the Scoot-Away

A Scoot's story

 

Brand Identity

 

We were first tasked to define the current brand identity of Scoot, detailing what Scoot should be and what it aspires to be. We accomplished this by looking at the base of CBBE pyramid, defining its brand salience, performance, imagery, as well as brand positioning by identifying its points of parity and points of difference relative to its major competitors JetStar and AirAsia X.

 

Scoot sees itself as a Singaporean budget airline brand with a spontaneous and energetic brand personality. Although known for its irreverence and quirks, Scoot has yet to make this point relevant and important to consumers, who, being budget travellers, still rely on ad-hoc purchase factors. Scoot is associated with its unique brand name, its casual aesthetic and comfortable seats, all of them important points of difference that sets the brand apart from its competitors.

 

Brand Meaning

 

We next endeavoured to find the role Scoot plays in the lives of its consumers by engaging in an exploratory anthropological exercise through a period of 7 days. The following three key findings were observed:

 

1. Scoot needs to convey or position its characteristics that matter to the consumer

2. Scoot needs to increase purchase situations among non-committed travellers

3. Scoot needs to cultivate authentic opinion leaders

 

Brand Responses

 

To understand how Scoot is perceived, we performed both qualitative and quantitative studies, which measured attitudes, beliefs and attitudes towards Scoot. We conducted a focus group and survey, and key analysis of our results showed that:

 

1. There is generally moderate brand salience towards Scoot with limited depth and breadth awareness, falling behind competitors such as JetStar and AirAsia X.

2. There is generally positive brand response towards Scoot’s brand imagery.

3. In terms of brand feelings, while Scoot does invoke feelings of fun and excitement to its consumers, the degree to it is perceived as unanimously authentic and credible remains a question.

4. Despite the quality of service Scoot offers, the brand still has to work on its performance, as they are providing much fewer routes as compared to their competitors.

5. There is a high satisfaction derived from taking Scoot as it is perceived to be value for money, thus contributing to positive brand judgment.

6. Scoot faces low brand resonance with their low attitudinal attachment and behavioural loyalty among consumers, for a large portion of Scoot travellers are value seekers and do not seem to exhibit any form of brand loyalty.

 

Brand Valuation

 

To evaluate the financial value of Scoot, we began by identifying the three main target segments of Scoot. We also outlined their value system and their relationship with the brand. The segments are as follows:

 

1. Young: They are young, adventurous travellers who choose Scoot over its competitors mainly because of the positive and youthful vibes Scoot portrays through its marketing strategies. Consumers in this segment have significantly high attitudinal and behavioural loyalty towards Scoot and its brand promotions.

2. Young at Heart: The group of consumers usually consisting of middle-aged travellers usually on a tight budget, but majority wanting to be seen and identified with the newest trends and beliefs despite their actual age. These consumers are characterised with moderate loyalty, and significant tendency to switch between brands should Scoot fail to exemplify their want to be young.

3. Value Seekers: Consumers who switch between brands based on the amount of benefit and value they receive in return for each dollar spent; they carry the lowest brand loyalty but incidentally contribute to 40% of the current Scoot market.

 

Then we derived these segments’ contribution to profits, estimated growth rate, RBI as well as their brand strength. We also determined the discount rate to be 7.56% and Scoot’s brand value to be S$298,517,775.03.

 

Brand Challenge

 

Next, the team set out to identify the gaps for the Scoot brand. We examined the brand insights gained during the Brand Frenzy challenge, as well as reflected on what we had learnt about the brand from previous assignments. These allowed us to understand the areas of weakness that Scoot needed to address so as to build stronger brand equity.

 

Having analysed the three target segments, we recognised that each segment varied in terms of their attachment to the brand. Each segment had different priorities and concerns that needed to be addressed so as to build stronger brand resonance in the long term.

 

To obtain its Lighthouse Identity, Scoot has to bridge the gap between its current identity, perceived identity, and desired identity. Scoot has to realign its current strategies, so as to establish its positioning and brand purpose to display a compelling brand narrative and strategy:

 

- Product rock: “Eh?! You’re there!”

- Who we are FOR: Spontaneous curious seekers

- Who we are AGAINST: Boring couch potatoes

- Cause: “Flying the couch potatoes! Don’t be baked, fly!”

- Belief: “Just go lah!”