Developing IMC Plan for Virgin Atlantic: CIM Level 4 Assignment

This report provides a detailed analysis of Virgin Atlantic's integrated communication plan for targeting new market segments. It begins by outlining the organization's background and the rationale for developing a new market segment based on demographic segmentation, focusing on seasonal offerings, route expansion, and price adjustments. Recommendations are made for enhancing internal communication to ensure employee awareness and alignment with the new strategy, including presentations, seminars, and dedicated communication software. The report then explores branding concepts and benefits related to the new market segment, emphasizing the importance of brand image and customer connections. It also discusses the use of communication campaigns and the advantages and challenges of working with external agencies. Finally, the report recommends an integrated marketing communication plan targeting both internal and external stakeholders, along with methods for measuring the plan's effectiveness, such as surveys, sales data analysis, and social media monitoring. Desklib provides students access to a wide array of similar assignments and study tools.

Integrated communication of
Virgin Atlantic
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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Task 1..........................................................................................................................................................2
1. A) Organization background of Virgin Atlantic..................................................................................2
1. B) New market segment of Virgin Atlantic.........................................................................................3
1. C) Recommendations on developing awareness of this new market segment within Virgin Atlantic..4
Task 2..........................................................................................................................................................5
2. A) Concepts and benefits of branding new market segment................................................................5
2. B) Use of the communication campaigns and messages......................................................................8
2. C) Benefits and challenges of working with an external agency........................................................10
Task 3........................................................................................................................................................11
3. A) Recommendation on integrated marketing communication plan to target the new market segment
...............................................................................................................................................................11
3. B) Method used to measure the effectiveness of the integrating marketing communications plan....16
References.................................................................................................................................................19
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Introduction
The primary purpose of the paper is to provide information regarding the implementation
of the new market segment by Virgin Atlantic which enables to enhance their customer’s base in
the future. Furthermore, for developing the awareness of this new market segments, some
recommendations will be provided that can easily enhance their customers' base. Besides this,
the concepts and benefits of branding and also the use of communication campaigns concerning
the new market segment will be further discussed in this paper. Moreover, recommendations on
integrated marketing communication plan regarding one internal and one external stakeholder
and it measuring methods will also be discussed in this paper.
Task 1
1. A) Organization background of Virgin Atlantic
The organization Virgin Atlantic is a trading name of Virgin Atlantic International
Limited or Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited is the United Kingdom second largest long-haul
airline. The headquarters of Virgin Atlantic is situated in Crawley, West Sussex, England (Virgin
Atlantic, 2018). The company was established on 22 June 1984 as British Atlantic Airways by
Richard Branson, and its co-founders were Alan Hellary and Randolph Fields. In the beginning,
the flights fly between the Falkland Islands to Lender but in the present day its serves
internationally in the whole world. In today’s world, Virgin Atlantic serves over 30 destinations
in the world and about 24 flights are operate between US and London and 32 daily flights
operate between North America and the UK. The current CEO and Chairman of the firm are
Craig Kreeger and Stephen Murphy, and primarily the firm follows licensing modes of entry to
enter into the foreign market.
At present, this airline company and Virgin Holidays are controlled by Virgin Atlantic
Limited that is owned by Virgin group (51%) and by Delta Air Lines (49%) of Singapore (Virgin
Atlantic, 2018). The company possesses a revenue of 2,698 million pounds, and the operating
income was 154.3 million pounds till 2016 while it has 8,965 numbers of employees till 2016
(Chang et al., 2014). The company provides airline services to their consumers with the longest
and most comfortable seat and flat bed in business class and revolutionary Upper-Class Suite.
Along with this, they have a clubhouse named as Virgin Clubhouse at Heathrow that established
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in 2006. In this clubhouse, they provide a hair salon, a cocktail bar, a brasserie, a cow-shaped
spa, and a games room. Hence, Virgin Atlantic along with Virgin Clubhouse provides a B2C
business, and the main competitors of the firm are Air India, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore
Airlines, Qatar Airways, Air France, United Airlines and Emirates.
1. B) New market segment of Virgin Atlantic
It is seen that in the current trend the main market segment of Virgin Atlantic only to
provide passengers reliability and comfort mainly to the upper middle class, middle class, and
the corporates peoples. This market segment as well as targeting these groups of people do not
give so much profit in the business of Virgin Atlantic (Lancaster and Massingham, 2017). Due to
this reason, they develop a new market segment so that it can easily increase their business
growth as well as competitive advantage in the market. After doing the preliminary analysis and
the market analysis Virgin Atlantic a new market segmentation on the basis of demographic
segmentation. The demographic segmentation is based mainly on three marketing strategies one
for seasonal offerings, increase of routes and price niche. In concern, the holiday or seasonal
travel segment the firm provides various seasonal offers to their passengers, and according to this
strategy, it will enhance them to make a good relationship with their consumers.
The offers provided by them are mainly based on the tickets booked by each passenger,
according to their marketing segmentation more the number of tickets booked by an individual
consumer greater will be the discount rates (O'Connell and Williams, 2016). Hence applying this
marketing strategy, they not only increase their customer base, but in other words, it can easily
fulfill the customers' needs as per their expectation. According to this marketing segment the
firm Virgin Atlantic mainly targeted people that travel from one place to other due to their
business and also for the people who loved to travel in various destinations of the world. The age
of this group of people mainly lies in between 25 to 45 years and concerning to these groups of
people this new market segment is constructed. According to the route niche, this airline
company provides new airline services to the variable region of the world by their potential
growth rates in traveling. The new market segment that provides by Virgin Atlantic will be based
on long –haul and short-haul distance respectively.
In both the long-haul and short-haul carrier they provide a room for these business man
of age between 25 to 45 years where all sorts of economies with new technology and proper
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equipment are available (Angeloni, 2016). Therefore by this new market segment approach, the
firm can easily increase their customer's base as well as the competitor activities also increases.
In other words, by changing the pricing value for all sorts of traveling the firm can easily attract
a large number of travel loved customers of age between 25 to 45 years in the whole world. It
has been seen that most of the travel loving customers prefer to travel in other airline companies
where the price are quite less than Virgin Atlantic. Hence to grab these customers base the firm
build this new market segment strategy by simply lowering the fares depending on the distance
traveled. In other words, the market segmentation theory that states that both short and long-term
interest rates are not related to each other and thus by following this the firm develop all these
types of strategies that can give them both types of interests. In other words, the firm should use
product or service-led positioning model so the firm can easily tell their consumer about the
changes in services or products they are going to incorporate in their business. With the help of
this model the consumer can easily differentiate the previous and current service offerings of this
airline firm. Therefore, it is clear that by this new market segment the Virgin Atlantic firm can
easily attract their target customers as well as it also enhances their business growth in the
market.
1. C) Recommendations on developing awareness of this new market segment within
Virgin Atlantic
Internal communication with their employees will thereby help the manager of the firm to
easily elaborate their employees regarding the new market segmentation approach that should be
implemented by the firm in the current trend (Merkert and Webber, 2018). Hence for developing
the awareness of the new market segment, some recommendations are provided in concerning
the internal communication methods with their employees. The recommendations are as
follows:
One of the recommendations will be that the firm should arrange a presentation and
seminar program for both the employees as well as for the shareholders too. With the help of this
program, the firm can easily demonstrate their new market segment strategy to both of their
employees and their customers. In this program they offered two types of membership approach,
one is for the employees, and the other one is for the shareholders. Internal communication
defines as the communication between the employees of the firm and hence they build Business
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Rewards membership card for every employee of Virgin Atlantic where they provide every new
approach that is going to use by the company in their coming days (Forseth, 2017). In this
membership approach, every employee can easily communicate with their superiors regarding
any work related matter through online techniques. In other words, it also helps the lower rank
employee to directly communicate with their managers so that they can easily get an idea about
the new market segment strategy that Virgin Atlantic is going to apply in their operating
procedures in future.
Another recommendation for enhancing the internal communication approach that takes
place within this airline firm is that the managers of each department should arrange face to face
meetings with their staff members. Hence this will help the managers to easily provide a view to
their employees regarding the implementation of the new target market strategy and thereby it
also help them to build a good relationship with their employees (Chan and Denizci Guillet,
2016). In other words, the managers of each department should arrange these face to face
meeting once in a month regarding any work related matter or any sorts of operating changes that
take place in the firm. Thus, with these meeting approach, the firm can easily make good
communication with their employees which thereby help them to know about the new market
segment analysis of the firm.
In other words, it is also recommended that to enhance the internal communication
approach with the employees it is necessary for the firm to develop a company related
programing software that should only use by the employees. The software will build in such a
manner that only it can be signed in through employee ID so that no other outside persons should
use it (Rodríguez and O’Connell, 2018). Hence this will help the employees to get the update
about each new step the firm was going to implement in the future, and this will increase their
communication approach with their seniors.
Therefore, it can be said that all these three communication approaches will help both the
managers and the employees to get every information and also educate and persuade them
regarding the different new market segment approaches of Virgin Atlantic.
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Task 2
2. A) Concepts and benefits of branding new market segment
The concept of Virgin Atlantic of branding new market segment entirely depends upon
researching and tracking the brand image and awareness that keeps the organization far ahead of
the curve. The Virgin brand came into existence in the United Kingdom (UK), making it an
excellent quintessentially brand of the British (He and Balmer, 2017). The impact of the brand
had spread all over the globe. As Virgin knows it very well about how to generate a truly
astronomical organization to create unforgettable branding. Due to this fact across the globe, the
well-known organization Virgin brand has earned a desirable place in the field of
communications, travel, entertainment, and health. The company has not only captured the heart
of the nation but also an entire generation by following state of the art solutions, proactive
customer solutions, and unshakeable values. The identity of the Virgin brand is considered to be
energetic, modern and playful. Every concept related to this organization from its website to its
advertising depicts the story of the outstanding universal brand. The strategy of the Virgin brand
is to offer a huge quality value to the international audience (Abubakar, and Dogoji, 2015). The
company comprised of its video series known as "Disruptors" which helps to look upon the
changing strategies of the industries. The business of the company has successfully managed to
retain its human elements distinctly. At the initial stage, the organization decided to utilize the
shocking red based on their typography to present the passion of the brand and that in turn
attracted the customers. Virgin global brand is as successful as beliefs in making strong
connections with its consumers.
Brand Vision
The marketing tactics of Virgin concentrates more on the digital era as compared to
television advertisements or billboards. The following concept seems to be good for the company
in designing inherently for the audience (Kefallonitis, 2015). The Virgin does not enter into the
marketplace to provide something new they come into the business world with an intention to
modify everything. The visionary leaders of Virgin influence everything that is done by the
community to save money. Also, it intends to provide its customers with entertainment or
various innovative services to connect with friends.
Brand Image
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The company wants to make a change in the business by embracing more punk ethics
that clearly states that it requires to update and rebrand its image with something more urban and
fresh (Taneja, 2016).
Brand Personality
The personality of the Virgin brand is lot more fun, loose and vibrant. In the flight of
Virgin customers will experience safety briefing, vibrancy and little jokes. To portray its unique
personality in front of the customers, it asks the audience to answer few of the questions. The
company constantly reviews its brand and reflects upon the communication and the behavior
with its customers (Vanhonacker, 2016).
Brand model
The business brand model of Virgin describes the fact that how the organization captures,
delivers and creates the value. It states that they comprise of small, semi streamlined fleet of only
long haul of aircraft. The strategy of the business model helps in creating a plan management as
well as brand management. The strategies presents the fact that Virgin has implemented the steps
to decrease the price like purchasing cheaper, used aircrafts.
Figure: Virgin Atlantic’s business model
(Source: Slideshare.net. 2018)
Potential branding benefits
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The biggest strengths of the company's brand identity are its consistency all over the sub-
group and channel within the portfolio of the organization. It encounters whether the customer is
dealing with the banking, media or travel, it will experience the same thing that leads to an
organization's success with the affinity of the brand. For this Virgin could easily showcase itself
as a thought leader and authority in all the field of the business without becoming an
organization that is overly-obnoxious (Sinha and Park, 2017). As per the organization, the
change in the logo of the Virgin brand showcases the desire of the company to carry out with the
emerging and changing trends all over the year. It comprise of 33,000 unique visitors across the
globe and benefits around 22,000 customers. The channels of Virgin brand knows how to
provide their customers with customer feedback, tips, and useful links.
Brand awareness
Virgin develops its brand awareness with the help of the social media which is the best
way to provide with the entire knowledge of the strategy of the customer service. Presently
Virgin media utilizes the dashboard of social media that helps to connect with the internal and
external networks in the same area. It ensures that the company could respond to the needs of the
customers and services of the industry (Wang et al., 2017). The branding team of Virgin has
acknowledged that how to develop these concepts that help to better understand its customers
and providing better forgetting experience to the audience.
Competitive differentiation
Virgin brand offers its customers with excellent experiences related to which department
it is serving. By entirely concentrating on the customers the company has effectively created a
unique character and identity that makes the organization successful. The organization promises
to its audience that whatever will be done by them will be adventurous, innovative and
challenging. It is done by the organization as it never rests on its laurels. After the success of the
company, it decided to choose the concept of travel ahead with the abstract idea of Virgin
Galactic (vom Brocke et al., 2014). Virgin depicts that to accomplish business, there is no limit.
2. B) Use of the communication campaigns and messages
Virgin brand focuses on an advertising campaign that is "Fly in the Face of Ordinary"
that was introduced in the year 2012. As per the social media manager of the company's branding
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team the organization has shown growth in Twitter and Facebook for their airline. Also, it is
observed that Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. introduced with a WAP site and a campaign through
mobile marketing to promote its offering of the nonstop between London and New York. The
mobile campaign of Joule involved advertising that increased the traffic towards WAP site of
Virgin Atlantic that can be accessed by the mobile devices that are web-enabled (Drosos et al.,
2017). The members of the company knows how to be active in the social media platform with
the help of sending messages and communication campaigns.
As it is an essential segment of the organization where the owner of the company is
popularly known for blogging and tweeting in the social media. Virgin knows it very well that
using the strategy of the social media for communicating with the audience, participating in the
conversations and providing high-quality value in all the services that are produced. The
clubhouse lounge of the Virgin Atlantic provides a rooftop and outdoor deck. It ensures its
customers that they will be lucky enough to experience the highly shareable selfie in the form of
fashionable pop up in this extraordinary location. It states that in the heated igloo up to eight
guests could enjoy drink and food before their flight competes with the runway view. The aim of
this is to create a noise on the social media that presents the experience of the audience that
would go viral in the social platform (Wu et al., 2015). As a result that would increase the
interest of the customer’s luxury experience. The aim of the campaign is to increase the loyalty
to the existing audience those who visited by having a memorable experience.
On the other hand, Virgin Atlantic's new outdoor and digital outdoor campaign made the
use of the Twitter messages that are created by the members. Adam & Eve/DDB created the one
day campaign that will focus on the historical user tweets of the airline unearth which is
broadcasted on the outdoor locations, digital display, and social media in the UK (Burns and
Cowlishaw, 2014). It is stated that the new campaign that is digitally focused will turn the brand
“Let It Fly” into reality for the audience. The TV campaign “Let it Fly" was introduced in 3rd
January which is backed by the digital and print activity. It is a digital platform that enhances the
customers to have a good experience. It attracts the customers to focus on their ambitions in life
and enhances them to turn their dreams and ideas into reality. To have a strong communication
campaign, Virgin Atlantic considers TV as a significant medium. The campaign is a change in
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the policy of expressing the creative views of the customers (Halpern et al., 2016). Through the
campaign, the company is challenging to themselves and the audience to "Let it Fly."
Figure: Let it fly to London with Virgin Atlantic
(Source: Green with Renvy. 2015)
The image presents a big picture of the environment that is overloaded with various
materials required while going for a trip. For example the bag was sent to a traveler by Virgin
Atlantic through a random selection process in order to create an inspirational itinerary, eco-
friendly making use of all the products. The products include a bucket, necklace, a white shirt, a
journal and pen, a BV bicycle pump, UP fitness bracelet by Jawbone and sandals. As per the
traveler all the items provided are the best suited for any traveler.
2. C) Benefits and challenges of working with an external agency
Benefits
The benefits of the company in working with the external agency is that it bridges the gap
between the design and the business strategy that links the potential customers, stakeholders, and
business strategy. This is done with the help of integrating market communication by the
external agency that is Fabrik. The communication strategy of Virgin’s marketing Fabrik
includes originality and integrity. It thus helps Virgin to offer them with the vision of what they
want to achieve and enhances the organization to reach there. For this Fabrik develops
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methodologies that brings a vast change in the organization’s strategy (Stothers et al., 2015).
Fabrik has proved to be beneficial for Virgin as it created and planed marketing communications
in a better way. It also provides easy use of various parts of information and departments. It is
equally concerned about interacting with the customers, listening to their requirements,
analyzing what they want to modify. It utilizes the tools for the digital marketing
communications to fulfill the promises the organization has provided to the customers. The
policy of Fabrik helps Virgin to make creative and strategic recommendations that allow the
customers to have a link with their prospective clients, employees, and stakeholders. The
schedules and budgets of Fabrick are strictly adhered by eliminating the creative barriers of the
organization by the external agency.
Challenges
On working with the external agency such as Fabrik the company focuses on getting a
stronger position within the marketplace. The challenge with the company is it purchases the
fuels in advance for years and months. That clearly states that the decline in the crude oil prices
does not naturally result in a rapid decrease in the costs of the on-going fuel. It is equally
important for Virgin to strengthen its business with Fabrik by considering the external factors
that will affect the issues of the organization. The significant challenge is to concentrate on
future goals by preparing the things better for the audience. As the costs of the aviation transport
modes infrastructure are 100% paid by the consumers and the company needs to make sure that
the new runway will prove to be beneficial to the customers (Mohsin et al., 2017). Another
challenge of Virgin Atlantic is to focus upon the profits that will help in recording profitability in
the year 2018. It is a great challenge for Virgin Atlantic to provide its customers with better
services that must be unique from the competitors within the market. Again it is challenging for
the organization to match with the strategy of the external agency as it comprises of new
technological innovations.
Task 3
3. A) Recommendation on integrated marketing communication plan to target the new
market segment
The integrated marketing communication plan will help the Virgin Atlantic to implement
their new market segment approach that they are going to develop to enhance their customers
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