Seizing the advantage (Virgin Atlantic strategy)

Citation

Dickinson, P. (2009), "Seizing the advantage (Virgin Atlantic strategy)", Strategic Direction, Vol. 25 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2009.05625dad.006

Seizing the advantage (Virgin Atlantic strategy)

Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 25, Issue 4

Dickinson P.Marketing, 12 November 2008, Start page: 24, No. of pages: 2

Purpose – DiscussesVirgin Atlantic’s marketing strategy. Design/methodology/approach – Interviews Paul Dickinson, sales and marketing director of the airline industry’s biggest challenger brand, Virgin Atlantic. Findings – Dickinson is keen to punish BA for its proposed alliance with American Airlines and has launched Virgin Atlantic’s campaign to block the deal at the regulators, claiming that the deal is anti-competitive and will give the two companies more control over price range. Reveals that, according to Dickinson, Virgin Atlantic’s intimate approach, with its flagship Upper Class wing at Terminal 3, was the perfect antidote to the bombastic build-up to Heathrow’s T5, and that future marketing will focus on its Upper Class services as such campaigns create a halo effect for the rest of the brand. Notes that plans are afoot for a celebratory campaign as the brand approaches its 25th anniversary and observers are keen to see how it copes with the looming recession. Concludes that Dickinson must now decide whether he wants to realign the brand’s agency arrangements to create a more centralized system. Originality/value – Suggests that the company will need a greater global presence to survive in a consolidating market and buying bmi or merging its operations with Virgin Atlantic’s to create a European super-carrier which would give Virgin Atlantic unrivalled short-haul capabilities and allow it to provide real competition to BA and Air France-KLM.ISSN: 0025-3650Reference: 38AA989

Keywords: Airline industry, Marketing strategy, Virgin Atlantic