Digital Marketing Analysis: Virgin Atlantic's Social Web Strategies

This report critically evaluates the effectiveness of social media and digital marketing strategies employed by Virgin Atlantic for brand building. It examines the airline's use of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+ to engage customers, promote services, and enhance brand awareness. The analysis highlights Virgin Atlantic's focus on digital marketing promotions, brand loyalty programs, and the optimization of social web channels for customer interaction and lead generation. The report contrasts Virgin Atlantic's approach with that of Express Jet Airlines, emphasizing the former's emphasis on digital strategies to achieve market leadership, customer loyalty, and expansion of brand recognition through aggressive promotional tactics. The report also suggests that Virgin Atlantic should optimize its use of social web for quick resolution of customer queries and complaints and monitor traffic at different social media channels.

Digital Marketing

Table of Contents
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
Critical evaluation and analysis of effectiveness of social web for brand building:...................3

TASK 2
Critical evaluation and analysis of effectiveness of social web for brand building:
Social media indicates internet based applications that facilitates thoughts, information
and idea sharing. Social media platforms involve YouTube, linked In, Instagram, Facebook etc.
Business ca utilize these platforms to attract large segment of customers. Social web covers
structures, interfaces and services that are developed to foster social interactions. Virgin Atlantic
is a global firm and hence requires enhanced strategies for market recognition. Various social
media platforms are utilized by an organization for encouraging customer engagement. Firm has
its page on Facebook for fostering its availability in which it shares customer experience and
various offers. Along with it, entity is also available at Twitter and Google+ to align with recent
customer trends. Further, it promotes its services and pinpoints key differentiating factors on
Instagram with the motive of attracting large customer base. Virgin Atlantic also has agency of
socially-led creative that assures process of competitive pitch on social web. Firm creates and
delivers strategies for optimum utilization of social web channels through campaigns and
effective promotional tactics on online platforms. Company is a forward thinking brand and
forecast changing trends to ensure alignment of its marketing strategies with changing customer
trends. Social media promotions is a cost effective and efficient promotional strategy that ensures
high market reachability and increasing customer network for advertising services of an
organization and increasing customer attractiveness and loyalty (Karaağaoğlu and Çiçek, 2019).
Brand can be explained as a symbol, name, term or design that differentiates an
organization from another entities. It is a identity of firm and helps people in recognizing it.
When brand name is legally protected, it is termed as Trademark. Combining one or more
elements, such as, name and symbol, is referred as Brand Identity. Brand identity of Virgin
Atlantic airways involve a larger Union Jack. Its logo is in dark purple colour which is easily
identifiable at the time of take off and landing, along with it, wing-lets are in red. Johnson Banks
by collaborating with in-house design team developed new logo of an organization for enhancing
brand awareness of firm. Brand awareness refers to recognition of brand by customers. Brand
awareness campaigns on social sites are initiated by Virgin Atlantic with the motive of notifying
its brand by visually appealing tactics to encourage customer engagement and brand loyalty.
Brand loyalty signifies commitment of consumers towards brand which can be evaluated by
continuous or repetitive purchase by buyers and customer retention. New brand loyalty

programme has been announced by Virgin Atlantic that provides reward opportunities to loyal
customers, that is, frequent flyers of business (Khan and Islam, 2017). Along with it, brand
equity of company is also valuable, which pinpoints, services of firm has high value addition
over others.
Use of social web in Virgin Atlantic ensures increase in its brand awareness because
majority of population are using social websites in present scenario. It enables firm to outreach
potential customer segments and foster activities of brand recognition (Theodoridis and Gkikas,
2019). Social web provides opportunity to business to become a market leader with the process
of encouraging brand loyalty and advocacy. This further helps in generating leads which can be
converted into effective buyers and profitability of firm can be enhanced. Brand loyalty
improvises brand image of company that enables it in efficient achievement of organizational
goals.
Virgin Atlantic focuses more on digital marketing promotions for creating brand
awareness and loyalty, while on the contrary, Express Jet Airlines focuses more on offline
marketing concept. Later is approaching new contract agreements with attendants of flight for
the purpose of expanding its scope and initiating long term extension programs, while former has
designed new brand logo and theme for attracting customers. Objective of Express Jet Airways is
building long term relation with customers and achieving higher profitability as well as
expansion of firm's scope. On the other side, objective of Virgin Atlantic is building a motivated
workplace which leads to enhancement in customer experience as best service will be provided
to them and to become a market leader by expanding brand recognition through aggressive
promotional strategies (Wirth, 2018).
Virgin Atlantic should further optimize its use of social web by ensuring quick resolution
to customer queries and complaints on its online platform. It can also create contests on social
media pages to foster customer engagement. Company can measure or monitors traffics at
different social media channels which will empower firm to focus more on platforms which gain
high visibility and have high chances of lead conversions.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Karaağaoğlu, N. and Çiçek, M., 2019. An evaluation of digital marketing applications in airline
sector.Journal of Human Sciences.16(2). pp. 606-619.
Khan, A. and Islam, M., 2017. The Impact of Digital Marketing on Increasing Customer Loyalty:
A Study on Dhaka City, Bangladesh.International Journal of Economics, Commerce
and Management.5(4).
Theodoridis, P. K. and Gkikas, D. C., 2019. How artificial intelligence affects digital marketing.
InStrategic Innovative Marketing and Tourism(pp. 1319-1327). Springer, Cham.
Wirth, N., 2018. Hello marketing, what can artificial intelligence help you with?.International
Journal of Market Research.60(5). pp. 435-438.