Brand ranking

As the recession has begun to hit hard there has been post after post on these boards commenting on scrimping and saving by VS. These posts have ranged from the loss of Tanqueray No 10 to the cutting of frequencies and storing of planes. Much of the saving has come at the expense of the inflight experience (in all classes) and we quite often have long debates about how all this is effecting the VS brand as a whole. One of the criticisms of this great establishment on other parts of the internet is that we are all VS lovers/frequent flyers who view the airline with rose tinted glasses (I would disagree with this, after all we are amongst the strongest critics of the airline IMO). However when we are discussing how the brand is perceived by the everyday non VS loving/aviation fan, it is difficult to get a real idea.

Well I have been having a discussion along these lines with Bill S and we have stumbled across some interesting reading in the form of some research undertaken by The Centre of Brand Analysis.

Their Superbrands ranking, which looks at how the public perceive brands, have published data that shows the VS brand has got stronger in the recession. This of course goes against the general view on these boards that the brand is getting weaker as the result of service cuts/variable standards of crew etc etc.

2008/9
1. BA at #5 - index 83
2. VS at #70 - index 57
3. Qantas at 138- index 48
Lufthansa came in at #449 - 23 (and were the last of the five airlines in the top 500)


2009-2010
BA up to #4 index 93
VS well up at #11 and index 80
Lufty & all other airlines - out of the top 500

This shows that VS have actually increased their brand during the recession, which of course could be in part, due to the 25 Year advert that was running on the television rather heavily.

Interestingly VS is miles ahead of any other Virgin branded company.

The same people also conduct a Business to Business survey, which would be important for the higher yielding LHR routes.

2008
1. BA at Number 8 (index 89)
2. VS at Number 28 (Index 83)

2009
1. VS at Number 24 (Index 85)
2. BA at Number 36 (Index 81)

Of course this is UK based study and it is only natural that UK based carriers will be higher in the rankings (no legacy carriers make the rankings for example).

However this is interesting reading and perhaps shows that VS are doing exactly the right thing during the recession, being thrifty but cleverly working on increasing the brand so that is in the right position come a time of economic growth.

[Neil]

I am sure there are many reasons for this and I would be interested to know if this was a survey of random people (through the likes of YouGov) or targeted at a specific group/category of the public. For me and people that I know, I think VS have always had a strong brand image.

Only a small thing, but I noticed, once again, that VS got some excellent product placement in the 2 episodes of the X Factor shown over the weekend, an extremely popular show, with big audience figures. The 25 year advert, whilst mainly panned on here, was received very well in general and I also think the good figures VS released earlier in the year, giving the impression that VS where coping very well in tough times,.

All of these will have done no harm to the result in this poll I think, but it is good and interesting to see VS doing well again in a poll. Maybe things aren't as bad as they are made out to be at times on here.

Neil

quote:Originally posted by Neil
I am sure there are many reasons for this and I would be interested to know if this was a survey of random people (through the likes of YouGov) or targeted at a specific group/category of the public. For me and people that I know, I think VS have always had a strong brand image.

Only a small thing, but I noticed, once again, that VS got some excellent product placement in the 2 episodes of the X Factor shown over the weekend, an extremely popular show, with big audience figures. The 25 year advert, whilst mainly panned on here, was received very well in general and I also think the good figures VS released earlier in the year, giving the impression that VS where coping very well in tough times,.

All of these will have done no harm to the result in this poll I think, but it is good and interesting to see VS doing well again in a poll. Maybe things aren't as bad as they are made out to be at times on here.

Neil

Details of the selection processes are here.
They do use YouGov [:)]

I believe the important factor is that VS are improving their year on year standing relative to other airlines.
Markedly so in the business sector relative to BA which has dropped badly this year and also well up the standings in the public sector.

The tables can be found:
Business 2009
Business 2008
Public 2009/10
Public 2008/09

BA has recently had much bad publicity over extra charges, cuts and union troubles but that is likely to have been after these surveys have been done. T5 would have influenced the 2009 survey.

It would seem likely that VS could improve further in next years figures provided they do not blow it by following BA!

It is also interesting just how badly other airlines do even in the B2B sector. Particularly those who get very good reports on this board.

VH do not rate particularly highly. Not even in the top 500, although they were in the 2007 table at 314th!

It appears to me that the 25yr advert was a real success - well worth the expenditure. It would probably have been very influential with people surveyed for the Coolbrands rating where VS came 14th overall and top in Travel.