Question

Sir Richard Branson once said, "I want Virgin to be as well known around the world as Coca-Cola." Branson wants every venture to be different, stylish, fun and better on quality, customer service and overall value than its rivals.

How much does image matter to an organization? In the case of the Virgin Group, market perception or image defines their essence. Branson's business empire now extends into airlines, books, casinos, cell phones, cruise lines, high-speed rail, music production, music retailing, radio stations, travel and dozens of other youth-oriented products leveraging this powerful brand name and global image. One of Branson's latest ventures is Virgin Galactic which commercializes space travel. Reportedly, they have already received thousands of deposits for the $250,000 short flights into outer space. For this fee, "astronauts" will get three days of training, the stay at the spaceport and the trip into space (you are now free float around the cabin).

Is it any wonder that image is a key part of the customer value proposition (S-Q-I-P)?

How about some other examples of companies that have built their value proposition around the image variable?

Answer 1

S-Q-I-P stands for Service, Quality, Image and Value Price. Organizational image describes the impression that the organization has on internal and external stakeholders. Image is vital to the business because it is the first impression and the organization should ensure that they present a positive image. Moreover, a good image leads to long term trust building.

Amazon is a company that has its value proposition based on image variable. It has focused a lot on image and brand building.

UPS’ (United Parcel Service) value proposition – ‘What can brown do for you?’ is also based on the image variable. Brown is not just a color but it is an asset that people associate with respect to the brand.