the Scoot-Away

Salience

 

Depth of brand awareness: Moderate. Consumers do not choose Scoot immediately when they consider flying budget airlines, falling behind competitors such as JetStar. Within the broader airline industry in Singapore, their parent company Singapore Airlines is still top-of-mind. Yet Scoot is not leveraging on secondary association with SIA for it prefers to be seen independently, so it needs to build on its brand equity before it becomes a household brand. In general, decision processes by consumers are more dependent than functional features price, timing and other trip-specific factors than non-functional aspects of the airline.

 

Breadth of brand awareness: Moderate. Here, the ideal situation is for Scoot to arise in broader purchase situations beyond budget travel, targeting instead the mindset of having a spontaneous desire to travel to new vistas. Currently, Scoot is limited only to purchase situations within the narrower ‘budget airline’ category.

 

Imagery

 

There is a general consensus of a positive brand response towards Scoot. On strength and uniqueness, the brand has done well. We note that on the aspect of favourability there is still room for improvement, for Scoot’s social media offerings and attempts at cheeky advertising are not as well-received as initially conceived. One challenge is to leverage Scoot’s point of difference such that it is personally relevant for the consumer, for many still do not see a strong brand personality as an important factor when choosing between two budget airlines.

 

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. At present, associations are mixed.

 

Performance

 

Scoot currently offers 13 different routes and has rather tight turnaround timings to adhere to. This has resulted in a number of flight delays, which has brought about many complaints.By merits of association, travelers are assured of their safety and comfort of their flights as they take over their parent company SIA's planes. However, despite the quality they seem to offer, Scoot has to work on its performance, as they are providing much fewer routes as compared to their competitors.

 

Judgment

 

Based on our primary research, Scoot's current pricing matches the value perceived by travelers. There is a high satisfaction derived from taking Scoot as it is perceived to be value for money.

 

Resonance

 

The aim is for Scoot to be the first brand that comes to mind when one is considering a low cost carrier. Through the marketing efforts, it would be ideal to create a community of Scoot travelers who would remain faithful to Scoot not only for its low fares but for the ideals and values they stand for.

 

However, currently most Scoot travellers are value seekers and do not seem to exhibit any form of brand loyalty. To build a strong resonance, Scoot needs to focus on having a strong foundation by making sure its building blocks are strong.