Strategic Marketing Plan Analysis

This assignment requires students to critically analyze a provided strategic marketing plan. The analysis should encompass the core elements of the plan, such as target market, competitive strategy, product positioning, promotional mix, and financial projections. Students must evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the plan, identify potential opportunities and threats, and ultimately assess its overall effectiveness in achieving stated objectives.

Strategic Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1. Strategic choices- Using tools, models ..................................................................................1
2. Implication of these choices for their respective competitive advantage (300) .....................2
3. Branding, product and market decisions ................................................................................3
4. Strategic choices support the companies in meeting their vision, mission and objectives ....3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

Table of Figures:
Figure 1: Porter's generic strategies.................................................................................................1
Figure 2: Ansoff matrix...................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Strategic management is a continuous process of planning, analyzing, monitoring and
assessment of all necessary tasks which are required for every organization to meet and
accomplish the goals and objectives. The strategic management portfolio is basically an analysis
process and decision making process for developing the planned investment choices for
organization. The main motive of this process is to determine the strategic choices for the
betterment of organization (Aaker, 2011). The current report would help to understand the
strategic management portfolio. For this purpose namely two companies British Airways and
Blue Air are considered. This report will also help to understand the impact of strategic choices
on both companies. Further it contains strategic position, actions, target customers, market and
strategic growth of both companies.
1. Strategic choices- using tools, models
Strategic choices identify and evaluate the alternatives which further become a choice
because it is a part of strategic process. Basically strategic choices select the best strategic
options which help to attain objectives of organization. In this context porter generic strategy
model could be used in which strategies are cost leadership, focus and differentiation strategy.
By using these strategies, both companies try to achieve their objectives and compete with other
rivals (Avlonitis and Indounas, 2006). The generic strategies are defined below:
Figure 1: Porter's generic strategies
(Source: Low cost versus differentiation, 2016)
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Cost leadership- According to this strategy, organization sets the lowest prices of their
products within their industry. To earn the higher profit as compare to rivals, firm sells their
product in the lowest prices. Through this strategy, firm becomes the leader because firm gains
the market share and also attracts many customers towards their product. In this source of cost
advantage directly depends on the structure of firm's industry. The strategy of cost leadership
generally targets huge or broad market (Cao, Yong and Thomas, 2005).
Differentiation- With the help of this strategy, company makes the services and products
different from competitors. In this firm can different their products in respect to quality,
innovation, creative features and high durability of products (Porter's Generic Competitive
Strategies (ways of competing), 2011). According to this strategy products are developed with
unique attributes which are usually valued by the customers in market. The uniqueness of
product makes the firm different from others (Fleisher and Bensoussan, 2003).
Focus- Basically this strategy considers the narrow segment and in this segment firm
tries to attempt either differentiation or cost advantage. With the help of this strategy, firm has
the high degree of customer satisfaction and loyalty because they focus on the unique demands
and requirements of customers (Layton, 2011).
With the help of all these strategic options, firm tries to gain market share and customers
loyalty.
In the same way, PESTLE analysis can help company to assess varied external factors in
the form of political, economical, social, environmental and technological as well as legal that
affects the overall operations of organization (Aaker, 2011). The concept can further be used by
British Airways and Blue Air airlines for tracking the environment where firm is operating or
may operate in the coming future so as to assess the competition. In the long run, the framework
may help to decide what company should do to make the decision taking easier.
2. Implication of these choices for their respective competitive advantage
For growing in the competitive environment both companies British Airways and Blue
Air airlines uses the above strategic choices for their respective competitive advantage. By
implementing the strategy choices, both companies try to attract customers. According to this,
British Airways uses the focus strategy, in which firm’s aim is to provide high customer
satisfaction and quality services to all customers (Michman, 2006). This aviation industry is a
major service sector, so, many companies work in this and focus on facilities like safety, speed,
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luxury and customer needs. In the high lucrative market segment, British Airways starts to grow
as a competitive player. To attract many customers, cited firm provides the high quality services
to their customers. For this purpose, company focuses on the needs of different customers such
as high and middle class (Prasad, 2010). Company offers the variety of products to meet the
expectation of different customers. However, Blue Air airline uses the differentiate strategy to
gain the market share. For this purpose, cited firm provides the creative features to their
customers in relation to their comfort level and enjoyment. The cited firm majorly focuses on the
safety and security of passengers and also considers the low cost prices (Richards and Padilla,
2009). For the differentiation, Blue Air enhance their customer services and they also made
promise to their customers that firm will offer same level of reliability, quality and
professionalism in their customers service. The main purpose of firm's efforts is to offer
guarantee flight safety and security for their customers by following the regulations of both
domestic and international standards (Rust and Verhoef, 2005).
To take the competitive advantage both airline companies adopts the different generic
strategic choices according to their nature of objective. By implementing these two different
strategies by both companies, they attract many customers towards their customers and also
increase their sales and productivity (Szwarc, 2005).
Blue Air British Airways
Opportunities The Heathrow Terminal is a
major hub across the world
and it has a major presence
here.
Expanding its global
operations.
Investment in the travel.
Infrastructure.
Expansion of the middle class.
Rising foreign tourism.
Increasing international
business (Hensmans, Johnson
and Yip, 2013).
Threats Competition in the market
from top firms like Virgin,
British Airways.
Rising fuel costs
Government Regulations in
safety, security and
environmental impact.
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3. Branding, product and market decisions
In respect to branding, product and market decisions of both British Airways and Blue
Air are briefly described below: Branding- The strategy related to branding helps to establish the firm's product within
the market and builds the brand name which will mature and grow in marketplace. The
brand strategy of British airways describes that firm is basically a leadership brand with a
value added airline which charges premium to customers (Ward and Lewandowsko,
2008). The branding strategy of Blue Airways clearly defines that for what purpose they
are able to stand in market place. It also includes attractive logo, slogan and color palette
which convey the brand message among customers and also tries to attract them (Yan,
2009). Product- According to the customer's expectation, British Airways offers the flight
facilities on the special occasions to attract the many customers and cited firm also
provides the special offers and discounts to grab the customer's attention (Abraham,
2012). Same things are also followed by Blue Air airline in which company charges the
low prices for their differentiated product with high quality. Company continuously tries
to develop their products and services in AN excellent way; for this, cited firm uses new
and creative ideas (Galliers and Leidner, 2013).
 Market Decision- Basically it is a decision support system which are related to the
marketing activities. In this order, British Airways uses their official web pages to
describe the information about their products and booking the tickets (Hensmans,
Johnson and Yip, 2013). In contrast, Blue Air airline makes the effective market
decisions in respect to marketing activities. In the marketing actives firm gives the value
to customers and also uses the newspapers and media tools to promote their products in
positive manner (Doole and Lowe, 2005).
4. Strategic choices support the companies in meeting their vision, mission and objectives
Vision-
 British Airways- To become the most responsible and reliable airline in aviation industry
and to be the first leading premium airline in world. Blue Air- To become first choice for customers (Aldehayyat and Khattab, 2011).
Mission-
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 British airways- To become an undisputed leading airline for the next millennium in the
world. Blue Air- To become a cost effective airline by providing convenient and affordable air
travel.
Objectives-
 British Airways-
To fulfill all requirements and needs of travelers and deliver the healthy returns to all
their share holders.
To gain and increase the market share and customer size.
 Blue Air-
To strengthen the position of firm in aviation industry
To offer excellent customer services to customers
Strategic positioning
The term strategic positioning is a positioning of company in the future respect while
considering the continuous changes in environment. Both the internal and external environment
influences the market positioning of company. To analyze the market positioning of company
several points have to be considered which are as follows:
 Product performance- Both companies British Airways and Blue Air have to focus on
this point. While both companies adopts the different strategic choices to sustain in
market place (Paswan and et.al., 2011). In this context, British Airways implements the
focus strategy which results that firm becomes first choice among customers because
firm's products are performing good in market.
 Core competencies- With the help of adopted strategy, the strategic position are
consistent with the company's core competencies. If the changes occur in environment,
both companies have to focus on strategic choices (Strategic Management Theories,
2015).
 Resource allocation- For this both companies have to consider the resources such as
equipments, customers and suppliers etc. it is very important to consider that company's
resources are capable or not to maintain the market position (Aldehayyat and Khattab,
2011).
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 Competitive and market pressures- The presence of competitors and market pressure also
affects the strategic position of company in both present and future aspect.
The strategic positioning of company asp includes the factors such as market segmentation,
situation analysis, product and market strategy which helps to make the company differ from
others (Key Concept for Strategic Management, 2015).
Strategic action
The strategic actions help to achieve the goals and objectives of planned strategy which
are created for the benefit of company. In this strategic planning tool such as Ansoff matrix
could be considered by both companies British Airways and Blue Air for the future growth. This
matrix describes basically four growth strategies which are briefly defined below:
Figure 2: Ansoff matrix
(Source: Ansoff Growth Matrix, 2014)
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 Market penetration- According to this growth strategy, firm tries to achieve the growth
with existing product in the current existing market. In this the aim of firm is to increase
their market share. In this firm could create new marketing strategy to attract and
encourage more customers to prefer the company's product as compare to rivalry's
product (Aaker, 2011). For this purpose British Airways could introduce the loyalty
scheme to customers and firm could also launch the special offers and discounts to gain
the customer attention. Market development- With the help of this market development growth strategy, firm
tries to attain growth by offering existing products in the new targeted market segment
(Hensmans, Johnson and Yip, 2013). In this firm seeks to expand in to new target market
such as different countries or geographical area by providing the same existing products
of company to the customers. This growth strategy success where firm has unique
product technology which could leverage in the new target market (Strategic
Management Theories, 2015). Product development- In this growth strategy, the firm seeks to achieve the growth by
manufacturing new products in the existing target market segment. According to this
growth strategy Blue Air could introduce new flight services with unique features like
customers have to pay 5% less money if they are traveling for journey or any other
things. Cited firm extend their product and service by launching different and creative
variants like shortening the booking time and waiting time (Smith, 2013).
 Diversification- With this growth strategy, firm completely diversify their business in
new business and for the growth firm produces new product for the complete new target
market segment (Yu and Ramanathan, 2012).
Customer base
The target customers of British Airways are usually the business, pleasure and upscale
travelers. So, it could be concluded that cited firm focuses on all types of customers and
according the demands and requirements of customers, company produces different products and
services. Cited firm offers several range of travel class which is according to the taste, budget
and preference of customers. The main of aim of company is to make the journey of travelers
more special and enjoyable (Charles, 2007). According to the customers demand cited firm has
categorize their product in four parts such as economy, premium economy, business and first
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class. To meet the expectation of customers, cited firm also gives the special attention to each
and every customer (Linn, 2008). Company also maintains the healthy relationship with their
customers, so, that next they only prefer the firm's product service at the time of traveling. In
respect to Blue Air, the customers are generally economic based. To attract the many customers,
cited firm also offers the lost price ticket options to sustain in the market place. Company offers
the low cost airline travel options in front of customers, with the help of this customer size and
market share of company will be increases (Singer and et. al., 2007).
Market base
The market place plays an important role in planning the strategies for the companies in
both present and future respect. To launch the products, appropriate market should be targeted in
which customers have the intention to purchase the company's products. In respect to both
British Airways and Blue Air, the market base is defined below and the implemented strategies
impact are also describes which are as follows:
British Airways- The cited firm is already doing the business widely in international
market. For doing the business effectively and legally, cited firm have to consider the all
environmental laws and policies of that country in which they are operating the business
(Adeyoyin, 2005). According to need and demand of the customers, cited firm have to meet that
demand to gain the market share. In the internal and domestic market, cited firm have to
specially focus on the demands of both domestic and international customers (Craig and
Campbell, 2012). However, Blue Air is growing firm which is low cost Romanian company and
its fleet size is 15. In this respect, for the expansion of business, cited firm has to operate the
business in more other countries. For this purpose, company has to do the research of nature and
demand according to the new market and customers. Through this cited firm would be able to
produce the product services which should meet the strategic choices and firm's objectives
(Young, 2001). Cited firm have to also focus on the external environmental factors such as
political, legal, environmental, social and economic factors of international market.
Strategic growth
For the strategic growth and expansion of the business both considered companies such
as British Airways and Blue Air could use the methods such as merger, alliances, acquisition and
joint venture etc. Further, the merger method also categorized in parts such as horizontal,
vertical, concentric and conglomerate merger. Basically theses methods are the corporate
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strategy which is adopted by the companies (Doole and Lowe, 2005). According to these
corporate strategies, two or more companies combine and create a new firm and products. This is
termed as a merger method.
CONCLUSION
With the help of this report, it can be articulated that strategic management portfolio s
very essential and important for every organization. With the help of strategic management, both
investment priorities and other strategies are determined for the operations of business. It also
helps to determine the product portfolio for the organization which will help to increase the
productivity and sales. To understand the strategic management in effective manner, two
companies such as British Airways and Blue Air are considered from aviation industry in this
report. Further, the present report covers the concept about generic strategic choice which could
be adopted by company to take the competitive advantage. In this report, the implication of
strategic choices on the business operations and practices are considered. The present report also
includes the concept about strategic actions and strategic growth which would be beneficial for
the organization.
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REFERENCES
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Cao, Yong, and Thomas, S., 2005. Reducing adverse selection through customer relationship
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Charles, W. L., 2007. International business: competing in the global marketplace. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Craig, T. and Campbell, D., 2012. Organisations and the Business Environment. 2nd ed.
Routledge.
Doole, I. and Lowe, R., 2005. Strategic Marketing Decisions in Global Markets. Cengage
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Fleisher, S. C. and Bensoussan, E. B., 2003. Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods and
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Hensmans, M., Johnson, G. and Yip, G., 2013. Strategic Transformation: Changing While
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Michman, R., 2006. The Affluent Consumer: Marketing and Selling the Luxury Lifestyle.
Greenwood Publishing Group.
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Paswan, K. A., and et. al., 2011. Relationalism in marketing channels and marketing strategy.
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