Lucy Jones BA (HONS) International Tourism and Event Management
Virgin Atlantic- The world’s most irresistible airline?
The essay consists of two parts that will investigate the scope and development of marketing theoretically, consisting of the past, present and future, and will then apply this coverage to analysis of the marketing of Virgin Atlantic.
Marketing according to the Chartered Institute of Marketing of 1977, that ‘…is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably’, this indicates that marketing pinpoints, predicts and meets the needs of customers effectively, however it was written just under 40 years ago. Now in present day the 2007 CIM definition of marketing has slightly changed to “…marketing brings positive return on investment, satisfies shareholders and stakeholders from businesses and the community” cited in (Soloman et al. 9). This highlights that not only is marketing aimed at satisfying customers, it is also pinpointed at the businesses stakeholders as they have as much of an impact on creating positive returns for the organisation. Marketing is a fast moving, dynamic, living aspect of organisations that alters as the needs and expectations of society changes, ensuring that no definition will remain current over a long period of time.
According to Kotler “marketing is the social process by which individuals and organisations obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging value with others” (2001, p5). Prior to the Industrial Revolution the industry increased automation and mechanization, revolutionized manufacturing. Leading to mass production, requiring marketers to then sell them on straight away. In the 1950s competition grew and focus turned to sales. Marketing, branding and sales became important stepping stones as products produced exceed demand, and businesses competed for customers. This alteration resulted in the development of customer/marketing era/orientation, leading to businesses focusing more on what customers need or wants before producing a product or service, rather than sales. The alteration lead to the development of market segmentation, according to C Pass market segmentation is “the division of a market into identifiable submarkets or segments each having its own particular customer profile and buyer characteristics...” (Collins Business Dictonary: 2002) As well as segmentation it also led to the development of the marketing mix, defined as “the combination of major tools of marketing” (Brassington and Pettitt: 2013: 27) which included McCarthy’s 4Ps of 1960, involving; product, price, place and promotion. The four Ps were then developed by Booms and Bitner in 1981 to form the 7 Ps, add-ons included physical environment, process and people. These 7ps are a reflection of the developing of marketing services now worth 76% of the national economy (ONS 2016) (which was havin...
