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Bus Éireann – Effective emarketing

Introduction

Bus Éireann was formed in 1987 to provide bus services throughout Ireland with the exception of Dublin City. The company is committed to meeting the needs of its customers and this is reflected in its mission statement, ‘to succeed by providing excellent service to our customers through a committed team’. Part of the Bus Éireann logo is the Irish red setter, which is friendly, reliable and fast, as Bus Éireann strives to be when serving its customers.

This case study will look at how Bus Éireann is using emarketing to effectively target its audience and generate greater online sales while developing a more qualitative and interactive relationship with its customers.

Bus Éireann today – the facts

Bus Éireann employs over 2,700 people directly and operates a total fleet of over 1,300 coaches and buses. There were 48.2 million road passengers on Bus Éireann in 2008 and in 2009 the projected online sales are €3 million, up from €1.8 million in 2008.

Emarketing today

Emarketing is the marketing of products and services over the internet and through other forms of electronic media. Emarketing is now an essential part of most communications strategies. It is now estimated that 7 out of 10 business to business deals start with an internet search and 36% of the Irish population now regularly buy online. Associated with this has been the huge boom in recent years in social networking which means that companies can directly target and speak to their existing and prospective customers.

In essence, customers now expect companies not to just talk at them but also to talk with them, solidifying customer relationships. When used effectively, emarketing allows companies to give increased customer service, which in turn increases brand loyalty and increases sales.

Ireland and the internet – the facts

• 2.2 million people in Ireland use the internet.
• More than 1 million Irish households have a home computer, 915,000 of which have internet connections.
• 1.2 million Irish people have bought something online.
• Almost 694,000 have bought travel or accommodation online, the biggest single category for online shopping.
• Social media use continues to rise in Ireland and statistics show that the top three sites are: YouTube with 924,000 users; Bebo with 709,000 users and Facebook with 627,000 users. It is worth noting that Bebo numbers have declined considerably from a height of 1 million users while Facebook continues to rise.
• 800,000+ people in Ireland have accessed the internet on mobile phones and figures show that 44% of this group are students.
• Ireland has been placed 18th among 70 countries rated for eReadiness by the Economist Intelligence Unit. eReadiness analyses the quality of a country’s information and communications technology and the way in which it is used.

The Internet and emarketing – importance and trends

Today companies need to strategically develop their emarketing so that they can deliver their message and brand values to their target audience. When considering this it is worth bearing in mind that:

• A company’s website is its most important calling card for communicating with existing customers and attracting new ones. Today people expect websites and social networks to be up-to-date and interactive. A static website with out-ofdate information creates a very negative image.
• The way in which products/services are positioned online will determine whether the company gets noticed by buyers.
• Emarketing enables a company to reach customers and decision-makers more cost-effectively than by traditional means.
• Emarketing is not just about the website but about the company’s ‘online footprint’ and this means using other online tools such as social networks.

Emarketing and online shopping

Put simply, emarketing involves driving people to the website to buy online. It is interesting to look at the current trends in online shopping in Ireland which include:

• 36% of Irish people shopped on the internet in 2008 compared with just 14% in 2004 (the EU average is 32%).
• The greatest concentration of online shoppers in Ireland is among 25-34 year olds at 52%, followed by 35-44 year olds (44%) and 16-24 year olds (34%).

People are buying a number of different products/services online. It is interesting to note in the context of Bus Éireann that 21% of Irish people have bought travel and accommodation online.

Bus Éireann’s emarketing strategy

Bus Éireann has identified the need to develop an innovative emarketing strategy to target new and existing customers. We are going to look at this strategy under four simple headings:

1. Establish the target audience/ marketing segmentation
It is vital that the company understands its target audience and the segments within it.

The idea behind segmentation is that it allows companies to describe benefits in ways that have a high impact on a particular target market. This is an effective marketing strategy because the same features in a product provide different benefits to different groups of people.

So, it makes sense to segment the audience into groups where the marketing message can be tailored to appeal to the people who are most likely to respond. In other words, market segmentation helps companies to easily classify customers and find more like them.

So what does this mean for Bus Éireann? The company knows that 80% of its long-distance business is in the 18-35 year old category - these are a mixture of commuters (82%) and students (18%). The other 20% of its total business comes from airport travellers, employers, school transport scheme users and day tours. It is important that the company creates a strategy which will speak each of these groups.

2. Identify the key objectives for the strategy

• Make the company the first choice for transport.
• Promote and increase online buying of tickets and develop online loyalty.
• Stimulate demand and extend the customer base, i.e. reach new customers.
• Create a dialogue with customers and build customer relations.
• Show innovation in marketing online.
• Generate positive coverage for the company.

3. Identify the proposition
This means identifying the key elements and unique selling points of the brand. In the case of Bus Éireann these are:

• Efficient and friendly service with a wide number of routes including airport travel.
• Interactive website that allows users to view real-time service information, timetables, fares and journey planner and purchase tickets online with no booking charge.
• An Employer Pass Programme which allows employers to pass on tax savings to their employees in relation to travel costs.
• Day Tours which can be purchased online at a discounted rate.
• School transport scheme which can be purchased online.
• Open Road travel which is a flexible pass valid for travel on Bus Éireann Expressway, local, city and town services which can be purchased online.

4. Implement the strategy and measure results

Bus Éireann has created a strategy that will speak to all segments within its target audience as follows:

• A redesign of www.buseireann.ie to increase online sales and make the site more streamlined and user friendly. This will be a communication tool for all segments.
• Create a presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. This will specifically target the 18–35 year old category and will include information on discounted fares, competitions and special offers. Users will also forward and retweet this information to their friends and followers resulting in a viral campaign. The overall intention is to drive people to the website to purchase tickets.
• Develop a national student campaign that includes database creation, online competitions and social media PR which can be used for SMS text and email communication. In addition to this, Bus Éireann is visiting 38 colleges nationwide and distributing promotional material. This will specifically target the student group.
• Market AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) or real-time service information and other innovative services. This will be a communication tool for all segments.
• SEO (Search engine optimisation) will ensure that Bus Éireann comes up at the top of the list in search engines particularly in Google which is most used in Ireland. This will be a communication tool for all segments.
• The company will also continue to use more traditional forms of media such as newspaper and radio advertising. This will be a communication tool for all segments but particularly users in the 35+ category.

Bus Éireann online

Bus Éireann will continuously monitor the strategy and measure the results. It is interesting to look at some of the current results which include:

• 1,000+ fans on Facebook; 900+ followers on Twitter (both set up in September 2009).
• More than 1,500 tickets sold via Twitter in the first two months since set-up.
• Positive press coverage and use of Bus Éireann in two recent business case studies on emarketing – Dublin Chamber of Commerce & Institute of Public Administration (IPA).

Nearly all purchases made online at www.buseireann.ie get a 10% discount which is an incentive for customers to book online.

A look at the Bus Éireann website

Bus Éireann’s website www.buseireann.ie had 200,000 individual visits a month in 2008, which was a 30% increase from 2007 and this is continuing to rise. This means that Bus Éireann’s site is one of the top 10 visited Irish websites.

The advantages of having a strong website are many and include:

• Customers come direct to www.buseireann.ie and can get information on fares, routes and buy tickets. It’s a convenient, easy-to-use and secure method of buying tickets for the customer. The service is constant and instant and does not conform to normal business hours resulting in greater customer service and increased sales for the company.
• Better use of staff time and reduction in advertising costs.
• Possibility to get message out quickly to a wide range of people and create viral campaigns and get users of the website to post information on their own social networks. The customer is kept up-to-date on special offers and new services and feels informed.
• Allows the company to get to know its customers better. This can be achieved through analysing web statistics, i.e. seeing who is using the website, the most popular pages and when they are using them. Also via the linked social networking and comment postings etc. The overall result is that the company is developing its relationship with the customers and can respond to their needs in a meaningful way which ultimately increases customer satisfaction and creates brand loyalty.

Redesign of website www.buseireann.ie

The redesign will make the site more user-friendly and more sales-focussed. It will link to other online marketing media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) and will include routes, timetables, special offers, competitions and much more.
Key information on the website includes:

• Buying tickets
• Your journey
• Principal services – what we do
• Real-time service information
• Journey planner/timetables
• Information for students
• Airport services

Conclusion

Emarketing is a sophisticated and cost-effective tool for directly talking to and with customers. Bus Éireann has shown through their strategic emarketing that they can reach key customers in a targeted and low-cost way via a medium they like. In addition they can further drive sales growth on the web and deliver increased efficiencies and offer a better service to their customers.

Glossary

Viral Campaign: Marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message.

Student activity

1. Have a look at Bus Éireann’s Twitter (twitter.com/buseireanndeals) and Facebook Fan Page (www.facebook.com/buseireann) How many followers/ fans do they currently have?
   How often did they update on Twitter/Facebook?
   What type of information are they giving?
2. Think of a website that you like and answer the following questions:
   Why do you like the website?
   Talk about design, content, features etc.
   How did you find out about this site?
   How often is it updated?
   How would you improve it?
3. Create your own campaign: Bus Éireann will have a service to bring people to Oxegen Music Festival. The service will go from Custom House Quay in Dublin to the concert site and tickets can be purchased online. They need your help to deliver the message. Put together an emarketing strategy and focus on the target audience, the objectives, the proposition and the implementation.