Various Marketing Strategy of British Airways

Key marketing concepts and terminology applicable to British Airways

2.1 Branding

Brand identity can be referred to as the visual elements of a brand like logo, colour, design, shape etc. British Airways uses communication as a tool to promote and maintain its brand identity (Camilleri, M. A. ed., 2018). The company advertises and promotes its campaigns through television as well as its website. Also, the air hostesses of the company reflect a feeling of glamour and professionalism at the same time and the symbol used by the company represents the Union Flag. The respective company has a brand image of being the most popular brand of the UK. British Airways has also been able to develop and maintain a healthy relationship with its customers which has in turn helped the brand continue to maintain the strong brand image it has.

The company is the largest international airline brand in the UK and is among the premium airlines all over the world. The company has always based its branding strategies on the marketing mix. It has created different sub brands and also extended its already existing brands in the market. British Airways uses a mix of psycho graphic as well as demographic strategies of segmentation in order to determine the major characteristics and trends of the market and analyse various segments of customers. In order to expand itself in other countries, the company operates its through various subsidiaries like BA and AA Holding Ltd., Bealine Plc., etc. Duplication of Purchase Law Theory of branding in context to British Airways is says that the company should carefully analyse the behaviour of its customers who book flight tickets with other airline as well as the brand itself and should work on enhancing and improving its services in order to gain customer loyalty and thus satisfy their needs and meet expectations (Dumont, A. M. and et. al., 2016).

2.2 Product Strategy

Product strategy, in simpler words can be defined as the vision of the product. When an organisation launches a new product, it has a vision as to where the product is supposed to reach in terms of customers, place etc. Thus, a product strategy helps in setting an appropriate direction for the company's product. The strategy helps the company to set a target market as well as the right segment for its product (Venturini, R., 2016) .

A product is the primary thing of any organisation or industry and comes along with a price, place and different ways of promotion. The products and services of the company are offered at different levels. Air carriers of flights are the main product of British Airways to customers who wish to travel to different places. The brand offers various classes like executive, business economy and club class for travelling and these are divided into various product levels. The second most important product of the respective company is its flight service wherein the customers book flight tickets to various destinations that they wish to ravel to. British Airways has a vast network of airlines and connects the UK to almost every part of the world and is also rated among the busiest airlines worldwide. Other products of the company include complementary meals, seats, in-flight entertainment etc. which are offered to fulfil the needs and match the expectations of the customers (Fletcher, J. and et. al., 2017).

The company constantly attempts to offer new and enhanced products to the customers as well as focuses on brining in ideas that are innovative and attract a large number of customers. The cabins inside the air crafts are built using the latest technology like the brand offers “Happiness Blankets” to its customers that are woven with fibre optics and use neuro-sensors to measure their brainwaves and change colours from red to blue in order to show their most relaxed state. Also, the company has launched new flights that feature tablet holders in front of the seats.

2.3 Promotional Strategy

British Airways puts in considerable amounts of efforts to promote itself in the market in order to increase its customer base as well as retain existing customers. In order to maintain a continuous communication with its customers, the company has opted for several ways like creating its own mobile application in order to help the customers book flight tickets, make reservations easily and avail various offers and discounts that are offered by the company (Gbadamosi, A., 2019). As a part of its promotional strategies, the company uses various media and channels like social media, television, magazines etc. to reach out to a large customer segment. British Airways also offers various vouchers and launches schemes during festivals where the customers can travel to the destinations of their choice at vary affordable and reasonable rates. In order to maintain the same rush as during the festive season in the off season as well, the company offers slashed prices to its customers. Also, television, radio, magazines etc. are various ways by which the company promotes itself and its products in the market. Catchy and appealing advertisements have helped the company in increasing its customer base not just in the UK but worldwide.

Other ways included in the promotional strategy of British Airways are sponsoring various sporting, cultural and charitable events in order to create awareness about the brand's products and services among customers. Various actors and celebrities have been shown to be associated with the company as its brand ambassadors (Marketing mix of British Airways, 2019). Also, the respective company has the most impressive and effective advertising policy that helps it in attracting more potential customers and also gain their attention. The company promotes itself as the airline brand that offers prices at the lowest and most affordable prices.

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Marketing strategies and programs that helped British Airways achieve its objectives

3.1 Marketing Strategies and Objectives of British Airways

Marketing strategies can be defined as the overall game plan of a business or an organisation in order to reach a large number of consumers and turning them into customers of the products and services offered by it. The mission, vision as well as objectives of British Airways are described below -

• Mission – A mission statement refers to defining the goals of a company in three essential ways like what does the organisation do for its customers, employees and its owners (Gilligan, C. and Lowe, R., 2018). The mission statement of British Airways is that one travel destination attempts to make sure that the company's customers who choose to fly with the airline are confident that it acts in a responsible manner to take care of the world everyone lives in.
• Vision – A vision statement is a short and clear description of what the organisation aims to achieve and should be easy to remember (White, L. A., 2018). It should be developed with a high aim in mind but should not be impossible to achieve. British Airways visions to become the most responsible airline in the world and for that it has combined together all its CSR activities together under one name.
• Objectives – The company's main objective is to provide high quality services to its customers, appeal to and attract a large number of passengers in order to gain their loyalty and satisfy them. The company ensures that all its customers receive services that are of top quality against its competitors. British Airways also seeks to maintain its focus on aviation that has the largest products, equipment and services.
• Overall marketing strategy – The overall marketing strategy of the company includes communicating with customers through texts and e-mails. Modernize its air crafts and offer new services to the customers as well as using the latest technology to promote its brand.

3.2 Ethical considerations - How British Airways achieve its objectives

Providing high quality services and appeal to a large number of customers are among the major objectives of the company. British Airways makes use of psycho graphic and demographic segmentation in order to identify the trends and features of the market thereby evaluating each segment. The company is increasingly making efforts to expand itself in various untapped places in order to reach out to a large number of people and attract potential customers. Also, the company has introduced various new features that include offering a blanket to the customers that is made using fibre optics and use neuro-sensors. Additionally, the company has also produced new air crafts that have tablet holders behind the seats to provide ease to the customers (British Airways, 2020). The new seats in the air crafts are charcoal grey in color as well as slimmer as compared to the previous ones in order to provide and raise bars of in flight services in the airline industry. Also, the company has been making constant efforts to improve its in-flight services so that they customers are satisfied and consider traveling with it in the future.

7Ps, STP, Marketing Research used in British Airways' daily organisational operations

4.1 7Ps used in British Airways' daily organisational operations

The marketing mix comprises of 7Ps namely- product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence (Green, A., Grace, D. and Perkins, H., 2016). All of these are set of actions that are used by organisations to promote themselves in the market. The 7Ps used in British Airways' daily operations are explained below -

• Product – The main product of British Airways is offering airline services to the premium segment of the society. Providing its customers with with high level of service customization like Gourmet Dining, Taste of Britain, Healthy Choice, World Traveller Campaign wherein the customers can choose from a wide range of tastes and several other choices has acted as an advantage for both the customers as well the company itself. The company also launched its application for Apple watches which was re-designed specially for the brand where the customers could easily view their flight summary, flight number, rote, the status of the flight, weather at the destination and other details.
• Price – The company has a differentiated pricing strategy and charges higher prices for its services when compared to its competitors. Also, the services of British Airways are perceived to be of top quality (Lim, W. M., 2016). The airline offers price guarantee on the tickets that are purchased by the customers from its website. Also, if the customers find a better flight rate for the same itinerary on some other website, the company offers a refund of the difference amount.
• Place - The company has air crafts flying to nearly 400 destinations across the world and has major presence in London, Gatwick and Heathrow airports. British Airways makes use of offline as well as online channels like its website, sales agents etc. to sell its tickets. The customers also have an option of getting their tickets booked through various tour operators that offer this service as well.
• Promotion – The company is popular for promoting itself by offering various vouchers and discounts on its flight tickets (Luca, N. R., Hibbert, S. and McDonald, R., 2016). It also offers special rewards to customers who regularly travel with the brand. The company also uses various celebrity endorsements as a tool for promoting itself and its services in order to attract potential customers.
• People – British Airways has a diverse workforce and has people working for it from various parts of the world. The company invests a huge amount in training and developing its employees to be able to deliver high class services to the customers. The employees of the company are offered various benefits and rewards like medical and life insurance, annual leaves, pension schemes etc. to ensure their satisfaction.
• Process – The respective company carries out several activities to deliver services to its customers like recruitment, flight bookings, training employees. The process of booking flight tickets of British airways is also a very simple and easy process. Also, different business activities of the companies have distinct processes (Resnick, S. M. and et. al., 2016).
• Physical Evidence – British Airways has a very easy to browse through and user friendly website with appealing and attractive videos and images that help in engaging the customers. The cabin crew has a formal yet stylish uniform and follow certain standards of beauty. Other elements of the company's physical environment include airport lounges, stylish offices and in-flight entertainment.

4.2 STP used in British Airways daily organisational operations

STP stands for segmentation, targetting and positioning which is a framework that shows the link between the market and how does an organisation choose to compete in that market. The process is useful when the company wants to plan different ways of communicating with the customers. The segmentation, targetting and positioning strategies of British Airways are explained below -

• Segmentation – British Airways uses the strategy of segmentation to divide large groups of heterogeneous markets into smaller segments that can be reached easily and more efficiently with different products and services that match their needs and expectations (Rowley, J. E., 2017). The company has different segments that are divided on the basis of various geographic, demographic, behavioural and Psycho graphic variables. The company also segments the market on the basis of different demographic variable such as gender, age, levels of disposable incomes of customers, their education levels etc.
• Targetting – Targetting refers to choosing those segments that the company wants to adopt as its market (Wood, M., 2016). British Airways constantly evaluates its customers views through various surveys in order to get a better understanding of them. The company operates in a highly differentiated market and thus targets people who are pleasure travellers and also those who travel for business. The company targets its customers on the basis of its four levels of services, namely- economy, premium economy, executive and first class.
• Positioning – Positioning refers to the place that companies or brands occupy in the minds of their customers and differentiate themselves and their products from competitors (Worth, M. J., 2018). The respective company has positioned itself as a luxury airline that offer products of top quality like high class in flight entertainment, luxury lounges at airports. The brand also has an advantage of having a unique position over is competitors and has a strong brand image which is the reason passengers generally prefer to travel with the airline. Also, the company has flights linked to major countries of the world which has led to the company gaining loyalty of its customers and also attracting new potential customers.

Conclusion

From the above report, it can be concluded that marketing is a necessary function in every organisation and plays several roles and responsibilities that include advertising, marketing, promoting etc. Also, brand identity can be defined as the visual elements of a brand like logo, colour etc. Various companies use communication as a tool to promote and maintain their brand identity in the market. Organisations today put in considerable amounts of efforts to sustain in a highly competitive and dynamic business environment. STP is a framework that explains the relation between the market and how does a brand choose to compete in that market.

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