Kingfisher Airline the surrogate brand...

Ever wondered about why the kingfisher airlines got its name ??? It could have been UB Air as, it goes effectively with the groups name. If one carefully analyzes the complete portfolio of brands available with UB group (parent company of Kingfisher Airlines) none of the brand is repeated that is none of the brand name is used for two diversified products, only kingfisher has got that honor…the big Q is why so??? Well if we talk about Kingfisher it was originally only a beer brand, the only brand which is present in more than 50 countries & which is served on 5 int’l airlines…it’s the fastest growing brand in beer segment with a growth rate of nearly 30 % where as all other beer brands in the world have growth rate of only 3%... kingfisher beer definitely has a commanding position. The beer drinkers are usually youngsters between the age of 14 to 30 yrs. these constitute of more than 50% of the world population, that means it’s a significant market to be catered. Now, the question arises what connection it has with kingfisher airlines. In many countries (including India) any sort of advertising pertaining to hard drinks are banned, to counter that & to enhance its reach kingfisher airlines was launched with a lot of fanfare, the first airline in the world which started its operations with a new aircraft, not to mention about its air hostess, the kind of service it provides… the only airline in India which has been sponsoring F1 racing even it has nothing to with it, kingfisher does not fly outside India & F1 is not in India till now… that means there is no relation between the two. The tagline for both of the brands are nearly same, “Fly with the Good Times” goes for Kingfisher Airlines & “King of Good Times” is for Kingfisher Beer. Kingfisher brand name is being played on top-of-mind concept. Only to sustain & improve the beers position in the world market Kingfisher Airlines is so desperate to fly international for which, it had to acquire a stake in Air Deccan too. Air Deccan will be completing its 5 yrs of flying in Aug. 2008 after which it can fly overseas, so Air Deccan was only choice for Kingfisher to go overseas on its back. I also feel that as & when Kingfisher will start flying overseas on its own it will back off from Air Deccan or it will take complete control of that airline. Clearly Kingfisher Airlines is a surrogate brand, i.e. Kingfisher Beer is promoted on the name of kingfisher airlines. Excellent strategy Dr. Mallaya, hats off to u…

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