Ijeoma Nwogwugwu wrote a brilliant article on Arik Air in ThisDay of Monday, April 9, 2012. She entitled it “Pulling Arik from the Brink”. In her excellent piece, she focused on the external macroeconomic factors affecting Arik, from its financial challenges to regulatory drag in the Nigerian aviation sector and issues around
I must begin with a confession. Until February 2012, I had never flown Arik at all. I had read lots of bad press reports about the airline and so simply stayed away. But my trip to Nigeria in early February 2012 was arranged at a very short notice. As a result, my host in Nigeria could not get a seat for me on Virgin Atlantic and so bought Arik Air ticket for the trip (without notice to me). My initial reaction was that of horror, but I decided to brave it and see what happens.
My flight to Lagos from London was actually a better experience than I had expected. The staff were polite and lovely, and the food was excellent in the Premier cabin that I travelled in. So, I was looking forward to my trip back to London a week later. Just after takeoff on my return journey, I noticed that the seat next to me was occupied by a face I had seen before. It was Michael Arumemi-Ikhide, the Group CEO of Arik. After an hour into the flight, I decided to initiate a short conversation with him. We ended up speaking for about three hours. I raised many of my concerns for Arik with him and he listened well and responded frankly and with candour. I was impressed by his openness to admit the errors in Arik’s operational proposition and explain the changes planned. I can say confidently that he was not lacking in ambition for the airline, but it seems to me that his excellent intentions and the reality on the ground don’t always match. I ended the conversation by saying that I was not sure I would fly Arik again after my first and only round trip on it. My concerns are many. So, we ended the conversation by exchanging numbers.
Two days later, I received a message on my office line in London from Michael. I returned the gesture and we exchanged pleasantries and he then offered me a complimentary ticket for a flight to Nigeria anytime I wished. He wanted me to experience Arik again in the hope that I would be converted to become a regular. Incidentally, I was due to travel back to Nigeria few days later for a short visit. So, I took him up on the offer.
On my way to the airport in London, I got a call from an old friend who was a former Nigerian Ambassador to Brazil. I told him I was on my way to Lagos. He glibly asked which airline I was going with. Hesitating a bit, I said Arik. His response was swift and sharp. “You are bold,” he retorted. Needless to say, he was not a fan of Arik. But by now, I was a man on a mission. This time, I travelled again in their Premier class, but as a mystery shopper. I deliberately took notes of all the failings I noticed and problems observed. These observations make it easier for me to make these recommendations to Arik, in the spirit of patriotism as a supporter of anything Nigerian.
The first problem I believe Arik has is a branding one. It has not branded itself in a way that sells it well to any particular demographic of the travelling public. Its Economy class is ok, but its Premier/Business class is not exclusive or premier in experience. With its generous luggage allowance, it offers the best luggage allowance of any airline flying the Nigerian route. So, this should appeal to certain demographics, but the cost of its ticket does not fit the budget of the same demographics.
I have been monitoring Arik’s flight cost weekly since February and it seems to me it is deliberately pegging itself just below BA and Virgin in Economy, but not enough to sway those that travel on these foreign airlines to switch. In one case I tested, Arik was just $30 less that Virgin. This is not enough to overcome the reluctance of doubtful travellers. Arik’s Business prices are not significantly different from the competition. Also, its lounge in Lagos is bog standard, low class, lacking in facilities and badly furnished, compared to BA and Virgin lounges. There is no clear Business class check-in desk in Lagos, despite the overhead sign saying otherwise. I had to queue behind Economy class passengers to have my passport checked before I was ushered to a check-in desk. It also seems from the staff reaction that Business class passengers are rare commodities on the airline.
This image problem means Arik is attracting good number of Economy passengers due to its generous luggage allowance, but its Business class cabin is practically deserted. From my four flights on Arik this year, the maximum I counted were eight passengers in a Business cabin that seats at least forty. In my last flight back to London, we were only three in the Business class cabin. So, Arik needs to decide if it wants to be the Rynair (low cost, high volume travel) of Nigerian international flights or if it wants to attract more Business and Premium passengers (where more money is to be made).
There was a report I read a few years ago that stated that BA makes 70 percent of its profits from Premium travel cabins. Right now, Arik is not winning the battle for hearts and minds of either travel class. So, there is a need for a rebranding of Arik in terms of marketing message and positioning. BA caters primarily to the elite and their pricing and facilities show that; Economy is just a necessary evil for them. Virgin positions itself midway as a good Business airline – below BA, of course – that also does decent Economy travel. Arik is currently a terrible Business traveller airline, but not cheap enough to attract the volume needed in Economy either. It is currently seen as offering the worst of both worlds. So, it is make-up-your-mind time.
Secondly, I believe Arik needs to sack its current PR company and get a new one. The company is always in reactive fire-fighting mode. As a market leader in any industry, you need a pro-active PR machine. The media will not hunt you down for good news; they thrive on the bad news. Hence, much of the bad press Arik has been receiving is due to poor PR and marketing operations. For instance, I asked Michael during our chat in-flight why Arik’s flight to New York the day before was cancelled last minute as reported by all the media in Nigeria, he explained the problem they had, but then said that all the passengers that needed it were put up in a nearby hotel at Arik’s expense, including their feeding and transportation back the next day. But guess what, none of these positive acts were reported in any of the news reports about the incident. It is when Arik does not do the right thing that the media carry the news, but when it does well, Arik does not push its own achievement in a proactive way. So, there is a need to begin to lead and set the story agenda by being proactive and not wait for the media to report bad news and then respond to it – sometimes badly, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment