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UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER COURSEWORK COVERSHEET FORM CA1 MARYLEBONE CAMPUS I confirm that I understand what plagiarism is and have read and understood the section on Assessment Offences in the Essential Information for Students. The work that I have submitted is entirely my own (unless authorised group work). Any work from other authors is duly referenced and acknowledged. STUDENTS MUST COMPLETE THIS SECTION ONLY IN FULL AND IN CAPITALS Surname VIEIRA RIELLI Forename ALESSANDRA Registration No: 1 5 1 1 8 5 1 2 Course MA MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS Module Title INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT Module Code 4 M M C 7 1 5 Assignment No: Date Submitted 28 01 2016 Marker: Word Count 15.518 Joint Assignments: Tutor’s summary comments and feedback to student(s): All marks are subject to confirmation by the relevant Subject Board Date stamp 24 hrs late/Over 24 hrs late: MARK:
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Page 1: IMC-British Airways 2016-RIELLI_Alessandra

UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER COURSEWORK COVERSHEET FORM CA1 MARYLEBONE CAMPUS

I confirm that I understand what plagiarism is and have read and understood the section on Assessment Offences in the Essential Information for Students. The work that I have submitted is entirely my own

(unless authorised group work). Any work from other authors is duly referenced and acknowledged.

STUDENTS MUST COMPLETE THIS SECTION ONLY IN FULL AND IN CAPITALS

Surname

VIEIRA RIELLI Forename ALESSANDRA

Registration No:

1 5 1 1 8 5 1 2 Course MA MARKETING

COMMUNICATIONS

Module Title

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT

Module Code 4 M M C 7 1 5

Assignment No:

Date Submitted 28 01 2016

Marker:

Word Count 15.518

Joint

Assignments:

Tutor’s summary comments and feedback to student(s):

All marks are subject to confirmation by the relevant Subject Board

Date stamp

24 hrs late/Over 24 hrs late:

MARK:

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2

UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER Westminster Business School

MA Marketing Communication

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

PROJECT (4MMC715.1)

Alessandra Vieira Rielli W1511851

January 28th, 2016

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Acknowledgments:

This work is dedicated to the most amazing year of my life and to all the incredible and

unforgettable people I had the pleasure to meet. Friends and moments that changed my life

completely, and I will cherish forever.

To Thais and Alex, who were, not only my friends but also my family. Thanks for all the help,

friendship and support you have always gave to me.

To all my family and friends back in Brazil, who gave me so much love and support throughout this

year.

But most important: to the two people who made this happen; Who gave me unconditional support

and sacrificed so much just so I could pursue my dream. Mom and Dad!

This would never have happened if it weren’t for you. There are not enough words to say “thank

you”. I love you both so much!

See you soon London…

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Table Of Contents

I. Overall Analysis (Proposal) ....................................................................................... 6

1 Macro Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 6

1.1 Pestle ................................................................................................................................. 6

1.2 Airlines Category Analysis (Uk) .......................................................................................... 7

1.3 Short-Haul Main Competitors ........................................................................................... 10

1.4 Financial Analysis ............................................................................................................ 13

1.5 General Consumer Behaviour .......................................................................................... 14

1.6 Airline Consumers ............................................................................................................ 15

2 Micro Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 16

2.1 British Airways .................................................................................................................. 16

2.2 Services And Products ..................................................................................................... 17

2.3 Marketing Communications .............................................................................................. 20

3 Analytical Frameworks ......................................................................................................... 23

3.1 Positioning Maps .............................................................................................................. 23

3.2 Swot* ............................................................................................................................... 25

3.3 Ansoff Matrix .................................................................................................................... 27

II. Campaign Objective And Scope .......................................................................... 28

4 The Role Of IMC In Marketing Management ........................................................................ 28

5 IMC Performance Objectives ............................................................................................... 30

6 Target Market And Consumer Profile .................................................................................. 35

6.1 Current Target Group ....................................................................................................... 35

6.2 Expected Target Group .................................................................................................... 36

6.3 Decision Making Process Unit And Elm ............................................................................ 40

6.4 The Path Of Purchase ...................................................................................................... 42

6.1 Current Branding .............................................................................................................. 47

III. Campaign Strategy .................................................................................................... 52

7 Central Organising Idea (COI) .............................................................................................. 52

8 Strategy And Message Deliver ............................................................................................. 55

8.1 Media Tool For Message Delivery .................................................................................... 58

9 Push And Pull Strategies ..................................................................................................... 61

10 Integration ........................................................................................................................... 62

IV. Campaign Delivery .................................................................................................... 68

11 Advertising (Tv) .................................................................................................................. 68

11.1 Tv Ad ............................................................................................................................. 69

11.2 OOH ............................................................................................................................... 74

12 Digital And Social Media Marketing ...................................................................................... 75

12.1 Video On Demand (VoD) ............................................................................................... 77

12.2 Youtube Media ............................................................................................................... 79

12.3 Media Display ................................................................................................................ 81

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12.4 Social Media .................................................................................................................. 85

12.5 Direct Marketing ............................................................................................................. 86

13 Public Relations .................................................................................................................... 87

14 Campaign Timeline ............................................................................................................... 88

15 Budget And Roi .................................................................................................................... 90

V. Campaign Evaluation And Outcomes ............................................................... 91

WORD COUNT: 15.518

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Since the deregulation of air transportation and the increase of low-cost airlines (IATA, 2014),

British Airways has seen its short-haul market share threatened. Additionally, the internet and

digital technologies have empowered customers to do far more of their own research and,

subsequently, their purchasing decisions around air travel became highly price-driven (Deloitte,

2015).

This report critically analyses the market situation and how British Airways is currently positioned,

identifying potential targets and creating an integrated marketing communication plan to recover

sales in the short-haul market.

It was identified that, due to its premium price and lack of engaging message, British Airways is not

persuasive enough against its low-cost competitors. In addition, the “serious” tone of voice made

the message unattractive to the potential target market, resulting in a low consideration of

purchase.

Therefore, it is suggested that British Airways reinforces its main unique selling proposition through

an integrated marketing communication plan and makes use of a mix of media tools to properly

reach and convince consumers. In addition, the tone of voice on short-haul communication should

be adjusted to be more “relaxed” and “fun”.

As the main point of sales is the company’s website, it is important to consider online efforts to

drive potential buyers and convert direct sales, as well as, making use of mass media to amplify

the reach of the campaign and the brand’s new tone of voice.

By properly integrating the message throughout all media channels and with consumers'

expectations, British Airways will have more power over consumers, driving their decision away

from being purely price-based.

The work is concluded with a one-year media plan for the campaign in order to achieve effectively

all the objectives.

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I. OVERALL ANALYSIS (PROPOSAL)

1 MACRO ANALYSIS

In order to outline the marketing communication strategy and identify the opportunities for British

Airways, it is important to understand where the company is now and what type of external factors

may affect it. Therefore, the next chapter will make a critical evaluation of this scenario and the

consequences on British Airways.

1.1 PESTLE

Economics

Since the global crisis of 2008, where airlines were one of the most affected segments, the UK

economy has healthily recovered, encouraging people to spend more on travel and experiences

(McGrath, 2014). The economic recovery also affected the UK’s pound sterling, making the currency

20% more valuable than the Euro (Worthington, 2015a), which has an impact on where people

travel and how much they are able to spend. Yet, as stated by IATA (2015, p.12), the jet oil price –

which is the largest cost for airlines – has decreased over recent years, reducing travel fares.

Nonetheless, the current Chinese economic crisis has impacted the US dollar and most of the

currencies in the world, bringing instability and economic uncertainty (Mintel, 2015).

Social

The British middle class has become financially stronger over the past years and, consequently, is

now able to spend more on travel. McGrath (2014) reported that 50% of the UK’s population flew in

2013 and, according to ONS (2013), 23% of the UK’s population is between 18 to 34 years old.

Known as Millennials (Goldman Sachs, no date), this age group representing a large portion of

consumers and the working population.

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The age group 25-34-year-olds (14% of UK population), spend the most for high quality experiences

and services (Worthington, 2015b), making them an important group to targeted for marketing by the

service and hospitality industries.

Technology

Technology has an important impact on air travel and on the experience offered to customers.

Recently, Wi-Fi and the iBeacon technology have been often available in airports, increasing the

number of touchpoints between the airlines and customers (SITA, 2014).

Political

The political instability between western countries and Syria, in addition to current attacks on some

Europeans’ holiday destinations (such as Paris, Tunisia, Istanbul and Egypt) also negatively affects

tourism to these destinations (Beaumont, Stephen, and Smith, 2016).

1.2 AIRLINES CATEGORY ANALYSIS (UK)

Passenger air travel celebrated one hundred years of history in 2014. In 1914, the first scheduled

commercial flight crossed the Tampa Bay area (USA), giving birth to a method of transportation that

would change the dynamic of the world. Since then, global airlines have carried over 3.3 billion

passengers in over 50.000 routes (IATA, 2014).

Over the years, agreements and regulations have changed in order to create a better and safer

transportation system. Customer services such as airport lounges, jet bridges and on-flight

entertainment became part of the experience of flying and advantage clubs helped airlines to

strengthen passenger engagement.

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However, the biggest change in air traffic was the Deregulation Act (1978 in US and 1986 in UK),

phasing out the control of the government over airline fares, routes, schedules and market entry,

causing a significant increase in competition and a consequent decrease in fares by more than 50%

(IATA, 2014).

With airlines free to compete, low-costs carriers were created, and between 2008 and 2013, they

rose by 33.2%, while full-services airlines declined by 2.4%. By 2010, the volume of passengers in

low-cost airlines overtook the full-services by focusing on competitive fares, even with a reputation

of poor customer service.

Many leisure and business customers are switching from full-services to low-cost, as they perceive a

better value for money, and increasing the sales in this category by 6% in 2014 (Euromonitor, 2014,

p.3).

Overall, global air transportation rose 5.9% compared to 2014 (Perovic, 2015, p.1) and of total

volume is expected to grow 18% between 2015 and 2020 due to the continuous increase of aircraft

orders by the airlines (Mintel, 2015). Despite the market growth and increase in the volume of

47.9 49.5

52.5

58.8

62.4 63.8

54.2 51.6

47.8

51 51.7 52.9

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Passengers Uplifted over period

Low Cost Full Service

Table 1 Passengers Uplifted over 5 years (McGrath, 2014)

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passengers, the low-cost airline industry has a poor profitability due to high expenses and little

revenue per passenger in return. Low-cost airlines depend heavily in ancillary revenues, such as

priority check in, extra luggage and food and drinks on-board charges (IATA, 2013).

The following chart compares the profitability growth over five years between British Airways and the

top 3 European low-cost airlines (Thomas, 2014):

It is clear that low-cost airlines have the highest profitability margins as they have many ancillary

options such as extra luggage charges and on-flight food. This has also impacted how the UK-based

airlines market share is divided.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

10 10

1312

10

4

7 7

910

-0

7

-1

2

6

UK Airlines Profitability in 4 Years (%)

British AirwaysRyanaireasyJet

Table 2 Top 3 airline based in the UK profitability over 4 years (British Airways, N.D; easyJet, N.D; Ryanair,

N.D)

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Despite that, British Airways has been healthily recovering with strong increase of 6% in 2014 and

must reinforce its marketing strategies to support an increase of market share or, at least, reduce

the loss to easyJet and Ryanair (Mintel, 2015).

1.3 SHORT-HAUL MAIN COMPETITORS

In order to fully comprehend all the external factors that may affect British Airways, it is necessary to

evaluate the impact of its competitors on the air travel market (Pickton & Broderick, 2005, p.151).

Low-cost has become the main challenge in the short-haul, flight market, and so this chapter will

critically evaluate British Airway’s main competitors’ performances.

easyJet

easyJet is the second largest low-cost airline in Europe (McGrath, 2014) and has been adapting its

strategies to a more consumer-centric and emotional message in order to improve customer

Ryanair 35%

easyJet 28%

British Airways 17%

Thomson Airways 4%

Flybe 3%

Monarch Airlines 3%

Thomas Cook Airlines

3% Jet2.com

3%

Virgin Atlantic Airways

3% BA CityFlyer 1%

Table 3 UK airlines market share based on volume of passengers (Mintel, 2015)

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experiences and create a set of consumer-focused brand values (easyJet, 2015), following recent

trends in consumer behaviour.

After a recent rebrand, easyJet has been targeting a broader audience, such as business and

younger travellers, by using multiple channels (mobile and digital platforms) and increasing

advertising budget to disrupt from its “poor customer service” image (Roland, 2014). As a result, its

passenger rose 27.1% between 2013 and 2014, the highest growth within all UK airlines (McGrath,

2014),

By using a fun and jovial message whilst promoting price and attributes (such as punctuality and

destinations), easyJet has reported tripling its market values between 2010 and 2014, with a high

increase in both sales and profitability (easyJet, 2015). This has helped to establish the brand as a

better alternative to traditional low-cost and yet more affordable than full-services.

It has been suggested that the lack of customer proximity on British Airways’ message, and the

brand’s strong position of a premium and tradition have shifted younger customers to low-cost

airlines with more engaging messages (Mintel, 2015). For instance, EasyJet’s campaign

“Generation EasyJet” (Campaign, 2013) is a result of this change in customer behaviour, and a

strategy to reach a diverse audience by delivering a message of democratization of air travel and

emotional appeal.

Figure 1 "Generation EasyJet" campaign (easyJet, 2015 and Creative Club, 2015)

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In order to compete effectively, British Airways must highlight the benefits included on fares

(something low-cost don’t have) and promote it more creatively. This will capture passengers that

are price orientated but, very often, would rather invest a little bit in quality experience.

Ryanair

The Irish low-cost, no-frills airline is the largest by Europe in volume of passengers (McGrath, 2014)

and it claims the “lowest fares” (Ryanair, 2015). However, it has been suggested by Kim (2015) that

Ryanair is still mostly known for its poor customer services.

Ryanair’s main source of profit comes from ancillaries’ items, in-flight advertising and product sales,

such as drinks, food, priority booking and extra luggage. This strategy has paid off, as Ryanair

remains the airlines with the highest profitability margins in Europe (CAPA, 2014).

In order to repair its brand’s reputation, Ryanair has come up with a plan to improve customer

service in multiple areas by offering benefits such as allocated seats and improving costumer’s

personalisation options on its website and mobile app (Vizard, 2014). Furthermore, according to the

company (Ryanair, 2015), the airline has started targeting business travellers with exclusive

advertisements in order to expand its market.

To promote these changes, Ryanair boosted its marketing budget and, in 2014, launched its first TV

advertisement with a more aggressive message, low prices and concrete attribute, such as new

aircrafts and extra carry-on. The use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and digital

platforms to collect more qualified customer data in order to deliver more personalised offers

underpins the new approach of the brand to building relationships with the customer (Hobbs,2015b).

Despite Ryanair’s core message still relying on low price, it is important that British Airways makes

use of its positives attributes over low-costs to create an engaging communication with consumers,

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as they expect brands to deliver experiences as well as services. Furthermore, just like easyJet,

Ryanair has been moving its attention towards business passengers, an important part of BA’s

customer base. Therefore, maintenance campaigns should be carried out to secure this target.

1.4 FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

Source: British Airways, 2014

Source: easyJet, 2014

Source: Ryanair, 2014

According the financial analysis above, British Airways has the highest share of total revenues, due

to its large network of short and long-haul flights. However, its main low-cost competitors, Ryanair

and easyJet, have increasingly threatened Britsh Airways position with higher growth in volume of

passengers (as evaluated previously) and high margins of profitability, results of a strong low price

position and high ancillary revenues.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

SALES 8,537£ 9,987£ 10,827£ 11,421£ 11,719£ PROFIT AFTER TAX 10-£ 672£ 70-£ 284£ 702£ PROFIT MARGIN (%) -0.1% 6.7% -0.6% 2.5% 6.0%

BRITISH AIRWAYS (£000)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

SALES 2,973£ 3,452£ 3,854£ 4,258£ 4,527£ PROFIT AFTER TAX 121£ 225£ 255£ 398£ 450£ PROFIT MARGIN (%) 4.1% 6.5% 6.6% 9.3% 9.9%

EASYJET (£000)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

SALES 2,658£ 3,204£ 3,662£ 4,135£ 4,172£ PROFIT AFTER TAX 271£ 330£ 467£ 482£ 433£ PROFIT MARGIN (%) 10.2% 10.3% 12.8% 11.7% 10.4%

RYANAIR (£000)

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1.5 GENERAL CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Consumers have never been so in the centre stage as in the past few years, and the fight by airlines

for their attention has never been so aggressive. With digital and technological development,

consumers have been empowered with information, increasing their expectations towards what

brands can offer.

Deloitte (2015, p.2) says: “as consumers move from consuming content to creating it by writing

reviews, their power and influence will continue to increase”, forcing brands to use multiple channels

as touchpoints, absorbing relevant behaviour information in order to provide personalised

experiences and create a dialogue between brand and consumer. This is also known as “customer-

centricity” (Trendwatching, 2014a).

As a consequence of the high level of information and branded content being produced, consumers

expect brands to deliver “more than the goods” (Trendwatching, 2014a) and “subvert their own

heritage” (Trendwatching, 2014b). In other words, to younger generations, a brand’s heritage has

become irrelevant and campaigns that represent only the company’s interest is not convincing

anymore.

Likewise, it is known that 66% of consumers switched brands or business services due to poor

customer services (Trendwatching, 2014a), especially among younger generations, which

represents an opportunity for brands with high customer service such as British Airways.

Consequently, brands should be delivering extra services, benefits and attributes beyond the

predictable in a more creative and playful way, increasing engagement with consumers and adding

value to the marketing interactions (Trendwatching, 2014b).

According to Brown (2013), customers are more likely to become loyal to a brand that is relevant to

the world and to their life. Therefore, creating empathic brands is fundamental to nurturing more

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meaningful relationships and building trust with customers, in order to show that the brand’s role

goes beyond it self interests.

1.6 AIRLINE CONSUMERS

According to the macro analysis, consumer confidence in the UK has increased over recent years, a

result of the current low inflation rate combined with higher wages. Consequently, it is possible to

see an increase in spending on holiday travel and spontaneous trips (Mintel, 2015).

For instance, in 2013, 45% of the British passengers flew for holiday purposes, of which 49% were

which low-cost airlines. Of these, 71% are assumed to be of AB’s social classes (McGrath, 2014).

Reinforcing the power of economy class as the largest volume of passengers in all airlines, 77% of

these flew economy class, 13% premium economy and 5% first class, as stated by McGrath (2014).

When analysing British travellers’ behaviour by age, 25-34 years old is the group that offers better

opportunities, especially because they are currently flying and spending more (McGrath, 2014), and

likely to travel to European destinations (66%) as suggested by McGrath (2014). However, the same

age group intend to spend less when in their destination, saving on transportation, accommodation,

entertainment and food.

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2 MICRO ANALYSIS

2.1 BRITISH AIRWAYS

From being the world’s first schedule air service in 1919 to becoming the largest international carrier

in the UK, British Airways will complete 100 years of history in 2019, with a history that goes back to

the beginning of civil aviation and is now one of the most prestigious and recognised airlines in the

world. Based in the UK and being the only airline with an exclusive Heathrow terminal, it offers

domestic flights, long-hauls and short-hauls, and it is mostly known for its high level of customer

service (British Airways, 2015)

British Airways has been consistently awarded and recognised for its high standards of customer

service. According to the company’s statements (British Airways, 2015), brand’s values rely on a

very customer-centric point of view combined with the British-style, highlighting the historical and

cultural heritage of the brand, excellence on services and high standards of safety, always

maintaining its position at the forefront of innovation.

However, the global economic crisis of 2008 had a considerable impact on the airline business

overall, but for British Airways it not only affected its financials results (a loss of more than £500m in

2010) but also its reputation after strike action by cabin crew, resulting in a drop in passenger

numbers (Bacon, 2012).

In order to recover its prestigious brand image, BA created a £5 billion program to enhance their

“customer experiences” in 2012 (Bacon 2012) and in 2015, BA won first place on both the consumer

and business Superbrands of the Year made by the Superbrands Council, beating brands like

Apple, Visa and Samsung (Hobbs, 2015).

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In 2011, the airlines British Airways, Iberia and Vueling were unified to create IAG, the third largest

airline group in Europe. BA is also part of the second largest global alliance oneworld, creating a

network of more than 1,015 destinations in 154 countries (oneworld, 2015). Its main traffic remains

within Europe with 45% of passenger traffic, followed by North America (19%) and domestic

destinations 14% (British Airways, 2015).

2.2 SERVICES AND PRODUCTS

British Airways’ portfolio is large and complex, reaching a variety of profiles and businesses.

However, its main business focus is on civil passenger transportation, having flown nearly 40 million

passengers in 2014 (British Airways, 2015).

Its flight services include a large range of destinations: long-haul (international destinations), short-

haul (European destinations) and domestic flights (UK destinations), and the aircrafts vary according

to the type of flight, but its high level of safety is maintained across all services.

To satisfy all customer profiles, the company provides multiple levels of service according to “travel

classes”, as seen on the images below.

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Figure 2 Types of "class" on British Airways aircrafts (British Airways, 2015)

In addition to the cabin classes, British Airways also offers airport special services such as lounges

and spa, in addition to exclusive in-flight food and drinks (changes according to class), in-flight

entertainment (High Life Magazines, movies and TV shows) and High Life Shop (selected items

form Duty-Free).

To offer a complete experience, British Airways has many partnerships with local companies, such

as hotels, tour operators and car rental businesses. The benefit of these partnerships is to offer to

the end-customer more benefits and full-journey support throughout their trip, and to create ancillary

revenues.

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In addition, a platform called Holiday Finder is available (in partnership with Tripadvisor), to offer a

whole range of travel packages (including flight and hotel). Tips and information about the cities are

available, so customers can plan the whole travel on the company’s website (British Airways, 2015).

Due to a recent price pressure from low-cost airlines on short-haul destinations (McGrath, 2014),

British Airways has been offering special fares with hand baggage only, at an average cost of £39

each way, as an option for those who wants to fly to European destinations.

Figure 4 Image of British Airways "Europe's Flights" special page on website (British Airways, 2015)

Figure 3 Images of British Airways partnership with TripAdvisor on website (British Airways, 2015)

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Lastly, with advances in technology and the high usage of mobile as a CRM platform, British

Airways has expanded its customer services and point of sales from its website to its mobile app,

with booking, flight offers and flight status updates, creating an unique customer database and

providing relevant information to the passenger, live and everywhere (British Airways, 2015).

2.3 MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

Reputation is built not only with the daily experience offered, but also with communications and

messages delivered over time, resonating on the brand’s essence and benefits (Pickton &

Broderick, 2005). For British Airways, all marketing communications strategies have always

reinforced the brand’s attributes and essence.

It is important to understand that, due to its multiple stakeholders (publics), British Airways has

consequently delivered multiple messages. For instance, the corporate message is very often

focused on its international destinations and flight experience, whilst the local campaign to short-

haul audiences has a message more focused on the destination benefits and feelings (emotional

rather than logical) and a subtle way to deliver the USP.

Figure 5 Images of British Airways' mobile app (Smith, 2014)

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In 2013, the latter campaign to support corporate's motto "To Fly. To Serve" had a message that

delivered the tradition, know-how and pioneering attributes of the brand. The campaign had a

sophisticated imagery and up class point of view, promoting heritage and concrete attributes, such

as special characteristics from the aircraft and in-flight experience for both TV and printed

campaigns.

However, when focusing on short-haul, the public's motivations are driven by emotional cues – less

focused on the flight and more focused on the destination’s outcome - echoing different attributes

than the corporate long-haul messages. British Airways’ focus is towards the outcome experience,

or in other words, the emotions aroused by travelling.

Furthermore, BA does not aim to be a "low-cost" airline, its message can not emphasise cheap

prices, as competitors such as easyJet and Ryanair can out-compete them. For instance, the 2012

campaign “To Fly. To Serve. To Europe” still had the brand’s mantra attached to main message,

and the all the elements promoted in-flight elements that would “enhance” the experience. Those

elements (such as drinks or suitcases) were then used as storytellers, explaining the benefits

aroused by traveling with BA, as seen on the images below.

Figure 6 Image of British Airways' "To Fly. To Serve" institutional campaign (Creative Club, 2015 and British Airways, 2013)

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In 2014, the campaign “Magic of Flying” used advanced technology to promote a live outdoor

billboard where kids would point to the sky, providing details of the flight that was over the billboard

at that time. The focus was to create awareness and buzz around the brand’s digital

communications and pioneering that type of advertising. As for the message, it promoted “how

accessible the world is” (Beltrone, 2013), but was related to price rather than in flight attributes or

destinations benefits, as previous campaigns had.

Figure 7 Image of British Airways' European campaign "To Fly. To Serve. To Europe" (British Airways, 2012 and Creative Club, 2013)

Figure 8 Image of British Airways' European campaign "Magic of Flying" (Creative Club, 2015 and British Airways, 2013)

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3 ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORKS

After widely analysing all the macro elements involved in air transportation and the micro elements

of British Airways, it is possible to use marketing tools to find the most appropriate direction to be

taken by this campaign. This chapter, therefore, will critically evaluate all analysis made previously

and highlight the most important outcomes and directions.

3.1 POSITIONING MAPS

The current UK air transportation market is dominated by three airlines - in terms of volume and

profits – British Airways, Ryanair and easyJet. The positioning map below presents where brands

are perceived according to the type of messages (target and tone of communication) and where

they stand on premium position and price.

Target X Brand Attributes

Older Target (Over 40)

Younger Target (Lower 40)

+ Premium and + Price

British

Airways

easyJet

Ryanair

OPPORTUNITY

- Premium and - Price

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Brand Attributes X Message Style

According to both positioning maps, there is an opportunity to achieve younger audiences through a

fresher and more exciting message while still delivering a premium image and benefits, as the

competitors can’t offer the same quality of experience as British Airways.

Therefore, British Airways should avoid marketing communications campaigns that are purely based

on “market concepts” or attributes that are well known, and focus on relevant benefits to this

younger consumer, or emotional cues that drive empathy and put consumers on the centre stage.

Fun and young message

Traditional and mature message

+ Premium and Price

- Premium and Price

British

Airways

easyJet

Ryanair

OPPORTUNITY

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3.2 SWOT*

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

STRENGHT

WEAKNESS

1.Pound stronger than Euro encouraging travel 2. 65% passenger travel for holiday3. 25/34 years old fly the most and spend more with better services

1. Loss of short-haul market share to low-cost as is often budget orientated2. Low costs airlines improving customer services and expanding target3. Consumer centricity (higher expectations)

1. Fly to primary airports 2. High quality customer services perception3. General fare include multiple benefits

Reinforce airline unique benefits to encourage younger travellers

to fly with BA in short-haul/Europe routes

Reinforce airline benefits to encourage travellers to chose

quality over price, in short-haul/Europe routes, offering unique

free-hassle experience

1. Perceived higher price2. Low ancillary revenues and profitability3. Message too focused in high profile market (do not communicate to mass)

Expand target market to reach “25/34” more effective by promoting unique qualities

and outcomes

Engage with consumers to deliver a message that add

value for the whole experience, creating unique relationship between brand

and traveller.

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After evaluating external opportunities and threats and the strengths and weaknesses of British

Airways in comparison to competitors, it is possible to conclude that they hold a strong brand image

of quality, and have benefits that can make the travel experience less hassled and more pleasant.

However, they don’t communicate these attributes efficiently, especially to younger generations.

The intensification of competition in the European short-haul market and the growth of travel

amongst young Millennials (25-34) are important trends that British Airways must account for. In

order to create a more appealing image to this target, marketing communications should add

relevant values that meet their needs and expectation and create an exciting brand that will result in

brand resonance, it is essential that British Airways focus marketing communication on consumer,

rather than brand itself, promoting attributes that go beyond the flight.

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3.3 ANSOFF MATRIX

Based on all the analysis above, British Airways should move from existing market (ABC1, 49 years

old) to a new market development, expanding to a younger audience (ABC1, 25 – 34 years old) in

order to achieve a growing market and increase passengers to European destinations, facing the

strong competition of low-cost airlines.

Therefore, it will be necessary to “refresh” the brand’s image and marketing communication strategy,

by creating a message that delivers unique benefits and experiences that low-cost airlines can not

offer, in order to convince potential travellers of the value for money by flying British Airways.

EXISTING NEW

EXISTING

NEW

MARKET

PRODUCT

New target: Move to younger target (ABC1, 25/34 years old) but

maintain the high standard product

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II. CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE

4 THE ROLE OF IMC IN MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Marketing today is not the single road of previous time, where the most important concept was to

“tell and sell”. Based on the current digital and connected world, it plays an important role in

satisfying customer needs by exchanging value and building a strong relationship across multiple

channels that not only delivers the company’s message effectively, but also allows customers to be

part of the marketing process, aiming to build relevance and, consequently, brand equity (Kotler and

Armstrong, 2013).

As described by Pickton and Broderick (2005), in order to communicate properly, marketing must

make use of a range of tools, known as “promotion mix”, that involves advertising, public relations,

sponsorships, sales promotion, direct marketing, point-of-purchase, personal selling and lately,

digital and social media marketing, each of them with its own strategy in order to achieve a common

goal.

The mix is a combination of activities that, together, will create a product or service that is properly

communicated to multiple stakeholders, satisfying and engaging them. This strategic business

process for brand communication is known as Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

(Kliatchko, 2008, p.140).

Creating a strong integrated communication is not only necessary to its customers, but also to other

stakeholders that must be embraced in the synergy of communications, as they have the power to

define the success or failure of a marketing campaign, or even a brand’s reputation (Pickton and

Broderick, 2005).

For British Airways, this is even more important. As a worldwide airline, it has a large number of

stakeholders including: short and long haul customers, premium and economy class fliers, airline

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alliance, in-flight crew, airport staff, political affairs, communities, etc. Therefore, it is fundamental to

create and execute properly a communication that is unified on the concept of the company but, at

the same time, unique to each audience.

However, its practical implementation and integration can become a challenge, especially when it

comes to large corporations like British Airways. According to Warc (2015), due to the lack of

appropriate management, many barriers stop the IMC implementation. For instance, the

organisation context, its structure, culture, process and behaviours are often listed as the main

constraint.

British Airways is a traditional and very settled UK company. Its large structure of departments and

business can offer barriers to the integration, as all areas must be involved and synchronized.

Nonetheless, Warc (2015) reinforces that for an integrated marketing communication, it is

fundamental that each area works less “individually” and more as a whole unit.

For instance, British Airways was recovering from global economic crises in 2011 and promoting to

the outside stakeholders a powerful and positive message as the official London Olympics Tier 2

Sponsor (Bashford, 2011).

However, the synergy wasn’t the same within their internal employees, as most were extremely

dissatisfied with corporate’s cuts and decisions. After adjusting the communication to its internal

audience, British Airways was able to recover from communication damage (Bashford, 2011).

This divergence can compromise the IMC, and as a consequence, brand’s image and reputation.

For instance, as a service provider, British Airways must guarantee that the promises made by it’s

marketing communications will be delivered across all channels and stakeholders (Bashford,

2011).

By ensuring consistency in all communication tools, and properly comprehending each stakeholder’s

needs, British Airways can empower its brand image and as a result, increase sales objectives.

Therefore, this IMC plan intends to create a combination of communication efforts to reach out to a

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specific target group. However, to ensure synergy with the company’s values and position, it must

guarantee that the message is vertically integrated with corporate objectives and that all media are

horizontally in synergy with the message proposed.

5 IMC PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

The following objectives were defined according to the opportunities drawn from previous analysis

in order to create vertical integration between all areas.

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Figure 9 British Airways suggested objective cascade and integration

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Considering the figure above, which shows the whole structure of objectives, and following the

current brand’s mission stated on the website and reports (British Airways, 2015), British Airways’

corporate objective is to be “the most admired airline”.

Furthermore, by analysing the company’s historic growth and the market conditions (previous

chapters of macro and micro analysis), the suggested brand’s business objective is to increase

total sales revenue by 3.5% in 2016.

This growth represents an additional £377,526,240 in sales revenue and 1.5 million new passengers

from 2015, as demonstrated in figures 9 and 10, and it will be achieved by the entire global efforts

within all destinations.

Figure 10 British Airways passengers revenue change by year and forecast (British Airways, 2014)

Figure 11 British Airways' volume of passenger change by year and forecast (British Airways, 2014)

Assuming that 11% of those new passengers will come from travels from the UK to European

countries (short-haul), then the marketing efforts must be focused on an acquisition plan of 165,910

new customers as demonstrated by the figure below.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

9,499,000,000.00£ 10,129,000,000.00£ 10,452,000,000.00£ 10,786,464,000.00£ 11,163,990,240.00£ % increase from

previous year 8.90% 6.60% 3.20% 3.20% 3.50%

Additional in sales revenue

between 2015 and 2016 377,526,240.00£

BA PAX Revenue 2014 Forecast

(BILLION)

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

37,580,000 39,960,000 41,516,000 43,093,608.00 44,601,884.28

1.06% 3.20% 3.20% 3.50%

Additional in volume

passengers between

2015 and 2016 1,508,276.28

BA Passengers Carried Forecast

% increase

from previous

year

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As British Airways caters to many different profiles of travellers and destinations, this Integrated

Marketing Communication plan will focus on the acquisition of a specific potential target group

previously identified on the SWOT analysis: 25 – 34 years old, ABC1, due to its potential margins for

expansion and short-haul destinations being important amongst them (McGrath, 2014).

SALES REVENUE EXPECTED:

Considering that the total population within this demographic in the UK is 4,201,072 people (ONS,

2010), and assuming an estimate incidence of 4% in return flights ticket purchases (at price average

of £150 based on current fares to main European destination on British Airways’ website), the

objective to acquire 165,910 new passengers among the target group represents an expected total

of £24,886,500 in sales revenue, as demonstrated on figure 13.

Figure 13 Campaign's potential target market and expected sales revenue (ONS, 2010 and British Airways, 2015)

This campaign will be delivered over 2016 as the first stage of a brand repositioning amongst this

target, focusing on short-haul destinations. However, the corporate message and the brand essence

won't be changed, as it involves different target audiences and markets, such as international

destinations, which cover different profiles and consumer behaviour. Therefore, this work

Population 4,201,072.56

% of Incidence 4.0%

Times of purchase 1

Amount 150.00£ Sales 24,886,500£

PITA

Figure 12 Passengers acquisition objectives (in total volume)

Volume of passengers

Additional between

2015 and 2016 1,508,276

Marketing Objectives must

guarantee 11% 165,910

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showcases the importance of young generations to the European short-haul market, as an

opportunity to grow brand preference and, consequently, sales.

As assessed previously, British Airways is widely known in the UK market, and consumers are

aware of its benefits (concrete and abstract) and great customer service. Yet they still tend to make

the price-based decision, purchasing low-cost airlines.

In addition, despite having the highest reputation among competitors, consumers perceive British

Airways’ message as too posh, exclusive, not fun or exciting (Mintel, 2015). When considering that

the target group expects brands that are closer, authentic and empathetic, then it is necessary to

adapt this tone of message to meet the target’s expectations.

Hence, the integrated marketing communications objective is to discourage price as the main

criterion of choice by adding additional value and informing the target of the unique cost-benefits

when choosing British Airways. Moreover, in order to gain space on the purchase consideration set

of this target, a new approach must be made by shifting the brand’s message from price and

concrete attributes to a closer, emotional and exciting message that can add social value and

relevant benefits to the target and praise British Airways’ unique selling proposition.

This will be achieved by a national integrated marketing communications campaign (UK territory) in

2016, focusing on economy class to short-haul destination for summer and winter holidays.

The campaign will be released during February, March and April, during the peak of sales for

summer holidays (Mintel, 2015). The second effort boost will happen during October and November,

peak season for winter sales (Mintel, 2015). Overall, the campaign will cover the whole year, but

focusing on the most strategic periods for holiday travel purchases.

The campaign is expected to have an indirect impact in the company’s portfolio of international

flights. However, the residual must be positive, as the message is emotional and easy to relate,

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independent of age, purpose of flight or social class. Nevertheless, the campaign also relies on the

brand’s ability to maintain corporate reputation and synergy.

As this campaign exclusively focuses on increasing the number of passengers within the target

group, considering leisure travels to Europe, then a parallel marketing campaign must be made to

maintain British Airway’s executive and business travellers, as they require a different message and

media approach.

6 TARGET MARKET AND CONSUMER PROFILE

6.1 CURRENT TARGET GROUP

According to British Airways (2014), its current customer profile is, in general, 59% men, 41%

women, 91% ABC1 and the same proportion are married or living with partner. The average age is

49 years old, which indicates a more mature and financial stable group that is willing to invest more

for high-end customer service.

British Airways has built a strong and consistent relationship with business travellers and with those

concerned with premium experiences. However, with the arrival of low-cost airlines, travellers

(especially younger traveller) have been encouraged to spend less with transportation and more

with other experiences, such as local activities and culinary adventures.

Thus, with a considerable loss of market share on short-haul and a lack of younger passengers,

British Airways must create a more appealing and interesting message for this target to regain

market share with a unique product option to those who want to fly with a hassle-free experience –

delivering the USP through an effective message across the target.

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6.2 EXPECTED TARGET GROUP

Consumers are not alike. They have different demographics, behaviours, motivations and

preferences (Pickton and Broderick, 2005). Therefore, it is part of marketing’s responsibility to

properly identify them and deliver a proper message effectively, by creating relevant offers to the

right consumers and at the right time (Kotler and Armstrong, 1997).

As previously analysed, the young market (especially those between 25-34 years old) is currently

one of the best potential markets for airlines. However, it is the most challenging as it can be easily

driven by price. Therefore, this work will propose a concentrated marketing strategy to a segmented

target age group of 25-34 years old, in ABC1 social class, a bachelor stage and newlywed lifecycle

(Pickton and Broderick, 2005, p.377)

According to the Acorn Target Index (2014), this group of people is called "Rising Prosperity",

formed of young people, well educated, mostly single, couples or with young children and moving to

leader positions in their careers, resulting in a financial positive confidence and incomes above the

rates.

In addition, they are tech-savvy and “always connected users”, making use of the internet for

searching, deciding, buying, experiencing and sharing their travel experience (Engage Sciences,

2015). They are active and adventurous and living a young social lifestyle (Acorn, 2014).

As society has become more diverse, it is more accurate to target according to behaviours (as

mentioned above) rather than only demographics. However, in order to have a metric to evaluate

the target group and use as an indicator, NRS social class definition will be applied in addition to

Acorn (2014) social behaviour list to define lifestyle.

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Figure 14 Potential target population (ONS, 2010 and NRS, 2015)

Therefore, considering the analysis of target segmentation above, in order to achieve business

objectives it is fundamental to define the most profitable (current and forecasted) segment (Pickton

and Broderick, 2005). ABC1 groups represent 54% of the UK population (NRS, 2015), and,

assuming that the same percentage is reflected on age segmentation (25-34), it is possible to

consider the total target market segmentation as 4,201,072,000 potential British Airways customers.

TARGET PROFILE

The Millennials (those age 18-34 years old) are considered the “digital natives” generation (Nielsen,

2014). They are split into two groups: 18-24 (early Millennial) and 25-34 (old Millennial). This second

group is the current workforce, entering careers, with a growing financial situation (large disposable

income), willing to invest more on travel and holiday, as they believe in a work-life balance

(Goldberg, 2014). They want to be seen more as “travellers” rather than “tourists”, and they search

for authentic brands, places and companies that can provide relevant experiences (Fitzpatrich,

2015).

In addition, this generation consume more information than any other age group has before.

Nonetheless, as stated in the Nielsen report (2014), they are less attached to traditional media as

source of entertainment or information (such as TV, newspaper or magazines) and spend more time

on online platforms, using social platforms to get informed, have fun, express their opinions, share

experiences and search for other’s opinion when making purchase decisions.

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This behaviour has a considerable impact on the travel industry, since most of the research and

booking process happens online. Most importantly, the whole travel experience has a second

meaning, “sharing and showing off”, to the user’s own community of friends. The stories and

experiences lived during a holiday will be later shared online, and help to influence other potential

consumers.

Overall, they are pushing the market to new opportunities and advances, thus traditional travel

brands must adapt to keep up with their competitors. By 2020, this group will represent half of travel

spending, so it is important to nurture meaningful relationships now to gain their loyalty. However,

the airlines presents itself as the more "functional" part of the travel experience, especially on short-

haul, and it is important for airlines to connect with this group by providing clear benefits and cost-

benefits.

The image below illustrates three profiles of this target group, considering their personalities,

behaviours and attitudes:

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Source: Getty Images, 2016

Source: Getty Images, 2016

Lives in London in a shared flat with two other friends, working as social media content manager in an

advertising agency. She earns a median annual income (£25,000/annually) she tries to save as much

money as possible when travelling. Scouring websites and comparing prices is her hobby, and she always

tries to find the best value for money. She loves the peer-to-peer experiences, such as staying on Airbnb or

Couch-surfing, but she is also very careful not to fall into any “trap”. She is always trying to find airlines that

offer more than just the transportation – she needs to start and finish travel stress free.

She believes the best travel story she has is when she is open to new experiences. She is also very

connected with all trends; she loves to make use of brands that gives her some kind of sentimental or social

benefit. She makes use of all social media when it comes to sharing the travel experience. She likes to

“show off” a bit.

PROFILE 1 EMMA, 27 YEARS OLD

Recently married, she works in central London in an advertising agency and spends around 30 minutes

commuting by tube. Has a relatively good income (over £30,000/annual) and likes to go out to try new

restaurants. She loves to travel and enjoys the opportunities to get out of the city and "escape" somewhere

new in continental Europe, as it’s closer and faster to get to. She is concerned about making the most of

these getaways, so she avoids airports that are far and take longer to commute. She is very independent

when booking holidays: she searches for everything online and makes use of comparison websites to get

the best deal. She is aware of highest costs for quality experiences, but as she travels to have meaningful

experiences, she is always concerned about which travel providers will help to achieve that . She’s tech-

savvy and is always connected to friends, sharing pictures and videos of the most fun and interesting

experiences. She feels that she is some kind of inspiration to her friends.

PROFILE 2 CHLOE, 30 YEARS OLD

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Source: Getty Images, 2016

6.3 DECISION MAKING PROCESS UNIT AND ELM

In order to create the most effectively integrated marketing campaign and define the most

appropriate media to reach consumers, it is important to understand not only the profile and current

consumer behaviours of the target market, but also how it goes through the decision making

process and the path of purchase for an airline ticket.

From the previous analysis, it was possible to identify that consumer decisions when booking a

flight ticket are often driven by price. Therefore, the decision making process to buy an airline ticket

is more related to the cognitive paradigm as part of a problem-solving situation that the consumer

must assess and evaluate their set of options to make a reasoned decision (Pickton & Broderick,

p.70, 2005).

Therefore, it requires a high involvement purchase decision, as it can be an expensive investment.

There are many options (destinations) and fares (airlines) to choose, and the decision can have a

Married and with two young children, lives in a house in Manchester with his wife and his 5 year old son and

7 years old daughter. Works at a big company, has a very established career and his average earning is

£50,000/year. He is very adventurous and loves to travel. In winter, he tries to go to the Alps to ski and in

summer, always finds places to enjoy the sun, practice some water sports or hiking. He is always too

worried about his family, so travel is the time to relax and not to have concerns or stressed situations.

As they don’t travel that often, they just want to make the most out of the holidays. For that reasons he

doesn’t fly with Ryanair, but sometimes is willing to travel with easyJet if they offer a better deal than British

Airways.

PROFILE 3 LUKE, 34 YEARS OLD

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considerable impact on consumer’s lives (safety of airline and reputation) or on its travel

experience (hassle-free). Hence, consumers will spend more time evaluating those options and

considering the most important criteria.

Based on the Elaborate Likelihood Model (ELM), the information process follows a “central route”

where consumers are motivated to pay attention and think about the given message (Petty and

Cacioppo, 1986). If the message is convincing enough by giving the right arguments and showing

the benefits, then consumers are more likely to pay more for that product or service, and the

attitude change is more enduring.

The central route of processing requires therefore, a more persuasive message and marketing

communications strategies must be focused on creating enough awareness of British Airways’

benefits in order to be in the "consideration set", in other words, the brands to be considered when

purchasing the ticket.

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6.4 THE PATH OF PURCHASE

The path of purchase can be also identified as the “funnel of purchase” (Pickton & Broderick, 2005),

where customers receive a stimuli (marketing communications), creating brand awareness that will

drive the consumer to a set of options for consideration, followed by research and, lastly, purchase.

According to Court (et al., 2009), the way consumers research and purchase products and

services has changed dramatically due to new technologies and media platforms. In addition, the

consumer’s knowledge empowerment made them more actively aware of other people’s options

and opinions. In other words, what was previously a one-way conversation is now two-ways,

between brand and consumers.

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Initial Consideration

SetMoment of Purchase

Active Evaluation

Post purchase Experience

Loyalty Loop

1. Consumers consider an essential set of brands, based on perception,

experience and exposition to recents touch

points.

2. Consumers add or subtract brands as they evaluate what they what

and need

3. Ultimately, the consumer selects a brand at the moment of purchase

4. After purchase, the consumers builds

expectations based on experience to inform the

next decision jouney

TRIGGERS

Figure 15 Path of Purchase Cycle (Court, et al., 2009)

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The “purchase funnel” process starts with awareness when consumers either already have a

consideration set or they will be impacted by marketing strategies. At this stage, British Airways

already has a powerful presence on consumers consideration lists. For instance, it was elected top

consumer Superbrand in 2015 (Superbrands, 2015).

However, as seen on figure 15, during the active evaluation, British Airways can be taken out of the

process quickly, due to its higher price, as a result of price-driven decision. Therefore, it is part of the

marketing’s responsibility to keep the brand long enough on the purchase cycle, so consumers can

consider it as the main option for purchase.

At the following stage, consumers are actively researching for the best option, evaluating other’s

opinions and experience, and comparing the benefits that they will take from that purchase.

Currently, one of the biggest changes on the landscape of air travel purchase is the rise of online

travel agents (OTA’s) that offer a price comparison platform where consumers can easily access

and compare competitors based on price.

Moreover, consumers also rely on word of mouth and other’s reviews and opinions, creating a more

“transparent” information searching environment than just relying on promises made by marketers.

When applying the path of purchase onto the travel segment, it is important to highlight each step

of the process and how consumers tend to behave in each one of them. The path of purchase of

the traveller considers four steps (Hon and Ogilvy & Mather, 2014) and by understanding them, it is

possible to define the “where” and “when” consumers are more likely to take British Airways’

message under consideration, as described below:

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The first stage is when consumers are not aware or only

starting to think about travel. This stage can be triggered by

multiple influencers – media, friends, and family. In addition,

other people’s opinions and experiences shared on social

media, have an important role in the process that is mainly

online. According to Think With Google (2014), 64% of

travellers use the internet or a personal recommendation as

their main source of inspiration. At this stage, British Airways

must present emotional reasons to trigger their intentions and

then, act on it. The USP and messages can create

identification or storytelling with customer (Hon and Ogilvy &

Mather, 2014).

Media opportunities: brand content, positive PR, social

media, mass media advertising, product placement

DREAMING1

At this stage, consumers have been influenced and

must make decisions for their travel. The whole

process starts by searching for information of flights,

hotels, attractions, and remains mostly online until the

booking stage (Hon and Ogilvy & Mather, 2014). At this

point, customers are more rational towards options and

prices. Therefore, British Airways must wisely inform

and strategically impact this potential customer on the

right platform and at the right time, delivering attractive

reasons and unique values. At this stage, consumers

also tend to use comparison websites (OTA’s) to decide

which option is the most affordable.

Media opportunities: SEO, OTA’s, social media,

online media

PLANNING + BOOKING2|3

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According to Hon and Ogilvy & Mather (2014) this is the

moment of “reliving the experience and sharing with

friends”. Recently another important behaviour must be

considered – travellers also share reviews, ratings and

experiences on multiple platforms such as Tripadvisor

and even the company’s own website or social media

channel. Travel services must consequently aggregate

and amplify positive messages and feedback.

Moreover, British Airways can provide additional

opportunities for interactions and platforms for

customer’s storytelling in order for them to share and

positively inspire future travellers.

Media Opportunity: social media, photo sharing

platform, video sharing platform, online travel

communities.

SHARING5This is the moment of the real experience with all travel

services providers. Keeping up with the promises made

(quality and customer services) are at stake and overcome

customer’s expectations is fundamental to create a positive

outcome and consequently, a chance of return (Hon and

Ogilvy & Mather, 2014)). It is important to keep the “holiday

feeling” throughout the whole process, minimising any

interferences that may generate a disappointment. For

British Airways, as one of the first suppliers that customer

will engage during his trip, its important to create a fun,

joyful and friendly environment, so the traveller can “start”

in a good mood. In addition, making customer feel that the

money was well invested by offering an outstanding

customer service – something that British Airways already

delivers.

EXPERIENCE4

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6.1 CURRENT BRANDING

Branding is creating market differentiation by adding significant value to a service or a product that

can be “a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them” (American Marketing

Association, 2016). Brands are a result of a mix of benefits and attributes that satisfy needs, which

can be tangible, intangible, emotional or symbolic, or even represent values such as social status.

For British Airways, one of the most important elements is the name that is related to its location

(and brand's culture) – the colours and the Union Flag are part of the visual elements that symbolise

this heritage and resonates which values such as politeness and sophistication, and especially, on

the high standards of customer services (British Airways, 2014).

According to the brand's latest guidelines (British Airways, 2007), "Every detail of the British Airways

brand identity has been created to ensure that it is expressive of the brand and its values", which

represent the beliefs and attitudes to be followed by the entire corporation.

Currently, six values underpin the brand: safe and secure, responsible, British, professional, warm

and thoughtful. All those values must be in every decision that the corporation makes, especially

with marketing strategies, and are an important part of the brand positioning and how the customers

perceive it.

Brand positioning is a term used to describe how a brand can effectively compete in a particular

market (Keller, 2013). But, because brands are often expanding products, extensions and markets,

it is important to have one “concept” that holds the brand’s essence together – the brand mantra.

For British Airways, ultimately, every action taken by the brand must follow its essence: To Fly. To

Serve, the corporate motto used as main guidance for years (British Airways, 2015).

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Figure 16 British Airways brand values (British Airways, 2015)

In order to create a powerful and relevant brand, it is fundamental to endow it with brand equity –

“the marketing effects uniquely attributable to a brand” (Keller, 2013, p.57). Brand equity affects how

customers may receive marketing due to what “resides in the mind and heart” from the experiences

previously had (Keller, 2013, p.68).

Its recent £5 billion investment program on customer experience (British Airways, 2015) underpins

the brand's motivation to maintain and increase the delivery of outstanding customer service, as

they strive to become more and more “consumer-centric” (British Airways, 2015). Furthermore, the

wide variety of destinations (long and short-hauls) and in-flight services offered by British Airways

also have a positive effect the brand's image and trust among consumers (Mintel, 2015).

The two charts below (Mintel, 2015), show how British Airways is perceived as a trusted airline in

comparison to its main UK competitors, and the consumer’s ability to recall or recognise the brand’s

main attributes (Keller, 2013).

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Figure 18 Positioning map UK airlines based on customers’ perception of "Differentiation X Trust" (Mintel, 2015)

Figure 17 UK Airlines consumer's perception map based on marketing communications (Mintel, 2015)

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This higher perceived reputation is an advantage when competing with low-cost airlines, allowing

the company to maintain its premium prices in the current price-based competitive market.

According to Superbrands Index (2015), British Airways is both the consumer and business top UK

brand. This shows that not only does the service meet and exceed customers’ expectation, but the

communications appropriately build synergic messages.

However, despite the positive attributes, when compared to the UK competitor’s tone of

communication and messages, British Airways have a more “serious” and “cold” image rather than

“fun” and “exciting”, like easyJet and Virgin Atlantic (Mintel, 2015), and it is perceived as exclusive,

which means that consumers think that it is not as accessible as other competitors, resulting in

avoidance when searching for short-haul flight. This can be shown by the fact that in 2014

consumers were more likely to fly easyJet, indicating the market pressure on price-based decisions

on short-hauls (Mintel, 2015).

Furthermore, consumers within the target group tend to believe that British Airways’ overall higher

fares include only the concrete benefits, such as extra luggage and food and drinks on board

(Mintel, 2015). Therefore, an improvement on the message enhancing also the abstract benefits of

the company can help to capture customer’s attention, as this target is more likely to invest in

experiences, rather than concrete things (Worthington, 2015b).

According to the information above, it is possible to describe British Airway’s branding through the

brand wheel framework:

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Brand Essence: To Fly. To Serve

Attributes:

British style (sophistication)

Expertise (flying know-how)

Tradition Excellence

Trustful High standards of customer services

Personality:

High-end style and not arrongat

but with signifcant

background/tradition

Values: Safe and secure

Responsible Professional

British Warm

Thoughtful

Benefits: Air travel services with comfort and

high quality customer service

Figure 19 British Airways Brand Wheel

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III. CAMPAIGN STRATEGY

7 CENTRAL ORGANISING IDEA (COI)

When it comes to the message, as assessed before, British Airways has a powerful corporate

identity which must be reflected in all its campaigns. However, as demonstrated on the branding

analysis, and considering the current consumer behaviour towards low-cost airlines, this message

might not be appealing enough for the target group selected (Britons flying short-haul, 25-35 years

old, ABC1).

In addition, low-cost competitors have strong price-based messages, which is something that British

Airways is unable to do as it has a higher price due to it’s premium position. Taking these points into

consideration, the company must position itself in a different way than its competitors by

communicating its values to trigger the target’s interests and considerations choosing “experience”

over price, and increase “points of parities” against low-cost airlines (Keller, 2013).

The strategy applied here for British Airways is based on building a powerful resonance, "evoking

meanings, experiences, thoughts, associations or aspirations that are relevant, meaningful and

significant to our target audiences" (Pickton & Broderick, p. 428, 2005). By using marketing

communication efforts, it is recommended to build an aspirational and status-seeking theme, to

relate the brand to a state that consumers desire, by using British Airways as a credential for a fun

and "high-end" lifestyle.

The message must relate to the target’s realities and expectations. As previously assessed,

Millennial want brands that are capable of offering more than just functionality, but unique

experiences that can add social value for themselves (Nielsen, 2014). In addition, they are more

likely to advocate brands that are authentic and that engage with their reality. Likewise, this

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message must be delivered where this target is getting inspiration, doing travel research and

actively purchasing flight tickets: online (Think with Google, 2014).

Therefore, this campaign proposes a message that enhances British Airways’ uniqueness, by

promoting how the same situations are handled when flying low-cost in comparison with flying BA.

Those situations must include the overall journey and not only “in-flight” or concrete attributes. For

instance, transportation and distance length to the airports, baggage handling, boarding lounge and

customer services are a few of the characteristics where British Airways has advantages over

competitors.

Overall, the most important outcome from this message is a make consumers identify themselves

with the “beneficial situations” offered by British Airways, and realise that the value-for-money is

greater considering the travel experience as a whole. The more the target relates to the situation,

the better, as they create a personal identification by recalling a similar past experience. In addition,

the message must have a fun and positive tone of voice, as the objective is not to attack

competitors, but to subtly promote better experiences with BA.

Figure 20 Suggested positioning statement for British Airways

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USP (UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION)

Based on the unique selling proposition strategy above and the company’s previous analysed brand

wheel, British Airways must emphasise to the new target market its unique features and benefits

against its competitors. As this is a highly competitive market, the USP is very often based on

perceptions rather than concrete attributes (Pickton & Broderick, p.427, 2005). As for British

Airways, it is possible to create a sense of uniqueness through its "expertise, delivery and service"

(Pickton & Broderick, p.427, 2005), differentiating it from short haul competitors that are based on

price.

Therefore, the unique selling proposition for this campaign is “Beyond just an airline”. This will

give a sense that British Airways is beyond just a transportation mode, it delivers more: it’s about

great customer service and a great all-journey experience that allows customers to have the best

travel stories for them to share and inspire friends and new potential travellers.

IMC OBJECTIVES

To gain inclusion of the brand into repertoire set of 30% of target market,

by shifting brand's communication perception to fun and exciting

To discourage price as main criteria of choice within

target market by inform and expand unique cost benefits

TONE OF VOICE“Funny, Polite, Playful, Relatable”

Fun situations and easy to relate to customer’s reality. The tone must be

funny/comic but must maintain brand’s politeness in order to not become an

attack to competition.

MESSAGE“Beyond just an airline”

The message must compare same situations when flying low-cost and BA, to enhance the differences and

benefits of the “higher price” of British Airways. The benefits must go beyond just concrete attributes and benefits.

Figure 21 IMC objectives and suggested message approaches

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8 STRATEGY AND MESSAGE DELIVER

"Marketing communications media are all forms of media that can transmit marketing

communications messages to one or more people - media carries the message from sender to

receiver" (Pickton & Broderick, p.104, 2005). Therefore, different media should be strategically

evaluated according to marketing communications objectives, the target and the message that will

be delivered in order to be "noticed in a crowded marketplace" (Pickton & Broderick, p.106, 2005).

In order to create an appropriate marketing communication mix and achieve the objectives of

discouraging price as a decision-making criteria and including British Airways on consumer’s

consideration set, the AIDA strategic framework (Pickton and Broderick, 2005) will be used to

direct the communication campaign, the media plan, as to when and where it should target the

consumer.

ACTION: Direct marketing and online/digital tools to drive action

DESIRE: Campaign’s message

INTEREST: Campaign’s message + Frequency

AWARENESS: Use of advertising on TV to reach large mass, OOH and Online tools to

reach targeted customer group

A

I

D

A

Figure 22 AIDA model applied on IMC campaign for British Airways (Hanlon, 2013)

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As this is a brand’s positioning strategy, the main outcomes that can be extracted from the AIDA

framework and the ideal blend of IMC tools are:

AWARENESS:

Creating awareness for the campaign’s message and informing about USP by using media tools

that allow reach and exposure within the target audience. In this case, TV and Out of Home (OOH)

advertisement will be used to expand the reach of the campaign, as it is one of the most effective

media tools for this purpose (Pickton and Broderick, 2005).

In both cases the audience segmentation is effective: TV by selecting specific channels and spots

that are more likely to impact target and OOH, considering London tube advertisement, as this is

one of the highest concentration of target market in the UK (ExperionMedia, 2016) and has a high

exposure impact on commuters.

However, the most important tools to reach a very segmented target are the online and digital

channels (Youtube, Adwords, Display Ads and Remarketing). Following the previous analysis of

path of purchase, most of the decision-making process happens online. Moreover, the brand must

communicate its message where potential customers are “acting” (Think with Google, 2014). The

strategy includes a combination of different formats and approaches that will be described in detail

in the next chapter.

PREFERENCE (INTEREST + DESIRE):

The AIDA model has some variations of its structure, as stated by Pickton and Broderick (2005),

such as DAGMAR (Awareness, Comprehension, Conviction and Action) and ATR (Awareness,

Trial and Reinforcement).

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Most of the differences relate to when consumers are aware of the message delivered and must

move to the next stage – the gain of interest and desire or the appropriate comprehension of the

message and consumer’s conviction, generating brand preference (Hanlon, 2013).

In this case, the message and the tone of voice will work as mechanisms to help consumers

achieve these stages. As defined previously on chapter 7, the message must contain significant

situations that trigger the target’s identification, resulting in interest or comprehension as to what

the message is trying to transmit.

In addition, as mentioned on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (pg. 41), the process of purchasing

an air ticket requires a consumer’s high involvement decision, following the central route of

information processing. Therefore, consumers are likely to comprehend messages that are

emotional, but that also contain relevant information.

By unifying common situations during a holiday (emotional) to the logic factors of choosing the best

experience (with British Airways) on the message, its possible to increase the success of message

interpretation, generating brand preference and convincing consumers to move to the next stage:

action.

ACTION:

The action will be measured according to marketing and communications objectives, in this case,

the purchase of British Airways flight tickets by defined target.

In order to drive sales (action), the combination of online and offline media tools is important as, for

instance, TV drives more short to medium sales and it’s a great support for online media

campaigns (ThinkBox, 2015). In this case, the use of online media is fundamental, since the

process of purchase and the main point of sales of British Airways are online. In addition, the target

is widely known as “heavy internet users” (Nielsen, 2014).

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Therefore, driving the target audience to the British Airways website (online and offline efforts),

after they have been exposed to the message campaign and “enchanted” by it, increases the

purchase potential.

8.1 MEDIA TOOL FOR MESSAGE DELIVERY

The campaign will have a strong presence on digital and online platforms and make use of

traditional mass media to amplify the message and reach larger audiences. The concept revolves

around creating a video where the same situation will be happening at the same time, but in two

different parallel versions: low-cost experience and British Airways experience. The same visual

concept will be applied on all media formats with variations of “situations” and call-to-actions.

The important difference between this campaign and the previous short-haul campaign previously

analysed on chapter 2.3, is that this will focus on mostly emotional outcomes from situations lived by

low-cost travellers. Those are situations that are wide known from low-cost travel experiences and

that the campaign must highlight its negativity in order to enhance British Airways’ unique benefits.

As seen from the “prosperity profile” analysis (pg. 36), the target is considered “always on”, meaning

that they spend a considerable amount of their days connected on multiple digital platforms, an

Figure 23 Suggestion of visual concept of divided screen showing two versions of the same story (YouTube, 2016)

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opportunity to reach people from target 1 and 2 (p.39), that make use of online platforms to decide

all the travel purchases.

At the same time, according to OfCom (2015), British Millennials still watch a certain amount of TV

and are the main target on OOH media (ExterionMedia, 2015), as part of them make use of public

transportation to commute, as seen on profile 2 (pg.39).

Thus, the media outlets to deliver the campaign’s message were chosen upon target’s daily

behaviour and path of purchase, including: TV, Direct, Digital Marketing and Out Of Home. In

addition, PR is going to be used as push strategy for staff training. Further details in the next

chapter.

ONLINE:

The online media delivery will have a main objective to create awareness and drive the target

audience to British Airways’ website, facilitating the purchase path towards the brand through a

specific call to action. The online campaign will consist of:

Video Advertisement: through video platforms (YouTube) and rich media ad format (Media

Display)

Banner Advertisement: includes static images with a question (call to action): “What do you want

your next travel story to be?”, to encourage people to compare and question if low-cost are really

worth the cost.

OFFLINE:

At the same time, an offline (traditional) media effort will be placed in order to amplify and reach

broader audiences:

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TV Advertisement: same concept video campaign to be used on other platforms

OOH Advertisement: large pictures (16 sheets) on London underground, with same person half in

one situation (low-cost) and half on the British Airways experience, including the question (Call to

Action): What do you want your next travel story to be?

VISUAL EXAMPLES:

Image Source: Getty Images, 2016

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9 PUSH AND PULL STRATEGIES

Push and pull strategies are presented as a way to focus the marketing communication efforts

towards trade/channel intermediaries (push strategies) and the influences upon end-consumer (pull

strategies). In other words, is the plan strategically targeted to the channels where the service will be

an intermediate to the consumer (Pickton & Broderick, 2005). Therefore, both push and pull

strategies must be developed to be synchronised and complementary.

PUSH STRATEGY

The push strategy relates to all efforts to encourage trade (seller) to promote the product more

effectively to final consumers (Pickton and Broderick, 2005). Despite not “selling” the product per se,

one of the most important stakeholders for British Airways is its employees, especially the ones

dealing directly with the customer: crew members and airport staff, as they are the ones delivering

the service.

According to Pickton and Broderick (2005) all stakeholders play a major role in the integration of all

marketing communications strategies. Therefore, employees must take part in the message and

experience to be delivered to customer. The promotion of the idea "Beyond Just an Airline” will be

introduced to internal staff through PR training, in order to involve them in the campaign’s concept,

engage them with its values and help achieve it.

The idea is to be fun, but not silly, relaxed, but not lazy and joyful, in order to create closer

relationships and engagement with passengers. Crew members will be encouraged to add some fun

comments during the safety guidelines speech (following certain limitations). The captain will be

encouraged to deliver a more friendly welcome speech. It is important to consider that the level of

customer service won’t change, as this is part of the corporation’s essence.

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PULL STRATEGY

Pull strategies are the efforts made by the company and its marketing communication in order to

create demand for its product (Kotler and Armstrong, 2003). The use of multiple media under the

same strategy (and goals) must be used to generate interest and encourage customers to purchase

the product or service, in this case, choose British Airways as airline.

As seen before, nearly the entire path of purchase of travel services happens online; in addition, the

customer is defined as “always-connected” and expects to find everything they need on the internet.

Therefore, the marketing communication pull strategy of British Airways must have an outstanding

focus on online media in order to generate positive word-of-mouth by creating relevant content to its

target, and use offline media to support and expand the campaign’s reach.

The pull strategy will deliver the emotional benefit of British Airways – the exclusive experience and

friendly environment that allows passengers to start their “travel story” even before landing at their

destination. The marketing communication mix to support this campaign and consequently, deliver

the message will be described in the following chapter.

10 INTEGRATION

There are multiple definitions for what an integrated marketing communication stands for.

However, the basic principles lie on the concept of having all communication channels

synchronized with the company’s strategy, delivering a clear and consistent message about the

organisation’s values and its products (Pickton and Broderick, 2005, p.3).

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VERTICAL INTEGRATION

Vertical Integration can be described as the perfect synergy between strategy, message, tactics

and actions taken on a specific campaign (Broderick & Pickton, 2005). Everything aligned with the

corporation’s vision and values. See Figure24.

In a vertical integration, not only must business objectives be followed and accomplished, but also

brand’s essence must be the same throughout the chain. As British Airways wants to be “the most

admired company”, it is fundamental that each area dedicates its efforts to achieving the corporate

vision.

Therefore, this campaign intends to increase sales of short haul destinations by targeting a

potential customer profile through a message that relates to its needs and wants, but at the same

time, guaranteeing that the values of the company are reinforced.

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Figure 24 Vertical Integration Framework

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The message must follow and relate to the principles of the company (safe and secure,

responsible, British, professional, warm and thoughtful) and with the brand essence: “To Fly, To

Serve”. Therefore, “Beyond just an airline” has a strong appeal to highlight the unique and positive

characteristics of the brand (especially customer service), which properly relates to the brand’s

identity.

In addition, the message intends to create a positive differentiation in consumer’s minds and

convince them to shift their purchase from low-cost to British Airways, driving sales increases and

reaching objectives.

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HORIZONTAL SYNERGY

Horizontal synergy is the correlation of all marketing efforts across media (Pickton and Broderick,

2005). In other words, it the synergy between the unique message that runs across channels and

tactics.

The campaign “Beyond Just an Airline” will have two media approaches to deliver the message:

online and offline. To create a synergetic campaign it is important that both online tactics and off-

line are working together to achieve a single desired result (Pickton and Broderick, 2005). In this

case, the message will be used as the main concept to drive audience decision-making on each

channel by showing in different formats (video, images and contents) the comparison between

situations on a regular low-cost flight and when travelling with British Airways.

The use of crossed media tools and channels will enhance the campaign’s reach, as consumers will

be exposed to the campaign in a variety of formats in multiple channels. In addition, by including

tools that focus on both brand awareness and conversion, the integrated marketing communications

guarantee the most effective approach to targets in order to reach the objectives.

The figure below represents the connection between message, tools and channels, and the goals to

be achieved, according to the AIDA framework.

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Figure 25 IMC Horizontal Synergy Framework

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IV. CAMPAIGN DELIVERY

The following chapter will describe in depth all medias to be used in order to promote the campaign

and the message. The strategy includes a crossed media investment in online formats, TV and out

of home, to guarantee maximum reach of the customer’s fragmented attention and media’s

fragmented audience.

According to Deloitte (2015), creating an integrated customer experience across different channels

allows business to keep with pace of current travel consumers, that have been transformed by

digital platforms and empowered with large amount of information available on internet.

11 ADVERTISING (TV)

According to Pickton and Broderick (2005) the main benefits of advertising is that it has a large

coverage, in other words, it reaches the mass but with considerable segmentation. Therefore, in

this campaign, advertising will play an important role of expanding the message across the target

market. While the online phase of the campaign will be highly focused on profile segmentation, the

TV phase will expand the reach in order to achieve more consumers.

In addition to its cost effectively (reach X investment), advertising also helps to sustain brand

maintenance messages (Pickton and Broderick, 2005) in order to amplify campaign’s message

awareness. As this campaign is not focused on hard sell, and advertising is considered a less

strong force to encourage customer to take action (purchase), this media is set to strength brand

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image and attribute in order to evoke a long last relationship between target group and British

Airways.

11.1 TV AD

According to ThinkBox (2015), TV ads have a long-lasting effect on sales, driving on average 39%

of sales within 3 months of the end of the campaign and impacting 45% of sales effect after the

first year of investment.

In addition, TV ads influence top-line business numbers such as sales, profit and market share,

and have become even more effective and powerful due to the easy synergy with online media

(ThinkBox, 2015). Therefore, as this campaign will have an online roll out, we can expect a positive

return with the use of TV as a supporting medium.

The selection of channels was based on their audience impact (reach and %share), type of content

– focus on young and higher profile content, as 20% of audience consumes entertainment content

and 16% drama – and, lastly, channels that also have a video on demand platform.

- 30’’ NATIONAL TV SPOT

- Frequency/OTS: According O’Brian (2015) an OTS of 3 times is a positive average to fit

AIDA strategies.

- Insertions: 33 insertions for each channel nationally and 59 for London area (just ITV)

throughout the year. The launch week will have 1 extra insertion as a way to boost

campaign exposure.

- Time Slot: premium time. According to AdCom (2015), 21:00 to 22:00 are the main peak

times within all ages, including target market 25-34 years old, as seen on the figures below.

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- Channels selection: according to target market viewership drawn by BARB, the channels

and time slots with highest viewership of 25-35, ABC1 are:

ITV 2 (Movie or Drama 20h30m - 23h30m)

E4 (PrimeTime 20h30m - 23h30m)

Sky 1 (Prime Time 20h30m to 23h30m)

Sky Atlantic (Prime Time 20h30m to 23h30m)

ITV 2:

Part of the ITV family hub, ITV 2 is focused on a younger content, including series such as

Downtown Abbey and reality shows such as “I’m a celebrity get me out of here” (current highest

program audience – Mediatel, 2015). It is a free channel; therefore, it has higher reach in the UK

than the paid channels (BARB, 2015).

The ITV family has the second highest viewership in the UK, only losing to the BBC group (OfCom,

2015) and, in addition, they have the ITV Player (the online video on demand free service), one of

Figure 26 Average of weekdays audience by day part and age in 2014 (OfCom, 2014)

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the platforms that this campaign will be displayed on, thus having a great opportunity to negotiate

costs and investments.

CHANNEL 4/ E4:

Commercially self-fund, Channel 4 has a large portfolio of different channels, which includes

Channel 4, E4 and Film 4. In addition, Channel 4 has the free on-demand service 4oD, which

currently reaches more than 50% of all UK’s 15-34-years-old (Channel 4, 2016) and is the third

most watched TV on-demand service in the UK (Channel 4, 2016). This will be a very suitable

platform to expand the reach and awareness of British Airway’s campaign, as 50% of young

viewers are shifting from live TV to on-demand services (Sherwin, 2015)

Despite having the largest reach, Channel 4 has lower viewership among 25–34-years-old than its

sister channel E4 – which has only 2% of total share but higher viewership amongst target - which

includes shows such as Big Bang Theory, Deutschland 83 and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

during prime time (OfCom, 2014).

Therefore, for its profile viewership and for owning a powerful on demand platform, E4 will be used

to reach and expand the awareness of the campaign.

SKY ONE AND ATLANTIC

Sky has one of the largest portfolios and has currently one of the highest viewership amongst

target market (OfCom, 2015), especially on Sky 1 and Atlantic, which include highly successful

series such as Game of Thrones, Modern Family and The Flash.

Sky has one of the largest portfolios and currently has one of the highest viewerships amongst the

target market (OfCom, 2015), especially on Sky 1 and Atlantic, which include highly successful

series such as Game of Thrones, Modern Family and The Flash.

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In addition, Sky also has the fourth most viewed on demand service among UK tv channels

(OfCom, 2015), so it is important to create a proper cross channel presence to reach the target in

all platforms.

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Figure 27 TV suggested schedule

The campaign will be advertised on TV twice in the year: once during summer sales and the second time during winter sales. As people are

starting to think about vacations on both periods, they are more likely to pay attention to the advert (Auton, 2015). In addition, those periods

(Last week of February and beginning of March) include possible Easter holidays, Mother’s Day and bank holidays. Therefore, the campaign

will have more chances to be effective.

In addition, the media strategy will have insertions of 4 times a week (national) and 7 times a week (London area), apart from the first week

(launch) when an additional exposure will be added to generate awareness. The advert will be displayed during prime time (when most of the

target audience watch TV). ITV divides its rates according to regions, so the campaign frequency will increase only in London, as Londoners

have travelled short-haul 65% more than other regions in 2014 (Mintel, 2015).

WK 8 WK 9 WK 10 WK 11 WK 39 WK 40 WK 41 WK 42

ITV 2 (Movie or Drama 20h30m - 23h30m) National Mon-Fri 19,033,000 30.2% 33 10 3 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

ITV 2 (Movie or Drama 20h30m - 23h30m) London Mon-Fri 19,033,000 30.2% 59 18 5 10 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

E4 (PrimeTime 20h30m - 23h30m) National Mon-Fri 12,139,000 22.9% 33 8 3 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Sky Atlantic (Prime Time 20h30m to 23h30m) National Mon-Fri 2,696,000 4.9% 33 2 3 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Sky 1 (Prime Time 20h30m to 23h30m) National Mon-Fri 9,511,000 15.4% 33 5 3 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

TV

Days FEB MARCH OCTOBERWeekly

Reach (%)

Expected

GRPOTSIMC TOOLS Coverage

Weekly

Reach

Total

Insertions

CALENDAR

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11.2 OOH

Out of Home advertising comprises all outdoors visual material that can connect a highly

responsive and active audience whilst commuting. Currently, more than ten million passengers use

the London Transportation network, and nearly four million only with the underground, with an

average of daily travel time of 104 minutes (TFL, 2016).

The various formats of advertisements on the London Underground can reach an audience profile

of over 50% of 18-34 years old, 74% of them ABC1 and 37% of which are considered “hyper-

connected” and opinion influencers (ExterionMedia, 2015). In addition, Transportmedia (2015)

considers advertising on the underground great way to effectively communicate with working

people.

According to Transportmedia (2015), 87% of commuters actively look for ads as a distraction on

the London Underground, therefore, appropriate messages can be ideal for entertaining people

and potentially sparking their desire to travel.

Both Tube Car Panels and platform sheets (sizes: 96’’, 48’’ and 16’’) have the longest dwell time

on all sites (an average of 13 minutes for the first and 3 minutes for the latter), which means that

the target is more likely to pay attention and engage with brand stories and messages

(ExterionMedia, 2015).

Lastly, according to ExterionMedia (2015), advertising on the underground is considered

memorable (people are 6x more likely to recall adverts) and engaging (79% have looked up or

purchased something that was advertised).

Therefore, for its high reach and impact on the campaign’s target audience, two formats will be

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used to promote British Airways’ marketing campaign: 48 sheets (Targeted package) and Car

Panels, during a period of 4 weeks between February and March and then 4 weeks in October.

12 DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Facing the changes caused by the internet and technological advance (including consumer

behaviour and media fragmentation), companies must invest on platforms that allow engagement,

personalisation and relevant content that increase the relationship with the brand.

For Court (et al, 2009), marketing must be consumer-driven and take place mostly on the internet,

as it still the most relevant place to search for information, reviews and recommendations. For 93%

of 25-34 year olds, companies must make all information available, as they are confident in finding

anything they need online (Nielsen, 2014).

WK 8 WK 9 WK 10 WK 11 WK 39 WK 40 WK 41 WK 42

London 26.50£ 87% X X X X X X X X

London 1,875.00£ 87% X X X X X X X X

FEB MARCH OCTOBER

Tube car pannels

48''Sheets (Platform)

CALENDAR

IMC TOOLS Coverage 2 weeks cost OTS

Figure 28 OOH Suggested calendar

Figure 29 Example of Tube Car Panel and 48''Sheets advertisement formats on London Underground (AdimediaUK, 2016)

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The use of online marketing communication tools is essential to achieve the proposed objectives

and engage properly and effectively with consumers at the right place, at the right time. As seen

previously, British Airways’ target market is very “connected” and maintains a great amount of its

daily activities online.

Therefore, it is important that British Airways reach out consumers at the moment that they are

deciding their travel and are most likely to pay attention to related “exposures” (Think with Google,

2014). In addition, as its main point of sale is online, the proposed campaign needs to drive

qualified traffic to the website, generating not only awareness but also potential buyers.

In addition, online media allows advertisers to segment ads according to audience profiles. This is

one of the most important parts of consumer-centred strategies, and must be reflected on media’s

performances.

To guarantee the most effective media investment and the best campaign reach, this online media

plan is divided into several platforms and formats, resulting in a complete mix of digital tools: video

on demand advertisement, media display, YouTube and social media ads. In addition, email

marketing will be used to engage with the current customers database.

Separate from TV, the online media will have a fundamental role in creating campaign awareness

and driving traffic to the website. Based on the AIDA framework, it has as an objective to increase

awareness and drive active response to the campaign.

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12.1 VIDEO ON DEMAND (VoD)

As result of the current connected world, the change in customer expectations and behaviours

caused by the high amount of information and technological advances has impacted how they

behave towards media consumption (Deloitte, 2015).

As mentioned earlier, people are watching less TV and shifting towards other forms of content

sources, which are more personalised and where they can decide what to see and when to see it.

These are known as on-demand or streaming services (OfCom, 2015).

According to BARB (2015), in 2015, 2 in 5 people watched some content online in order to catch

up with shows that they have missed live. This is especially true amongst old millennials (25-34

years old), where the reach of VoD is nearly 71% of this age group and 61% are ABC1 (Channel 4,

2016).

Consequently, most of the large broadcasters have an “on-demand platform” that are often free

and include all content from TV. According to Ofcom (2015), BBC iPlayer (31%) has the largest

reach, followed by ITV Player, 4oD and Sky (all near 16%).

Nevertheless, the importance of traditional TV remains important, as only 8% of UK 16+ viewings

are on VoD. Thus, the strategy is to reach the target audience in both channels, with a crossed

media strategy between television advertisement and on-demand advertising.

It is important to highlight that the on-demand media will be displayed in between content that has

the higher viewership among the target segment, in video format and negotiated according to each

platform's specifications. This highly targeted segmentation is due to the need for users to log into

the broadcaster website, thus providing detailed information about their profile, which can be used

to segment the ad delivery.

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Figure 30 Login page of ITV Player (ITV, 2016)

According to Channel 4 (2013), the 4oD demographic targeting delivered uplifts in campaign

effectiveness and efficiency of Click Through Rate (+109%) – useful when the goal is to drive

traffic to brand’s website. In addition, the cut through was more effective when it is demographically

targeted with results showing marked uplifts over the campaign period for spontaneous ad

awareness (+39%) and ad recognition (+67%).

Figure 31 ITV Player on-stream advertisement screen (ITV, 2016)

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The OTS (opportunity to see) will be maximum of 3 times per person. The set frequency was

followed by O’Brian (2015) average of OTS effectiveness and minimum wear-out.

Figure 32 Suggested calendar for Video On Demand advertisements

The VoD media will follow same scheduling as TV, which is, four weeks between February and

March and four weeks in October.

Overall, not only does this medium offer a qualified audience, but it also has a high conversion rate

to websites. In addition, on-demand broadcasters can provide the advertiser with much more

qualified audience data than TV, which can help British Airways to build a complete and complex

customer behaviour profile.

12.2 YOUTUBE MEDIA

YouTube is one of the most important platforms of video consumption nowadays, being the third

most visited website, just after Google and Facebook (Naveed, 2015). Consequently, it has also

impacted on how brands advertise: brands can now make use of the platform to offer unique

content and expanded versions of TV commercials, and engage more efficiently with an online

audience by potentially driving them to the company's or campaign’s website (Hoggins, 2015). On

top of that, YouTube can drive considerable word-of-month effect.

According to YouTube (2015), the platform currently has more than one billion users each month

and 36 million unique UK visitors, so adverts can reach not only more people than ever before, but

WK 8 WK 9 WK 10 WK 11 WK 39 WK 40 WK 41 WK 42

ITV Player* video 30'' 3 X X X X X X X X

Sky Go video 30'' 3 X X X X X X X X

4oD video 30'' 3 X X X X X X X X

VoD Format OTS FEB MARCH OCTOBER

CALENDAR

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also target the campaign according to the type of content viewers consume. According to Hoggins

(2015), successful YouTube campaigns are down to two main criteria: content quality and

emotional connection.

Therefore, in order to boost the “Beyond Just an Airline” campaign, the platform will be used with

the objective of boosting the campaign’s reach and driving consumers to British Airways’ website.

TRUEVIEW

The full campaign’s video will be used as Trueview in-stream. This is a video ad format that runs

on videos served on YouTube or on a collection of sites in the Google Display Network (Youtube,

2016), where viewers can choose to skip the ad after five seconds or continue to watch it.

Therefore, it is important that the video creation captures the curiosity and attention in the first few

seconds (through music or visual assets) in order to encourage viewers to keep watching the

video.

The benefit of this format is that it is highly cost-effective, as British Airways will only pay for people

who engage with the video in the following ways: clicking, watching more than 30 seconds or

sharing it. In other words, it will be paid only for the engaged viewers. In addition, there will be a

“call to action” layer on the top of it, so every person who clicks will be then directed to the British

Airways’ website.

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Figure 33 YouTube on-stream advertisement screen (YouTube, 2016)

As this medium is related to the video content, it will run at the same time as the TV insertions, as

its main objective is to create awareness of British Airway’s differentials and drive people to

engage with the stories.

Figure 34 Suggested calendar for YouTube media

12.3 MEDIA DISPLAY

As the traveller consumer journey remains online (Deloitte, 2015), British Airways must make use

of display media to reach a large variety of consumers that are surfing, searching and consuming

travel-related content on the internet, and drive them to BA’s website.

Media display is a tool that captures consumer’s attention on multiple websites and it can have two

main goals: brand awareness and conversation. According to the AIDA framework, this strategy

will have both approaches: the “video” display to increase reach and awareness of British Airways,

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Trueview video 30'' 3 X X X X X X X X

CALENDAR

Youtube Format OTS FEB MARCH OCTOBER

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and the “image” display to drive traffic to website and conversions to purchases – this will include

remarketing which will be discussed further.

By using Google Display Network, the campaign can reach over two million websites available on

the network (Google Display Network, 2015). However, in order to be selective and focused on the

campaign’s main target, it will be segmented according to the profile specification of interests and

affinities.

In both cases (video display and image), there will be a control over where the ads will be

displayed. In other words, a highly specific target and website segmentation will be conducted.

This will guarantee the quality of targeting and content, and exposure to the most engaged

audiences at the right moment.

IMAGE FORMAT (LEADHEADS):

This format includes a static image that will be display on top of selected websites, following the

same visual identity and call to action of the OOH campaign.

As the main objective of this format is to drive conversion, the cost will be based on PPC (pay per

click). In other words, British Airways will only pay for clicks on the ad (potential consumers),

hence, driving qualified traffic to the campaign’s webpage.

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Figure 35 Example of Leadhead media display - top (The Guardian, 2016)

A similar format will be used as “remarketing”, a strategic tool from Media Display, that tracks

people who visited British Airways’ website and deliver a specific advert according to the research

made (Google Display Network, 2015).

Deloitte (2015) found that 81% of travel business online shopping baskets are abandoned,

meaning that people go to the website, check fares but give up the purchase. Nevertheless, British

Airways must guarantee that those potential consumers that were once on the website remember

to come back and make the purchase.

Thus, remarketing media display offers the most effective way to identify those users and deliver

the campaigns message, tailored according to their behavior path, location and profile, as this is a

type of media that shows ads to people who have been on company’s website but left without

completing the purchase. Whenever that happens, remarketing will identify that individual and

show an ad based on the search he was doing previously (specific destination, for example).

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In other words, remarketing helps brands to reconnect with consumers by showing relevant ads as

they browse the web, as they use mobile apps, or as they search on Google (Google Media

Display, 2015).

The strategy to be applied on will follow the concept of “Beyond Just an Airline”, but special offers

will be offered in order to gain captive attention and recall. In this case, the objective is to drive

direct response and conversation (sale).

VIDEO FORMAT (RICHMEDIA):

Richmedia is an online ad format that has high levels of interaction, such as animated ads, roll

over, expanded banners, etc. (Google Ads, 2009). It will be used as another tool to complete the

brand’s presence online (together with YouTube and VoD), by displaying the video campaign as

ads in a wide range of websites.

This strategy will follow the same segmentation as the previous format, but with less frequency, as

it is a video and the objective is brand awareness, therefore a lower frequency is advised (Digital

Marketing Institute, 2015).

Hence, the costs will be based on “cost per impression”, as the exposure to the campaign’s

message is more important than the “action” itself.

Figure 36 Suggested calendar for Media Display

FEBW8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13 W14 W15 W16 W17 W18 W19 W20 W21 W22 W23 W24 W25 W26 W27 W28 W29 W30 W31 W32 W33 W34 W35 W36 W37 W38 W39 W40 W37 W38 W39 W40

Leadhead banner

Richmedia (video)

Remarketing

MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBERMedia Display

MARCH APRIL

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Apart from the video media display, which will follow the same schedule as TV, YouTube and VoD,

the other ads will be used as a continuous supporting media throughout the year. Remarketing will

be used as a continuous tool and the regular display with the campaign’s concept will be

scheduled for 2 extra months - February until April and then October and November.

12.4 SOCIAL MEDIA

Currently, British Airways has global Facebook and Twitter accounts, where some content is

published as a way to engage with fans and followers. However, the average engagement is

consistently very low (Facebook, 2016), mainly due lack of relevant content.

Using social media as a marketing tool and content strategy is very effective. According to DeMers

(2014), it is a positive mechanism to increase brand loyalty and build strong relationships with

customers. In addition, it helps to increase conversion rates and inbound traffic (DeMers, 2014).

However, it is fundamental that British Airways offers relevant and good content that not only

attracts consumer attention but also encourages them to engage.

Regarding the campaign “Beyond Just an Airline”, a series of posts will be published across the

social media platforms. The content will inform consumers about the benefits of flying with British

Airways. The content must be adapted throughout the year according to its engagement

performance.

The main platforms to test the content will be Facebook and Twitter, and will include owned and

paid media. On Facebook, the paid content will include the “content ad” format. This format boosts

the selected content, promoting it to the selected target audience. The target audience for paid

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media will include fans of British Airways and non-fans, but classified according to the target

defined previously.

For Twitter, the content will include the hashtag promotion (#beyondanairline) and with inspirational

images of European destinations to promote the concept. The objective is to create buzz around

the hashtag and encourage people to share their stories and increase word of month.

Figure 37 Suggested calendar for Social Media content

For paid media, the investment and content will follow the whole campaign schedule (February and

March, October). However, on Twitter, the promoted hashtag will be scheduled for only the first two

weeks, in order to create awareness to the campaign’s concept and avoid excessive exposure, as

hashtags tend to have shorter wear out (Twitter for Business, 2015).

12.5 DIRECT MARKETING

The direct marketing campaign is a sales tool to deliver a direct message to attract new customers

or increase loyalty and repurchase with established customers (Pickton and Broderick, 2005). It is

a way to provide content marketing and offers, in order to achieve the British Airways’ goals; in this

case, it will help to support campaign’s awareness within current loyalty card holders.

It is a way to provide content marketing and offers in order to achieve British Airways’ goals; in this

case, it will help to support the campaign’s awareness with current loyalty card holders.

FEBW8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13 W14 W15 W16 W17 W18 W19 W20 W21 W22 W23 W24 W25 W26 W27 W28 W29 W30 W31 W32 W33 W34 W35 W36 W37 W38 W39 W40 W37 W38 W39 W40

Facebook (Owned)

Facebook (Paid)

Twitter (Owned)

Twitter Promoted Hashtag)

JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBERSocial Media

MARCH APRIL MAY

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For this specific campaign, direct mail will be used as a tool to deliver the campaign’s message,

encourage engagement with “story telling” and, mostly, give an incentive to current customer. It will

serve as back up to the whole campaign, focusing to retain current customers of British Airways.

The use of the current British Airways database is important not only to keep customers engaged,

but also because it can provide relevant profile information that can be used to segment and target

the online media display even more accurately. In addition, as the database to be used is internal

(belongs to British Airways), the profitability is high.

The database will include customers:

- Subscribed on loyalty programs (Avios/Executive Club)

- Have purchased flights with British Airways at least once

The direct mail will run through the first phase of the campaign and second, to encourage

repurchases with current British Airways customers.

13 PUBLIC RELATIONS

Regarding the push strategy, internal public relations will be used to engage with employees in order

to encourage them to have a fresh, fun but still very polite customer service. The idea is to involve

them on the “Beyond Just an Airline” campaign by creating an internal guideline with suggestions of

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Current database X X X X X X X X

Email Marketing MARCH OCTOBERFEB

Figure 38 Suggested calendar for Email Marketing

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customer interaction that will help generate positive (and funny) viral stories online (WOM) of the

uniqueness of British Airways customer service.

In order to support the whole campaign it is essential that British Airways’ staff get involved as much

as possible, as they are the main contact and the main service providers. Therefore, the objective is

to show customers that British Airways is not only the best for customer service, but it also provides

a friendly environment that generates the best start or end for their “travel memories and stories”.

The public relations team, together with British Airways’ creative agency, will produce the guideline

in order to guarantee the best interaction ideas, without jeopardizing service or brand’s reputation.

Suggestions sent on the internal email system from staff will also be welcomed and evaluated.

A series workshop with short-haul crew members and customer-facing ground staff will take place in

the headquarters and email communications will be sent through the staff system to keep them up to

date with the campaign’s concept message. This strategy will roll throughout the year

14 CAMPAIGN TIMELINE

The following chart summarises the frequency, costs and approximate reach of the whole campaign,

including each element of the marketing mix. The campaign will focus on two main moments:

summers sales (Q1) and winter sales (Q4) of the year 2016. However, there may be some ongoing

communication efforts throughout the year.

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15 BUDGET AND ROI

CAMPAIGN’S BUDGET

Based on the objectives set for this campaign, and compared to 2014 increase and marketing

investments (McGrath, 2014), the budget for this campaign was set according to historical

investments. The overall marketing investments in 2014 were nearly £5,200,000 (Mintel, 2014)

with an increase of 3.2%.

As set previously, the 2016 goal is to increase 3.5%. However, this includes all marketing efforts

for multiple targets and destinations. As 47% of British Airways passengers are mainly short-haul

(British Airways, 2015), then, the investments suggested for this specific marketing campaign will

be £2,673,000 to achieve 165,910 new passengers within the target group defined in this project

and maintenance of current customers.

CAMPAIGN’S INVESTMENT

As stated on the campaign’s timeline, the total cost of this IMC, considering the objectives and the

most effective marketing tools, is £2,471,929. The breakdown is summarised in figure 39:

Figure 39 Total costs of British Airways IMC campaign

IMC TOOL COST

TOTAL TV 1,855,063.00£ TOTAL OOH 341,026.00£ TOTAL DIM 243,120.00£ TOTAL PR 2,720.00£ CAMPAIGN EVALUATION 30,000.00£ TOTAL CAMPAIGN 2,471,929.00£

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ROI:

Considering that the total potential target is 4.2 million and that we need 4% of sales out of this

target, at a ticket in average costing of £150 (round-trip), the total revenue expected from this

campaign is of £24,886,500, which represents 165,910 passengers.

Considering the investments above the total ROI of this campaign is 1:10

V. CAMPAIGN EVALUATION AND OUTCOMES

The evaluation of this integrated marketing communications campaign involves the evaluation of all

the different elements that composes the promotion mix (Pickton and Broderick, 2005).

In addition, it should also be evaluated against each set of objective previously defined. According

to Pickton and Broderick (2005), there are three main areas to measure: media evaluation,

message content and sales effect.

Another theory that can be used to evaluate the campaign follows the Ogilvy theory of

“Conversation Impact” (Ogilvy, 2009) on which levels of reach and positioning of the campaign,

brand preference and actions from target will help to define the successes of the campaign.

Both models are related to the AIDA framework, which was used as guidance to the main

objectives of the integrated marketing mix. Therefore, measurements for this campaign will follow

the general evaluation structure suggested by Pickton and Broderick (2005) as it seems more

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complete to understand the if the media choice was appropriate to reach target and deliver the

message; if the message was properly comprehended and had positive feedback, and if the sales

objective was achieved.

a. MEDIA EVALUATION

The media mix choice will be evaluated accordingly to each channel’s KPIs (Key Performance

Indicator). It is important to understand that, due to the nature of online marketing and its relevance

on this project, there are much richer data available, which if properly analysed, can give specific

results and benefits (Slevin, 2015). Each objective will be crossed according to the AIDA

framework

TOOL OBJECTIVE KPIS

Advertisement Awareness 1. High level of reach on each channel 2. Increase of Ad Recognition and Recall 3. Positive audience impact (TVRs)

Out of Home Awareness 1. Number of Passer by (OTS)

Direct and Digital Marketing

Awareness and Action 1. Number of impressions and views 2. #% of CTR (Click Through Rate) 3. Volume of traffic directed to website 4. Number of conversions (sales) directed

from each media 5. % of positive sentiment on social media

comment- Web monitoring (Online buzz created by ads)

PR Awareness 1. % of positive sentiment on social media comment- Web monitoring (Online buzz about change of behaviour of British Airways crew member and ground staff)

2. Positive sentiment amongst fliers (research – further details)

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For the online media campaign, “mid-campaign testing” will be conducted as a way to continuously

measure the achievements of specific KPIs and the conversions expected. Through analytical tools

such as Google Analytics, it is possible to measure, in real time, the impact of the media campaign

on the website, the sales generated and if the target profile is being reached.

In addition, A/B tests must be conducted during the campaign in order to test different versions of

the ads (leadhead, remarketing and email marketing) and improve information that can increase

effectiveness (Digital Marketing Institute, 2015).

b. MESSAGE CONTENT

In order to understand if the proposed message was properly comprehended by target, and

positively accepted, a series of tests must be made to guarantee quality and effectiveness. This

tests, or “tracking” will be used over the duration of the campaign. For Pickton and Broderick

(2005), there are few methods to be used, but they must mainly follow the important steps: pre-

testing and post testing.

The pre-testing, or “copy-testing”, is used to evaluate if the proposed visual imagery, copy and

concept of the campaign are appropriate and clear enough to the target. In addition, it provides

details about points of misunderstanding and it helps to reduce the risks of failure (O’Brian, 2015).

For this campaign, the pre-testing will include the “storyboard” of the advertising campaign and

“roughs” of the roll out material for digital (banner ads), in several visual materials. As Pickton and

Broderick (p.522, 2005) ) suggests, at this stage, the material tested must not be the “final version”

in order to save money, as adjustments might be necessary.

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As this stage more in-depth and detailed feedback is needed, the suggested research format to be

used is qualitative research through in-depth technique, where a series of single respondents will

be handed the material, and some specific questions will be asked. Once the test results are

positive, the campaign is ready to be displayed.

The second stage of message content evaluation is through post-testing research. It will evaluate if

the final message and campaign concept was positively viewed by target audience and the effects

it had. According to Pickton and Broderick (2005), the post testing will assess if the marketing

communications had a positive impact in the AIDA process: awareness, intention, desire and

action. The latter will be measured on the next stage as sales conversion.

Unlike the pre-testing that requires in-depth information, the post-testing is a quantitative

evaluation to gather quantified data of the success of the camping (Pickton and Broderich, p.525,

2005)

According to O’Brian (2015), the results from post-testing will involve:

- Ad recognition and recall

- Physiological characteristic aroused from the campaign

- Power of message persuasion

- Sales response

The message content evaluation is probably the most important measure for the integrated

marketing communication campaign, as the main objectives defined on page 31, were related to

message comprehension and power of persuasion among the defined target market.

In other words, the message content evaluation will define if both objectives were achieved:

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Objective 1: “to discourage price as the main criteria of choice within the target market by

explaining and expanding on unique cost benefits”

Post testing will deliver the proper measure of message effectiveness among the target audience.

Some of the expected outcomes form the posy-evaluations are:

- Did the target audience know the unique benefits of British Airways?

- What are the values of these benefits for them?

- Would they invest more on a better experienced offered by British Airways?

- Have they made a purchase with British Airways after being exposed to the campaign?

Objective 2: “to gain inclusion into the consideration set of 30% of the target market by

shifting the brand’s communication perception to fun and exciting”

For this objective, the outcome expected from the target is more related to message

comprehension and perceived tone of voice.

- What feelings does the campaign provoke?

- Did they find it fun and exciting?

- Was the visual and copy content positively absorbed?

- Would British Airways be included among considered airlines for them to fly with on their

next travel?

In both cases, the focus of results are among the target market, as the success of the campaign

and the achievement of objectives depends upon the target audiences’ actions.

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PR EVALUATION

As mentioned on the push strategy description (page 61), British Airways’ employees will be part of

the campaign and supporting the message delivery. This will happen through the use of similar

“fun and exciting” tone of voice of the campaign on customer’s relationship.

In order to understand if this “tone of voice” and the message were positively accepted and

comprehended, questionnaires will be distributed during short-haul flights over a period of 6

months.

In addition, media clipping and social media monitoring will be used as tools to follow anything that

has been published and what people are saying on the internet about the new British Airways’

short-haul position.

c. SALES EVALUATION

Lastly, the evaluation of the sales effect will provide the volume of sales generated from the

campaign (O’Brian, 2015) and if the target attitudes were successfully changed by the campaign.

The results from the evaluation will be connected more to the marketing objective of volume of

sales (165.910 passengers).

After all the evaluations are made, it is possible to conclude the success of the campaign, its

integration (vertically and horizontally) and the impact it generated on the business.

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TABLE OF IMAGES

Table 4 Passengers Uplifted over 5 years ……………………………………………………………………. 7

Table 5 Top 3 airline based in the UK profitability over 4 years ……………………………………………..8

Table 6 UK airlines market share based on volume of passengers …………………………………………9

Figure 40 "Generation EasyJet" campaign …………………………………………………...………………..10

Figure 41 Types of "class" on British Airways aircrafts ……………………………………………...………..17

Figure 42 Images of British Airways partnership with TripAdvisor on website ……………………………..18

Figure 43 Image of British Airways "Europe's Flights" special page on website…………………………...18

Figure 44 Images of British Airways' mobile app …………………………………………………………...…19

Figure 45 Image of British Airways' "To Fly. To Serve" institutional campaign …………………………… 20

Figure 46 Image of British Airways' European campaign "To Fly. To Serve. To Europe" ……………..…21

Figure 47 Image of British Airways' European campaign "Magic of Flying" …………………………...…...21

Figure 48 British Airways suggested objective cascade and integration ……………………………...……30

Figure 49 British Airways passengers revenue change by year and forecast…………………………….30

Figure 50 British Airways' volume of passenger change by year and forecast …………………………..31

Figure 51 Passengers acquisition objectives (in total volume) ……………………………………………..32

Figure 52 Campaign's potential target market and expected sales revenue …………………..…………32

Figure 53 Potential target …………………………………………………………………………………...….36

Figure 54 Path of Purchase Cycle ……………………………………………………………………...……..42

Figure 55 British Airways brand values …………………………………………………………………….... 47

Figure 56 Positioning map UK airlines based on customers’ perception of "Differentiation X Trust"…..48

Figure 57 UK Airlines consumer's perception map based on marketing communications………………48

Figure 58 British Airways Brand Wheel……………………………………………………………………..…50

Figure 59 Suggested positioning statement for British Airways ……………………………………………52

Figure 60 IMC objectives and suggested message approaches…………………………………………...53

Figure 61 AIDA model applied on IMC campaign for British Airways ……………………………………..54

Figure 62 Suggestion of visual concept of divided screen showing two versions of the same story...…57

Figure 63 Vertical Integration Framework ………………………………………………………………….…63

Figure 64 IMC Horizontal Synergy Framework ………………………………………………………………66

Figure 65 Average of weekdays audience by day part and age in 2014 ……………………………….…69

Figure 66 TV suggested schedule …………………………………………………………………….………72

Figure 67 OOH Suggested calendar ……………………………………………………….…………………74

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Figure 68 Example of Tube Car Panel and 48''Sheets advertisement formats on London Underground

(AdimediaUK, 2016) ……………………………………………………………………………..………………74

Figure 69 Login page of ITV Player (ITV, 2016) ………………………………………………………..……77

Figure 70 ITV Player on-stream advertisement screen (ITV, 2016) ……………………………………… 77

Figure 71 Suggested calendar for Video On Demand advertisements ……………………………………78

Figure 72 Suggested calendar for YouTube media ……………………………………………….…………80

Figure 73 Example of Leadhead media display ………………………………………………………...……81

Figure 74 Suggested calendar for Media Display ……………………………………………………………83

Figure 75 Suggested calendar for Social Media content ……………………………………………………85

Figure 76 Suggested calendar for Email Marketing …………………………………………………………86

Figure 77 Total costs of British Airways IMC campaign ………………………………………………….…89


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