Indigo is India's largest airline, marking its 10th anniversary with a 38.5% market share and a commitment to low-cost, reliable air travel, having received numerous industry awards for service quality. The airline's growth strategy includes expanding its flight frequency and entering underpenetrated markets while focusing on customer experience through innovative advertising and a digital transformation strategy aimed at becoming a travel marketplace. Indigo seeks to strengthen its position as the preferred airline for leisure travelers, addressing the challenge of becoming part of the travel planning process rather than being an afterthought.

1. JBIMS - MUMBAI • INDIGO
CASE STUDY

2. INDIGO CASE STUDY
TheOrganisation:
IndiGo will complete 10 years of its operations this year in August. It is the country's largest airline with a market share of
38.5%asofMay2016,aswellasthefastestgrowinglowcostcarrierintheworld(source:CAPA).
Today, IndiGo operates 811 daily flights connecting 40 destinations across 35 domestic & 5 international destinations - with
a brand new A320 Airbus into its fleet. Our firm's orders for 100 A320 aircrafts in June 2005, 180 A320neo aircrafts in June
2011 and 250 A320neo aircrafts in August 2015 were each the largest single order of aircrafts from Airbus at the
time of the order, according to Airbus. This new order provides us with a great combination of growth and stability over the
nextdecade.
We are an economy product, and we aim to be better than the best amongst low-cost carriers (LCCs). Our endeavour is to
provide the best-in-class experience to all our customers. Everything we do is straight out of a business school case study
about low cost airlines. We stick to the LCC model. We don't buy multiple types of aircraft, we don't offer things like
BusinessClassandAirportLounges.
We focus on offering customers with low fares, best on-time performance and hassle-free travel experiences. We are
committedtoachievingindustry-leadingon-timeperformanceandoperationalreliability.
In 2014, Airbus awarded us its “Best Operational Excellence” award in the large fleet category based on the number of
aircrafts in the fleet, daily utilisation rate, technical reliability and the number of delays caused due to operational reasons
over a two-year period of operations. We had the second highest load factor on domestic scheduled services in fiscal 2015,
according to the DGCA and the second lowest level of complaints per 10,000 passengers in fiscal 2015, according to CAPA.
We have received industry accolades in recognition of the quality of our airline service, including the award for “Best Low-
Cost Airline in Central Asia & India” at the SkyTrax World Airline Awards for six consecutive years from 2010 to 2015.
InterGlobe Enterprises (including our Company), was ranked among the “Best Companies to Work For” in India in 2015 for
theeighthconsecutiveyearbyastudydonebytheGreatPlacestoWork®InstituteinpartnershipwithTheEconomicTimes.
No other airline was included in these rankings during this period. We had the highest employee productivity among Indian
carriersinfiscal2015asmeasuredbyASKsperemployee,accordingtoCAPA.
Our growth strategy involves increasing the frequency of flights in markets that we currently serve and expanding into new
underpenetrated tier II and tier III cities in India. We are also looking at potential destinations in Southeast Asia, South Asia
andtheMiddleEast.
Consistent with our domestic strategy, our international strategy revolves around the basic principles of the LCC business
model, including point-to-point traffic. We strive to offer convenient connections between the domestic and international
flightsinournetworkwithoutcreatinganycomplexitiesoftransfersoradditionalcheck-inprocedures.
It is important to reiterate that it all started by building the business idea on a structural differentiator. Our strengths have
resulted in competitive advantages for our airline, which are reflected in our profitability, market share, record-breaking
aircraft orders that have not been replicated by our competitors and which we intend to sustain by following the low cost
model.
Having said that, the real reason for our position of leadership in India has been the team's commitment to getting the basics
right-ontime;lowfares;courteousandhassle-freeservice.
IndiGo was born in 2006 when the floodgates to low cost airlines opened. Its ambition was to become a market leader,
above all domestic airlines. The brand stems from a simple yet bold insight – that low cost air travel should never make you
feelordinary.ItisthisbeliefthathashelpedtakeIndiGofromnewcomer,tocontender,tomarketleader.
For IndiGo it wasn't about just going from point A to point B. It was about the entire flying experience across every touch
point.
by number
OurStrategy:
TheBrand:

3. DrivingInsight
Affordable air travel was not about a cheap price for the common man. It was about a stylish, international experience for a
globalisingnewIndia.
IndiGo is positioned as a brand that is fun, fresh, smart, always simple, often cheeky. It finds small yet significant ways to
breakthroughandgiveyouawinkandasmile,soyouneverfeelhassled,boredor-darewesay-common.
TheTG
Airline travellers fall into two broad segments - leisure and business. There are two main segments we target - the Indian
middle class (often referred to as the 'common man') and the corporate/business/SME crowd which travels frequently on
businesstrips.
The Indian middle class is part of the upwardly mobile, new India with aspirational lifestyles. The middle class is estimated
at over 250 million people, ranging from an annual household income of 4,000 to 20,000 USD. In 2005, roughly one third of
themwerefirsttimeflyers.
CurrentAdvertising
IndiGo is designed to be clutter breaking, and our communication is no exception. Airline clichés (pretty faces and airplane
pictures, flowery promises, bargain basement headlines) have been deliberately discarded. Instead, IndiGo advertising is
striking and to the point. We let our destinations speak for themselves with stunning, often artistic imagery that gives our
passengersafreshperspectiveoneachone.
IndiGo's ads work on a simple truth. They tell you where you can go, why you should go there on IndiGo, and how much (or
how little) it will cost. By framing all this information with topical humour, crisp language and cool art, IndiGo's
communicationsmanagetobefun,functionalandeasytoremember.
We are undergoing a digital revolution as we brief you, we have partnered with Adobe on this digital journey and have
undertaken their Digital Suite comprising of AEM, Target, Social, Analytics, Campaign & Audience Manager. The suite will
give us a 360 understanding of our customers along with their behaviour at various touch points with us (website, call
centre,airport,socialmedia&mobileapp).
We are also aspire to become a one-stop shop for all travel needs of consumers by becoming a travel marketplace by
offeringhotels,cabs,packages,insurance,forex,visaandsightseeingtotheconsumer.
Mission and Strategic Stance
Digital can play a notable and impacting role in the following areas for us:
• Customer acquisition / Inspiration
Driving operational efficiencies
Post Sales - enhancing customer experience
Share of Wallet / Loyalty / Advocacy
The key levers within digital that will help drive this:
a) Digital Influence
b) Direct / Digital Sales
c) Digital Servicing
We envisage being better than who we were yesterday & becoming the most preferred airline in India by creating IndiGo as
avaluebrandwithnofrilloffering.
Our research has shown that flyers generally undertake business and leisure trips during a period of one year. Affinity
towards IndiGo for business trips is through contractual relationship (Corporate Travel Agreement) between us and the
Digitization @ IndiGo:
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•
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The Business Question:
INDIGO CASE STUDY

4. corporate wherein travel is planned according to business requirements. However, when it comes to planning a leisure or
personal or a family/friend visit - people generally tend to look up flights for best deals online (on aggregator sites like
cleartrip and makemytrip) wherein we face a risk of losing that traveller to another carrier. Being a low cost carrier, we do
nothavealoyaltyprogramandso,thatisnotafactorinstickiness.
The key question is: What should brand IndiGo do to enter the consideration set for the “leisure travel” requirements of our
businessflyers?Whatshouldwedotobecometheairlineofchoiceforthesecustomers?
We need to understand how we can become part of the travel planning process of the customer, rather than an afterthought
based on prices in aggregator sites. We currently do not have any content plan, or engagement platform for the same. Our
challenge is how we use digital as a medium to make the brand inspire customers in their travel planning, and become the
toppreferenceforleisuretravel.
R Srikrishna
r.srikrishna@GOINDIGO.IN
Disclaimer: The data, views or any other information provided herein as part of the Case Study have been provided by the respective Brand and
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INDIGO CASE STUDY