Futura Internacional Airways

"amara helped us to understand the requirements of our business from a marketing point of view. They developed a competitive marketing plan adapted to our company´s requirements and limitations." Paco Vives, Futura's General Manager

Objective:

Corporate profile development and Brand Portfolio organization.

Solutions/ Projects

  Design of segmentation and positioning strategy adjusted to the newly redefined company profile .

  Ancillary services' commercialization and communication strategy.

  Brand Portfolio organization project.

  Design of company communication materials such as: functional analysis and visual development of website, multimedia      company presentation, launch of Futura brand in Germany, support on road shows and specialized media.

  Internal communication: functional and visual development of the Intranet.

Interview

Paco Vives

General Director and member of the Board of Directors

Futura International Airways is the leading independent charter company covering medium haul flights in Europe using B737. Futura offers excellent air transport solutions anywhere in the world, adapting rapidly to changing needs and satisfying the expectations of its shareholders, clients, passengers, suppliers and employees.

1. Big changes have occurred within the air industry because of the crisis suffered during past years. Could you tell us how your company has been adapting to the new scenario? Do you believe that Futura has new opportunities?

Considering the main conditioning factors of the industry, the air market liberalization, the entrance of low cost airlines, the evolution of fuel costs or the inherent complexity of the sector are taken into account, Futura's track record shines out amid the changing panorama of the air transport industry. The global economic crisis also has to be taken into consideration. If we consider that an interest in global investing of the air industry has again increased, it appears that the opportunity is clear.
If we consider that, apparently, a global interest on investing in aviation business has arisen once again, the opportunity is clear.

2. How does Futura adapt in order to react to this new change?

The new industry's conditioning factors, change management, give us a new vision that offers opportunities to increase the value of agents involved within our organization. We are now not only distinguished because we offer excellent air transport solutions anywhere in the world, but also because we adapt rapidly to changing needs and satisfy the expectations of its shareholders, clients, passengers, suppliers and employees. We expand our horizons. We look much further. Today, the knowledge and experience acquired during the last seventeen years allows us to offer new services to other companies within the industry and gain a better optimization of our structure and challenging employees.

3. How do you strengthen ancillary services in your company?

From an exhaustive analysis of our company profile, the right definition of our competences and the differential factors, we were able to identify new opportunities for our commercial strategy development. Understanding and studying thoroughly the strategic items of our company was the methodology we followed. Futura starts a project based on the ancillary services' strengths: maintenance service for recognized companies within the industry, quality and maintenance auditing and consulting, advisory in airplane purchase and sale..

4. Which guidelines did you follow in order to run this process of change?

First of all, confidence in ourselves as an independent group and, thanks to this, we were able to draw clear and credible strategic lines for the medium and long term. These guidelines pursue our reassertion as market leaders in the European mid-haul charter market. On the other hand, at Futura we look for the maximum development of our possibilities, all advantages offered by our structure, which has been built through seventeen years. We believe that making a good use of our non aeronautical activity has a lot of utilities in order to make our activity more profitable and efficient. Finally we have achieved improvements in the company's communication, both internally and environmentally oriented. We have also consolidated control structures which permit us to guarantee the right operation in our activity, avoiding the need of going backwards. To carry out all this, we engage in strategic alliances with external collaborators with the desire that they become part of our big family through time, as some did during the past seventeen years by actively sharing our daily business.

5. How is the organizational change reflected?

We have become a European group of companies (Futura and its subsidiary companies) with international growth and expansion in new markets projection. Consequently, we are forced to adapt our sources to the management of new business reality. At Futura we believe that every day, the excellence is more of a need than a far challenge. This is the new path of our company.

6. How do you manage the internationalization process of the company?

Our ¨know-how¨ and recognition of the air transport industry has been our base in order to grow in the international market. Moreover, in the restructuring process, we have included the development of marketing and communication actions in order to understand the needs and requirements of each market and its clients.
We advance in new directions so the marketing vision, in a sense, has been basic. Understanding which positioning strategy we should follow in new markets, how we develop launch campaigns in new countries or how we segment our clientele are some of the questions that we raised.

7. Why did Futura decide to give such an important incentive to marketing?

It was basically because of the change in our business model. During the 1989-2005 period, Futura was defined as a company which offered tangible, standard and quality aviation services while being flexible its competitive variable. Futura has become today a group of air services companies where our air industry ¨know - how¨ and expertise helped us differentiate ourselves from the competitors. To take charge of the new challenge, it was important that all company elements were adapted.

8. And what implications for customers had this change in your business model?

The change in our business model and strategy caused the need to initiate a strategic process of segmentation and service commercialization. An exhaustive analysis was developed in order to identify the specific needs of each client: who were the target groups, what needs did we solve and which was the most efficient way to reach customers. Marketing helped us differentiate the types of client, designing a product portfolio for each group and an efficient communication strategy adapted to the requirements of each target. We started then, coinciding with the expansion of our company, a brand strategy project in order to organize our current and future brands.

9. For what reason does branding take such an important role in the project development?

It doesn't turn out very common in a mature and consolidate Air Company.. The change from company to group means an important change of the corporate communication, in our profile. This change also involves brands: Futura inaugurates subsidiary companies in Ireland and Germany, opens an aviation training centre and establishes strategic alliances in USA, Egypt and with recognized airplane leasing company. Our growth strategy has been intensively reinforced.

10. But Futura had already a strong, recognized and prestige brand within the industry.

For this reason we wanted the company's growth not to affect one of our most valuate assets: the current brand value. A strong brand allows the opening of new businesses; it accelerates the introduction in a new market, economizes on promotion, arouses the interest of possible investors, transmits security and reliability with clients and generates trust among passengers. A brand communicates a lot, the brand name and the image. Our brand clearly represents a differentiation element in the market we compete.

11. What benefits were contributed to your company?

The new brand structure, together with the communication strategy, allowed us to establish a coherent and efficient communication with various segments . The new brand organization was the base to establish a guideline, to set the strategic lines in communication with clients and employees. We have achieved a logic and synergetic connection between our corporate identity, what we really are, the communication with clients and the image they have about us.

12. You said that Futura starts an international expansion and growth project. How did you manage it?

From the marketing point of view, the fact that our company was introduced in new markets reinforced the need of maintaining a clear segmentation and positioning strategy adapted to corporate objectives. In that sense, communication was key. Understanding the needs of clients in different markets from the Spanish was our challenge. From an exhaustive analysis of requirements and specifications of the clientele, we developed an action plan for the company launch in new markets: participation in tourism and air industry fairs, road shows at European airports, communication campaigns and commercial material development.

13. How did you integrate the work performed by an external consultancy company with a development that affects your business strategy?

Amara planted innovative and creative solutions, but over all, reachable and adaptable solutions to our company's requirements and sources. On the other hand, they helped us to think about the importance of integrating marketing vision in our business. Bringing together both visions was possible thanks to the analysis and diagnosis efforts Amara carried out. They could identify and clarify our specific company needs, the problems, the threats and opportunities the air industry offered.

Strategy methodology:

"The mission and values of our company define where we want to be and where we should be in the market. A company's mission is the strategic marketing input necessary to carry a job. Having a flawlessly corporate profile definition in accordance with the real values of our company, helps us contextualize the actual and the potential areas, from the client's point of view. Knowing: how to satisfy the needs of our clients, who we satisfy with our actions, and how can we satisfy our targeted public are the three basic axes of strategic marketing. Knowing what really is our Core business and our differential values as company is fundamental to identify new opportunities. The competitive strategy is based on the analysis of the strong points of our profile, in order to determine our differential aspects in the face of competition. An accurate diagnosis of our unique capacities as a company also helps us develop the capacity of generating benefits form atypical sources.
To put emphasis on our strengths generates improvement opportunities and provides us a competitive edge, it gives us the desired positioning."

Roman Pane - CEO Futura International Airline