national express company audit (2014)
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MC6003 – DIRECT AND DIGITAL MARKETINGNATIONAL EXPRESS AUDIT
Alexandra MacLeod/10034912
• National Express can trace its roots back to the 1920s:– Greyhound Motors of Bristol– National Bus Company– British Electric Traction Group (BET)
• “National Express” brand name used since 1972, official since 1974• Introduced Rapide - “upmarket services” such as hostesses,
refreshments and toilets. • Seat bookings late 70s – revolutionary at the time• 90s brought numerous mergers and acquisitions• 2003 - Flightlink, Jetlink, Speedlink, Express Shuttle, GoByCoach, Airbus
– Competing against each other• Brand refresh – upmarket services abandoned • 2012 – celebrated 40 years of serving the British Public’s travel needs• 2014 – over 1000 UK destinations• 2014 – 16 million travellers every year
INTRODUCTION TO NATIONAL EXPRESS
• Where are we now:– Business to Consumer - affordable, reliable, quality coach travel– E-procurement – services – E-Adoption stages 5 - integrated website
• Good information and interaction. • Handles sales transactions
– Purpose of current digital channels:• Sell services• Customer services – relationship building
– Current benefits of digital channel :• Sell – main sales tool for Nat Express (also uses Post Office and coach
ticket offices). Convenience for customer and company – cheaper for both
• Serve – customer service tool. FAQs, real time tracker, lots of info .• Save – online sales cheaper, online loyalty cards, • Speak – real time tracker updates, email newsletter,• Sizzle – brand development / added value -
SITUATION ANALYSIS
• Value Chain
• Online Value Proposition – Why buy online rather than through a different channel?
• Offers make it cheaper• Convenience for customer • Environmental concerns - paperless with mobile/email
tickets
• What we do – Affordable quality UK coach travel
• What we don’t do – Luxury travel – phased out in early 2000s
SITUATION ANALYSIS CONT
• The Numbers:– 2012 revenue - £255.1 million (2011: £259.1m) 2% decline
• Government cut OAP concession scheme worth £16m to Nat Express
• 40% less OAP traveller’s than 2011– Operating margin was 8.1% (per £1, NE makes 8p)
• “The drop in margin, from the withdrawal of the concessionary income, reflects a lower but sustainable level of profitability which is not dependent on material Government support.” (NAT Express ref)
– Customer satisfaction – 84%– Market share – 60%
INTERNAL AUDIT
Source: National Express, 2014
– REACH
– ACT (INTERACT)
DIGITAL MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS - RACE
196,000 30,250 99
Source: Alexa, 2014
RACE - CONT
CONVERT LOW BOUNCE RATE, PAGES VIEWS INDICATIVE OF TRANSACTION TAKING PLACE
ENGAGELOYALTY OFFERS – CARDS
IMPROVE SOCIAL MEDIA
Source: National Express, 2014
• VALUE PROPOSITION CHANGED TO COMPETE WITH COMPETITORS– POSITIONS ITSELF AS QUALITY CLEANER, MORE SPACIOUS
THAN COMPETITORS BUT WITH SAME CHEAP PRICES
• MEGABUS NOW OFFER ‘GOLD’ SERVICE – SIMILAR TO RAPIDE SERVICE
STRATEGIC ISSUES
• POLITICAL: – LEGISLATION:
• COOKIES, PRIVACY LAWS, EMAIL MARKETING REGULATIONS – SUCH AS OPT IN
• ECONOMICAL:– KEEP UP WITH COMPETITORS PRICES
• EASILY ADVERTISE PRICES AND SALES ONLINE
• SOCIOCULTURAL:– Lifesytle trends:
• USERS VERY LIKELY TO BE BUYING ONLINE - EITHER VIA COMPUTER/TABLET OR MOBILE– LINKS FROM OTHER WEBSITES TO NATIONAL EXPRESS
• SOCIAL MEDIA – PART OF LIFE
• TECHNOLOGICAL:– NO MOBILE APP
• CUSTOMER SEGMENT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS - HAVE SMART PHONES– MORE CONVENIENT – CONVERT SALES
MACRO ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS – DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY
• CUSTOMER SEGMENTS:– STUDENTS
– RETIRED / OVER 60S
CUSTOMER INSIGHT
Source: National Express, 2014
• DIRECT COMPETITORS– MEGABUS – STAGECOACH
• INDIRECT COMPETITORS– TRAIN S ON SAME ROUTE SUCH AS:
• SOUTH WEST TRAINS• VIRGIN RAIL
COMPETITORS
- £255.1 million- Operating
margin was 8.1% (per £1, NE makes 8p)
Source: Megabus, 2014
MEGABUS .VS. NATIONAL EXPRESS (DIGITAL)
Similarities: Layout design – journey planner, savings dealsDifferences: National Express sections easy to find on first pageMegabus (UK) National ExpressFacebook: NO UK FACEBOOK PRESENCETwitter: 6,186Tumblr: Presence (numbers not available)Source: Megabus, 2014; National Express,
2014
MEGABUS .VS. NATIONAL EXPRESS (DIGITAL)
• National Express– Good
interactivewebsite– Lots of information for
customers as well as sales
– Easy to navigate
• Megabus – Basic website design– Functional (sells
tickets) rather than customer focused information
– Difficult to find information
Source: Alexa, 2014
PORTER’S 5 FORCES
• MARKET LEADERS– REVENUE AND EXPERIENCE
• CUSTOMER FOCUS:– STUDENTS– RETIRED/OVER 60S
• LOST GOVERNMENT FUNDING• ONLINE PRESENCE
– BETTER THAN COMPETITORS– GOOD SOCIAL PRESENCE – COULD BE IMPROVED FURTHER
• STRATEGIC ISSUES• PEST
– TECHNOLOGY TO BE UPDATED• COMPETITORS
– MEGABUS– TRAIN COMPANIES
• SUBSTITUTE PRODUCT
AUDIT EVALUATION
• OAP CONCESSION CUTTING– ONLINE USE OF OVER 60S?
• TRAINS– SUBSITUTE PRODUCT
• NEW TARGET MARKET IDENTIFIED– BUSINESS TRAVELLERS – NOT CURRENTLY TARKETING THIS MARKET– WILL TAKE TIME TO PUSH SERVICES IN THIS NEW MARKET
• CHOSEN SCENARIO:TO ATTRACT ONLINE SALES FROM A NEW MARKET WITH A 12 MONTH PLAN
GROWTH STRATEGY: CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
• National Express Group, 2013. Annual Report and Accounts 2012. [Online] Available at: http://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/ar2012/[Accessed 10 01 2014].
• National Express, 2012. About Us: History: Coach. [Online] Available at: http://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/aboutus/historycoach.aspx[Accessed 11 01 2014].
• National Express, 2013. National Express - Our Markets. [Online] Available at: http://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/aboutus/ourmarkets.aspx[Accessed 10 01 2014].
• National Express, 2014. National Express. [Online] Available at: http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx[Accessed 10 01 2014].
• Tech Crunch , 2013. 73% Of U.S. Adults Use Social Networks, Pinterest Passes Twitter In Popularity, Facebook Stays On Top. [Online] Available at: http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/30/pew-social-networking/[Accessed 11 01 2014].
•
• Alexa, 2014. Site Info: Megabus.UK.Com. [Online] Available at: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/megabus.com[Accessed 12 01 2014].
• Alexa, 2014. Site Info: NationalExpress.com. [Online] Available at: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/nationalexpress.com[Accessed 10 01 2014].
• Chaffey, D., 2012. Digital Marketing: Strategy Implementation and Practice. 5th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education .
• Chaffey, D., 2013. The RACE Digital Marketing Planning Framework. [Online] Available at: http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/race-a-practical-framework-to-improve-your-digital-marketing/[Accessed 10 01 2014].
• Information Commissioner's Office , 2012. Marketing and Information Rights. [Online] Available at: http://www.ico.org.uk/for_organisations/sector_guides/marketing[Accessed 12 01 2014].
• Megabus, 2014. Megabus UK. [Online] Available at: https://uk.megabus.com/[Accessed 10 01 2014].
• Mind Tools, 2013. Porter's Five Forces: Assessing the Balance of Power in a Business Situation - See more at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_08.htm#sthash.cZlvPn8K.dpuf. [Online] Available at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_08.htm[Accessed 11 01 2014].
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