The absence of a clearly delineated marketing strategy could severely derail the growth of a business operation. This fact has proven to be a sobering reality for a fledgling regional airline operation. Appalachian Air, a commercial airliner, has reported flagging passenger ticket sales only a few months after their operations officially started.
Several representatives point to the lack of a palpable marketing strategy as the culprit for the stunted growth in business. Officials have directed their efforts to integrate marketing strategies in order to resolve the issues that the airliner is grappling with. A failure to integrate viable tactics could force Appalachian Air to shutter their operations indefinitely.
The urgent need to employ a marketing campaign to supplement their operations emerged after members of the airline’s board hired a marketing consultant. Luke Schmidt convinced the board members that the only way to increase the passenger rates of the new airliner is to implement an aggressive marketing campaign.
Schmidt’s proposals cover overall budget estimates that amount to $220,000. The sum is intended to cover the scope of the marketing campaign that Schmidt designed. The campaign intends to explore several avenues, including cable TV commercials, to address the visibility issues that have left the airliner in a veritable tailspin.
Some of Appalachian Air’s board members prefer to adopt a more conservative approach towards implementing the proposed marketing plans. A tentative budget for the campaign is set at $160,000. The board has expressed that investors would fill the remaining $60,000 somewhere down the line. Some officials have expressed a great deal of concern over the decision. Newer board members are convinced that the full budget needs to be in place if the airline hopes to stand the slightest chance of boosting passenger rates over the next few months.
The board’s chairman, Bill Hickman, concurs with this assertion. Hickman sees this marketing campaign as the airliner’s last chance to fully realize its commercial potential.