Principles of Marketing

Introduction

In this introduction I am going to be going through of series of activities that British Airways plan before and after they market their brand. I am also going to be comparing them to Ryanair on how they cater for their consumers.

1.1 Buying Decision Process

Consumers of British Airways go through a series of stages before they reach a purchasing decision. The model that is used to show consumers passing through the five stages is called the 'Buyer Decision Process'.

This model is Key to British Airways for when their marketing department make their marketing decisions. It influences the department to consider the whole buying process rather than just the purchase decision which could result in British Airways missing the chance to influence the consumer's choice to use them. This model indicates that consumers navigate through all stages in every purchase, yet, with routine purchases, consumers tend to skip some of the stages.

For example, a consistent user of British Airways booking a flight would identify their need which is their need to fly to a specific location and go straight to the purchase decision, skipping information search and evaluation. Nevertheless, the model is practical when it comes to understanding any purchase that involves some thought and consideration.

Need Recognition

The buying process commences with 'need recognition'. When a consumer reaches this stage they recognise a problem or a need. In British Airways case, a consumer recognises their need to fly to foreign location. This is the stage where the British Airways Marketing department discover what caused the consumers need and create marketing techniques to meet these factors.

Information Search

At this stage, consumers attempt to acquire information about how they can fulfil their need. So British Airways consumers can get a hold of flight information through different types of sources such as:

1. Speaking with Personal sources such as friends & family, neighbours & work colleagues.

2. Looking at Commercial sources such as billboards, posters & the internet.

3. Listening to and Reading Public sources such as TV Commercials, newspapers & travel brochures.

Evaluation of Alternatives

'Evaluation of alternatives' is the stage where consumers use the information they have gathered to evaluate the alternative brands in the choice set. So in British Airways case, consumers can use the sources above to find out information about their competitors and compare them to each other to decide which is best fit to their situation. This is why it is crucial that British Airways market a great deal of information about the positives of using their service and flying with them.

Purchase

'Purchase decision' is the stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer actually buys the product or in British Airways' case their service.

Post-Purchase Behaviour

The buying process concludes with the 'Post purchase behaviour' stage. This is the stage where consumers take further action after their purchase based on their satisfaction or dissatisfaction. This is when a consumer evaluates the service of BA after they have landed at their destination. They are either happy with the service they have been provided or take a negative view of it and not use them anymore.

2.1 Situational & Sociological Influence on Buyer Behaviour

Using the AIDA model there are sociological and situational factors that can influence buyer behaviour and they all seem to stop at the interest mark.

Factors Effect Examples

Age Fear of flying is common with elderly people so they will tend not to fly at all.

Social Classification The hard pressed classification may not even be targeted for them to have the attention of BA.

Personal Life Pregnant women are not entitled to fly along with other commitments people have in life.

Culture Some people may not agree with the ethics of BA and choose not to fly with them.

Economic situations Some people tend to not earn enough to take holidays so low disposable income plays a part.

Iconic Star People may want to relate to their iconic star who promotes BA such as sailor Ben Ainslie (below)

3.1 Value of Branding & Re-Branding

What is Branding?

The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers' mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers. (Business Dictionary, 2011)

Why do British Airways need to brand?

Having a successful brand is vitally important for British Airways especially in the industry that they are in and the amount of competitors that they have. They need to stand out from their competitors and be seen as a distinctive airline instead of being perceived as similar to many other airlines.

British Airways have the logo of the British flag to make them stand out as this is the impression in the minds of consumers of their company. If they decide to remove the British flag it could result in a depreciated brand that consumers don't feel a part of anymore.

Brands are valuable purely because they trigger consumers to be prone to purchase a particular product or service over another and this is what BA are attempting to do. They are attempting to get more consumers to fly with their airline rather than with any other airline. If you have a very strong brand the chances are that your consumers wouldn't think of using another brand, given a choice.

The positives from the BA brand is that with a lot of British people their first choice airline to use and that is because their services have matched the standards in which consumers wish to be satisfied. This shows that BA are grasping the key values of the consumers and putting that into practice. This has enhanced their brand