American Airlines - Lgbt Market
“What we know is that the gay traveler is spending twice as much as the mainstream traveler but all that means is you have to be twice as smart in how you incorporate the gay market into other marketing efforts if you are to gain the largest market share’ Sharon Rossi, vice president of advertising, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (Guaracino, 2007)
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF AA’S STRATEGIES FOR TARGETING LGBT SEGMENT
A market segment is defined as a group of customers who share a similar set of needs and wants (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p 208). By marketing to specific segments of valuable customers, a company can better tailor its marketing mix to satisfy the needs and wants of that group.
American Airlines’ (American’s) long term targeting of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) segment of the travel market is an example of successful execution of market segmentation. In 18 years, American has positioned itself as ‘the most popular airline of LGBT-choice’ (Purkayastha, 2009), and now generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from the segment.
American was the first airline to actively target the untapped LGBT market. Its commitment to the segment, proven through layered strategies designed to build a relationship between the airline and the LGBT community, resulted in American being in the enviable ‘first mover’ position in the market. Any competitors adopting a strategy of targeting the LGBT segment thereafter were playing catch-up — from a long way behind. Being the first airline to target the LGBT segment, which had until relatively recently been an alienated or invisible segment, gave American significant sustainable competitive advantage.
One of American’s most effective strategies since the early 1990s, was to demonstrate a genuine commitment to the LGBT community. Although American used the usual marketing mix strategies to reach the LGBT, it went further. Understanding that the LGBT segment was sensitive to
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF AA’S STRATEGIES FOR TARGETING LGBT SEGMENT
A market segment is defined as a group of customers who share a similar set of needs and wants (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p 208). By marketing to specific segments of valuable customers, a company can better tailor its marketing mix to satisfy the needs and wants of that group.
American Airlines’ (American’s) long term targeting of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) segment of the travel market is an example of successful execution of market segmentation. In 18 years, American has positioned itself as ‘the most popular airline of LGBT-choice’ (Purkayastha, 2009), and now generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from the segment.
American was the first airline to actively target the untapped LGBT market. Its commitment to the segment, proven through layered strategies designed to build a relationship between the airline and the LGBT community, resulted in American being in the enviable ‘first mover’ position in the market. Any competitors adopting a strategy of targeting the LGBT segment thereafter were playing catch-up — from a long way behind. Being the first airline to target the LGBT segment, which had until relatively recently been an alienated or invisible segment, gave American significant sustainable competitive advantage.
One of American’s most effective strategies since the early 1990s, was to demonstrate a genuine commitment to the LGBT community. Although American used the usual marketing mix strategies to reach the LGBT, it went further. Understanding that the LGBT segment was sensitive to