Air France Internet Marketing: Optimizing Google, Yahoo!, Msn, and Kayak Sponsored Search

Air France Internet Marketing: Optimizing Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Kayak Sponsored Search

Introduction:

Formed by merging 5 different airlines in 1933, Air France is now one of the biggest global air carriers. The revenues from their online ticket sales continue to grow and the company is pursuing an international growth strategy and looking to increase its share in the very competitive US air travel market. Targeting to increase company's net revenues gained through online advertising as well as ROA, Air France is being more efficient at driving visitors to the web sites and converting them into customers while keeping click costs minimized. The airlines hired Media Contacts to help it achieve this goal.

Problem Statement:

Which strategy should they take?

The Environmental Analysis:

The company has its subsidiaries in various areas around the globe and is experiencing a continuous growth. Rob Griffin is the senior vice president and the director of search for Media Contacts who is pursuing an international growth strategy. They are delivering data-focused marketing solutions in the digital direct response relationship-based media.

After being plagued by low returns, bankruptcies, and ever-fluctuating demand, the airline industry started looking up in 2006 after nearly a decade of losses. Air France is based on rationalization and flexibility. They have strived to adapt to the changing environment by analyzing the trends in the market. Even during the crisis they have generated positive results. Their main competitors are British Airways, Lufthansa, and American Airlines. They wish to optimize their performance and ROA for search-engine marketing campaigns, and they want to increase the efficiency of driving their visitors to their web-sites by turning them into their customers and minimizing their click-costs. Lastly, they want to increase their market share and profitability in the US.

Media Contacts can help them reach their goals by analyzing the search engines and travel websites to see which one is the most profitable. It is the position of Media Contacts that Air France would benefit which would include search engine optimization, pay-per-click sponsored search campaigns, and affiliate marketing. Media Contacts, a group ranked sixth among communications consulting companies in the world, was hired to help Air France expand and improve its marketing strategy.

Alternative Strategies:

They are facing a couple of alternatives: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Kayak Sponsored Search. Google has a highly targeted and online search service that carries a large user base. They use AdSense to analyze message boards, various algorithms, and double click technology to increase their purchasing efficiency.