the Scoot-Away
Gaps Analysis
The 3 segments identified in Assignment 3 were:
1. The Young
2. The Young at Heart
3. The Value Seekers
Based on these 3 segments, the team feels the 3 gaps that need to be bridged are:
1. Current Brand Identity: What Scoot thinks they are
2. Perceived Brand Identity: What others think Scoot is
3. Desired Brand Identity: What we want Scoot to be
Gap 1: Current vs Perceived Brand Identity
The Young & Young at Heart
Brand Resonance: Temporal Engagement Strategy
Social Media Marketing Strategy
Scoot places high bets on its Facebook page. It uses, sometimes, controversial visual prompts and occurrences to attract spontaneous purchase of its air tickets. While it also has a blog, a YouTube channel and a Twitter account, these channels are not as regularly updated as the Facebook page; in the case of the Scoot blog and YouTube channel, the last updates were as far back as 2012. In the case of Twitter, the posts are more sporadic than in Facebook. Where inactive, social media channels do not bode well for perceived brand identity; it is recommended that they be dropped rather than be left not updated.
When we examine the curated content on the Facebook page FlyScoot, it seems that a majority of the posts are primarily for promotions (including the weekly Tuesday Morning Glory promotion) and occasional engagement posts (such as asking its fans questions for responses or asking fans for their participation and opinion on designing items such as blankets). There are also periodic destination recommendations. Yet this current slate of content is inadequate in advocating the sort of lifestyle that Scoot represents— there is insufficient content that captivates the hearts of spontaneous travellers, giving them little push in wanting to travel on the get go. We find that the core beliefs of what Scoot is all about has not been enunciated through its social media channels, which should ideally create an atmosphere for creating conversations and cultivating a consumer culture. Opinion editorials and article shares about destinations and travelling mindsets can bridge the gap between Scoot’s current ‘sales’-centric (price) identity with its perceived ‘Scootitude’ (lifestyle) identity.
The Value Seekers
For value seekers who perceive Scoot to be just another budget airline, their opinions on the left are commonly misaligned with Scoot’s current identity. In terms of prioritizing Safety and Promotions, they expect Safety to be given higher focus although in fact Promotions superseded the idea of Safety over at Scoot’s territory. Another example would be the Service Provided vs the Range of Flight Timings. Scoot prioritizes the service on board the aircraft despite being a no-frills carrier. However, perceptions reveal that they feel the service provided is sub-par and carries less focus than the range of flight timings available.
Current Brand Identity
Perceived Brand Identity
Gap 2: Perceived vs Desired Brand Identity
It is important to understand where Scoot stands in the minds of their current consumers and how their brand is being seen in order to move forward and reach a desired brand image as identified during the Brand Frenzy. This gap depicts the space between consumers’ perception about Scoot and the goal that the brand hopes to occupy in their minds in due course.
Attitudinal Resonance
Although budget travelers tend to view flights as a means to simply reach their destination in the shortest and hopefully most convenient way possible, they do not place much emphasis on the airline they choose, except to be on a lookout for ticket prices. If low prices are their only focus though, the identity perceived by customers of Scoot may fall short of Scoot’s desired one mainly because Scoot is considered as a provider of ‘premium budget’. Due to its nature of providing long haul flights, ticket prices are by default not as affordable compared to other carriers offering short haul flights. Hence, to consumers, Scoot is still perceived as costlier than alternatives, while Scoot desires to stay as a no-frills low cost carrier.
Gap 3: Desired vs Current Brand Identity
To propel sales and awareness of Scoot as a brand, it needs to work towards closing up the gap between its current brand identity and the one it desires – those identified during Brand Frenzy.
Scooting to the Future - Realizing a Cause – Be more than a Couch Potato
The brand frenzy allowed the team to recognize the importance of defining a purpose the brand should pursue. It shapes the culture and internal perspective of the brand and what it portrays to its consumers. Just like how Adidas exemplifies its “Impossible is nothing” slogan, Scoot must expose its consumers to the concept of taking action and making each day count, and allow this exposure to diffuse to a larger group of people, potentially those from the segment of Value Seekers.
No Significant Point of Difference between Competitors
Scoot desires to use Scootitude to define the entity’s outlook towards providing the best service it has to offer to its consumers. Scootitude is about being fun, being cool and spontaneous. However, the current brand colour – Yellow and disposition is insufficient in providing the desired outlook and association with Scootitude. In addition, it is difficult to obtain this same association between “fun” and a budget carrier. Coincidentally, none of our team members brought up the word “fun” to describe the brand during the Brand Frenzy exercise.
Closing the GAPs
Considering the gaps mentioned above, Scoot needs to establish its brand purpose more than it already is in the eyes of consumers. A direction has to be clearly defined before Scoot can propagate any kind of success in this area. Along the course of this project, the team realized that Scoot had been relying too much on ‘Scootitude’, but actually having no clear concept of what it should encompass or entails, except for a vague assumption that uniqueness and vibrancy needs to be integrated into the thought process.
In creating the “No Couch Potato” concept, the team challenges Scoot’s potential customers to an experience that they seek to yield. There needs to be a demand to take action, to seek self-improvement and embark on adventures that could probably have never crossed the minds of such individuals. As Scoot moves forward, it has to remember to reinforce its beliefs and strengthen the association between making an instantaneous yet unregretted decision to “Get outta Here” and “FlyScoot”. When this concept is worked on, ‘Scootitude’ should take on a bolder, more prominent role, on top of what was generally defined since its beginnings.
Scoot should look towards converting consumer relationships with Scoot from being ‘Casual Friends’ to one of a ‘Committed Relationship’. Only then would potential customers, or current yet not-so-loyal ones identify themselves with the brand, and willingly embark on each journey with the airline.
Desired Brand Identity
Perceived Brand Identity
Desired Brand Identity
Current Brand Identity