‘FLYING HIGH’ WITH DIGITAL MEDIA A SWOT ANALYSIS OF VIRGIN AMERICA AIRLINES

Peyton SatterfieldPRCM 3280: Public Relations and Social Media

A LITTLE BACKGROUND• Subsidiary of Virgin Group

• 25% ownership – 75% VAI Partners• United-States based airline – August 8, 2007• Main hubs:

• San Francisco International Airport• Los Angeles International Airport & Dallas Love Field

WHO IS RICHARD BRANSON?

• British entrepreneur• “By law, no more than 25% of a U.S. airline may be owned

by foreign interests.” (i.e. Virgin America)• Virgin brand – CEO support

VIRGIN AMERICA AIRLINES as of 2016• Alaska Airlines –purchasing Virgin America?

• $4 billion purchase• Talk of job cuts (225 jobs – 8% of Virgin

America’s workforce)

• Alaska Airlines main management• Virgin brand will disappear, Alaska

will remain• Problem? Virgin’s global

recognition vs. Alaska’s general confusion/unknown

(NYSE)

importance of the VIRGIN

AMERICA BRAND

• September 12, 2016: group of Virgin America customers file lawsuit to block Alaska Air Group’s purchase• Do they have a legitimate case?

• Does it matter?• Places spotlight on the deal/ spins public opinion

• “The potential elimination of Virgin America as a competitor, the most innovative, passenger friendly, premium low cost and unique airline in the industry, is substantial and foreboding.”

(Joseph Alioto law firm)

importance of the

brand

SOCIAL MEDIA

STRENGTHS• Overall strengths:

• Strong CEO & parent co. backing

• Over 5 million passengers a year

• High brand recall• Premium airline – for cheap!

• Strong consistent theme (color & design)

• Early start –

• Social media team - 2009• Marketing to the correct audiences –

bold, casual and young

STRENGTHS• Marketing to a youthful

audience – comes naturally• Instagram

#VirginGotMeLike

• FLYER FEED – successful and innovative blog• Twitter feed• “Grab a seat” button• “Pokemon Go at SFO”

NUMBERS GAME

#VXSAFETYVIDEOHow Virgin America got 11 million people to watch an airplane safety video

WEAKNESSES• Overall Weaknesses

• Profitability spotty • No commanding position

in largest markets

WEAKNESSES• Social Media

• Twitter: too graphic heavy, harder to scroll through.• Blog: more active (especially during a crisis/major change)• Niche marketing to a non-niche market

• Company seems young & hip untrustworthy?• Cannot connect with broader market – i.e. Wall Street

No real predictable future for company OR brand security

OPPORTUNITIES• Unique branding = “trend-setters” for luxury

aviation• Global market possibilities• Merger possibilities

• Not compromise the brand• Alaska Airlines ad

• SOCIAL MEDIA• Instagram/YouTube/Print and Digital Ads

• Niche marketing in a non-niche market = market to more than one section

• Can still be daring, brave and fun• Twitter – partner with Go Pro; shows usefulness of partners & their

impact on buyer behavior• Use social media outlets to control the story and inform

stakeholders about merger news

THREATS• Alaska Airline?

• Alaska Airline recently requested the U.S. Transportation Department launch a public investigation into ownership and control of Virgin America.

• IF the merger occurs this could prove dangerous• Marketing to the niche market – become niche?

• And then become extinct?• Possible employee cuts – job anxiety – work becomes

less important

RECOMMENDATION• Turn social media outlets into better marketing tools

• Section off target groups – market specifically to all• Retirees being spontaneous & doing something

adventurous • Make blog mobile-friendly (Google Mobile-Friendly Test)

• Refurbishing blog in a less web-site based way• Use promotions incorporated into the blog

• Move past the popular stylistic short captions• Use hash tags – content more visible

• Refrain from immediate double posts of the same exact caption and picture – frustrating to your followers

• Virgin already creates in a unique space – USE THAT!

SOURCES• Balthazar, B. (2013, October 29). MUST WATCH: Virgin America’s Flight Safety

Video is Awesome, Catchy, Epic. Retrieved from http://popgoestheweek.com/2013/10/must-watch-virgin-americas-flight-safety-video-is-awesome-catchy-epic/

• Calvey, M. (2016, September 12). Alaska Air hits turbulence as Virgin America flyers sue to block deal. Sam Francisco Business Times. Retrieved from http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco

• Calvey, M. (2016, August 29). Alaska Air slashing Virgin America management jobs following purchase. San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved from http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco

• Lucky. (2016, August 27). Alaska Airlines Tries To Appeal To San Francisco In New Video. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/08/27/alaska-virgin-america-branding/

• Virgin America. (2016, July 7). Pokemon Go at SFO [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://blog.virginamerica.com/blog/pokemon-go-at-sfo /

• Virgin America SWOT Analysis Part 2: Opportunities for an IPO in a more benevolent environment. (2014, August 20). Retrieved from http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/virgin-america-swot-analysis-part-2-opportunities-for-an-ipo-in-a-more-benevolent-environment-182675