Marketing Report: British Airways Strategies and Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the marketing strategies employed by British Airways. It begins with an introduction to the airline industry and the importance of marketing within it, followed by an overview of key marketing concepts and terminology, including service strategy, branding, and promotional strategy. The report then delves into the marketing strategies and programs that have helped British Airways achieve its objectives, such as word-of-mouth marketing, internet marketing, and paid media advertising. Furthermore, it examines the application of marketing concepts and principles, specifically the 7Ps of marketing and the STP framework, within the context of British Airways. The report concludes with a summary of the relationship between marketing and other functional areas of the organization, along with recommendations for future marketing endeavors. The document is a student assignment that offers insights into the airline's approach to marketing and its impact on business success.

Marketing principles
and practice

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
a. Explanation of key marketing concepts and terminology........................................................1
b. Marketing strategies and program that helped the organisation to achieve objectives...........2
c. Marketing concepts and principles for British Airways..........................................................3
POSTER..........................................................................................................................................3
Relationship between marketing and other functional areas of the organisation........................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
Recommendation:........................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Airline industry is a part of service sector in which leisure facilities are rendered to the clients so
that they could be satisfied with the services. Airlines are the medium which are used by the
industry to pick customers from one location and drop them to another one. With the continuous
changes in the services the importance of marketing in this sector is increasing. In order to aware
all the customers about the facilities that are offered by the companies which are operating
business under this sector marketing is very important. It helps to attract large number of
individuals because it will aware them about all the benefits that could be taken by them by
travelling with the specific flight (Abeyratne, 2017). In airline industry it is specifically required
because if the organisations are not able to market themselves then it will be very difficult for
them to compete and sustain in the market. The organisation which is selected for this report is
British Airways which is also known as Bloody Awful because of its services. It is one of the
best organisations of Australia which are delivering airline services. This report covers various
topics such as explanation of key marketing concepts, marketing strategies and programs and
application of different models such as STP and 7 p’s of marketing.
MAIN BODY
a. Explanation of key marketing concepts and terminology
While marketing the services it is very important for all the companies to make sure that
they are focusing upon the key concepts that can help to attain success. In order to carry out all
the operations successfully it is very important to make sure that all of them are taken in to
consideration. There are several key concepts that are focused by British Airways. All of them
are as follows:
Service strategy: When British Airways market all its facilities then managers of the
company make sure that they render detailed information of all the services that are offered by it.
With the help of it, the entity tries to attract large number of customers and generate higher
profits for future. By paying attention towards this element the marketers of the company make
sure that they take part in the formulating of service strategy so that they can assure that
marketed facilities are provided to the customers or not. This terminology of marketing is
applicable to British Airways as it facilitates the entity to attain success (Belobaba, 2016).
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Branding: It can be defined as the process of creating a name, symbol or design for the
organisation so that a separate identity for it could be created. In order to market all the services
that are offered by British Airways this element is also focused by the organisation. It is
facilitating the entity to reach its targets of achieving higher growth and generating good profits.
By formulating effective branding strategies British Airways try to establish a positive image of
it in the market so that it can attain competitive advantage and sustain in the market. It also
facilitates to attract large number of customers and satisfy all their needs.
Promotional strategy: It can be defined as the process of formulating effective strategies
for promoting all the facilities and services that are rendered to the customers. By paying
attention towards it, British Airways tries to make sure that effective and attractive decisions for
promoting the services are formulated. It is applied in the entity as the main objective of the it is
to attract large number of customers so that market share could be enhanced and good profits are
generated. While formulating strategies the management is required to make sure that they pay
attention towards the key factors that can help to promote all the services at higher level. These
are mind set of customers, nature of services and additional benefits (Halpern, 2016).
All the above described concepts are applied in British Airways which is facilitating the
organisation to meet its goals and operate business in systematic manner. By paying attention
towards all of the marketers try to make sure that they contribute in the development of company
by formulating effective strategies for promotion, marketing and branding services. Ignorance of
all the above described concepts may result in failure in attainment of business goals because by
avoiding them it will be very difficult to attract large number of customers.
b. Marketing strategies and program that helped the organisation to achieve objectives
Marketing strategies are the set of different strategies that are focused by organisations to
reach their long-term business goals. There are various types of them which are facilitating
British Airways to achieve its business objectives. All of them are as follows:
Word of mouth: It is a type of spoken communication which is used to transmit
information from one person to another person. This marketing strategy is helping British
Airways to achieve all its objectives such as higher profits, increased sales and number of
customers. All the clients who use its services get satisfied and they promote it among their
groups (Saleem Zahra and Yaseen, 2017). It is helping the organisation to spread awareness
about itself and reach the long term business goals.
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Internet marketing: It is a marketing strategy which is focused by most of the
companies nowadays because it is facilitates to reach maximum number of customers. By using
different platforms on internet companies target a large number of people so that they could be
motivated to buy their products and services. In British Airways it is used by the organisation as
the main goal of it is to generate high profits. Currently, the company is using different social
media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. Apart from this SEO and SMO are
also used by the company. It is helping the entity to meet its long-term business goals such as
higher profits and attain success for future (Shaw, 2016).
Paid media advertising: British Airways is using paid media advertising marketing
strategy in which it promotes its services in print media and television. It is facilitating the entity
to portray a good market image and reach the long-term business goals. By using it the
organisation to targeting each and every individual around the world who could be targeted to
attain success. With the help of this strategy organisation tries to attract large number of
customers and generate higher revenues.
All the above described strategies are used by British Airways to achieve its objectives of
higher revenues, profits and customers. All these goals are accomplished in ethical manner. The
management of the entity always make sure that ethical ways are focused by it to attain all the
business objectives so that growth could be acquired. If the entity is not able to use all these
strategies properly then it may result in weak performance of business and lack of profits for
future (Sinha, 2019).
c. Marketing concepts and principles for British Airways
Marketing mix refers to a combination of elements used by a business which enables it to meet
the needs and expectations of the customers (Brennan, Lu and von der Heidt, 2018). British
Airways uses the following concepts and principles for their daily organizational operations-
7P’s of marketing and STP framework.
7P’s of marketing-
The 7P’s of marketing refers to an extension of the factors which make the marketing
plans of an organization successful in the future (Luca, Hibbert and McDonald, 2016). These
factors are explained in the context of British Airways as follows-
Product- It refers to the goods or services which are provided by an organization. British
Airways is an airline and it provides services to its clients. It operates flights between various
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sectors and thus serves the customers by charging a specific fee for it. For example- British
Airways provide services to their clients such as In-flight Wi-Fi, fresh meals etc.
Price- It refers to the amount a customer pays for purchasing a specific product or
service. British Airways charges different prices for seat configurations in its planes. For
example- Economy class, Business class and First class are the various seat configurations
provided in airlines and rates differ because of the difference in the services provided in these
classes.
Place- It is the location from where a business is operated (Obradović-Đuričić and et.al.,
2017). British Airways is the national airline of Britain and has set up its headquarters there.
Thus place is quite important for a business organization because a good location is needed for a
business to run successfully. For example- British Airways operates at its home base and has also
spread its operations all around the world. Also it uses internet to sell its tickets which avoids
unnecessary intermediaries.
Promotion- It refers to the techniques which are used by firms to increase the sales of
their products and services. Traditional promotional techniques include flyers and pamphlets.
and modern promotion techniques include digital advertising, outdoor advertising etc. British
Airways uses both traditional as well as modern techniques for their promotion. This helps them
in targeting more customers in order to increase their revenues. For example- Use of traditional
and modern techniques of promotion helps these airlines to stay ahead of their competitors in the
field of marketing.
People- Every organization is dependent upon various people who work within it and
handle different departments such as production, finance, marketing, HR etc. In British Airways
different people handle their respective roles like some of them work as ground staff, some of
them work as the hospitality staff in the flights, some of them manage back-office operations.
Thus having right people is essential for a business to become successful because efficient staff
can easily raise the overall productivity level in the organization. For example- British Airways’
employees have the required skills to provide high-level services to their clients and meet their
expectations.
Processes- It means the steps which an organization takes in delivering the product or
service to the customer. British Airways, various processes take place in providing the ultimate
experience to the clients like starting from the check-in to priority boarding lounges and the
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experience in the flight itself. Thus the main aim of airline here should be to provide good
services to the customers so as to raise their satisfaction level. For example- Cooperation and
coordination is facilitated in the processes of British Airways so that clients receive the best
services from the start of their journey to the end.
Physical evidence- It means providing evidence to the customers for purchasing a
product or availing a service (Pererva, Nagy and Maslak, 2018). In British Airways, physical
evidence provided is the ticket. It is the proof of reservation for the clients of the airlines. For
example- Physical ticket is provided at the booking and later on a boarding pass is provided to
the customers so that they can complete their journey.
STP framework-
In marketing, STP framework is a technique which is used in order to summarize the
process of market segmentation (What is STP Marketing? Segmentation, Targeting &
Positioning Guide, 2020). British Airways makes use of this framework effectively so that it can
target the right customers and can maximize its revenues in the future. The framework in the
context of British Airways is explained as follows-
Segmentation- It refers to the division of a market into different types of sub-markets
which facilitates easier targeting of customers (Pomering, 2017). In British Airways, it is carried
on in the following forms-
 Demographic factors- These are age, gender, education etc. In British Airways the
customers are targeted on the basis of these demographic factors. For example-
Customers with higher-education background prefer business or first class as compared
to customers with lower-education background.
 Psychographic factors- These are customer lifestyles and attitudes. In British Airways
the customers are targeted on the basis of these variables. For example- Customers who
prefer high-quality services will prefer business class or first class.
 Geographic factors- In it, segmentation is done on the basis of geographical areas. For
example- In British Airways, different services are provided in different sectors.
 Behavioral factors- In it, segmentation is done on the basis of behaviors of the
customers. For example- British Airways has services according to the choices of
different types of clients.
Targeting- It refers to choosing a target market for selling products and services. For
British Airways, target market is Europe for short-haul flights and U.S., India and
Singapore for long-haul flights as it earns high revenue from these sectors.
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Positioning- It means selection of a marketing mix which is the most suitable according to
the target market segment. For example- British Airways is known for its high-value
services provided to its clients. Therefore, it focuses on positioning itself as a brand which
has a high-value and goodwill in the market and it is a strategy that has worked very well for
it.
POSTER
Relationship between marketing and other functional areas of the organisation
CONCLUSION
From the above project report, it has been concluded that marketing principles and practices
are the key elements that are required to be focused by all the organisations so that success could
be acquired. In airline industry marketing is very important for all the entities as it can help to
accomplish future goals. The key marketing concepts that are focused by all the companies are
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branding, service and promotional strategies etc. The main strategies which are used by
organisations to achieve objectives are paid advertising, internet marketing and word of mouth.
All of them are facilitating entities to meet tehri targets in ethical manner. While carrying out
operational different theories are also focused by entities these are 7 P’s of marketing and STP
analysis.
Recommendation:
 In order to improve the effectiveness British Airways can apply different marketing
concepts such as social marketing. It will help the organisation to establish a positive
market image because it will help the entity to contribute in the development of society
and perform operational activities properly.
 It has been recommended to the managers of British Airways to make sure that all the
strategies for marketing are formulated appropriately because it is very important to attain
long term business goals such as attracting large number of customers.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Abeyratne, R. I., 2017. Aviation trends in the new millennium. Routledge.
Belobaba, P. P., 2016. Airline pricing theory and practice. The global airline industry.
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Brennan, L., Lu, V. N. and von der Heidt, T., 2018. Transforming marketing education:
Historical, contemporary and future perspectives.
Halpern, N., 2016. Air transport marketing. Air Transport Management. An international
perspective.
Luca, N. R., Hibbert, S. and McDonald, R., 2016. Towards a service-dominant approach to
social marketing. Marketing Theory. 16(2). pp.194-218.
Obradović-Đuričić, K. and et.al., 2017. Ethics and marketing in esthetic dentistry. Srpski
arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo. 145(9-10). pp.540-545.
Pererva, P., Nagy, S. and Maslak, M., 2018. Organization of marketing activities on the
intrapreneurship. Mind Journal. (5). pp.1-10.
Pomering, A., 2017. Marketing for sustainability: Extending the conceptualisation of the
marketing mix to drive value for individuals and society at large. Australasian Marketing
Journal (AMJ). 25(2). pp.157-165.
Quinn, L. and et.al., 2016. Troubled waters: the transformation of marketing in a digital
world. European Journal of Marketing.
Safiullah, M. and et.al., 2017. Social media as an upcoming tool for political marketing
effectiveness. Asia Pacific Management Review. 22(1). pp.10-15.
Saleem, M. A., Zahra, S. and Yaseen, A., 2017. Impact of service quality and trust on
repurchase intentions–the case of Pakistan airline industry. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing
and Logistics.
Shaw, S., 2016. Airline marketing and management. Routledge.
Sinha, D., 2019. Deregulation and liberalisation of the airline industry: Asia, Europe, North
America and Oceania. Routledge.
Venturini, R., 2016. Social marketing and big social change: Personal social marketing
insights from a complex system obesity prevention intervention. Journal of Marketing
Management. 32(11-12). pp.1190-1199.
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Online
What is STP Marketing? Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning Guide. 2020. [Online].
Available through: < https://lapaas.com/stp-marketing/>
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