Business Report Assignment Sample 2024
Brand Overview
British Airway has been able to create loyalty among the customers by providing them with high quality of services that is a reflection of the use of innovation by the employees and Management. However there are commercial challenges faced by the company that included turbulent economic times and rising cost of the fuel (Kassem et al., 2022). The environmental issues and existence of a large number of substitutes as well as employees’ strike calls are causing the company to experience a reduced customer base. Recently the company has launched a new gateway to the United States through Atlantic joint business such as London to Portland and Barcelona to Los Angeles. With an increasing number of flight services, the competition of British Airway has also increased over the period of time. The low cost airline the Easy Jet is one of the significant competitors of British Airway (Moore and Taylor, 2021). In 2021 it was the largest airline having the maximum number of airline passengers. Even in 2022 the competitor business has been able to maintain a prominence in the market. As a result due to increasing competition in the UK market it is important for British Airway to build brand equity in other countries that it is operating.
Figure 1: Flights of BA to Singapore and India
(Source: FlightConnections, 2019)
British Airways, which has been operating in India for nearly a century, is looking out for opportunities to increase the flight to New Delhi and Mumbai considering the growth in the air travel demand in the country. The company also has a head room for expansion and balanced demand growth after the outbreak of pandemic (Kuljanin et al., 2021). As identified from image currently the service of British Airway in India is evident only in a few cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. Having a balanced growth in India will help the company to increase the weekly flight compared to the pre pandemic level that used to be 49 flights every week (Voss, 2021). The growth in the air travel demand in India has provided the company with the opportunity to modernise and rebuild the business operation.
Delhi and Mumbai are subject to bilateral years’ service agreement and with the growth in the economy it is important for the business that air Service also keeps a base. Another significant market that has been chosen where British Airway can build brand equity in the 2 years is the market of Singapore. It is also evidence from the above images that British Airways operational in Singapore only and with the increasing number of tourists after the outbreak of pandemic has provided the company with a chance to generate better outcomes from the opportunity. The network to the UK for Indian and Singaporean travel is very significant. Singapore and India are looking out for strategies to increase their trade with the UK by 2030, and the brand equity strategy of the business will play a significant role. Enabling connectivity between the two countries will provide the business with the opportunity for future growth.
Current brand equity position of the brand
The brand equity model is used by a company for having a strong brand. In order to have a strong brand it is important to create the right brand image and construct an ideal brand experience or encounter (Tasci, 2021). Each experience with the brand should leave the consumer or the potential customers with positive emotions and thoughts or conviction. When British Airways is able to prove that the company can provide value then it has the potential to build brand equity and the conviction of the customer will spread to others. The pyramid has four sections that have different levels like identification followed by meaning and response and the top most level is relationship. In order to have a solid brand it is important for British Airway to build customer relationships from the ground up. In the context of the Indian market the company has been able to achieve brand identification or the very basic level of the pyramid (Cruz-Milán, 2023). Particularly operating in the markets of Delhi and Mumbai or Bangalore the company has been able to increase the awareness as the consumer already perceives the brand value.
Operating in Singapore also the company has been able to Mark its standard to the customers. The second layer of the pyramid is communicating and understanding the meaning of the brand. Performance indicates the extent to which the service or the product satisfies the needs of the consumer (Keller, 2021). According to the model the performance is classified into five specific performance indicators. The primary characteristics and features are followed by product reliability and service effectiveness and the last two performance indicators are style and price. Performance and communication refer to the social currency of the brand.
British Airway for the Indian and Singaporean customer is considered as a luxury brand for travel. The third layer of the pyramid is the kind of response the brand evokes from the consumer. Consumers are always judging particularly when they have a huge number of substitutes already available. The potential customers of British Airway both in the Indian and Singaporean market are constantly making assumptions based on what they observe and the significant trend in the market (Romero et al., 2023). As a result while somebody is flying past in British Airway the consumer assumes they make good money as the company itself represents luxury. However the availability of services in both the countries is available in the Limited market. Rather than compromising on the quality and the brand standard British Airway can focus on expanding the market in order to ensure that the consumer has a positive response all across India and Singapore regarding the brand value.
Brand marketing program
Brand equity is the marketing term that refers to the brand value determined by the customer perception and experience (Tasci, 2021). British Airway want brand equity as it yields customer loyalty, and as a result it can be effective for the profit and sales increases (Parris and Guzmán, 2023). There are different strategies for building brand equity but in order to maintain the prominence and competitive advantage in the Indian and Singapore markets, the company has specific strategies.
- For example in the busy airports of India apart from the one that the company already is operating it can foster relationships and grow trust of the potential customers. Particularly in the Indian market other cities like Kolkata, Pune, and Ahmedabad are growing at a very fast rate. The places are eventually organising and are also engaging a large number of Business and amusement trips. By improving the relationship the company will be able to grow trust among the potential customers in these cities. By creating brand awareness British Airway can encourage the customer to try the service. As the company already holds a very successful and prominent name it can become the preference of the customer in this city and eventually the customers can grow the trust. By improving the relationships with the customer British Airway can target the potential customers into brand loyal consumers.
- As the company already operates in India therefore a certain percentage of people in India already know about the service provided by the company. However the same strategy might not be effective enough while operating in Singapore. As a result another significant brand equity strategy can be implemented by British Airway to attract the customer and retain them. For this the company can build brand awareness in other hotspot or busy cities in the country. Provided the fact that customer awareness is of positive association and experience and not a brand faux pas, British Airway will need to build brand awareness and understand the ways in which the consumer does not know about the brand. Awareness about the service eventually leads to the customer trust for the brand that plays a significant role. However growing brand awareness is a never ending process particularly while operating in such a competitive industry. For this, British Airway will also need to include multiple steps along with building brand awareness like embracing the brand value or interacting with the customers on social media platforms. Based on the external market environment the brand awareness strategy can be implemented by the company. In different markets of Singapore British Airway can land its position by incorporating other ways to grow the awareness like creating free content or offering freemium models for service. Sponsoring any event or starting a podcast about the service can help the brand to connect with the customer and will increase the awareness with the potential customer.
References
Cruz-Milán, O., 2023. Assessing the role of venturesomeness in a destination consumer-based brand equity model. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 6(1), pp.324-343.
FlightConnections (2019) British Airways flights and destinations, FlightConnections. Available at: https://www.flightconnections.com/route-map-british-airways-ba (Accessed: 18 November 2023).
Kassem, R., Salama, A. and Ganepola, C.N., 2022. CSR, credibility, employees’ rights and legitimacy during a crisis: a critical analysis of British Airways, WizAir and EasyJet cases. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 45(1), pp.1-20.
Keller, K.L., 2021. Leveraging secondary associations to build brand equity: theoretical perspectives and practical applications. In Leveraged Marketing Communications (pp. 4-21). Routledge.
Kuljanin, J., Kalić, M., Begović, B., Mijović, N. and Renold, M., 2021. The effect of LCC market entry on dominant FSC’s price into long haul sector: A case of Norwegian competition on British Airways’ prices on selected transatlantic routes. Journal of Air Transport Management, 91, p.102016.
Moore, S. and Taylor, P., 2021. Class reimagined? Intersectionality and industrial action–The British Airways dispute of 2009–2011. Sociology, 55(3), pp.582-599.
Parris, D.L. and Guzmán, F., 2023. Evolving brand boundaries and expectations: looking back on brand equity, brand loyalty, and brand image research to move forward. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 32(2), pp.191-234.
Romero, M.J.R., Abril, C. and Urquia-Grande, E., 2023. Insights on NGO brand equity: a donor-based brand equity model. European Journal of Management and Business Economics, (ahead-of-print).
Tasci, A.D., 2021. A critical review and reconstruction of perceptual brand equity. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33(1), pp.166-198.
Tasci, A.D., 2021. A critical review and reconstruction of perceptual brand equity. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33(1), pp.166-198.
Voss, W.G., 2021. Airline Commercial Use of EU Personal Data in the Context of the GDPR, British Airways and Schrems II. Colo. Tech. LJ, 19, p.377.
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