Virgin Group: Marketing Strategies, Concepts, and 7P Analysis

This report provides an analysis of the Virgin Group's marketing strategies, key concepts, and terminology. It explores the company's product, branding, and promotional strategies, highlighting their consumer-based approach and the use of both traditional and modern marketing techniques. The report also delves into the 7P marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence) and the STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning) framework as applied by Virgin Group. Furthermore, it discusses the importance of marketing research for the company and the cross-functional relationships between marketing and other departments. The report concludes with recommendations for Virgin Group to enhance its marketing efforts, emphasizing ethical considerations and sustainable growth, with the use of internet marketing and social media to improve customer relationships. Desklib provides this document and many other resources for students.

MARKETING

1
Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Main body.............................................................................................................................................2
Key marketing concepts and terminology..........................................................................................2
Marketing strategies and programs of virgin Group..........................................................................3
Two marketing concepts and principles.............................................................................................4
7 p of Virgin group........................................................................................................................4
Segmentation targeting and Position of Virgin Group...................................................................5
Marketing Research.......................................................................................................................6
Cross functional relationship.............................................................................................................7
Recommendations.................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................9

2
Introduction
Virgin Group is one of the perfect examples of how the innovative ideas could lead a
company to become one of the biggest in the world. Perfect use of the resources along with
effective use of the marketing strategies could be beneficial for the company. There are
different types of strategies used by the company. Virgin Group Ltd. is a British Venture
dealing in the capital conglomerate industry (Burton and Soboleva, 2011). Net worth of the
company is estimated to be around £5–5.5 billion in November 2014. There are 20 holding
firms with around 200 operating companies (Virgin group, 2018). It is a perfect example of
how leader’s restless spirit towards innovation, entrepreneurialism and market disruption has
created a group that is highly diversified. Since this group deals in the business of many items
hence their marketing strategies have to be precise so as to deal with the challenges they are
facing. This report analyses different aspects of the Virgin’s marketing strategies. Key
marketing strategies achieves its organisational objectives as well as it also explains the cross
functional relationship of marketing and other departments in the group.
Main body
Key marketing concepts and terminology
Product strategy: In order to make sure that their products gain success, they have taken the
strategy of innovation. They have expanded their products line from dealing in the business
of Music to railways and flights. All their products are produced with some kind of
innovation that differ it from that of others. Along with this they are also using the strategy of
product diversification and this is the major reason of why they have so many varieties of
cloths available in their catalogue (Whyte, Prideaux and Sakata, 2012). It is their product
strategy that no other brand has ever expanded their product range as much as Virgin Group.
In their product strategy, they have basically focused on their quality.
Branding: Virgin group has highly concentrated on their branding so as to improve the value
of their offerings. Even the leader Branson has used his persona and style for their branding.
Their marketing strategy always has a greater focus on building the image of the company in
the minds of the consumers. They have made their branding strategy that underpins its
position as a firm that worked for consumer experience (Piehler, Hanisch and Burmann,
2015). Their strategy of branding is such that their consumer feels every aspect of their

3
branding i.e. from signature to straplines, logos to brand mascot. They have created their
brand identity as something that is modern, energetic and playful.
Promotional strategy: There are different kinds of strategies used by Virgin Group. They
use all sorts of channels so as to promote their offerings. They have extensively used digital
marketing platforms such as social media campaigns to gain consumers and have stronger
bond with them. Their television advertisements are also made very strategically and they
focus on bringing smart and beautiful faces for promoting their products (Anderton, 2011). In
their promotional strategies they have linked their brand name to each of their offerings and
at the same time it is crucial for adding value to their products. From time to time they give
offers and usually promote with highly aggressive campaigns launched through both online
and offline mediums.
Marketing strategies and programs of virgin Group
Virgin group has used different types of marketing strategies so as to make their place in the
industry. In order to fulfil their objectives company has utilised various types of strategies.
They have used both global and local strategies to gain competitive advantage over the rivals
(Uddin and Akhter, 2011). Their marketing strategy has a consumer based approach.
Company does a timely research so as to understand the mood of the people and improve
their products so as to fit in the demands of the people. They always focus on the products
that are making huge profits.
Their marketing strategies include both traditional and modern marketing techniques so as to
reach to each of the individuals with their values. Before actually making a marketing
strategy, they do a heavy market research and then they actually identify their consumers.
After their targeting strategy, they select appropriate strategies so as to gain advantage. They
are using paid advertisements through traditional approaches such as print media and TV
channels while they also use internet marketing for this purpose (Virgin, 2018). This helps
them in reaching to larger audience and creates a buzz in the marketing. Over the years they
have also utilised cause marketing so as to get attached with their consumers and hence they
have attached their products with social issues or causes. They also take use of relationship
marketing that usually focuses on customer building as well as enhancing consumer loyalty
(Anderson, Reckhenrich and Kupp, 2013). In order to increase their sales they have also used
undercover marketing by linking all their products with each other hence when the consumers
buys any one kind of product then automatically they will get information about their other

4
products as well. They have also utilised internet marketing especially the use of social media
has been their priority. This has helped them in increasing their brand loyalty as customers
feels themselves to be connected with the firm.
In order to ensure higher profits they have been using transactional marketing as their
primary strategy. For this they are providing many kinds of discounts and coupons to lure
their consumers towards their offerings. With the help of internet mediums they have been
successfully able to market their products. They also use cross product line marketing so as to
promote their consumers that they make purchase of another type of offering when they make
purchase of any particular type of products (Dovleac, 2015). Apart from this at certain times
since their product range is huge hence they are also utilising diversity marketing so as to
bring freshness in their marketing campaign.
Their annual reports suggested that they have been achieving their objectives successfully by
applying their marketing strategies appropriately. Since most of their strategies put values of
the company at its priority hence they have not faced much incidents related to ethics. Their
sustainability report suggests that they have been looking towards the issues related to future
growth of their company especially related to the fuel consumption (Baack, Harris and
Baack, 2012). Their employees are paid on the higher side hence they have not faced much
resistance from the side of the employees. With the use of internet market, they have been
able to increase their sales. For improving their relationship with the customers they have
effectively taken use of social media marketing and till now they have not made any bad
marketing efforts.
Two marketing concepts and principles
Among the different marketing concepts and principles use of 7P and STP has a very special
importance in marketing.
7 p of Virgin group
 Product: They have different types of products in their portfolio. It is having one of
the largest product ranges among different companies. Virgin Atlantic, Virgin hotels
and Virgin Railways have been offering products at different rates. At the same time
it also offers services in the Health, Media and Entertainment industry.
 Price: Virgin takes use of competitive pricing plan and they keep changing their
prices based on the price in particular market (Gregory, 2010). They do not set their
prices on highly lower side but they also do not follow expensive pricing also.

5
 Place: With highly efficient distribution channel, they have been able to deliver their
services and products at different stores. Both direct and indirect distribution channels
are used in this regards. The use of online mediums is very much common in the
distribution of their products and services (Libert and Spector, 2010). Virgin websites
act as an effective platform through which they are delivering their services.
 Promotions: For promotions they have been using online and offline mediums. You
tube videos, social media platforms and online campaigns are some of the common
ways of their promotion. They are also taking use of celebrity faces so as to promote
their products (Budd, et al. 2014). Branson also utilised his own image for promoting
the products. Their promotional campaign is highly female dominated and usually
take use of attractive and confident women in their campaigns.
 People: They have hired people from all around the world. They always look for
energetic and skilled people having innovative ideas. Since customer satisfaction is
their priority hence they are giving high amount of training to their employees (Global
Social Media Marketing, 2018). They are also paying their employees in higher
amount.
 Process: With high use of technology, they have been able to upgrade their processes
continuously. Luxury, Sophistication and Glamour are the base of their business
model. Their style of business is classy and usually aims to provide services that
distance them from their competitors (Kotler, 2011). Keeping customer satisfaction in
mind they have been providing services accordingly.
 Physical evidence: Virgin group has been providing their offerings as per what they
have promised. Their products are both tangible like their retail products and
intangible like hospitality and Travel. Quality has been their priority hence scores
good marks in physical evidence (Virgin, 2018).
Segmentation targeting and Position of Virgin Group
They have segmented their market appropriately. Since their product and service range is too
large hence the use of segmentation strategy has been done very wisely. They have made
segments in such a manner that they would be able to gain maximum profits by increasing
their market base.
Types of Segmentation Segmentation Criteria Virgin target segment
Geographic Region International/Domestic
Density Rural/Urban

6
Demographic Age 15-65
Gender Male and female
Life-cycle Stage Bachelors and Newly
married couples
Income Middle and high income
Occupation Workers, students and
employees
Behavioural Benefits sought Time efficient and luxury
soughing people.
Degree of loyalty Switchers and Hard core
loyal
User Status Regular travellers
Personality Easygoing and careless
Psychographic Lifestyle People from all sections of
the society especially the
upper section of the society.
Social Class Working and middle classes
as well as people from higher
class of the society.
They have positioned themselves as a company that is capable of dealing in multiple
products. Their positioning is focused on imaging themselves as a brand that is provides
luxury services and products (Rubin, 2013). For them quality and customer satisfaction
matters more than prices. They do not want to portray themselves as a company that is either
on the economical side or on the expensive side rather they have focused on making
themselves as a competitive business company.
Marketing Research
Virgin understands the importance of marketing research and hence they have invested a
huge amount of money on understanding the needs of the people. Since they offer different
kinds of products hence research is done on the basis of different variables. They have been
using both technological and offline mediums so as to understand the market dimension and
the types of products it requires (Boon, Grant and Kietzmann, 2016). This also includes

7
taking use of social media sites for checking the consumer preferences. Marketing research
has been the major reason why they have been able to develop so many types of products and
services and hence gain success. Branson believes in reacting as per the market and hence he
has entered into so many types of business. They have a dedicated team that looks for the
area where they can expand their business. Data management software along with data
analytics has been used so as to manage the data. Based on these data only they are making
their decisions. Social media analytics is also utilised by the company for accumulating data
while keeping in mind that the privacy of existing and potential customers is extremely
important.
Cross functional relationship
All the units of Virgin group works together so as to improve the marketing campaign. All
the units within the organisation shares data accumulated with each other so as to work in a
combined force. This helps them in managing their operations as per the requirement and any
strategies can be implemented easily. Relation of marketing department with others has been
illustrated below.
Research unit: This department plays a very crucial role in improving the marketing
especially in construction of strategies. The data collected by the research unit is utilised by
the company so as to make their decisions (Young and Burgess, 2010). On the other hand
research and development unit makes the innovation as per the data that is provided by the
marketing team. Since innovation on the basis of their customer requirements is their priority
hence both the functional units works hand in hand.
Human resource: HR department has the role of recruiting and training staffs and the type
of business Virgin does needs a high quality staffs that is capable of delivering services as per
the requirement. Marketing unit tells the HR unit about the area for which they require staffs
and accordingly they hire talents from all around the world. Since Virgin’s marketing is tilted
towards use of technical resources hence they are demanding people that are more of a
technical background (Hodgson, 2018).
Production: Since their area of business is too large and the demand of the product is also
wide ranged hence they require a production unit that is capable of working as per the
demands of the marketing team (McLimore, 2013). Marketing unit tells about the
performance of each product and accordingly their production team decreases or increases the
production. This helps them in maintaining the demand and supply chain.

8
Legal: Since they have multiple businesses in different countries where the laws related to
marketing and sales differs hence they have to make marketing strategies that fulfils the legal
requirements of the country. Both the units work hand in hand so as to avoid any kind of
legal compliances.
Sales: Their sales and marketing team works with each other to ensure that the curiosity that
is created by the marketing unit of the company can be converted into sales. This is helpful in
converting potential customers into actual customers.
Recommendations
Virgin group deals in the business of multiple things hence it is essential that they focus more
on the niche market too. They are big brand names in American and European region but
their business seem to be on the lower side in the Asian region. There are many developing
countries in this region in which company can use their digital marketing campaigns so as to
improve their customer base (Sreejesh, 2011). Higher use of data based marketing is
essential. It is recommended that company takes use of artificial intelligence to boost their
marketing campaigns.
Conclusion
From the above based report, it can be concluded that Virgin group deals in the business of
many things. They are using multiple channels and strategies so as to address larger customer
base. They have highly focused towards branding and image building. Internet and social
media marketing has been their priority. In their promotional campaign company is focused
towards taking higher use of attractive women and Branson himself is a poster boy the
company. They have designed their marketing campaign in such a manner that it avoids any
ethical consequences. Their strategies such as STP and marketing mix is in such a manner
that it helps them in gaining competitive advantage over the rivals. Marketing research has
been their priority and all their functional unit works hand in hand to successfully
implementing their marketing strategies and gain desired results.

9
REFERENCES
Anderson, J., Reckhenrich, J. and Kupp, M., 2013. Strategy gaga. Business Strategy
Review, 24(1), pp.54-58.
Anderton, C., 2011. Music festival sponsorship: between commerce and carnival. Arts
Marketing: An International Journal, 1(2), pp.145-158.
Baack, D.W., Harris, E.G. and Baack, D., 2012. Virgin galactic and space travel. SAGE
Publications, Inc..
Boon, E., Grant, P. and Kietzmann, J., 2016. Consumer generated brand extensions:
definition and response strategies. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 25(4), pp.337-
344.
Budd, L., Francis, G., Humphreys, I. and Ison, S., 2014. Grounded: Characterising the market
exit of European low cost airlines. Journal of Air Transport Management, 34, pp.78-85.
Burton, S. and Soboleva, A., 2011. Interactive or reactive? Marketing with Twitter. Journal
of Consumer Marketing, 28(7), pp.491-499.
Dovleac, L., 2015. The role of new communication technologies in companies'
sustainability. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series
V, 8(1), p.33.
Global Social Media Marketing, 2018. VIRGIN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
ANALYSIS INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS. [Online] Available at:
https://www.globalsocialmediamarketing.com/2016/05/18/virgin-strategic-management-
analysis-international-business/. [Accessed on 16th January 2018]
Gregory, M., 2010. Dirty Tricks: British Airways' Secret War Against Virgin Atlantic.
Random House.
Hodgson, S. 2018. Quintessentially British brands: The Virgin experience and how to brand it
like Branson. [Online] Available at: http://fabrikbrands.com/quintessentially-british-brands-
the-virgin-brand/. [Accessed on 16th January 2018]
Kotler, P., 2011. Marketing insights from A to Z: 80 concepts every manager needs to know.
John Wiley & Sons.

10
Libert, B. and Spector, J., 2010. Crowdsourcing Can Be Your Business Momentum Builder:
Like Linden Lab and Virgin Mobile. Pearson Education.
McLimore, D., 2013. Virgin Rebel: Richard Branson in His Own Words. Agate Publishing.
Piehler, R., Hanisch, S. and Burmann, C., 2015. Internal branding—Relevance, management
and challenges. Marketing Review St. Gallen, 32(1), pp.52-61.
Rubin, E.N., 2013. Assessing your leadership style to achieve organizational
objectives. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 32(6), pp.55-66.
Sreejesh, S., 2011. Consumers' evaluation of brand extensions: An application of multiple-
group causal models in assessing cross product category measurement equivalence. Southern
Business Review, 36(2), p.1.
Uddin, M.B. and Akhter, B., 2011. Strategic alliance and competitiveness: theoretical
framework. Researchers World, 2(1), p.43.
Virgin group, 2018. Sustainability report. [Online] Available at:
http://cdn0.virgin.com/doc/sustainability-report/lo_res/Virgin_Sustainability_Document_201
0_Lo.pdf. [Accessed on 16th January 2018].
Virgin, 2018. Our strategy. [Online] Available at:
https://www.virgin.com/virgingroup/content/our-strategy. [Accessed on 16th January 2018].
Virgin, 2018. The golden rule of marketing. [Online] Available at:
https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/golden-rule-marketing. [Accessed on 16th January
2018].
Whyte, R., Prideaux, B. and Sakata, H., 2012. The evolution of Virgin Australia from a low-
cost carrier to a full-service airline–Implications for the tourism industry. In Advances in
hospitality and leisure (pp. 215-231). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Young, L. and Burgess, B. eds., 2010. Marketing technology as a service: Proven techniques
that create value. John Wiley & Sons.