richa_kabra
Richa Kabra
PREFACE
When Virgin Atlantic was to be set up, the driving force of the airline, Sir Richard Branson wanted it to be an unconventional airline. Hence, in the initial days, during the brainstorm sessions the core group took many decisions revolved around what was not prevailing in the aviation industry such as fares determined by market forces, massage on board, and any other additional facilities, which would truly make Virgin Atlantic different from the other airlines. In the 80s when it 1st came into existence, all its competitors wanted to portray a ‘serious business’ image. However Virgin Atlantic realized the need of the hour and revolutionarised air-travel from being a highly formal event to being a highly informal fun event.
“Let’s Get Physical” “Our Crew Talks Back” “We Do It Thrice a Week” ‘’Hello Gorgeous’’. These one-liners attract customer attention and convey strongly about how Virgin Atlantic believes in doing everything differently, including their advertising. Like the one liner, “Lets Get Physical” conveys the on board massages that they provide to their passengers, “Our Crews Talks Back” refers to the friendly on board crew etc. The name VIRGIN by itself is a very strong image conveyor. What makes virgin so interesting is that it has managed to strike a right balance between being fun loving, at the same time professional, it has its set of frills in its airlines but at the same time has not ignored the basic necessities of flying; namely good pricing, good food, innovative new services on board, good aircrafts etc. But to top it all, they have Sir Richard Branson as their CEO who totally lives up to their brand.
Brief history
Richard Branson’s business career began while he was a student at Stowe, a private boarding school. His start-up magazine, Student, was first published on January 26,1968. The early success of the magazine encouraged Branson to leave school at 17years old. Agreeing to the boy’s request to leave, the headmaster offered the prophetic statement, “Richard, you will end up in prison or as a millionaire.” Student’s magazine’s eclectic style reflected its founder’s ability to commission articles by celebrities and to identify subjects not touched by many well established magazines. Branson’s next venture was mail order records. Beginning with a single advertisement in the last issue of Student magazine, Branson found that he was able to establish a thriving business, Virgin record label, which went on to sign up bands whose music or lifestyles did not appeal to the major record companies. Among the most successful signings were the Sex Pistols.
The name “virgin” was suggested by one of his associates who saw the name as proclaiming their commercial innocence, while possessing some novelty and modest shock-value. In the last 40 yrs Virgin Group has expanded from a funky record business into a sprawling keiretsu encompassing air travel, cell phones, train travel, soft drinks, African safaris, digital downloads, and Caribbean hideaways. Branson's own Virgin Island - no kidding - is available starting at $25,000 a day.Branson's nearly 200 companies are worth $9 billion. However his move from entertainment to travel initially caused a huge financial burden on the virgin group resulting in which Branson was forced to unload the family silver, Virgin Music. The $1 billion proceeds allowed him to regroup - and then to fund new ventures. The ones that stuck were airlines in Europe and Australia, newly privatized British rail lines, and mobile phones - plus a kaleidoscope of companies that contribute more to brand equity than to the bottom line.
Presently, Virgin has around 200 mostly small companies. The work philosophy of Richard Branson revolves around ideas such as “Staff first, then customers and shareholders” should be the chairman’s priority. “Shape the business around the people,” “Be best, not biggest,” “Pioneer, don’t follow the leader,” and “Drive for change” were other guiding principles in the Branson philosophy. Although the Virgin group is a family of businesses with a shared brand, all of the companies
run independently. Often the companies are set up as joint ventures with other partners, so they all have different shareholders and boards.
He also realized very early in his work life that he has a person could fulfill only some elements of his ever growing ideas. Hence he always looked for people who had qualities similar to him and abilities better than himself. Once he got people he delegated and let them chase his dreams.
The Virgin Group, try and stick to some brand values and make sure that they 'do' full fill them… value for money, good quality, brilliant customer service, innovation, competitively challenging, fun
background
Virgin Atlantic was developed as an offshoot of Richard Branson's Virgin Group. Back in the early 80s Richard Branson was probably best know for Virgin Records - the legendary record label that signed major names like the Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson and The Human League. In 1984, much to the horror of his directors, Richard announced to the world that a high quality, value for money airline would begin operating within three months. Three months, some licenses, staff and an aircraft packed with celebrities later, Virgin Atlantic Airways was born.
Virgin Atlantic is the second largest long haul airline in the UK and the third largest European carrier over the North Atlantic. Their route network has grown rapidly to include destinations in the US, Caribbean, Far East, India and Africa, and they have won virtually every award the travel industry has to offer. The airline has offered business travelers amenities not even offered to first-class passengers on other airlines. Virgin had pioneered state-of- the-art reclining seats, in-flight massages, hair stylists, aroma therapists, and motorcycle and limo home-pick-up service. In 1998 it began a luxury boat service up the Thames from Heathrow to the City of London allowing executives and bankers to dodge London traffic jams. In economy, Virgin was the first to provide passenger-controlled personal video screens in every seat-back. In-flight entertainment has included clowns, London buskers, even Richard Branson serving drinks while dressed as a female flight attendant. The inaugural transatlantic flight was still remembered fondly by travel writers who took the journey to New York. Bands played music in the aisles, Miss World danced with passengers, and butlers handed out caviar, brandy, and cigars. Branson’s father, who was along for the ride, commented, “When I die, I hope heaven is like this: 35,000 feet up, endless champagne and surrounded by pretty women.”8 What Virgin did was to re-create the mystique of air travel through mixing unique in-flight luxuries. The airline won numerous awards for its customer service and became one of the most profitable of the world’s smaller airlines. Its success in the North Atlantic market encouraged it to extend its routes to Asia (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Delhi), the Caribbean, and South Africa.
A constant theme of Virgin Atlantic’s development was its war against the major airlines and against British Airways in particular. This involved Branson in one of his favorite roles: casting his plucky Virgin upstart as David against the corporate Goliaths of big business.
For all Virgin Atlantic’s success, it was competing in a tough industry and defending a difficult strategic position. The international airline industry has been a financial disaster for most of the past decade – none of the major airlines had covered their cost of capital. Virgin Atlantic’s dependence on business travelers was a major source of vulnerability when most companies were trimming their travel budgets. Virgin Atlantic’s competitive advantage depended critically upon its superior service, yet almost all its service innovations were being imitated by the major airlines.
In 2000, Branson sold a 49 percent stake of Virgin Atlantic to Singapore Airlines
for £600 million, using the proceeds to invest in growing divisions within the Virgin group, namely Virgin Mobile and Virgin Net.
Operations of virgin Atlantic in India
Virgin Atlantic began operations to India in July 2000 with twice-weekly Delhi-London services. Virgin Atlantic further added weekly flight on 27 October 2003, thereby operating thrice - weekly services on the Delhi-London route. The airline launched daily services on the route with effect from 1 February 2005.
Operating on a code-share agreement with Air India till November 2004, now Virgin flies into India on its own rights. Since 2000 the airline has flown almost
2,50,000 passengers between London and Delhi. In March 2005, the company expanded its India route network/footprint with the launch of Mumbai operations mounting three weekly flights from Mumbai to London (Heathrow).. Presently, Virgin Atlantic in India operates 10 flights every week from India to UK. Virgin Atlantic is keen on increasing its flights to 14 every week by the end of 2005.
Growing Potential
Virgin Atlantic sees huge potential on the India –UK sector. Close to 1 million passengers travel between India and UK every year. Till last year, half the passengers were flying indirectly via third countries due to unavailability of direct flights on the route. There was a need gap that offered great potential for Virgin Atlantic to expand its operations. Moreover, the number of passengers flying to international destinations is growing every year with the increase in per capita incomes, socio-economic changes, increase in ‘lifestyle spends’ and a plethora of choices available to consumers. According to a 2005 KSA Technopak study on consumer outlook, there is a clear growth of 20 per cent in ‘lifestyle spends’.
Within two years of operations in India, Virgin Atlantic had achieved a 15 per cent market share on the India-UK sector, and an increased load factor of 74 percent. With enhanced operations and flight frequencies,Virgin Atlantic currently enjoys approximately 20 per cent market share.
The Indian consumer today has evolved and is seeking higher quality of services at a value for money price, as a result, most of the airlines are removing their
first class and packing in value added features in their business class to satisfy the customer needs at an affordable price. Virgin Atlantic, first pioneered the concept, by introducing its Upper Class, marketed as a first class service at a business class fare in 1984.
In India Virgin Atlantic operates a three-class system: Upper Class (the airline's business class), Premium Economy Class (a full fare separate economy cabin)
and Economy Class (at economy fares). Further, Virgin Atlantic is planning to introduce its revolutionary product, Upper Class Suite, in India by the end of this
Year. All these classes are aimed at providing maximum value for money and an ‘absolute pampering’ experience to its customers.
Differentiated Services
Virgin Atlantic provides differentiated services to its passengers like superior in flight entertainment, individual seat- back TVs throughout the flight, special movies, varied choice of music, games and menus for children etc.
The company in fact has been a pioneer in offering innovative in-flight services such as an beauty therapy, onboard bar, freedom menu where there are no set meal times. You’re free to eat what you like, when you like.
, exciting shopping, massage therapy, chauffeur pick-up and drop for Upper
Class passengers. These services differentiate Virgin Atlantic from other airlines and ensure that it delivers on the promise of pampering its customer. The ambience of the aircrafts is also very vibrant and lively.
Future plans
India is the second largest growing market in the world and Virgin Atlantic is looking at expanding its operations in India. The company is looking forward to double its daily services to Delhi and Mumbai, besides extending its services to at least 3-4 more destinations. Flights to Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad are also in the offing, though the current focus is on consolidation of operations and increasing market share in Mumbai and Delhi. The Virgin group has interest in the financial services, health club and music sectors. The group also considered the possibility of investing in a domestic airline in India. However, with the changes underway in Government of India regulations, the Group is reviewing its plans.
METHODOLOGY
This project is an attempt to study the gap between what Virgin Atlantic tries to portray about its image and what the people and its customer think of Virgin Atlantics image. It also shows the customer complaints and suggestions.
Sample-
The sample has been selected on a random basis by interviewing some of the customers of Virgin Atlantic, India by a pre-designed questionnaire. Also, the general publics who have not traveled by Virgin Atlantic but yet hold an opinion about it by a separate questionnaire.
Sample Size-
The sample size included 30 customers of Virgin Atlantic, India and 40 Non-customers.
Data Collection-
The process for the research involved the following steps-
We designed two Questionnaires- one for the customers and the other for the non-customers consisting of open ended questions and rating based questions so we could get their views and a proper rating about the various features of Virgin Atlantic.
The Customers and Non-Customers were then interviewed to get a thorough insight into their awareness about Virgin Atlantic and were promised that their response would be exclusively used for research purpose. They were thanked for spending their valuable time.
We also had an interview with the Manager of Western India, Mr. Kiran Yaderry , who enlightened us about the image and perception of Virgin Atlantic that the company portrays.
The entire information was then collected and analysed carefully to obtain the views of the customers and non-customers of Virgin Atlantic’s image.
We made charts and graphs for the rating based questions to show the result we obtained after analyzing them. Once we examined all the questionnaires we realized from the customer complaints and suggestions what a gap there was between the image that Virgin personifies and the perception that the customers hold once they have traveled.
IMAGE VIRGIN ATLATIC POTRAYS
To begin with some words from Richard Branson himself: "A brand name that is known internationally for innovation, quality and a sense of fun - this is what we have always aspired to with Virgin."
Virgin Atlantic defines its role to be the consumer champion, and they do so by delivering to the consumers their brand values, which include:-
• Value for Money
• Good Quality
• Brilliant Customer Service
• Innovative
• Competitively Challenging
• Fun
Richard Branson set out with these principles in mind in the 1970s and they still really define what Virgin is all about. Virgin believes that the most important thing is the way these values are delivered and brought to life.
They deliver value for money by their Simple, honest & transparent pricing – not necessarily the cheapest on the market. The good quality is provided by their high standards, attention to detail, being honest and delivering on promises. They have a brilliant customer service which is friendly and human. They are very innovative and have challenging conventions along with modern and stylish designs. They are very competitive and challenge their opponents with humor. Virgin Atlantic believes a lot in having fun and has one of the best entertainments on board.
Virgin Atlantic likes to challenge the everyday routine to give their passengers something different and special. Flying in Economy is all about fun and value, where they provide free amenity kits and have seat back TVs.
Premium Economy seats are bigger and wider and there's a separate cabin dedicated to Premium Economy passengers.
Their Upper class Suite is the ultimate in comfort and innovations.
Their key features are:-
• Massages on board
• Bar on Board
• Fully flat beds
• Ice cream served while watching movie
• Limo pick ups
• Latest music and movies
For a company like Virgin, branding is an essential tool of gaining mind share across target customers. It is in the truest sense a marketing-led company that continues to emphasize on the inspirational value of the Virgin brand by way of continuous innovations both in services and products.
Due to Richard Branson’s entrepreneurial attitude and his fearless reputation for antics like ballooning across the Atlantic Ocean and traveling through Virgin Atlantic in shorts the Virgin brand is always guaranteed its fair share of publicity.
Virgin Atlantics mission Statement is “To grow a profitable airline, that people love to fly and where people love to work."
Its USP is to focus on customer service, with emphasis on value for money, quality, fun and innovation. The focus is customer driven and Virgin continues to establish and strengthen these values amongst its stakeholders, customers and travel trade partners, thereby consistently innovating and building on the strong foundation.
ANALYSIS
Customer Questionnaire
1) How often do you travel by air internationally?
14 people travel internationally 1-2 times a year
10 people travel internationally3-4 times a year, and
6 people travel internationally more than 5 times a year.
Hence, we have made a pie chart for this data.
2) What do you as a customer, look for in an airline? (Rate according to preference on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best)
To analyze this question, we took the average amount of each criteria and made a comparison between question 2 and 3 showing the difference between what the customers expected out of an airline and what they got out of Virgin Atlantic.
Punctuality-------------4.7
Pricing------------------3.9
Entertainment----------4.3
On Board Crew--------4.6
Food---------------------4.2
Security-----------------4.4
Comfort-----------------4.7
A different experience-4.0
The above mentioned parameters are an average rating given by the customers as to what they would look for in an airline.
3) Rate virgin on the above mentioned parameters?(on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best)
Punctuality-------------4.8
Pricing------------------3.7
Entertainment---------4.7
On Board Crew--------4.4
Food--------------------3.5
Security-----------------4.2
Comfort-----------------4.2
A different experience-4.1
The above mentioned parameters are an average rating given by the customers after their experience at Virgin Atlantic.
Below are the graphs which show the comparison between the customer’s expectations and what Virgin actually provides them.
Punctuality-
Inference-
“Punctuality is the art of estimating how long the other is going to be late.” It is one of the key performance indicators in the airline industry and an important service differentiator especially for valuable high-yield customers. Delays cause passengers to miss connecting flights, get late for meetings, and put them behind schedule. Hence, leading to customer dissatisfaction. That is where Virgin Atlantic steps in and lives up to its image of being very punctual.
In our survey, we asked customers what they would like to have from an airline, and what they actually received from Virgin Atlantic, and thus have made a graph showing on an average the comparison between the two. The customers have rated the punctuality of Virgin Atlantic a peg higher than what they expected from the airline industry.
We can see through this graph that Virgin Atlantic flights are very punctual and always fly as per schedule and on time, not disappointing their customers and living up to its needs and expectations.
Pricing-
Inference-
Virgin Atlantic provides a lot of additional onboard activities like massages, onboard bar etc, for which their pricing is comparatively a little higher as compared to other competing airlines. The company manager whom we interviewed also mentioned that virgin is an exclusive airline meant for the upper middle class.
In our graph infers that there were a few passengers who didn’t feel that the experience was that exceptional and therefore did not see any need to spend that extra bit on flying by Virgin Atlantic. Hence we infer from our survey that Virgin Atlantic has not lived up to its goal of being value for money according to some customers. Majority of the people we interviewed were people from the upper classes and they felt that the experience was worth the money.
Entertainment-
Inference:
Virgin Atlantic has one of the best entertainment facilities on board where they play award winning music the latest movies and have an onboard bar. From our graph it’s seen that where entertainment is concerned virgin is a cut above the rest.
On-board crew-
Inference:
On board crew plays a very important role in creating an image about the airline. Most airlines advertise of having a very friendly crew; however in reality it is very different. Virgin Atlantic too advertises of its crew living up to its image of being ‘high on life’. As can be seen from the above graph, a few virgin customers were not happy with its on-board crew. Some of our customers also complained of arrogance, both by Virgin Atlantics on-board crew as well as its airport crew.
Food-
Inference:
International flights are long and people expect good food. If virgin’s marketing campaign is carefully analyzed, one will notice that Virgin Atlantic never talks about its food. The company manager Mr.Kiran Yadri enlightened us about the freedom menus i.e. the passenger can order from a wide variety at whatever time he chooses to. In spite of this facility a few customers were unhappy about the food and rated it quite low.
Security-
Inference:
Security is something that is not really thought of but it is always present in the subconscious mind of the passenger and it is always expected from the airline authorities.
Virgin Atlantic talks about having the latest Boeing aircrafts. However on the India route most of the aircrafts are outdated.
Moreover the Customers of Virgin Atlantic expressed their disappointment about the baggage claim procedure and also the overall security procedure mainly at Heathrow Airport.
Comfort-
Inference:
Comfort plays a very important role, especially when one is expected to sit in the same place for hours at a stretch. Virgin advertises comfort. Its ad campaigns talk about a flight from Bombay to London being paradise. However some customers were disappointed by the comfort in the aircraft. Some complained about the legroom in the economy class and also the upper class was disappointed with the seat pitch as they expected fully flat beds.
A different experience-
Inference:
In today’s competitive market what makes Virgin successful is that they do everything slightly different from the other airlines. The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class environment offers a departure from stereotypical aircraft interiors, setting new standards in aviation interior design with a refined definition of the available space. The interior consists of an impressive on-board bar, an innovative class-leading suite and an in-flight beautician's area. As with the new furniture, a key achievement of the design team was for the interior to offer an experience closer to that found in ground-base environments, such as in luxury lounges, hotels, restaurants and bars. The design language summarised by the phrase "an air of natural glamour" led the design, so the passenger experienced an interior that is effortlessly stylish and relaxed. Lighting is an essential element considered in the interior, and has been used to revitalize the entire space. A contemporary chandelier helps to define the bar area and further accentuates its glamorous atmosphere. A fully controllable mood lighting system blends through different scenes throughout the flight, with colours chosen to make passenger’s look and feel attractive and relaxed. All these facilities help in giving the customers a truly unique experience.
4)What is your opinion/perception/image/brand persona of Virgin Atlantic?
“Customer is always correct” as the line goes, we all know that no company in the entire worlds can survive without its customers, they are most vital to every enterprise and so is the case for Virgin Atlantic where they try to pamper their customers as much as possible, and where each and every customer is taken care of in such a way that he doesn’t go back unsatisfied. Their crews are specially given rigorous training in hospitality. Every staff member is expected to be on his/her best behavior.
From our survey we found out that some of the customers are quite satisfied with the entire experience of flying with Virgin Atlantic. They think so because they truly find the service to be worth the money they shell out. People are quite happy with the crew on board, the extra services, the food, the punctuality, the ambience on flight etc.
Majority of the people think that the entire company is all made by a one-man army named Richard Branson. His entire personality is reflected in the company’s behavior and persona. We have got quite a few responses that the First thing that comes to mind when customers hear about Virgin Atlantic is Richard Branson and his fun lifestyle. A few said that the entire flying is a joy, and that its very glamorous and vibrant.
Here are a few comments we got:
“Party time”
“Goes an extra mile to keep its customers happy”
“The best, glamorous crew, fun and lively experience”
Fantastic limo service and upper class is efficient
The company is a reflection is Mr. Branson’s character.
However, there were some customers who flew Virgin Atlantic only to fulfill their curiosity factor. There is a curiosity factor with everything connected with Virgin Atlantic; this includes the name of the airline. This is largely due to the fact that the owner of the airline, Sir Richard Branson gets involved in news breaking events from time to time.
Few customers felt that the hype created around the airline caused people to get disappointed after their travel, as their expectations were very high.
5. Has Virgin Atlantic lived up to its expectation?
Our Survey results revealed the following: -
While 60% of the respondents said that the airline was able to match their expectations, 23% said to an extent and 17% said no. This could be due to the following factors
1. The advertising hype that the airline had undertaken in Mumbai a month prior its operations from Mumbai. For a whole month there were regular full-page advertisements in Times of India and hoardings in prominent locations boasting of transporting people to Paradise on their way to their London.
2. The previous image of the brand which is closely associated with Richard Branson i.e. an image of fun, celebration, exclusive, high quality, unique etc. Hence people’s curiosity and expectations were high as their imagination to take them, causing a let down effect in some.
3. They expected a different experience. Word-of-mouth information from previous Virgin passengers made the Indian travelers believe that they would experience something exceptional, which did not happen. If the goal is to get customers to think different about a brand they have to experience it differently and they have to notice a difference. There were instances where passengers, especially the conservative passengers, found the informal attitude of the cabin crew which is intended to be different, to be intimidating.
4. Pricing: Virgin is priced higher than the competing carriers on the London route. As per our observation the Indian traveler is willing to pay a higher price, as a unique experience is high on their priority list especially since most of the carriers have a uniform offering. Having paid the price they felt let down and cheated.
As we all know, a brand is nothing more or less than the people’s perception of the product or company. The closer the perception is to what the company intends them to be, the stronger the brand. Most importantly, perception is the only reality.
From this it can be assumed that the brand of Virgin is so strong that even the people who said that their expectations were met were probably too intimidated by the image of the brand, to say otherwise.
However, some passengers were clearly ambassadors for the Virgin brand. They were highly impressed with the friendly cabin crew, in flight entertainment, informal, fun and vibrant ambience, onboard additional services like the massages, which was found to be very convenient and relaxing. On board, the passengers, especially the premium class passengers, felt truly pampered. Also the limousine service for business class passengers was found to be useful and safe particularly since the flight landed into London in the night.
6. If no, then what suggestions would you offer?
The people who were disappointed mainly suggested that Virgin Atlantic should tone down the advertising hype to reduce the gap between expectations and delivery. It was a situation of anticipation of being better than the real thing.
Virgin Atlantic has a very distinct and strong brand identity and appeal. The hype is so high that any element that dint live up to being exceptional caused a negative impact, which on another airline may have passed off as a routine. Although the Indian customers nowadays with an increase in disposable income is willing to spend for a good product and unique experience, but he needs to get value for that amount. There were a few customers who felt that the experience was not as unique as projected by the airline, they felt that because of their over expectations due to all the hype created about virgin they were let down. Also the advertisements gave an impression of a flat bed in business class which was not so. They also suggested that Virgin Atlantic should have a new aircraft on the India route because Indian customers today have a lot of choice and have been exposed to the latest aircrafts of other airlines.
7. If Virgin Atlantic airways materializes like a person, how would it be?
The survey response from both the customer and non customer groups was similar. Most of them felt that if Virgin Atlantic were to appear in flesh and blood it would look like Richard Branson in terms of having his personality traits such as being creative, bold, carefree and without any boundaries, aspiring to be the best. Some people also gave comments like-
“It would be a Rock star”
“Youthful and energetic”
“Page 3 celebrity”
“Friendly but professional”
“Glamorous, dynamic and flamboyant, standing out from the rest”
“ Fun and rebellious”
Some people identified it with Indian stars like Shahrukh Khan,Preity Zinta,Mallika Sherawat who are celebrities who are famous, bold ,fun and with no barriers at all and most of all they were common people who made it big because they stood out from the rest.
This merely goes to say that Richard Branson as a brand has got so deeply meshed into the Virgin Atlantic as a product that people immediately associate him with it. Also, it suits Virgin Atlantic as they do not have to pay for this publicity. All the advertising campaign carries his face and the exploits that he undertakes such as the hot air balloon ride, sailing the Atlantic solo etc. Since he was being written about automatically the airline got publicity. He has begun to represent the common mans dream to reach for the skies. Most importantly, he represents a success story. Hence, people found it easy to identify and connect with the airline through him.
However, there were a few people who replied by saying that if Virgin Atlantic materialized as a person it would be like any other average person, red attired common man not afraid of being different.
8. Do u think there is a need for improvement in virgin? If yes, then how?
In today’s context of fierce competition in the Indian aviation sector, airlines operating to and from India have to ensure their product offering is top- of- the- line. This not only includes the service on- ground and on- board but also the type of equipment (aircraft). Today’s well traveled Indian passenger is exposed to the latest aircrafts especially since airlines like Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Lufthansa, for whom India is a very lucrative market, fly modern, latest aircrafts on this route. On Virgin Atlantic on the India-London-India flights some passengers complained about –
1. The seat pitch and leg room space in economy class.
2. The Business class passengers were disappointed that Virgin Atlantic did not have flat beds especially since the advertisements gave the impression that it was a lie flat product. Hence, they felt let down and disappointed as reality did mot match up to their expectations.
3. The aircrafts of Virgin Atlantic on the India route requiring refurbishment.
4. Flexible and better baggage facilities-the fun, casual image of the airline did not match the strict enforcement of baggage allowance. While most airlines permit excess baggage of 5 kgs per person, Virgin Atlantic charges for anything more than the 20 kgs officially permitted baggage allowance. Indians are not known to be light travelers hence flexibility in baggage allowances is assumed from an airline.
5. The fun and casual image also impacted virgin when they wanted to charge for any change in reservations.
6. Change in flight timings-While the Virgin Atlantic flight leaves Mumbai and arrives into Mumbai at a very convenient hour, passengers were not happy with the arrival time into London, viz. 2100hrs . It is a well know fact that most Indians are comfortable arriving into India at night hours; the same however, is not true when they land into a foreign land. Most Indians like arriving at their destination during daylight hours. The current schedule also impacts the connecting flights. In view of the fact that the flight arrives into London in the night it misses the connecting flight to New York and other important cities. Hence, people are forced to spend the night in London even when they not have any work/need to stay the night in London.
7. Unfriendly service at London Heathrow airport-Again this caused a mismatch between the preconceived notion that the passenger has about the airline via what they observed at the customer service counter at Heathrow leading to disappointment.
Hence, while the first time traveler of Virgin Atlantic is very excited, the second time the above constraints cause him/her to be in two minds.
As mentioned above nowadays there are more airlines operating in the Indian skies than ever before. Not very long ago, a few airlines ruled due to protective aviation rules prevailing in the country. The consumer was almost sort of panting for the next innovation, the next new product offering, the next breakthrough in airline technology. Now they're not. There are more airline seats(supply) than consumers(demand), and therefore airlines have to have some kind of different way of selling themselves and also make sure hey are of the best quality.
non- Customer Questionnaire
1. How often do you travel by air internationally?
17 people travel internationally once a year.
13 people travel internationally 2-3 times a year.
5 people travel 3-4 times a year, and
5 people travel more than 4 times in a year.
Hence, we have made a pie chart showing this data.
2. What do you as a customer, look for in an airline? (Rate according to preference)(On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best)
Here, we have taken an average amount of each criteria and displayed all the criteria’s together in one graph.
Punctuality---------------4.6
Pricing--------------------4.4
Entertainment-----------3.75
On-board crew-----------4.12
Food-----------------------4.2
Security-------------------4.2
Comfort-------------------4.45
A different experience---3.47
4. What is your perception/opinion/brand persona of virgin?
Most of the airlines in the world have the knack of projecting themselves as formal and business oriented. The whole airline industry is something that people think is very elite and sophisticated in a very corporate way.
The airport itself means that it’s not a place where one can do something informal and fun. The entire idea of the air industry is formal.
This is where Virgin Atlantic is unique and different in its own way.
Virgin Atlantic has always portrayed itself as a pleasurable and lively experience. Its mass appeal is basically of an airline industry where people are rich and sophisticated. The entire feel given to the airline is lively, informal and entertaining. If u see anything that is a virgin product is always given flashy colors like red etc. This makes even a non-customer think that it is something young energetic sand vivacious. The whole feeling is of something young, energetic, vibrant and sophisticated. Virgin Atlantic has succeeded in building an image, which has made people to believe that flying is a fun experience with this airline. A very strong image that has been created in the minds of the people is also that the aircrew consists of very pretty ladies and handsome young men. The crew itself is making such an impact on the minds of the people.
This whole perception is created in the minds of the people because of the publicity it attracts. The major impact is made because of Mr. Branson’s partying ways and rich lifestyle. The other factors which lead to this idea are the on board crew, the colorful products, the entertainment on board, the extra facilities like the limousine service, massage on board, music and movies etc.
From the entire survey we found out that most of the non- customers think of virgin as an airline that is meant for the upper and elite class of the society. Most of them also think that it is a very customer friendly airline and takes good care to see that its customers are well satisfied. They also tend to think that this airline is expensive and doesn’t live up to its expectation price wise. A few feel that the staff etc is arrogant and unfriendly, whereas some feel that they are extremely customer friendly. We also got a few comments like “cool, professional, energetic, modern and customer friendly!”, unconventional and naughty! , Fun, flirtatious, comfortable, advanced etc.
Hence, we see that basically, Virgin Atlantic has lived up to its image in the minds on the non-customers.
5. Rate the following mediums according to their importance in formation of your image about virgin?
Newspapers- Magazines- Hoardings-
Internet- Richard Branson’s image/parties-
Word of mouth from users-
We analyzed this question by giving points to each medium and thus have made a pie chart to show the result.
As we can see Richard Branson plays a very important role in the branding and creating awareness about Virgin Atlantic. In fact Alison Copus, Marketing Director, Virgin Atlantic Airways said: "We do not like to spend huge amounts on sales promotions. Instead, we just put our Chairman, not our money, where our mouth is." Even if that includes putting your Chairman (in Virgin's case, the colourful Richard Branson) on an elephant or posing with women dressed in samba attire or even getting him to throw a party at his mansion for 60,000 loyal customers and employees. "People like to identify with people. This strategy is also very useful in places where we are relatively new and unknown, such as India, where such promos help create news and excitement. It is the best way to announce that we are here," says Copus. "We have used the conventional promotions too, which were especially helpful in the post 9/11 and SARS scenario, which had thrown the airline industry into a recession. At that time, we ran promotions such as `I love NY' in which we gave away free tickets to New York as a confidence-building measure to assure that it is safe to fly to the city. Otherwise, we try to create awareness through products innovations — such as in-flight massages, or four free limousine transfers with every business class ticket.
6. Do you think Virgin Atlantic’s Indian venture has been timely-appropriate?
Virgin Atlantic started its operations from Mumbai in March 2005. Majority of the people found Virgin Atlantic’s Indian venture most timely, as the route had previously been significantly under served. Also, British Airways operating on the London route had started adopting monopolistic attitude as they had no competition except for Air India who was no real threat to their business. Hence, a large number of passengers had been forced to travel to London through other Indian cities or through other countries, extending their journey time and making their travel inconvenient
7. If Virgin Atlantic materializes like a person, how would it be?
The inference for this question is same as the one for the customer questionnaire, as all the people have given similar opinions.
GAP ANALYSIS
Virgin Atlantic tries to project a different unique experience, using the various innovative mediums given below, in their promotional material:-
1. The color the backdrop which is red, a color which represents being dynamic, daring and bold.
2. The text for example, Mumbai paradise to London- talking about giving passengers a heavenly experience.
3. Pictures of young, pretty looking hostesses girls-projecting glamour, glitter and fun and additional facilities such as the massages on board limo service, etc. which have really built up the curiosity of the customers.
4. Richard Branson plays a very important role in maintaining Virgin Atlantic’s image, through all the innovative marketing strategies that he uses.
All the way through out the surveying we found that there had to be a mention of Mr. Branson. This just goes to show how powerful his persona actually is and that how he is an integral part of the entire perception of this company.
Majority of the customers that we interviewed enjoyed the experience of flying Virgin Atlantic. They thought it was a unique, unconventional and vibrant airline which went that extra mile to make passengers feel comfortable and truly made flying a fun experience. The upper class passengers thoroughly enjoyed the additional facilities on board which were very convenient.
However, there were some customers who flew Virgin Atlantic only to fulfill their curiosity factor. There is a curiosity factor with everything connected with Virgin Atlantic; this includes the name of the airline. This is largely due to the fact that the owner of the airline, Sir Richard Branson gets involved in news breaking events from time to time. Hence, for many first time users of Virgin Atlantic, it is the curiosity factor which drives the decision to travel on Virgin Atlantic, even if it means having to pay a little more than a competing carrier. To some extent, they think it is a different experience. Once the first trip is undertaken, the enthusiasm to travel again on the airline is reduced, as the curiosity factor is satisfied. Few customers felt that the hype created around the airline caused people to get disappointed after their travel, as their expectations were very high. Its ad campaigns talk about a flight from Bombay to London being paradise. Howe ever a few passengers did not find anything unique or exceptional about their experience, they in fact found Virgin Atlantic facilities like their seats, the on board crew, the ambience, entertainment like any other airline. It was a situation of anticipation of being better than the real thing. Therefore few customers’ opinion about the airline was that it is average and not drastically different from any other international carrier.
Most of the non customers go with the strong brand of Virgin Atlantic, which is mainly because of Sir Richard Branson. The non customers, who we interviewed included students, frequent flyers, travel agents and also some common people, were aware of Virgin Atlantic and its image that it portrayed of being different and fun-loving. Their reflection of the airline too was similar to what the company is trying to project of their airline. Especially leisure travelers think that it is definitely an airline which one must fly as it is an enjoyable airline to experience. They think it is different, energetic, innovative, customer friendly, value for money, stylish, flashy, elite, and flirtatious.
Hence, by this we conclude that there is a slight gap between what Virgin Atlantic projects about its image and what the customers perceive about it. Based on our survey we have recommended a few suggestions, which are given under.
RECOMMENDATIONS
From the feedback received from our respondents we have following recommendations
1. On the product front-
a. Operate a better aircraft- The present aircraft on the India route is old and needs urgent refurbishment. Also, the business class should have better seats (lie flat like their arch rival British Airways)
b. Since many people try the airline the first time due to the curiosity factor there is a possibility of them not returning as repeat clients. It is important they keep using innovative means to keep attracting new people and sustain their current passengers. The novelty of frills such as massages, on board bar etc can lose its magic. Also, this can be copied by competitors very easily. They will need to keep coming up with services that have a first runner advantage. Such as book your ticket to space in 2008
2. From the Advertising perspective-
a. All the promotional matter is too Richard Branson centric. Most people got to know about the airline through news associated with Richard Branson. Although this is a cost effective means, it could threaten the longevity of the product as the dependence for brand awareness on one person is too high. They should concentrate more on the product offering of the airline.
b. Reduce the hype-The hype about the Virgin experience is so high that many people were disappointed at the end of their journey. It became a matter of Anticipation being better than the Real thing.
3. On the people front-
While the airline was projected as a fun and friendly airline, the ground staff at London Heathrow airport came through as very stiff, unfriendly, unapproachable and rule bound. In the service industry, it is a well known fact that customer service plays a very important role and very often customer’s first interaction with the airline starts at the airport. It is important that this element of their ground service is looked into.
When Virgin Atlantic was to be set up, the driving force of the airline, Sir Richard Branson wanted it to be an unconventional airline. Hence, in the initial days, during the brainstorm sessions the core group took many decisions revolved around what was not prevailing in the aviation industry such as fares determined by market forces, massage on board, and any other additional facilities, which would truly make Virgin Atlantic different from the other airlines. In the 80s when it 1st came into existence, all its competitors wanted to portray a ‘serious business’ image. However Virgin Atlantic realized the need of the hour and revolutionarised air-travel from being a highly formal event to being a highly informal fun event.
“Let’s Get Physical” “Our Crew Talks Back” “We Do It Thrice a Week” ‘’Hello Gorgeous’’. These one-liners attract customer attention and convey strongly about how Virgin Atlantic believes in doing everything differently, including their advertising. Like the one liner, “Lets Get Physical” conveys the on board massages that they provide to their passengers, “Our Crews Talks Back” refers to the friendly on board crew etc. The name VIRGIN by itself is a very strong image conveyor. What makes virgin so interesting is that it has managed to strike a right balance between being fun loving, at the same time professional, it has its set of frills in its airlines but at the same time has not ignored the basic necessities of flying; namely good pricing, good food, innovative new services on board, good aircrafts etc. But to top it all, they have Sir Richard Branson as their CEO who totally lives up to their brand.
Brief history
Richard Branson’s business career began while he was a student at Stowe, a private boarding school. His start-up magazine, Student, was first published on January 26,1968. The early success of the magazine encouraged Branson to leave school at 17years old. Agreeing to the boy’s request to leave, the headmaster offered the prophetic statement, “Richard, you will end up in prison or as a millionaire.” Student’s magazine’s eclectic style reflected its founder’s ability to commission articles by celebrities and to identify subjects not touched by many well established magazines. Branson’s next venture was mail order records. Beginning with a single advertisement in the last issue of Student magazine, Branson found that he was able to establish a thriving business, Virgin record label, which went on to sign up bands whose music or lifestyles did not appeal to the major record companies. Among the most successful signings were the Sex Pistols.
The name “virgin” was suggested by one of his associates who saw the name as proclaiming their commercial innocence, while possessing some novelty and modest shock-value. In the last 40 yrs Virgin Group has expanded from a funky record business into a sprawling keiretsu encompassing air travel, cell phones, train travel, soft drinks, African safaris, digital downloads, and Caribbean hideaways. Branson's own Virgin Island - no kidding - is available starting at $25,000 a day.Branson's nearly 200 companies are worth $9 billion. However his move from entertainment to travel initially caused a huge financial burden on the virgin group resulting in which Branson was forced to unload the family silver, Virgin Music. The $1 billion proceeds allowed him to regroup - and then to fund new ventures. The ones that stuck were airlines in Europe and Australia, newly privatized British rail lines, and mobile phones - plus a kaleidoscope of companies that contribute more to brand equity than to the bottom line.
Presently, Virgin has around 200 mostly small companies. The work philosophy of Richard Branson revolves around ideas such as “Staff first, then customers and shareholders” should be the chairman’s priority. “Shape the business around the people,” “Be best, not biggest,” “Pioneer, don’t follow the leader,” and “Drive for change” were other guiding principles in the Branson philosophy. Although the Virgin group is a family of businesses with a shared brand, all of the companies
run independently. Often the companies are set up as joint ventures with other partners, so they all have different shareholders and boards.
He also realized very early in his work life that he has a person could fulfill only some elements of his ever growing ideas. Hence he always looked for people who had qualities similar to him and abilities better than himself. Once he got people he delegated and let them chase his dreams.
The Virgin Group, try and stick to some brand values and make sure that they 'do' full fill them… value for money, good quality, brilliant customer service, innovation, competitively challenging, fun
background
Virgin Atlantic was developed as an offshoot of Richard Branson's Virgin Group. Back in the early 80s Richard Branson was probably best know for Virgin Records - the legendary record label that signed major names like the Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson and The Human League. In 1984, much to the horror of his directors, Richard announced to the world that a high quality, value for money airline would begin operating within three months. Three months, some licenses, staff and an aircraft packed with celebrities later, Virgin Atlantic Airways was born.
Virgin Atlantic is the second largest long haul airline in the UK and the third largest European carrier over the North Atlantic. Their route network has grown rapidly to include destinations in the US, Caribbean, Far East, India and Africa, and they have won virtually every award the travel industry has to offer. The airline has offered business travelers amenities not even offered to first-class passengers on other airlines. Virgin had pioneered state-of- the-art reclining seats, in-flight massages, hair stylists, aroma therapists, and motorcycle and limo home-pick-up service. In 1998 it began a luxury boat service up the Thames from Heathrow to the City of London allowing executives and bankers to dodge London traffic jams. In economy, Virgin was the first to provide passenger-controlled personal video screens in every seat-back. In-flight entertainment has included clowns, London buskers, even Richard Branson serving drinks while dressed as a female flight attendant. The inaugural transatlantic flight was still remembered fondly by travel writers who took the journey to New York. Bands played music in the aisles, Miss World danced with passengers, and butlers handed out caviar, brandy, and cigars. Branson’s father, who was along for the ride, commented, “When I die, I hope heaven is like this: 35,000 feet up, endless champagne and surrounded by pretty women.”8 What Virgin did was to re-create the mystique of air travel through mixing unique in-flight luxuries. The airline won numerous awards for its customer service and became one of the most profitable of the world’s smaller airlines. Its success in the North Atlantic market encouraged it to extend its routes to Asia (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Delhi), the Caribbean, and South Africa.
A constant theme of Virgin Atlantic’s development was its war against the major airlines and against British Airways in particular. This involved Branson in one of his favorite roles: casting his plucky Virgin upstart as David against the corporate Goliaths of big business.
For all Virgin Atlantic’s success, it was competing in a tough industry and defending a difficult strategic position. The international airline industry has been a financial disaster for most of the past decade – none of the major airlines had covered their cost of capital. Virgin Atlantic’s dependence on business travelers was a major source of vulnerability when most companies were trimming their travel budgets. Virgin Atlantic’s competitive advantage depended critically upon its superior service, yet almost all its service innovations were being imitated by the major airlines.
In 2000, Branson sold a 49 percent stake of Virgin Atlantic to Singapore Airlines
for £600 million, using the proceeds to invest in growing divisions within the Virgin group, namely Virgin Mobile and Virgin Net.
Operations of virgin Atlantic in India
Virgin Atlantic began operations to India in July 2000 with twice-weekly Delhi-London services. Virgin Atlantic further added weekly flight on 27 October 2003, thereby operating thrice - weekly services on the Delhi-London route. The airline launched daily services on the route with effect from 1 February 2005.
Operating on a code-share agreement with Air India till November 2004, now Virgin flies into India on its own rights. Since 2000 the airline has flown almost
2,50,000 passengers between London and Delhi. In March 2005, the company expanded its India route network/footprint with the launch of Mumbai operations mounting three weekly flights from Mumbai to London (Heathrow).. Presently, Virgin Atlantic in India operates 10 flights every week from India to UK. Virgin Atlantic is keen on increasing its flights to 14 every week by the end of 2005.
Growing Potential
Virgin Atlantic sees huge potential on the India –UK sector. Close to 1 million passengers travel between India and UK every year. Till last year, half the passengers were flying indirectly via third countries due to unavailability of direct flights on the route. There was a need gap that offered great potential for Virgin Atlantic to expand its operations. Moreover, the number of passengers flying to international destinations is growing every year with the increase in per capita incomes, socio-economic changes, increase in ‘lifestyle spends’ and a plethora of choices available to consumers. According to a 2005 KSA Technopak study on consumer outlook, there is a clear growth of 20 per cent in ‘lifestyle spends’.
Within two years of operations in India, Virgin Atlantic had achieved a 15 per cent market share on the India-UK sector, and an increased load factor of 74 percent. With enhanced operations and flight frequencies,Virgin Atlantic currently enjoys approximately 20 per cent market share.
The Indian consumer today has evolved and is seeking higher quality of services at a value for money price, as a result, most of the airlines are removing their
first class and packing in value added features in their business class to satisfy the customer needs at an affordable price. Virgin Atlantic, first pioneered the concept, by introducing its Upper Class, marketed as a first class service at a business class fare in 1984.
In India Virgin Atlantic operates a three-class system: Upper Class (the airline's business class), Premium Economy Class (a full fare separate economy cabin)
and Economy Class (at economy fares). Further, Virgin Atlantic is planning to introduce its revolutionary product, Upper Class Suite, in India by the end of this
Year. All these classes are aimed at providing maximum value for money and an ‘absolute pampering’ experience to its customers.
Differentiated Services
Virgin Atlantic provides differentiated services to its passengers like superior in flight entertainment, individual seat- back TVs throughout the flight, special movies, varied choice of music, games and menus for children etc.
The company in fact has been a pioneer in offering innovative in-flight services such as an beauty therapy, onboard bar, freedom menu where there are no set meal times. You’re free to eat what you like, when you like.
, exciting shopping, massage therapy, chauffeur pick-up and drop for Upper
Class passengers. These services differentiate Virgin Atlantic from other airlines and ensure that it delivers on the promise of pampering its customer. The ambience of the aircrafts is also very vibrant and lively.
Future plans
India is the second largest growing market in the world and Virgin Atlantic is looking at expanding its operations in India. The company is looking forward to double its daily services to Delhi and Mumbai, besides extending its services to at least 3-4 more destinations. Flights to Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad are also in the offing, though the current focus is on consolidation of operations and increasing market share in Mumbai and Delhi. The Virgin group has interest in the financial services, health club and music sectors. The group also considered the possibility of investing in a domestic airline in India. However, with the changes underway in Government of India regulations, the Group is reviewing its plans.
METHODOLOGY
This project is an attempt to study the gap between what Virgin Atlantic tries to portray about its image and what the people and its customer think of Virgin Atlantics image. It also shows the customer complaints and suggestions.
Sample-
The sample has been selected on a random basis by interviewing some of the customers of Virgin Atlantic, India by a pre-designed questionnaire. Also, the general publics who have not traveled by Virgin Atlantic but yet hold an opinion about it by a separate questionnaire.
Sample Size-
The sample size included 30 customers of Virgin Atlantic, India and 40 Non-customers.
Data Collection-
The process for the research involved the following steps-
We designed two Questionnaires- one for the customers and the other for the non-customers consisting of open ended questions and rating based questions so we could get their views and a proper rating about the various features of Virgin Atlantic.
The Customers and Non-Customers were then interviewed to get a thorough insight into their awareness about Virgin Atlantic and were promised that their response would be exclusively used for research purpose. They were thanked for spending their valuable time.
We also had an interview with the Manager of Western India, Mr. Kiran Yaderry , who enlightened us about the image and perception of Virgin Atlantic that the company portrays.
The entire information was then collected and analysed carefully to obtain the views of the customers and non-customers of Virgin Atlantic’s image.
We made charts and graphs for the rating based questions to show the result we obtained after analyzing them. Once we examined all the questionnaires we realized from the customer complaints and suggestions what a gap there was between the image that Virgin personifies and the perception that the customers hold once they have traveled.
IMAGE VIRGIN ATLATIC POTRAYS
To begin with some words from Richard Branson himself: "A brand name that is known internationally for innovation, quality and a sense of fun - this is what we have always aspired to with Virgin."
Virgin Atlantic defines its role to be the consumer champion, and they do so by delivering to the consumers their brand values, which include:-
• Value for Money
• Good Quality
• Brilliant Customer Service
• Innovative
• Competitively Challenging
• Fun
Richard Branson set out with these principles in mind in the 1970s and they still really define what Virgin is all about. Virgin believes that the most important thing is the way these values are delivered and brought to life.
They deliver value for money by their Simple, honest & transparent pricing – not necessarily the cheapest on the market. The good quality is provided by their high standards, attention to detail, being honest and delivering on promises. They have a brilliant customer service which is friendly and human. They are very innovative and have challenging conventions along with modern and stylish designs. They are very competitive and challenge their opponents with humor. Virgin Atlantic believes a lot in having fun and has one of the best entertainments on board.
Virgin Atlantic likes to challenge the everyday routine to give their passengers something different and special. Flying in Economy is all about fun and value, where they provide free amenity kits and have seat back TVs.
Premium Economy seats are bigger and wider and there's a separate cabin dedicated to Premium Economy passengers.
Their Upper class Suite is the ultimate in comfort and innovations.
Their key features are:-
• Massages on board
• Bar on Board
• Fully flat beds
• Ice cream served while watching movie
• Limo pick ups
• Latest music and movies
For a company like Virgin, branding is an essential tool of gaining mind share across target customers. It is in the truest sense a marketing-led company that continues to emphasize on the inspirational value of the Virgin brand by way of continuous innovations both in services and products.
Due to Richard Branson’s entrepreneurial attitude and his fearless reputation for antics like ballooning across the Atlantic Ocean and traveling through Virgin Atlantic in shorts the Virgin brand is always guaranteed its fair share of publicity.
Virgin Atlantics mission Statement is “To grow a profitable airline, that people love to fly and where people love to work."
Its USP is to focus on customer service, with emphasis on value for money, quality, fun and innovation. The focus is customer driven and Virgin continues to establish and strengthen these values amongst its stakeholders, customers and travel trade partners, thereby consistently innovating and building on the strong foundation.
ANALYSIS
Customer Questionnaire
1) How often do you travel by air internationally?
14 people travel internationally 1-2 times a year
10 people travel internationally3-4 times a year, and
6 people travel internationally more than 5 times a year.
Hence, we have made a pie chart for this data.
2) What do you as a customer, look for in an airline? (Rate according to preference on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best)
To analyze this question, we took the average amount of each criteria and made a comparison between question 2 and 3 showing the difference between what the customers expected out of an airline and what they got out of Virgin Atlantic.
Punctuality-------------4.7
Pricing------------------3.9
Entertainment----------4.3
On Board Crew--------4.6
Food---------------------4.2
Security-----------------4.4
Comfort-----------------4.7
A different experience-4.0
The above mentioned parameters are an average rating given by the customers as to what they would look for in an airline.
3) Rate virgin on the above mentioned parameters?(on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best)
Punctuality-------------4.8
Pricing------------------3.7
Entertainment---------4.7
On Board Crew--------4.4
Food--------------------3.5
Security-----------------4.2
Comfort-----------------4.2
A different experience-4.1
The above mentioned parameters are an average rating given by the customers after their experience at Virgin Atlantic.
Below are the graphs which show the comparison between the customer’s expectations and what Virgin actually provides them.
Punctuality-
Inference-
“Punctuality is the art of estimating how long the other is going to be late.” It is one of the key performance indicators in the airline industry and an important service differentiator especially for valuable high-yield customers. Delays cause passengers to miss connecting flights, get late for meetings, and put them behind schedule. Hence, leading to customer dissatisfaction. That is where Virgin Atlantic steps in and lives up to its image of being very punctual.
In our survey, we asked customers what they would like to have from an airline, and what they actually received from Virgin Atlantic, and thus have made a graph showing on an average the comparison between the two. The customers have rated the punctuality of Virgin Atlantic a peg higher than what they expected from the airline industry.
We can see through this graph that Virgin Atlantic flights are very punctual and always fly as per schedule and on time, not disappointing their customers and living up to its needs and expectations.
Pricing-
Inference-
Virgin Atlantic provides a lot of additional onboard activities like massages, onboard bar etc, for which their pricing is comparatively a little higher as compared to other competing airlines. The company manager whom we interviewed also mentioned that virgin is an exclusive airline meant for the upper middle class.
In our graph infers that there were a few passengers who didn’t feel that the experience was that exceptional and therefore did not see any need to spend that extra bit on flying by Virgin Atlantic. Hence we infer from our survey that Virgin Atlantic has not lived up to its goal of being value for money according to some customers. Majority of the people we interviewed were people from the upper classes and they felt that the experience was worth the money.
Entertainment-
Inference:
Virgin Atlantic has one of the best entertainment facilities on board where they play award winning music the latest movies and have an onboard bar. From our graph it’s seen that where entertainment is concerned virgin is a cut above the rest.
On-board crew-
Inference:
On board crew plays a very important role in creating an image about the airline. Most airlines advertise of having a very friendly crew; however in reality it is very different. Virgin Atlantic too advertises of its crew living up to its image of being ‘high on life’. As can be seen from the above graph, a few virgin customers were not happy with its on-board crew. Some of our customers also complained of arrogance, both by Virgin Atlantics on-board crew as well as its airport crew.
Food-
Inference:
International flights are long and people expect good food. If virgin’s marketing campaign is carefully analyzed, one will notice that Virgin Atlantic never talks about its food. The company manager Mr.Kiran Yadri enlightened us about the freedom menus i.e. the passenger can order from a wide variety at whatever time he chooses to. In spite of this facility a few customers were unhappy about the food and rated it quite low.
Security-
Inference:
Security is something that is not really thought of but it is always present in the subconscious mind of the passenger and it is always expected from the airline authorities.
Virgin Atlantic talks about having the latest Boeing aircrafts. However on the India route most of the aircrafts are outdated.
Moreover the Customers of Virgin Atlantic expressed their disappointment about the baggage claim procedure and also the overall security procedure mainly at Heathrow Airport.
Comfort-
Inference:
Comfort plays a very important role, especially when one is expected to sit in the same place for hours at a stretch. Virgin advertises comfort. Its ad campaigns talk about a flight from Bombay to London being paradise. However some customers were disappointed by the comfort in the aircraft. Some complained about the legroom in the economy class and also the upper class was disappointed with the seat pitch as they expected fully flat beds.
A different experience-
Inference:
In today’s competitive market what makes Virgin successful is that they do everything slightly different from the other airlines. The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class environment offers a departure from stereotypical aircraft interiors, setting new standards in aviation interior design with a refined definition of the available space. The interior consists of an impressive on-board bar, an innovative class-leading suite and an in-flight beautician's area. As with the new furniture, a key achievement of the design team was for the interior to offer an experience closer to that found in ground-base environments, such as in luxury lounges, hotels, restaurants and bars. The design language summarised by the phrase "an air of natural glamour" led the design, so the passenger experienced an interior that is effortlessly stylish and relaxed. Lighting is an essential element considered in the interior, and has been used to revitalize the entire space. A contemporary chandelier helps to define the bar area and further accentuates its glamorous atmosphere. A fully controllable mood lighting system blends through different scenes throughout the flight, with colours chosen to make passenger’s look and feel attractive and relaxed. All these facilities help in giving the customers a truly unique experience.
4)What is your opinion/perception/image/brand persona of Virgin Atlantic?
“Customer is always correct” as the line goes, we all know that no company in the entire worlds can survive without its customers, they are most vital to every enterprise and so is the case for Virgin Atlantic where they try to pamper their customers as much as possible, and where each and every customer is taken care of in such a way that he doesn’t go back unsatisfied. Their crews are specially given rigorous training in hospitality. Every staff member is expected to be on his/her best behavior.
From our survey we found out that some of the customers are quite satisfied with the entire experience of flying with Virgin Atlantic. They think so because they truly find the service to be worth the money they shell out. People are quite happy with the crew on board, the extra services, the food, the punctuality, the ambience on flight etc.
Majority of the people think that the entire company is all made by a one-man army named Richard Branson. His entire personality is reflected in the company’s behavior and persona. We have got quite a few responses that the First thing that comes to mind when customers hear about Virgin Atlantic is Richard Branson and his fun lifestyle. A few said that the entire flying is a joy, and that its very glamorous and vibrant.
Here are a few comments we got:
“Party time”
“Goes an extra mile to keep its customers happy”
“The best, glamorous crew, fun and lively experience”
Fantastic limo service and upper class is efficient
The company is a reflection is Mr. Branson’s character.
However, there were some customers who flew Virgin Atlantic only to fulfill their curiosity factor. There is a curiosity factor with everything connected with Virgin Atlantic; this includes the name of the airline. This is largely due to the fact that the owner of the airline, Sir Richard Branson gets involved in news breaking events from time to time.
Few customers felt that the hype created around the airline caused people to get disappointed after their travel, as their expectations were very high.
5. Has Virgin Atlantic lived up to its expectation?
Our Survey results revealed the following: -
While 60% of the respondents said that the airline was able to match their expectations, 23% said to an extent and 17% said no. This could be due to the following factors
1. The advertising hype that the airline had undertaken in Mumbai a month prior its operations from Mumbai. For a whole month there were regular full-page advertisements in Times of India and hoardings in prominent locations boasting of transporting people to Paradise on their way to their London.
2. The previous image of the brand which is closely associated with Richard Branson i.e. an image of fun, celebration, exclusive, high quality, unique etc. Hence people’s curiosity and expectations were high as their imagination to take them, causing a let down effect in some.
3. They expected a different experience. Word-of-mouth information from previous Virgin passengers made the Indian travelers believe that they would experience something exceptional, which did not happen. If the goal is to get customers to think different about a brand they have to experience it differently and they have to notice a difference. There were instances where passengers, especially the conservative passengers, found the informal attitude of the cabin crew which is intended to be different, to be intimidating.
4. Pricing: Virgin is priced higher than the competing carriers on the London route. As per our observation the Indian traveler is willing to pay a higher price, as a unique experience is high on their priority list especially since most of the carriers have a uniform offering. Having paid the price they felt let down and cheated.
As we all know, a brand is nothing more or less than the people’s perception of the product or company. The closer the perception is to what the company intends them to be, the stronger the brand. Most importantly, perception is the only reality.
From this it can be assumed that the brand of Virgin is so strong that even the people who said that their expectations were met were probably too intimidated by the image of the brand, to say otherwise.
However, some passengers were clearly ambassadors for the Virgin brand. They were highly impressed with the friendly cabin crew, in flight entertainment, informal, fun and vibrant ambience, onboard additional services like the massages, which was found to be very convenient and relaxing. On board, the passengers, especially the premium class passengers, felt truly pampered. Also the limousine service for business class passengers was found to be useful and safe particularly since the flight landed into London in the night.
6. If no, then what suggestions would you offer?
The people who were disappointed mainly suggested that Virgin Atlantic should tone down the advertising hype to reduce the gap between expectations and delivery. It was a situation of anticipation of being better than the real thing.
Virgin Atlantic has a very distinct and strong brand identity and appeal. The hype is so high that any element that dint live up to being exceptional caused a negative impact, which on another airline may have passed off as a routine. Although the Indian customers nowadays with an increase in disposable income is willing to spend for a good product and unique experience, but he needs to get value for that amount. There were a few customers who felt that the experience was not as unique as projected by the airline, they felt that because of their over expectations due to all the hype created about virgin they were let down. Also the advertisements gave an impression of a flat bed in business class which was not so. They also suggested that Virgin Atlantic should have a new aircraft on the India route because Indian customers today have a lot of choice and have been exposed to the latest aircrafts of other airlines.
7. If Virgin Atlantic airways materializes like a person, how would it be?
The survey response from both the customer and non customer groups was similar. Most of them felt that if Virgin Atlantic were to appear in flesh and blood it would look like Richard Branson in terms of having his personality traits such as being creative, bold, carefree and without any boundaries, aspiring to be the best. Some people also gave comments like-
“It would be a Rock star”
“Youthful and energetic”
“Page 3 celebrity”
“Friendly but professional”
“Glamorous, dynamic and flamboyant, standing out from the rest”
“ Fun and rebellious”
Some people identified it with Indian stars like Shahrukh Khan,Preity Zinta,Mallika Sherawat who are celebrities who are famous, bold ,fun and with no barriers at all and most of all they were common people who made it big because they stood out from the rest.
This merely goes to say that Richard Branson as a brand has got so deeply meshed into the Virgin Atlantic as a product that people immediately associate him with it. Also, it suits Virgin Atlantic as they do not have to pay for this publicity. All the advertising campaign carries his face and the exploits that he undertakes such as the hot air balloon ride, sailing the Atlantic solo etc. Since he was being written about automatically the airline got publicity. He has begun to represent the common mans dream to reach for the skies. Most importantly, he represents a success story. Hence, people found it easy to identify and connect with the airline through him.
However, there were a few people who replied by saying that if Virgin Atlantic materialized as a person it would be like any other average person, red attired common man not afraid of being different.
8. Do u think there is a need for improvement in virgin? If yes, then how?
In today’s context of fierce competition in the Indian aviation sector, airlines operating to and from India have to ensure their product offering is top- of- the- line. This not only includes the service on- ground and on- board but also the type of equipment (aircraft). Today’s well traveled Indian passenger is exposed to the latest aircrafts especially since airlines like Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Lufthansa, for whom India is a very lucrative market, fly modern, latest aircrafts on this route. On Virgin Atlantic on the India-London-India flights some passengers complained about –
1. The seat pitch and leg room space in economy class.
2. The Business class passengers were disappointed that Virgin Atlantic did not have flat beds especially since the advertisements gave the impression that it was a lie flat product. Hence, they felt let down and disappointed as reality did mot match up to their expectations.
3. The aircrafts of Virgin Atlantic on the India route requiring refurbishment.
4. Flexible and better baggage facilities-the fun, casual image of the airline did not match the strict enforcement of baggage allowance. While most airlines permit excess baggage of 5 kgs per person, Virgin Atlantic charges for anything more than the 20 kgs officially permitted baggage allowance. Indians are not known to be light travelers hence flexibility in baggage allowances is assumed from an airline.
5. The fun and casual image also impacted virgin when they wanted to charge for any change in reservations.
6. Change in flight timings-While the Virgin Atlantic flight leaves Mumbai and arrives into Mumbai at a very convenient hour, passengers were not happy with the arrival time into London, viz. 2100hrs . It is a well know fact that most Indians are comfortable arriving into India at night hours; the same however, is not true when they land into a foreign land. Most Indians like arriving at their destination during daylight hours. The current schedule also impacts the connecting flights. In view of the fact that the flight arrives into London in the night it misses the connecting flight to New York and other important cities. Hence, people are forced to spend the night in London even when they not have any work/need to stay the night in London.
7. Unfriendly service at London Heathrow airport-Again this caused a mismatch between the preconceived notion that the passenger has about the airline via what they observed at the customer service counter at Heathrow leading to disappointment.
Hence, while the first time traveler of Virgin Atlantic is very excited, the second time the above constraints cause him/her to be in two minds.
As mentioned above nowadays there are more airlines operating in the Indian skies than ever before. Not very long ago, a few airlines ruled due to protective aviation rules prevailing in the country. The consumer was almost sort of panting for the next innovation, the next new product offering, the next breakthrough in airline technology. Now they're not. There are more airline seats(supply) than consumers(demand), and therefore airlines have to have some kind of different way of selling themselves and also make sure hey are of the best quality.
non- Customer Questionnaire
1. How often do you travel by air internationally?
17 people travel internationally once a year.
13 people travel internationally 2-3 times a year.
5 people travel 3-4 times a year, and
5 people travel more than 4 times in a year.
Hence, we have made a pie chart showing this data.
2. What do you as a customer, look for in an airline? (Rate according to preference)(On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best)
Here, we have taken an average amount of each criteria and displayed all the criteria’s together in one graph.
Punctuality---------------4.6
Pricing--------------------4.4
Entertainment-----------3.75
On-board crew-----------4.12
Food-----------------------4.2
Security-------------------4.2
Comfort-------------------4.45
A different experience---3.47
4. What is your perception/opinion/brand persona of virgin?
Most of the airlines in the world have the knack of projecting themselves as formal and business oriented. The whole airline industry is something that people think is very elite and sophisticated in a very corporate way.
The airport itself means that it’s not a place where one can do something informal and fun. The entire idea of the air industry is formal.
This is where Virgin Atlantic is unique and different in its own way.
Virgin Atlantic has always portrayed itself as a pleasurable and lively experience. Its mass appeal is basically of an airline industry where people are rich and sophisticated. The entire feel given to the airline is lively, informal and entertaining. If u see anything that is a virgin product is always given flashy colors like red etc. This makes even a non-customer think that it is something young energetic sand vivacious. The whole feeling is of something young, energetic, vibrant and sophisticated. Virgin Atlantic has succeeded in building an image, which has made people to believe that flying is a fun experience with this airline. A very strong image that has been created in the minds of the people is also that the aircrew consists of very pretty ladies and handsome young men. The crew itself is making such an impact on the minds of the people.
This whole perception is created in the minds of the people because of the publicity it attracts. The major impact is made because of Mr. Branson’s partying ways and rich lifestyle. The other factors which lead to this idea are the on board crew, the colorful products, the entertainment on board, the extra facilities like the limousine service, massage on board, music and movies etc.
From the entire survey we found out that most of the non- customers think of virgin as an airline that is meant for the upper and elite class of the society. Most of them also think that it is a very customer friendly airline and takes good care to see that its customers are well satisfied. They also tend to think that this airline is expensive and doesn’t live up to its expectation price wise. A few feel that the staff etc is arrogant and unfriendly, whereas some feel that they are extremely customer friendly. We also got a few comments like “cool, professional, energetic, modern and customer friendly!”, unconventional and naughty! , Fun, flirtatious, comfortable, advanced etc.
Hence, we see that basically, Virgin Atlantic has lived up to its image in the minds on the non-customers.
5. Rate the following mediums according to their importance in formation of your image about virgin?
Newspapers- Magazines- Hoardings-
Internet- Richard Branson’s image/parties-
Word of mouth from users-
We analyzed this question by giving points to each medium and thus have made a pie chart to show the result.
As we can see Richard Branson plays a very important role in the branding and creating awareness about Virgin Atlantic. In fact Alison Copus, Marketing Director, Virgin Atlantic Airways said: "We do not like to spend huge amounts on sales promotions. Instead, we just put our Chairman, not our money, where our mouth is." Even if that includes putting your Chairman (in Virgin's case, the colourful Richard Branson) on an elephant or posing with women dressed in samba attire or even getting him to throw a party at his mansion for 60,000 loyal customers and employees. "People like to identify with people. This strategy is also very useful in places where we are relatively new and unknown, such as India, where such promos help create news and excitement. It is the best way to announce that we are here," says Copus. "We have used the conventional promotions too, which were especially helpful in the post 9/11 and SARS scenario, which had thrown the airline industry into a recession. At that time, we ran promotions such as `I love NY' in which we gave away free tickets to New York as a confidence-building measure to assure that it is safe to fly to the city. Otherwise, we try to create awareness through products innovations — such as in-flight massages, or four free limousine transfers with every business class ticket.
6. Do you think Virgin Atlantic’s Indian venture has been timely-appropriate?
Virgin Atlantic started its operations from Mumbai in March 2005. Majority of the people found Virgin Atlantic’s Indian venture most timely, as the route had previously been significantly under served. Also, British Airways operating on the London route had started adopting monopolistic attitude as they had no competition except for Air India who was no real threat to their business. Hence, a large number of passengers had been forced to travel to London through other Indian cities or through other countries, extending their journey time and making their travel inconvenient
7. If Virgin Atlantic materializes like a person, how would it be?
The inference for this question is same as the one for the customer questionnaire, as all the people have given similar opinions.
GAP ANALYSIS
Virgin Atlantic tries to project a different unique experience, using the various innovative mediums given below, in their promotional material:-
1. The color the backdrop which is red, a color which represents being dynamic, daring and bold.
2. The text for example, Mumbai paradise to London- talking about giving passengers a heavenly experience.
3. Pictures of young, pretty looking hostesses girls-projecting glamour, glitter and fun and additional facilities such as the massages on board limo service, etc. which have really built up the curiosity of the customers.
4. Richard Branson plays a very important role in maintaining Virgin Atlantic’s image, through all the innovative marketing strategies that he uses.
All the way through out the surveying we found that there had to be a mention of Mr. Branson. This just goes to show how powerful his persona actually is and that how he is an integral part of the entire perception of this company.
Majority of the customers that we interviewed enjoyed the experience of flying Virgin Atlantic. They thought it was a unique, unconventional and vibrant airline which went that extra mile to make passengers feel comfortable and truly made flying a fun experience. The upper class passengers thoroughly enjoyed the additional facilities on board which were very convenient.
However, there were some customers who flew Virgin Atlantic only to fulfill their curiosity factor. There is a curiosity factor with everything connected with Virgin Atlantic; this includes the name of the airline. This is largely due to the fact that the owner of the airline, Sir Richard Branson gets involved in news breaking events from time to time. Hence, for many first time users of Virgin Atlantic, it is the curiosity factor which drives the decision to travel on Virgin Atlantic, even if it means having to pay a little more than a competing carrier. To some extent, they think it is a different experience. Once the first trip is undertaken, the enthusiasm to travel again on the airline is reduced, as the curiosity factor is satisfied. Few customers felt that the hype created around the airline caused people to get disappointed after their travel, as their expectations were very high. Its ad campaigns talk about a flight from Bombay to London being paradise. Howe ever a few passengers did not find anything unique or exceptional about their experience, they in fact found Virgin Atlantic facilities like their seats, the on board crew, the ambience, entertainment like any other airline. It was a situation of anticipation of being better than the real thing. Therefore few customers’ opinion about the airline was that it is average and not drastically different from any other international carrier.
Most of the non customers go with the strong brand of Virgin Atlantic, which is mainly because of Sir Richard Branson. The non customers, who we interviewed included students, frequent flyers, travel agents and also some common people, were aware of Virgin Atlantic and its image that it portrayed of being different and fun-loving. Their reflection of the airline too was similar to what the company is trying to project of their airline. Especially leisure travelers think that it is definitely an airline which one must fly as it is an enjoyable airline to experience. They think it is different, energetic, innovative, customer friendly, value for money, stylish, flashy, elite, and flirtatious.
Hence, by this we conclude that there is a slight gap between what Virgin Atlantic projects about its image and what the customers perceive about it. Based on our survey we have recommended a few suggestions, which are given under.
RECOMMENDATIONS
From the feedback received from our respondents we have following recommendations
1. On the product front-
a. Operate a better aircraft- The present aircraft on the India route is old and needs urgent refurbishment. Also, the business class should have better seats (lie flat like their arch rival British Airways)
b. Since many people try the airline the first time due to the curiosity factor there is a possibility of them not returning as repeat clients. It is important they keep using innovative means to keep attracting new people and sustain their current passengers. The novelty of frills such as massages, on board bar etc can lose its magic. Also, this can be copied by competitors very easily. They will need to keep coming up with services that have a first runner advantage. Such as book your ticket to space in 2008
2. From the Advertising perspective-
a. All the promotional matter is too Richard Branson centric. Most people got to know about the airline through news associated with Richard Branson. Although this is a cost effective means, it could threaten the longevity of the product as the dependence for brand awareness on one person is too high. They should concentrate more on the product offering of the airline.
b. Reduce the hype-The hype about the Virgin experience is so high that many people were disappointed at the end of their journey. It became a matter of Anticipation being better than the Real thing.
3. On the people front-
While the airline was projected as a fun and friendly airline, the ground staff at London Heathrow airport came through as very stiff, unfriendly, unapproachable and rule bound. In the service industry, it is a well known fact that customer service plays a very important role and very often customer’s first interaction with the airline starts at the airport. It is important that this element of their ground service is looked into.
