Marketing Strategy and SWOT Analysis of Delta Air Lines

It is important that you trust an airline company before booking your ticket. The pilot should know how to behave in case of an emergency. The staff must be genuine and caring towards the customers, making sure their needs are met. The customers, in turn, need to be respectful towards everybody that is making a safe flight happen. In this blog, we are going to focus on Delta Air Lines, one of America’s leading airlines. We are going to analyze its marketing tactics to unravel the story behind its success.

First and foremost, we are going to analyze the mission and vision statements of Delta Air Lines.

The mission statement of the company is as follows.

“We – Delta’s employees, customers, and community partners together form a force for positive local and global change, dedicated to bettering standards of living and the environment where we and our customers live and work”.

There are two components that this mission statement considers. The first one is improving lives and the second is exceeding expectations.

Flights are stressful as they are. People take lots of time to prepare beforehand. This company wants to make sure that flights are as calm and peaceful as they possibly can be. You can be sure that when taking a Delta Air Lines flight, you will arrive at your destination exactly when you want to.

Everything with this company is as easy and simple as it can get. Starting from booking the tickets to getting on the plane, you are not going to dread your flight.

Also, the number of flights this company offers makes sure that you find the best fit for you. It is incredibly flexible and you will find your desired time and ticket option.

The mission of this company is not limited to transferring people from a start point to an endpoint. This company cares about the environment that society lives in. It spreads messages about the empowerment and wellbeing of people.

Other than that, as our planet Earth is in danger, it is crucial that we do our part in lessening the harm. People should replace their product preferences with sustainable, ethical items. That is exactly what this company does. It utilizes recyclable water management.

Now, we are going to talk about the vision statement of the company.

“To be the world’s most trusted airline” is the vision of Delta Air Lines. It has achieved a small part of its vision since it is a leader in the US. Customers are significant for this organization. Thus it shifts its behaviors to serve its best purpose.

Delta Air Lines continuously increases its destinations. It strives to be widespread throughout the world. The company makes use of all devices for its growth. For example, most of the employees now have included sign language in their area of knowledge.

It is essential that people feel included in a company’s permanence. This is another way that Delta Air Lines is extending its demand. It presents exceptional travel assistance.

Further along, we are going to examine a post from Delta Air Lines’s Instagram to unravel its positioning strategy.

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A post shared by Delta Air Lines (@delta)

The photo we see is of a woman surrounded by nature. She is sitting somewhere high, on a rock, gazing towards the direction of greenery surrounding her from all directions.

Then, we see a long caption telling the woman’s story. It is about how we are living in a male-dominated world full of stereotypes. Those stigmas revolve around the different roles that men and women hold in society. It is told that men are supposed to be in masculine positions and women in the feminine. The job market is again stereotypical. People definitely consciously or unconsciously judge people by their gender. And that is what we anticipate while reading this woman’s story.

She has been a part of Delta Air Lines for about 8 years. When she tells people about that, they assume she would be a flight attendant. The reason behind that is because that is the only so-called feminine role in an airline. But in reality, she works in the Human Resources department, specifically hiring pilots.

Instead of getting disappointed and giving up, she uses stereotypical comments directed toward her as fuel. She looks at them as a way to get stronger, smarter, and even more hard-working and successful.

Now, what does this post tell us about the archetype that Delta Air Lines belongs to?

The first message we get is about living a fulfilling life to one’s standards regardless of what others around you think.

Secondly, we observe freedom. The woman in the picture is alone in the wilderness. The greatness of what she has ahead of her and the smallness of herself, only one person, does not hold her back from scouting.

And lastly, if we think deeper, flights have the ability to get dangerous. The presumable archetype fits companies dealing with critical settings.

What more do we need to know to understand that the archetype Delta Air Lines belongs to is The Explorer.

What do we know about it?

Desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world

Aim: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life

Strategy: journey, seek out and experience new things, escape from entrapment and boredom

The messaging levels of the archetype are the following.

The One: Alienation, dissatisfaction, restlessness, yearning, boredom​.

Level Two: hitting the open road, going out into nature, exploring the world​.

Level Three: seeking your own individuality, to individuate, to become fulfilled​.

Level Four: expressing individuality and uniqueness

The Explorer provides a good identity for your brand if:

• your product enables people to feel released, is nonconformist, or is lifechanging in one way or another
• your product is a good fit for usage in nature, on the road, or in dangerous settings or occupations​
• your product can be bought from a catalog, the Internet, or some other alternative source​
• your product encourages people to show their identity (e.g. fashion, furnishings)​
• your product can be purchased and consumed “on the go”​​
• your organization owns an Explorer mindset

Next up, we are going to take a look at the SWOT analysis of Delta Air Lines.

Strengths

Brand Image: Through everything that we already mentioned, Delta Air Lines has managed to build a strong brand image. Both the employees and customers are pretty satisfied with everything the company is doing.

Route and destinations: Purchasing a Delta Ail Lines ticket makes it possible for you to travel to over 325 stops. Those destinations equal 52 countries. Just take a second to think about how high of a number that is.

Alliances: This company has succeeded in getting aligned with a number of international airlines. Among those are Virgin Australia, Air-France, Vietnam Airlines, and so on.

Large fleet: This company owns a great deal of gear and is ready for every challenge. Still, Delta Air Lines does not hesitate to invest in new aircraft.

Market leader: This company has every necessary requirement to be a leader in its industry. It not only has immense gear but is also available in lots of countries.

Brand value: Delta Air Lines has a pretty high capitalization. As of 2020, it was 30.01 billion dollars. As if that is not good enough, the company is classified as the 68th in the Fortune 500 companies list.

Weaknesses

Issues with Airbus A220: The A220 engines are problematic. Even recently in an instance with Swiss airlines, an emergency landing had to take place. As a result, people have stopped trusting airlines that utilize this engine. Delta Air Lines applies lots of these engines in its aircraft.

Dependance on North American Market: Regardless of its global presence, Delta Air Lines is mainly dependant on the US market. In fact, this company gets most of its profits from local sales. This is rather risky in economical and political terms.

Opportunities

Millennial trends: Young people are more prone to traveling than they were years back. If Millenials are likely to travel now, then by 2025 and 2030 will be the turn of Gen Z-ers. Therefore, this company should pick up on new trends and put them to use in its advertising.

Social media marketing: Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms are what buy us stuff these days. We are more likely to make a purchase if we see an ad on it on our social media accounts. Delta Air Lines should think about this as well.

Threats

Increasing cost: Of course, every company makes innovations. Delta Air Lines is no exception. However, investing in research and development costs a fortune. These costs, in turn, continue to grow. As a result, profits fall.

Regulations: The transportation and aviation authorities request taxes. That is yet another additional cost added to the list. The government also requires huge taxes.

Competitors: This industry is pretty competitive. Price, customer service, reliability, cost efficiency, and airfare are areas where one company is more preferable to the other.

Pandemic: The pandemic took a toll on many industries. People were not allowed to leave their houses, good to go, travel when the whole lockdown happened. All airlines, Delta included, faced immense revenue losses.

Lastly, we are going to take a look at an ad by Delta Air Lines to uncover the segment that this company has chosen to target.

We observe a man traveling. We see him from getting out of an airport to arriving at a hotel. Everywhere he goes, he is in rush, and in a way, dissatisfied. It is not until he calls a loved one that we see a smile on his face. It almost feels like he is so drained and has no energy for anything.

We eventually see him in an airplane, probably flying back home. Then a voice-over explains how basically there is no place like home. But Delta Air Lines always brings us one step closer to home.

What can we conclude from this?

Home is important, and it is where the man in the video desires to be. But a home is not just about a place, it is about the people as well. This is what we clearly see while he makes calls. And lastly, being around everyday buzz surrounded by tons of people does not seem like our character’s cup of tea.

All of these include us to only one judgment. The segment that Delta Air Lines has chosen to target is Floaters.

Lifestyle and values:

Home is the center of the Floaters’ lives. It has to look good and clean. The women in this segment spend most of their time at home, cooking or cleaning their home. Even though these people have a low budget, they still do their best for their families.

This segment takes care of children in traditional ways, making sure they turn out alright. Sometimes they even forget about taking care of themselves and give all the love away.

When it comes to dressing up, all this segment cares about is comfort. Looks are in the furthest back of Floaters’ minds.

They like to remain in their comfort zone in the workplace. Money is their main motivation. They prefer to be under somebody’s supervision and do what they know best. It is a much better strategy than a constant lookout for new opportunities.

When this segment gets into a relationship, you better believe it is going to be long-lasting.

Attitude towards shopping:

This segment likes to be smart with their money. They always search for special offers, discounts. They make sure to consider every single penny before spending it.

When shopping, they prefer to buy a few items at once but have them be of lower quality.

Whenever new brands or products get launched, Floaters wait for them to lose the hype.

Other interesting facts:

Floaters

• Love to spend quiet and calm time around home and family
• Prefer putting minimal effort when it comes to sports and an active lifestyle
• Enjoy visiting places they already are familiar with
• Value being surrounded by nature
• Mostly utilize TV for entertainment
• Consume the littlest news possible
• Are not fond of the Internet, computers, or the radio

And there you have all the information you need on Delta Air Lines. In this blog, we analyzed the different marketing tactics this company uses. It is a highly successful American airline company. We provided you with some interesting information. What you can do in return is visit our main website and seek other blogs. We make sure to constantly update our feed with highly relevant information.