4.

MARKETING STRATEGY AND EMPATHY

4.1 Strategic empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. One will
thus be putting themselves in the shoes of the other person as they try to feel the way
they feel under certain circumstances. According to Decety and Lamm (2006),
empathy has two components, that is, a cognitive capacity to take the subjective
perspective of another person as well as an affective or emotional response to another
person which can involve sharing that person’s emotional state. It is therefore crucial
to be aware of how someone feels, knowledge and understanding about how someone
else thinks, feels and behaves (Brooks, 2016). By so doing one can have a cognitive
understanding and have empathy with the situation.

Brooks (2016) went on to explain that marketers need to understand both consumers
and customers as well. In order for organisations to be competitive, they should be
grounded in empathy as well as data. It is therefore important that anyone involved in
an organisation dealing with employees and customer must have strategic empathy.
It is not supposed to be a piecemeal but rather it must be institutionalised into the
organisation.

There is need for a teamwork approach and once people work in teams, they can work
together and achieve the goals of the organization. This is called the strategic empathy
process which starts with a conscious approach to understand the needs and wants
of customers as well as aspirations of the employees. Collaboration between team
members will generally help them in achieving set objectives and the organisation can
meet its goals as well.

Strategic empathy helps in terms of understanding customers such that the company
comes up with products that speaks to the needs of the customers and also taking into
congnisance the effects. So it helps in making sure that the brand fots into the lives of
the customer and like what Brooks (2016) calls them, the who?.why?. and how
questions. Once this is answered, the customer will be happy and shareholder value
can increase via customer value.
4.2

Sir Richard Branson believes in liking people, that is his employees and partners in
the over 350 companies that he is involved in. his assertion is that one cannot be a
good leader if they cannot like people. This is in line with the concept of strategic
empathy which according to Brooks (2016), it is important that there is supposed to be
an immersive, experiential learning in order to develop a deeper understanding of
somebody.

Sir Branson is a transformational leader where the organization is driven from

informality and information perspective. Brooks (2016) also stresses on the aspect of
information in as far as strategic empathy is concerned. One cannot make sound
decisions if they do not have information. When Branson forms companies, he needs
about three months immersed into the business to get to appreciate it better, thereafter
he can pass on to a chief executive officer (CEO) whom he can also give stake. By so
doing they work like the company is theirs as well. This is good showing and a true
demonstration from Branson.

Branson delegates a lot of work to his managers. He believes in them, he wants to

motivate them. Any human being who is motivated by achievement and trust would
really feel honoured by such a gesture. These motivational strategies extend to
innovative ideas. Employees then bring about ideas because they feel valued. At times
employees leave companies because their ideas fall on deaf ears, whereas Branson
gives an ear to everyone. He even chitty-chatty everything going on at the company
with his employees who even know where he stays and can contact him on his mobile
number.
The transformational leader also demonstrates strategic empathy by understanding
that employees spend most of their time at work, hence they can also have fun at
work. He invests in companies in which he enjoys, those companies which shake the
world and changes the status quo. On that note, he encourages even senior
executives to go out and have drinks with staff. In as much as this sounds a good idea,
however this might be misconstrued by employees and create problems at the
company.

4.3

Collective strategic learning defines how unique and powerful ways that organisations
like the Virgin group can foster learning at the individual, group and organisational
levels, a capability to both strategic objectives and business performance. It is
important that employees learn, both theoretically and the demands of the Virgin group
and implement these to the drafting of the organisation’s strategy.

In as far as strategic learning is concerned, there is emergent approach and planned,

which also feeds into marketing strategy which is both planned and emergent. The
Virgin Group has so many companies and they care about their customers. According
to Brooks (2016), learning must be observed patterns across relevant consumer touch
points. For instance in as far as Virgin Airlines is concerned, in order to come up with
a good marketing strategy, one needs to appreciate the process through which
customers go through from bookings, flight, departure and arrivals.

Richard Branson allows employees to even write him and bring ideas. Learning can
therefore be inspired by behaviour of consumers, challenges within the organisation
and changes in the external environment which can be emergent. As a result this can
also lead to an emergent marketing strategy to deal with those issues. The key role of
leadership, like what Branson does is to listen, plan deliberately and manage the
process of strategic learning whereby new strategies can emerge.

Branson reiterates that his managers need to make effort to give autonomy like what
he does in delegating a lot of activities to his managers. Turning individual learning
into collective learning has helped the organisation in creating new ideas, knowledge
and coming up with new products. The philanthropist has got an open door policy and
takes employee ideas aboard when planning.
Crossan, Lane and White (1999) have also suggested that learning can be
transformed from an individual to a group. That is why Branson encourages teamwork,
believes in his companies having synergies. By so doing they can come up within
winning strategies. If employees are valued, there ideas being implemented they feel
motivated. There is also buy-in at the Virgin Group since Branson does not impose
things on people, but rather takes ideas from the employees and implement them. This
result in coming up with a successful strategy which is people-driven. Branson has
managed to institutionalise learning at the Virgin Group and Brooks (2016) caps it all
by saying that collective learning is a precondition for the successful marketing
strategy formulation, hence the success of the Group.
5. STRATEGIC LEARNING FRAMEWORKS

5.1 Theoretical frameworks of for multi-disciplinary strategic learning

Emotions

An emotion is a bodily feeling which is purely a function of the brain. The brain regions
which process emotions are responsible for the interaction between emotion, memory,
attention and learning (Brooks, 2016). In order for people to learn, there is need for
the brain to pay attention and be connected to whatever things one is doing. Branson
believes in employees expressing themselves. By so doing employees will feel
respected and perform better.

Needs, goals and values

One of the key frameworks from a marketing perspective is to understand customers.

The Virgin Group is what it is because of its understanding of the customer. Branson
treats his employs well knowing that the way he treats his employees is the way they
will treat his customers. Employees also have needs as depicted by Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs. The employee who once stolen from Branson might have done so
because he had a need which he wanted to satisfy. Upon being queried by Branson,
the employee revealed and Branson instead of firing him, he put him in one of his
companies.

Culture

The Virgin Group is a multinational corporation which employs people from across
different cultures across the globe. Culture can be universal in as much as it can be
particularistic depending on the specific cultural aspects which according to Lee and
Carter (2012) usually varies from one society to another. Multi-disciplinary strategic
learning calls for understanding of culture since consumer behavior is also premised
on culture (Hollenson, 2017).

Decision making

Consumers make decisions based on the information they get from companies and it
is the role of marketers at the Virgin Group to ensure they shape the customer journey
by communicating. Adverts are very good when it comes to creating awareness and
in one of the case studies, there are billboards shown. The journey of buying a product
has been identified as a funnel and marketers at the Virgin Group have focused on
making sure the brand is visible hence that red colour.

5.2

Emotions

The basic emotions thesis

Emotions constitute anger, happiness, sadness, disgust, contempt and fear (Brooks,
2016). Branson values the people’s feelings and he stresses his need to always see
people have fun. He reckons that employees spend about 80 per cent of their time at
work and work should also be fun, hence his investment in companies he enjoys.

Appraisal theories

According to these theories, emotion is conceptualised as an emergent, dynamic

process based on the individual’s appraisal of the stimulus events which prepare the
body for action. Sir Richard Branson gives employees some bit of autonomy, he
believes in delegation rather than relegation. Appraisal is then influenced by input from
cognitive and motivation mechanisms such as attention, memory, motivation and
reasoning.

Emotions and memory

Branson tries to make work experiences memorable ones. This, according to Brooks
(2016) is important for strategic learning because it means people can remember
brand experiences and have an association with a certain brand.

Needs, goals and values

Functional needs- Branson mentions that he wants to solve challenges facing the
society. He came up with an airline after realizing a gap in the market, he went to
South Africa after realising exorbitant charges levied in the financial sector.

Self-expressive needs- This pertains to how consumers wants to be seen when they
have a certain brand.

Self actualising needs- Branson is going into space business, this is how his brand
might help consumers fulfill their aspirations.
Values- Branson has inculcated value of innovativeness. He wants people to feel free
and provide ideas, he is empathetic and trust his staff as well.

Culture

Ethnography- Sir Richard Branson embraces employees of different cultures. The 400
companies operate in different countries where culture is also diverse. Branson
believes in a more collaborative culture where employees are encouraged to express
themselves.

Semiotics- This include everything that can be taken as a sign, that is, objects,
customs, written word, photographic or fill objects (Eco (1976). The Virgin Group uses
red as its brand colour.

Decision making

Context- This is the environment in which consumers can see the Virgin brand. There
is the needs based which is generally how the companies created by Branson are
there to solve these needs. Consumers also compare with other players, hence the
competitive aspects maybe of comparing Virgins airlines versus Fly Emirates.
6. RESHAPING THE STRATEGIC TEMPLATE

6.1 Elements of the marketing strategy template

Vision statement- This is a long term view of what the organisation wants to achieve.
This usually stems from five or more years where the leader like Branson can dream
on what he wants to achieve after a certain set period. The role of organization
according to Peter Drucker is to satisfy the needs of customers and as such
consumers are supposed to be at the centre of every vision. The ultimate goal is to
ensure that stakeholder interests is also taken into cognisance when coming up with
a vision. The vision should be achievable within set time frame and given the
organisation’s resource.

Mission statement- this encompasses what the company exists or was established for.
It shows the company’s commitment to different stakeholders who might include
customers, showing how the company intend to accomplish that. The mission can also
include the company’s culture as well.

Values statement- every company has got its won beliefs which bind them and these
are the values. They are usually distinctive, separates one company from another, and
identifies people from one organisation and they seldom change. These usually
include things like integrity, trustworthiness, innovativeness, among others.

Strategic objectives or goals- this is what the organisation might want to achieve from
a long term perspective. Peter Drucker mentions eight areas whereas Kaplan (2010)
recommends that they should cover financial, consumer, internal processes as well as
learning and growth.

Functional or operational strategies- a strategy is needed to achieve the would be set

objectives. These can span from one to three years.

Budget and resources- based on the financial objectives, a budget will then be drafted
along with operational objectives. Resources, which include human and financial can
be allocated across the organisation.

Scorecard- this is critical to identify key performance indicators which can tell if the
company is in the right track to achieve its strategic objectives. It allows for correctional
measures in the event of deviation.
6.2

In order to shape the marketing strategy template, the key issues to be addressed are:

Situational analysis

This pertains to analysing the current situation. Apparently the Virgin Group has
around 400 companies. The culture is fun, the leader looks for the best out of his
people. He inspires the people and encourages innovation through allowing
employees to bring ideas and offer feedback. The companies dominate in their
respective industries in as far as market share is concerned, these include Virgin
Money, Virgin airlines, among others. Branson is quoted to be worth around USD 5
billion by the Forbes Magazine (2018). Apart from financial strength, the brand is also
well positioned with the notable red colour. Branson is also well known for
championing corporate social responsibility programmes, which is also a source of
modern competitive advantage (Walker and Mullins, 2014).

The company, founded in the United Kingdom on July 18, 1950 is operating in stable
political and economic environments. The group takes advantage of changes in
technology and embracing it to its advantage. In reshaping its strategy, the Virgin
Group is also supposed to look at its strengths and weaknesses, turn the weaknesses
into strengths. The company usually take advantage of opportunities, like what
Branson did after realising that it was there was an opportunity in the South African
financial services sector.

Where are we going?

In order to reshape the marketing strategy template, it is important that the company
knows its target market. According to Brooks (2016), there is need to describe the
consumer groups which the group serves. Segmentation can be geographical, where
Virgin is scattered across the globe with Virgin Australia, UK, USA, among others.
Some products target certain gender and product usage might also vary, for instance
with Virgincare and Virgin Health Bank. By so doing, the company can serve the right
segments, which makes it outsmart its competitors.

According to Ries and Trout (2001), marketing is a welfare where the battle is fought
in the minds of the consumer. Brand positioning is then what the brand stands for in
their minds. In reshaping the marketing strategy for the Virgin Group, it is important
that the brand delivers value to its customers, whether in the gym sector (Virgin
Active), health (Virgincare), travel (Virgin Atlantic) or publishing (Virgin Books). The
company mainly uses red as its main colour. The Virgin brand is also associated with
the personality of the founder and chairman. He is a free man, innovative and
empathetic transformational leader who inspires a lot, within and outside the
organisation.

The brand must be unique in terms of the product quality which is supposed to be
distinguished from the rest of the competitors. After sales services are also important
when customers buy the products. The price must also help in positioning the Virgin
brand. Drucker (1997) points out that marketing’s role is to know and understand the
customer such that the product can suit and sell itself.

The brand should also offer shopping and after sales experiences which can excite
the customer journey (Soudagar, 2012). The company need to identify critical touch
points, for example when someone comes to the gym, what are the facilities like, is
there a sauna and also healthy concerns.

As one dissects on where to go, there is very need to look at the objectives over a
certain time frame. These can include financial performance of different brands, like
Virgin Books, consumer conversion at Virgincare as well as usage of these health care
products.

Direction cannot be enough without the financial aspect (Bendle et al, 2017).
Reshaping of the marketing strategy therefore calls for predictive modelling to
determine the optimum bundle of product, price and promotional support to achieve
the Virgin Group’s financial objectives.

Direction to be taken to get there

The last aspect is in terms of developing marketing mix to achieve the set objectives.
These elements can be utilised to influence the Virgin Group consumers to respond
to the offerings which spans from healthcare, to books to airlines, among others.

The company is supposed to be innovative by coming up with products and service

that meet or even surpass the ever-changing needs of consumers. The product must
be promoted using both online and offline means which include use of search engines,
display advert, affiliate marketing, among others, in a multi-channel fashion (Chaffey
and Smith, 2017). Distribution is also critical to ensure the company brings in
convenience to its customers, thereby outperforming its competitors. Prices should
offer value for customers. Branson is a philanthropist who have donated over a billion
dollars on charity. This shows that the business goes beyond its personal interest to
society at large, the fifth P which Kotler (2015) dubbed ‘Purpose’.

6.3 New model for brand positioning

Insert graph on page 68 of textbook

Brands are made for consumers. All the 400 companies that Branson owns should
reflect the notion that the various brands under the corporate brand Virgin should also
reflect how consumers behave in their relevant social groups. In terms of cargo
business in Nigeria, Virgin mobile in India, train business, media, wines and so on,
consumers should choose these brands without a second thought.

Since the companies are scattered around the globe, the aspect of cultural resonance
with the brabd also comes into play. There is need to study cultural dyanamics say in
Nigeria and apply Hofstede Power Distance (Hollenson, 2017). Brands are also
supposed to have emotional resonance, as shown on the image below, to do with the
health aspect.
The Virgin brand also breaks the cultural orthodox where, as shown above, one sees
the chairman having fun with his employees. On the aspect of strategic empathy,
Branson exhibits how he feels for his employees.

The brand inspires a lot of people. A lot of people would go into the Virgin airlines
because the brand inspires them considering also how it started after the founder was
stuck in Barbados and later own hired a charted plane. The excitement that Branson
exudes also inspire a lot of people as well as his open door policy.

Branson is mulling the space idea, this represents a brand with a bigger social and
cultural idea especially from the developed world where he hails from. This idea
together with airline business and others help customers to reach, as according to
Maslow, self-actualisation.

The company does not operate in a vacuum, there is also need to consider competitors
as well. These can be both current and even potential (Brooks, 2016) if the barriers of
entry are low (Walker and Mullins, 2014). The Virgin brand enhances value proposition
and drives brand loyalty by engaging consumers in a narrative which reflects
consumer needs, emotions, culture and ideals. This is based on strategic empathy as
to how the consumers feel and behave to accomplish their worldly aspirations.
7. THE STRATEGIC LEARNING JOURNEY

Developing strategic objectives and scope

The Virgin group is supposed to come up with strategic objectives which can enable
to make the business an empire it envisages and also contribute to societal wellbeing.
The first port of call in this case is to study the current situation, in terms of the
knowledge which resides in staff of the Virgin Group. After analysing this, that is when
one can be sure of the gaps that exist in terms of knowledge thereby calling for learning
within the strategic team.

Objectives can come from problem which the brand might face. The airline business
can face competition from the likes of Fly Emirates, this calls for research and an
objective might be set, for example, “To grab 5 per cent of the market share in the
airline industry by the end of 2018”. Consumer tastes and preferences keep on
changing, the Group must always research and track these changes. The objective
might be “To analyse the changes in tastes of our customers so as to come up with a
package at Virgincare”.

The scope of the research then answers questions like, who do we talk to? This
pertains the respondents who might be the customers. Information can also come from
special interest groups and specialists in certain fields. For example, in as far as Virgin
Books is concerned, information can also come from publishers and authors. The
research context also has to be known, that helps in terms of where to get the
information. A methodology should then be chosen in terms of how the research is
supposed to be conducted, and this will be elucidated in the next paragraph.

Designing an immersive research methodology

The group, instead of just scratching on the surface to get information which can help
in coming up with a strategic objectives, there is need for a deep scanning of the scope
and the environment. The research methodology which can help uncover truly new
insights might include exploratory research design (Saunders et al, 2012). Information
can be gathered using questionnaires which can even be send online via email or
uploaded on the Virgin website. Interviews as well as focus group discussions can
also be used. Online focus group discussions can be done via Skype or Adobe
Connect. (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2016). Interviews are good from a strategic
empathy perspective since they can allow the organisation to learn how the consumers
think, feel and behave. The strategy team has to participate in immersive research.
They can carry out observations where they also get involved in activities done by
customers, say in a gym.

Activating insights into strategy

Brooks (2016) advises that after an organisation like the Virgin Group has immersed
in the consumer’s world, Sir Richard Branson and his strategic team should use
empathetic understanding they have developed to articulate the nuggets of learning.
They should then use them in collaborative strategy, thus activation of these insights
into strategy.

One would advise the chairman that he conducts strategy team activation sessions.
The team is supposed to spend time to work through observations, identify new
learning and reshape currently accepted insights about the consumer. If the needs of
consumers have changed, for instance customers who now want healthy living and
spending time in gyms, the team is supposed to immerse itself in these changes.

After carrying out a research at the Virgin Group, this author encourages that the time
meet within two to three weeks after field research. They will still be fresh and armed
with first hand information which they can use to activate insights into strategy.
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