Virgin Airlines Case Study
Executive Summary
This case provides an analysis Virgin Airline and how the airline is using marketing strategies to attract the customers. The airline has been using different methods to attract customers.
Vision
The vision of the airline is to become a leading low-cost airline with the vision of expanding the flights and destination places.
The problem that Virgin Airline is facing is with how the company is using its marketing strategies and how it is attracting customers. Therefore, this report analyzes the current marketing strategies and how the company can attract customers by using different marketing strategies particularly content marketing and social media marketing.
Analysis
The airline uses different marketing strategies to attract customers. These marketing strategies are analyzed in the report. Moreover, the report analyzes how the airline uses social media marketing to attract customers.
Alternatives
Some of these marketing techniques and methods used by the company are highly effective, whereas some of these methods are not as effective. In a competitive market, organizations are striving hard to create something different and innovative in order to attract the customers. Therefore, this report presents how the airline can modify its strategies to engage and attract customers.
Recommendations
This report presents an analysis of how the company can use marketing strategies such as content marketing and social media marketing to attract the customers.
One of the marketing strategies discussed in the report is content marketing. The use of content marketing in the overall marketing strategies of Virgin Airline has been discussed in the report. The report presents how the airline can be highly effective in terms of attracting customers.
Social media marketing
The report presents and analyzes the current social media marketing strategy of the company. The social media marketing of Virgin Airline is effective; however it can further be improved. The report has analyzed in detail how the airline uses its social media marketing strategies. After that, the report has presented different recommendations on how the airline can improve its social media marketing. The report has identified that the airline needs to focus on three important aspects to market via social media. These aspects include; Featuring rich; Customer focused and Fairly priced. Thus, by focusing on these three important aspects the airline can attract a large number of customers. The report then presents the implementation strategy of the airline.
Introduction
In this competitive era, the airline industry faces many hurdles in advertising and attracting the customers. Therefore it is important for firms to differentiate the offerings (Kotler, & Keller, 2007). In the current industry there are many competitive airlines from which customer can choose, mostly based on the significant factor of pricing. In industry, fluctuations in pricing on the day to day routine have been measured, and this fluctuation is affecting the decision of the marketing of the airlines. Usually, airlines are more interested in attracting the customers that frequently travels. This case will provide and explain the value of a content marketing concept which will help Virgin airlines in improving its situation. However, with similar type of services and products offered by the players in the industry, it becomes difficult for the firm to differentiate. The same is the case for airline industry. Firms in the airline industry focus on offering superior services to attract and retain customers.
Vision of the company
Virgin Airline aims to be the leading low cost oriented, high luxury airline of United States, with the vision of expanding flights and destination places.
Most of the Airlines rely on the marketing content rather than operating on a social marketing media. In the present era, the Airlines are using both the old method of marketing as well as social media too. Virgin Airline is using a content method of marketing, known as content marketing to attract new customers, which provide services details and attractive packages to the customers. For existing customers, they are simply using social media.
This case study focuses on how Virgin Airline, within a relatively short period developed a series of successful collaborations and brand values, creating innovated marketing strategies by using simple and most common platforms of social media. These strategies and innovations have allowed the business to improve the quality of service. Thus, these improvements in quality of service have provided a different and unique personality to the Virgin Airline. With this uniqueness, the airline focuses on gaining competitive advantage over its competitors in the industry. Virgin Airline has proved to be one of the most forward-thinking companies in modern times.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The case will examine:
How Virgin Airlines use the marketing strategy and its components to attract customers? What are the outcomes they are getting by using content marketing strategy?
analysis
- This report analyzes the situation of Virgin Airline regarding how the airline can use the marketing strategies and different components of marketing strategies to attract customers.
- The report summarizes how the airline can further modify its strategies of using content marketing, and social media marketing to attract customers.
- The report also analyzes the current strategy of Virgin Airline on using social media marketing and how this strategy can be modified to attract more customers.
Alternatives
- The report highlights that the airline needs to use some of the modern techniques of marketing that are cost-effective as well as highly productive.
- The report identifies that the airline can further improve how it uses content marketing and social media marketing to attract customers.
recommendations
The content marketing is the term that involves the procedure of creating as well as publishing content for the company with the intention of attracting customers. Companies do share their contents through blogging, using titles, newspapers, pamphlets, brochures, etc (Vollmer, & Precourt, 2008). While studying the marketing approach of Virgin Airlines will show many other means and platforms of marketing. The main objective of marketing is to target and attract the customer. The simplest and the reasonable way of effective content marketing is daily blogging. It is just a sharing of an idea, and the attraction will be conveyed to the interested customers. Steps being followed in content marketing are:
- Creating new blog titles and publishing them through blogs, websites, newspapers, etc.
- Keep the content up to date and attractive.
- Analyze the customer base and focus on improving before introducing new promotions.
- Turning visitors into customers by attracting contents.
Social Networking
The term of social networking is also known as social marketing or social media marketing. Social media marketing allows the businesses to advertise, target and try to gain the attention of the network traffic using social media networking, such as websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc (Boyd, & Ellison, 2007). Social media is a powerful tool to introduce an innovated idea, content to the target market. As in the present era everyone uses any of the social media, which can also be the marketing source of word-of-mouth. The most common social media platform used by airlines is Twitter, used for the conveying of messages and promotions for the followers and passing by new customers (Culnan, Patrick , McHugh, & Zubillaga, 2010).
Social Marketing Network Of Virgin Airlines
Virgin Airline uses local SEO marketing, content marketing, and social marketing for the attraction seeking purpose of the customers. Virgin airline seems to be very active on a scale of social marketing, utilizing all the networks and marketing through Twitter and Facebook. The low-cost features and updates and new promotions are posted on the official website and also twitted on Twitter for the followers to have the know-how and posted on Facebook also for public to get introduced. Mostly the customers using airlines as travelling medium follow the airlines on Twitter. Virgin Airline charges the customers if they contact through a phone call, the tweeting service on twitter is free of cost. The strategy behind the twitter idea is to attract as more customer as possible.
The airline makes it a habitual of doing content marketing on their twitter account for more customer attentions and attractions. The Virgin Airline is known for its marketing specialties. The recent marketing concept the airline introduced was of campaign activity held on the streets of Boston. This was a surprise for the twitter followers, such kind of innovative marketing strategies make this airline one of the most popular airlines.
The Virgin Airline has had three key components useful for its marketing purpose:
- Featuring rich
- Customer focused
- Fairly priced.
Virgin Airline provides its customers with all the latest technologies i.e. touch screen, seatback entertainer, power outlets near every seat, having internet system on each flight. A major issue in the present competitive markets is of sustainability. Virgin Airline has already proved by performing and maintaining eco-friendly approach to the brand. To achieve more for being there among the successful competitors, they introduce in-flight services, for youngsters, families focusing their target market requirements. Further, they can introduce packages regarding vacations and seasonal discounts involving the factor of tourism that will be a part of low-cost strategy. To remain in the competition, Virgin Airlines must remain innovative and the airline needs to introduce more products and innovative in its processes. For instance, the airline can introduce a customer database system which will personally by email, twitter, or Facebook will send greetings. This will make Virgin's remember through pulsing marketing effects. Focusing the young generation is a good target market and strategy. However, the frequently travelling customers are mostly business tycoons. Nevertheless, for developing a brand strategy it is useful to prioritize such business people which can critic on the facility and services being provided to them. The Airline should formulate strategies differently for different types of customers.
The brand value created by Virgin Airline provides possible service at the best all the time. The airline assures its customers to have valuable services all the time they travel. Virgin Airline operates one of the most generous frequent flyer program that is available by the name of Virgin Free. In having a distinct and memorable experience, it is important to have features and benefits provided to the customer through the product should be the core value of the brand, which Virgin builds in itself. For an example: Virgin’s revolutionary Upper Class changed the face of business travel. Virgin Atlantic was also the first airline to supply a chauffeur-driven car to collect passengers at their point of origin and transfer them to their final destination, both on their outward journey and return (Business Case Studies LLP, 2014).
According to a publically held survey, Virgin has an important communication strategy. As per the comment by Lord Man croft, Virgin Airlines uses, 'The art of arranging the truth so that people like you'. Such kind of critics helps to provide positive perceptions for Virgin organization. These critics have developed a series of values that have become embedded within the brand and encompassed within the product. According to Richard Branson, “Public relation is an important part of running our business”. The famous logo is highlighted on all its goods and services and is a highly protected property. Virgin has implemented a media strategy to promote its brands, including television, newspapers, posters, promotions and direct mail.
implementation
The above strategies can be highly effective for Virgin Airline in attracting customers. However, it is important that the airline continuously analyzes the changes in the market trend as well as the feedback and results of these marketing strategies. With this, the airline can modify its strategy accordingly to achieve better results.
References
Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13 (1), 210-230.
Business Case Studies LLP. (2014). Building an airline through brand values: A Virgin Atlantic case study. Retrieved October 23, 2014 from http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/virgin-atlantic/building-an-airline-through-brand-values/the-product.html#axzz3H2RLTmqM
Culnan, M., Patrick J., McHugh, P.,& Zubillaga, J. (2010). How Large U.S. Companies Can Use Twitter and Other Social Media to Gain Business Value. MIS Quarterly Executive, 9 (4), 243-259.
Kotler, P. & Keller, K.L. (2007). Marketing Management (International Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Vollmer, C. & Precourt, G. (2008). Always on: Advertising, marketing, and media in an era of consumer control. New York: McGraw-Hill.
