MKT00720: Case Study Analysis of Airline Marketing Strategies

This report provides a comparative analysis of the marketing strategies employed by Qantas and Virgin Airlines. It examines the marketing processes, including the marketing mix elements of product, price, place, and promotion, and how these elements contribute to their competitive advantages. The report investigates the evidence of marketing success for both airlines, highlighting customer-centric approaches, strategic re-positioning, and the application of the Ansoff matrix for market and product development. It explores how each airline has achieved success within the industry, with a focus on customer satisfaction, brand development, and strategic adaptation to market dynamics. The conclusion summarizes the effectiveness of these marketing activities and strategies. The report is based on academic literature and is structured as a case study analysis as per the MKT00720 course requirements.

Running head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Marketing Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive Summary
The report has helped in analyzing the different kinds of marketing processes and strategies
which have been adopted by the both companies namely Qantas and Virgin Airlines.
Furthermore, the different success factors which have been analyzed has helped both the
companies in becoming successful in nature and this has been successful in implementing
such strategies to gain competitive advantage. The different marketing activities have been
adopted in order to be successful and gain competitive advantage.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Description of the Cases.............................................................................................................3
Qantas Airways......................................................................................................................3
Virgin Airways.......................................................................................................................4
Marketing Success Evidence of Qantas.....................................................................................5
Marketing Success Evidence of Virgin Atlantic Airlines..........................................................5
Ways through which Qantas Airlines Achieved Success in Industry........................................6
Ways through which Virgin Airlines Achieved Success in Industry.........................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The report helps in analysing the different kinds of evidences that the organization has
to adopt in order to gain competitive advantage from the different processes of the marketing.
Furthermore, the different theoretical analysis is required to be provided which will help in
managing the different kinds of activities in an effective manner.
The different kinds of marketing activities help in operating within the industry as to
make the different activities effective in nature. The different activities based on marketing
are vast and this helps in successful operations of the organizations in the entire market. The
two companies which will be considered are Virgin and Qantas Airlines company which are
based in Australia (Baker and Saren 2016).
Furthermore, there are different kinds of promotional activities which are essential
and play an essential role in increasing the profitability of the organization efficiently.
Furthermore, the description of the cases along with process of marketing will be analysed in
the report which will be essential in nature to understand the different marketing strategies of
the organizations which has helped them in gaining competitive advantage as well.
Description of the Cases
Qantas Airways
Qantas Airways is one of the largest airline by fleet size which includes both
international flights and international destinations (Qantas.com, 2018). Furthermore, this is
the third largest and oldest airlines in the entire world with more than 26150 employees
working in the organization. The marketing process which is being used by Qantas Airways
is inclusive of the place, price, promotion and product.

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The marketing mix helps in satisfying the needs of the customers in which the
promotional fares are provided to the customers. Furthermore, the usage of the Ansoff’s
matrix has helped Qantas in investing in different products which helped the company in
diversifying the services and providing the customers with satisfaction by introducing flight
catering and engineering as well. Furthermore, with the application of Ansoff’s matrix,
Qantas has been able to include the market development strategy that aimed at curbing the
growth by paving new entrants and this has increased profitability of the company as well.
Virgin Airways
Virgin Airlines is British Airlines which was established in the year 1984 and the
headquarter of the company is situated in United Kingdom wherein there are 10000
employees working in the respective organization (Virgin, 2018). The different marketing
process which are being used by the company Virgin includes the marketing mix which are
product, price, place and promotional activities.
Product- The company is trying to offer with different premium economy and
provided the customers with different services such as wider leg space provided to the
customers and this is being helpful for the airlines to be successful.
Price- The pricing strategy which is being used by Virgin is precise and customer
service is of high standard.
Place- This is the large distribution organization which has presence in different parts
of the entire world.
Promotion- The airlines is being promoted by the different women which are
influential in creating positive impacts for the customers (Saleh 2016).
With the implication of Ansoff Matrix, the Virgin Airlines try to introduce the product
development strategy which helps the company in attracting more customers.

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Marketing Success Evidence of Qantas
Qantas Airways helps in maintaining the sustainable position in the entire market with
the help of the different strategies which are customer centric in nature. Qantas helps in
keeping the different customers at the centre as the company treats the customers as the assets
of the organization (Qantas.com, 2018). The approach which has been applied by the Qantas
Airlines is customer centric in nature in which they provide the customers with outstanding
service provided to the customers.
In different articles, this has been seen and identified that there were different
challenges faced by Qantas Airways in the starting era, however which was reduced with
implementation of the operations which are effective in nature. In the (Webtrends, 2018)
article, this was seen that Qantas had to improve the personalisation level with the usage of
data captured about the different preferences of the customers effectively. The personalised
marketing has helped Qantas in managing the different activities in an efficient manner.
Marketing Success Evidence of Virgin Atlantic Airlines
On the other hand, Virgin Airways helps in analysing the repositioning strategy which
is adopted by them in order to be successful in comparison to the other airlines in the
competitive market. Furthermore, the strategic re-positioning strategy helps the company in
paying off the different kinds of advantages and provided the same to the customers.
(Insightsforprofessionals.com, 2018) article has helped in analysing the strengths which has
been used by Virgin Airlines in order to be successful.
(University, 2018) article helps in discussing regarding the different strategies which
are being used by Virgin Airlines in re-focusing on the strengths and accommodating the jet
strengths. Furthermore, Virgin Airlines tried to provide the customers with the haul for the
medium to long aircraft for the different routes and this has helped them in complementing

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one another effectively. Finally, the Virgin Airlines tried to improve the customer experience
by re-positioning themselves and this assisted them in being more successful in their
ventures.
Ways through which Qantas Airlines Achieved Success in Industry
Qantas has implemented the strategy of customer-centric approach which has helped
the company in becoming successful in nature. Furthermore, the customization of the
different marketing activities is the major purpose of Qantas in which the main motive is to
provide the customers with various kinds of services which will be helpful for them to gain
competitive advantage in the market (Olson et al. 2018). With the implementation of the
Ansoff’s matrix, this has been seen and analysed that market development strategy has been
adopted by Qantas by restructuring the different kinds of costs which are being associated
with it.
Furthermore, this was analysed that the Qantas has undergone huge kind of
transformation as this helped them in restructuring the costs which are associated with the
airlines. The company mainly focused on the satisfaction which is being provided to the
customers and make them happy with the products and services which are associated with the
company. The customers were kept as the assets wherein the foundation of the change is the
main criteria which has been adopted by Qantas Airlines (McDonagh and Prothero 2014).
The implementation of the market development and the product development strategy
which has been adopted by Qantas has helped them in focusing mainly on the brand,
technology along with the data. The quality of the services which are being provided to the
different customers in the organization has helped the company in gaining more competitive
advantage and this has increase them to increase the sales of the company as well (Hill, Jones
and Schilling 2014)

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Ways through which Virgin Airlines Achieved Success in Industry
On the other hand, the re-positioning strategy which has been adopted by Virgin
Airlines has helped in adopting different strategies which helps in managing the different
kinds of activities effectively. This has been seen that the service-oriented approach which
has been adopted by Virgin Airlines has helped the company in providing the twin jet
strengths for the customers and this has helped them in managing the different kinds of
services which will be effective in nature in dealing with various situations effectively (Baker
and Saren 2016).
Furthermore, this has been seen and analyzed that the different marketing activities
which has been undertaken by the Virgin Airlines can help the company in understanding the
different reasons through which the company tried to implement the different re-positioning
strategies to improve the overall efficiency of the firm in a positive manner which has helped
the company in growing their avenues and this helped in managing the differences in an
effective manner as well (Bouaiss 2016).
Furthermore, the management of Virgin Airlines has helped in managing the
communication between the company and the customers and this has helped in managing the
different activities in an effective manner. Transparency is the other major factor which is
used by Qantas Airlines for managing the confidence of the customers. In order to gain
competitive advantage, Virgin Airlines is using the different systems in managing the
different issues effectively.
Conclusion
Therefore, this can be concluded that marketing process is essential in nature in the
organizations namely Qantas and Virgin Airlines. These marketing strategies along with the
implementation of the different approaches of marketing which has made the activities

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effective in nature. Lastly, the Ansoff matrix has helped the company in gaining more
competitive advantage in the entire market. Furthermore, the success of the marketing
activities of both the companies has been effective in nature.

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References
Baker, M.J. and Saren, M. eds., 2016. Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
Bouaiss, K., 2016. Bernardo Balboni is Research Fellow at the University of Trieste. His
research interests include business marketing, international business, and entrepreneurship.
On this topic, he has published several articles in academic journals (Industrial Marketing
Management, International Journal of Globalization and Small. International Perspectives on
Crowdfunding: Positive, Normative and Critical Theory, p.257.
Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., and Schilling, M. A., 2014. Strategic management: theory: an
integrated approach. Cengage Learning.
Insightsforprofessionals.com. (2018). What the Virgin Group Can Teach Us About Creating a
Successful Business. [online] Available at:
https://www.insightsforprofessionals.com/blog/what-the-virgin-group-can-teach-us-about-
creating-a-successful-business [Accessed 2 Aug. 2018].
McDonagh, P. and Prothero, A., 2014. Sustainability marketing research: Past, present and
future. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(11-12), pp.1186-1219.
Olson, E.M., Slater, S.F., Hult, G.T.M. and Olson, K.M., 2018. The application of human
resource management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on business and
marketing strategy implementation. Industrial Marketing Management, 69, pp.62-73.
Qantas.com. (2018). Australia's leading air freight carrier | Qantas Freight. [online] Available
at: https://freight.qantas.com/ [Accessed 2 Aug. 2018].
Qantas.com. (2018). The Qantas Story | Qantas. [online] Available at:
https://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/history/global/en [Accessed 2 Aug. 2018].

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Saleh, M.A.H., 2016. Themes and topics of research in marketing: A content analysis of the
articles published in three marketing journals. International Journal of Business
Administration, 7(1), p.12.
University, L. (2018). Virgin Atlantic strategic re-positioning pays off. [online] London
Metropolitan University. Available at: https://www.londonmet.ac.uk/news/articles/virgin-
atlantic-strategic-re-positioning-pays-off/ [Accessed 2 Aug. 2018].
Virgin. (2018). Virgin Atlantic. [online] Available at:
https://www.virgin.com/company/virgin-atlantic [Accessed 2 Aug. 2018].