Virgin Galactic Space Tourism Marketing Plan
Executive SummaryVirgin Galactic (VG), which is a part of the Virgin Group, is a leading company and pioneer in Suborbital Travel Industry. By offering the lowest price in the market and making the dreams of space travelling come closer, VG attracts the attention from the general public. With the successful launch of Spaceship One, VG once again determines that space travelling is possible. With Spaceship Two being tested, it promises that our dreams of seeing the Earth from space are not that far from the future.
In this report, as a marketing advisor to VG, I will disscuss about the following topics:•Developing a marketing communications plan for VG•How can VG become truly customer focused•The importance of minimising cognitive dissonance in the minds of target customers•SWOT analysisSection 1 - MarketingCommunications PlanI.IntroductionIn many years, space activities have been considered to be developed and managed by the government for the purpose of research or military only. Nowadays, space travelling has been commercialised to fulfill the dreams of human to see the Earth from space. Virgin Galactic (VG) is one of the few pioneers available in the market. As this is a totally new market, and VG is also a new business of the Virgin Group, it is crucial to develop a complete marketing communications plan so that customers can get to know VG and its services better. Market segmentation should be done before the communications plan to identify the target customers.
II.Marketing communications plana.Market segmentation (target audience)It is obvious that target customers of space tourism are high income individuals. VG is now the only company offering the most competitive price ($200,000/passenger/time). However, it is still very expensive for the general public. Therefore, space tourism can be considered a niche market because it just targets a small segment of the market but very profitable.
The target customers of space tourism should have a certain level of
In this report, as a marketing advisor to VG, I will disscuss about the following topics:•Developing a marketing communications plan for VG•How can VG become truly customer focused•The importance of minimising cognitive dissonance in the minds of target customers•SWOT analysisSection 1 - MarketingCommunications PlanI.IntroductionIn many years, space activities have been considered to be developed and managed by the government for the purpose of research or military only. Nowadays, space travelling has been commercialised to fulfill the dreams of human to see the Earth from space. Virgin Galactic (VG) is one of the few pioneers available in the market. As this is a totally new market, and VG is also a new business of the Virgin Group, it is crucial to develop a complete marketing communications plan so that customers can get to know VG and its services better. Market segmentation should be done before the communications plan to identify the target customers.
II.Marketing communications plana.Market segmentation (target audience)It is obvious that target customers of space tourism are high income individuals. VG is now the only company offering the most competitive price ($200,000/passenger/time). However, it is still very expensive for the general public. Therefore, space tourism can be considered a niche market because it just targets a small segment of the market but very profitable.
The target customers of space tourism should have a certain level of
Bibliography: legre, P. (NO DATE) Space Tourism Business Model. Retrieved 18 July 2008, fromhttp://www.geocities.com/innovating_competitively/aerospace/Virgin-Galactic.pdfBexley (NO DATE) Customer Focus Strategy. Retrieved 22 July 2008, fromhttp://www.bexley.gov.uk/contact/customerfocus/customersfirst_strategy.pdfBusinessTown (NO DATE) Customer-Focused Selling. Retrieved 22 July 2008, fromhttp://www.businesstown.com/sales/face-customer.aspCarolina Newswire (2006) To Sell More, Avoid Cognitive Dissonance in Your Communications. Retrieved 26 July 2008, fromhttp://carolinanewswire.com/news/News.cgi?database=headlines.db&command=viewone&id=7568&op=tDay, G. S. (1999) The Market Driven Organization. First Edition. The Free Press. ISBN 0-684-86467-3Encyclopedia of Psychology (NO DATE) Cognitive Dissonance (L. Festinger). Retrieved 25 July 2008, from http://tip.psychology.org/festinge.htmlFutron Corp. (2002) Space Tourism Market Study. Retrieved 16 July 2008, fromhttp://www.spaceportassociates.com/pdf/tourism.pdfGreiner, D. (2000) Customer-Focused Creativity. Retrieved 22 July 2008, fromhttp://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/451-500/article483_body.htmlKotler, P., Keller, K. L. (2007) A Framework for Marketing Management. Third Edition. Pearson Education. ISBN 0-13-230142-3. Peppers, D., Rogers, M. (2007) Exceed Customer Expectations to Avoid Cognitive Dissonance and Decreased Loyalty. Retrieved 25 July 2008, fromhttp://searchcrm.techtarget.com/expert/KnowledgebaseAnswer/0,289625,sid11_gci1255293,00.htmlThe New York Times (1990) Reebok Removes TV Ad After Complaints From Viewers. Retrieved 26 July 2008, fromhttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE1DB1430F930A15750C0A966958260The Times 100 UK (NO DATE) Market and Product Orientation. Retrieved 22 July 2008, from http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--market-product-orientation--211.phpWikipedia (2007) Cognitive Dissonance. Retrieved 25 July 2008, fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance