blue ocean strategy

blue ocean strategy

Vanilla Air is a low-cost airline based in Tokyo which was found in 2011. It offers both domestic and international flights. We compared Vanilla Air to Cathay Pacific (2-star player) and Japan Airlines (1-star player) and considered it adopted Blue Ocean strategy to offer flights between the most popular and well developed Asian cities.

We have identified six factors for Vanilla Air. The first factor is choice of destinations. It only offers limited selection of destinations. For international flights, the only available destinations are Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. The second and third factors are customer loyalty programme and in-flight services, which Vanilla Air does not offer any. The fourth factor is ticket price. It offers low fares air ticket. The fifth factor is flexibility. The company provides greater maximum stay when compared to its competitors. The sixth factor is charge/penalty, only a small amount of fee is needed for re-scheduling or canceling the flight.

We have come up with some suggestions of using IT to create a new business model for Vanilla Air. First, the company can renovate the website. It can do so by providing more information on the destinations for the travelers to better plan their trips. Moreover, instead of simply providing the links to websites of hotel and car rental company, Vanilla Air can establish a strong strategic alliance with them and build up an online platform that enables customers to book everything necessary in one-go. Second, the company can enhance its online self-help service. Currently, Vanilla Air provides a clean and simple online platform for self-assistance ticket management service. It is not difficult for customers to change or cancel the flights by themselves. However, its call center is located in Japan and customers have to pay for the long distance calls if they want to speak with a call agent. It is recommended to implement an online chat system such that real-time feedback could be made....

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