’s entire fleet with no prior warning left tens of thousands of customers stranded. With minimal compensation provided, and few details on what would actually happen next, it’s no wonder Australians have a sour taste for Qantas.
The airline cannot spring surprises on its customer base again – it makes as look as though Qantas thinks of customers as a bargaining chip. Although this was a one-time deal, it serves as a good lesson to ensure it never does so again.
Although airlines argue that although customers buy a ticket, there are certain circumstances which can occur, such as bad weather, that stop them from flying. Most customers understand that. However, what they don’t understand is having to sit an airport for hours because their flight is delayed due to industrial action.
Some customers have endured these delays week after week for some time. Qantas may want to blame unions, but overall, customers don’t care. They buy a ticket, and they want to know they’ll get going when they ticket says they will.
Brandology managing director Michel Hogan says it’s imperative that Qantas starts “living up to its promises” and put all of its effort into making sure planes run on time.
“Your ticket is a promise. When you buy a ticket, you don’t expect that your flight is going to be delayed or cancelled because of industrial action.”
“Qantas needs to make sure it does what it is best at, and keep those planes running on time. That is one of the only things they can do to improve their brand.”
Qantas has already started offering price cuts across international and domestic flights and hand out promotions to customers as part of last weekend’s clean up. The Australian Financial Review has also reported the airline will double the number of frequent flyer points it awards to customers.
The business can’t just run advertisements apologising for last weekend’s cancellations – no customer would accept them. Running discounts and promotions is a good first step to get customers back on the company’s side.
Hogan argues Qantas has mismanaged its whole affair with unions. Rather than announcing a stand-off, Hogan says chief executive Alan Joyce could have written an open letter to the unions in newspapers, requesting everyone return to the bargaining table.
“If he had actually written an open letter, asking if everyone could just get it all sorted out, he would have looked like a hero. It would have forced the unions to play ball, and make them look like idiots.”
However, such an action isn’t too late – Joyce could repair a lot of damage by issuing a letter with an apology and suggesting an end to all the disputes.
It’s easy to see why Qantas is losing the faith of the public. Although it brands itself as an Australian airline, it constantly talks about sending some jobs offshore and pushing into Asia.
Hogan says Qantas really needs to start working on its marketing, and focus on a consistent message. Keep it simple, she says, and make sure if you pick a narrative, that you stick to it.
“You can’t have it both ways. You can’t go and push into offshoring and then talk about how you’re still an Australian airline. You can’t give yourself a $2 million raise and then say you can’t afford to give workers a raise as well.”
“Stop sending mixed messages. Qantas needs to just pick a narrative. If they want to move into Asia, great! Then say so, and make promises based on that message.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
