Marketing Strategic Management and Its Importance

Task 1: Marketing Concept and its Role in an Organisation

Introduction

The marketing strategic management provides a scope to the organisations to manage their operations efficiently and expand the organisations sustainably across the market where the promotional activities and other tactics of the firm are helpful to have successful branding in the marketplace (McDONALD, 2016).

The study aims at discussing the essentials of marketing as well as the marketing tactics and strategic planning of the firm which have crucial impacts on the operational success of the organisations.

Through this presentation, it is possible to demonstrate the understanding of marketing practice as well as the activities which are beneficial for the firm to improve branding and increase the organisational visibility in the marketplace. The study also aims at discussing the elements of marketing and its functions in terms of the organisation Marks & Spencer and there is proper evaluation of the strategic planning and marketing tactics which are beneficial for the company to achieve future sustainable organisational goal.

Concept of Marketing

The marketing concept is effective for the business firms to analyse the market condition and acknowledge the customer’s preferences for identifying their needs as well as develop appropriate tactics to manage the product portfolio and expand the business strategically.

It is philosophy of marketing here the brand can have great insight about the product category and marketing activities to satisfy the customers in the market (Banerjee, 2017).

In the recent years the organisations invest a huge amount of capital for promotional activities to increase the product visibility in the market and strengthen their customer’s base for future (Josephson, Johnson and Mariadoss, 2016).

The companies adopt different philosophies to satisfy the customers and the marketing concepts include the product concept, selling and exchange concept, production and societal concept and the concept of marketing and promotional activities, which are mandatory to strategise the business and promote the organisational products successfully.

Overview of Marketing Process

The mission needs to be developed where the mission of the company Marks & Spencer is to launch new product and attract the new and old customer for the innovative product and services.

Situational analysis is mandatory, where the external business environment and internal capabilities of the brand must be evaluated (Varadarajan, 2019).

Marketing strategy such as promotional activities and product launch in the market are fruitful for the business firms to promote their brands and retain the customers or long run.

The implementation and control phase are also effective where proper budgetary planning, investment, market research and development as well as monitoring the customer feedback and response of the buyers for the new products is beneficial for the business to improve branding (Chernev, 2018).

The marketing mix strategic planning is effective for restructuring the product and prices, placing the products through distribution and supply chain, promotion through social media advertisement and other social campaign and offline media advertisement are effective for the firm to sustain in the market and promote the products.

In addition to the above discussion, the marketing mix strategies include people management, process innovation and managing physical evidence which are fruitful for the business to improve brand position in the market and increase of the brand in the market.

Roles and Responsibilities of Marketing Manager

• To conduct market research for identifying the recent market trend
• To acknowledge the actual needs and preferences of the customers
• To develop suitable marketing plan
• To choose promotional strategy
• To lead the marketing team members through creativity
• To ensure technological advancement for marketing
• To reallocate the resources and organisational capabilities
• To manage customers
• To maintain the sales activities in the market

The marketing managers are liable to conduct the market research for acknowledging the consumer’s needs and preferences as well as identify current market trend for gaining deep insight about the demand for the products and services. The marketing managers are also responsible for developing the marketing tactics through product design and price setting as well as placement and promotional activities in order to establish the brand and promote the products successfully (Galati et al., 2017).

Elements of Marketing Functions

• Buying and selling
• Transporting
• Standardisation and grading
• Storing
• Risk taking
• Financing
• Market information gathering
• Customer handling

The above mentioned marketing elements are effective for the organisation Mark & Spencer for better marketing management and developing appropriate strategic planning for the benefits of the firm. The tactics of selling and producing the products as well as transportation management, managing the products and services and customer handle are fruitful for the business to be sustainable in near future (Moutinho and Vargas-Sanchez, 2018).

Interrelation with the Functional Departments

Marketing and HR

Human resource management is mandatory in Marks & Spencer for better management of the people which is one of the factors under marketing mix strategy. Hiring experienced staff, managing their values and providing high performance related pay and salary are effective for the manager to retain the skilled workforce who can manage the organisational operations and produce high quality products to serve the customers in a better way.

Marketing and Production

Production is another department, where the organisation is able to manage the quality of products and manufacture the products required by the customers and it is linked with the product factors which are under marketing mix planning. Hence, the marketing activities and production department are also linked with each other for better management of the product portfolio of the brand.

There is strong link of the marketing tactics and the departments in the organisation where the marketing activities can strategise the organisational activities and provide a scope to develop strong organisational structure for better management.

Marketing and Finance

Marketing and finance are also interlinked with each other, where for the marketing activities, there is proper requirement of capital investment for promotional activities, supply chain management, process innovation and other activities and thus there is strong relationship between the marketing and finance department to run the organisational operations efficiently through proper capital investment.

Marketing and R&D

Research and development is one of the major departments of the organisation like Marks & Spencer where the staff and experienced employees are engaged with the research activities to identify the market trend, acknowledge the preferences of the customers, analyse the production tactics and product development activities for better performance of the brand and thus it is also linked with the organisational marketing activities (Hunt, 2017).

Significance of Interlink

The organisational departments such as marketing, finance, human resource management, research and development, production and operation are contributing collaboratively to strategise the business activities of Marks & Spencer and develop strong strategic planning to run the business successfully.

The organisation Marks & Spencer must focus on production and process which are under the marketing mix strategic planning and these are linked with the marketing concepts to sell the quality products and manufacture it for creating values for the customers.

The human resource management and finance department are also playing crucial roles to reallocate the organisational resources, invest in the operations and manage the staff for better performance.

Conclusion

The marketing management activities are crucial for the organisation Marks & Spencer for better management of the production and operations of the organisational products and services and satisfy the customers in the long run (David, David, and David, 2017).

The departments of Marks & Spencer are related with the marketing functions which are product, price, prices and physical evidence, people management, placing and promotional activities which are beneficial to reshape the organisational activities and promote the quality products in the market.

Task 2: Marketing mix

Comparing Marketing Mix (7P’s) of Marks & Spencer, McDonald's, and Starbucks

To: Marketing Director

From: Marketing Manager

1. Introduction

It is important to compare the marketing strategic planning of Marks & Spencer with other two organisations to review their tactics to promote the products and services in the market. This study focuses on comparing the marketing tactics of Marks & Spencer with McDonald’s and Starbucks.

2. Organisational Background

Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer is a British multinational retailer which focuses on clothing and food items to gain high competitive advantage. The organisation is efficient in serving customers across the globe, where the quality of the products and efficient services satisfy the consumers globally. The total number of employees in the company this year is over 80,000, and the organisation generated a revenue of £10,377.3 million in the previous year (Marks & Spencer, 2020a).

McDonalds:

McDonalds is an American fast food company founded in 1940 and the food items of the company are such as hamburgers, chicken, French fries, soft drinks, desserts and coffee, breakfast and wraps which are in high demand in the market. The company is also successful to expand their business across international markets where total number of employees is more than 210000. The revenue generation of the firm in the previous year was US$21.076 billion (McDonalds, 2020a).

Starbucks:

Starbucks is the chain of coffeehouse and considered as largest coffee house in the world and the major products of the company are tea, coffee, beverages, smithies, and baked goods. The organisation is successful to serve around 30000 locations across 77 countries in the world. Revenue of the firm in the previous year was more than US$24.71 billion and the employees are 291000 (Starbucks, 2020a).

3. Marketing mix

Marketing Mix Analysis

3.1 Product

Marks & Spencer	Clothing and food items as well as home products where the company focuses on durable and quality products to the customers (Marks & Spencer, 2020b).
McDonald's	Hamburgers, chicken, French fries, soft drinks, desserts and coffee, breakfast and wraps are the major product portfolio of the organisation (McDonald's, 2020b).
Starbucks	It provides the products including tea, coffee, beverages, smoothies, and baked goods (Starbucks, 2020a).

3.2 Price

Marks & Spencer	The pricing policy of the company is moderate and it focuses on setting competitive price to generate profitability as well as create customers values.
McDonald's	It focuses on psychological pricing tactic and bundle pricing strategy, which are effective to set proper price which can represent the quality and quantity of the food items (McDonald's, 2020b).
Starbucks	It focuses on geographical pricing strategy for which the prices are different and it is quiet high as compared to the competitive firms (Starbucks, 2020b).

3.3 Place

Marks & Spencer	1463 locations across the globe (Marks & Spencer, 2020b)
McDonald's	37855 restaurants across international markets
Starbucks	More than 28218 locations across the globe

3.4 Promotion

Marks & Spencer	Digital media marketing through Twitter, Facebook, and developing their own website to promote their products in the market.
McDonald's	Public relation, sales promotion, and direct marketing are the tactics of the company (McDonald's, 2020c).
Starbucks	Loyalty cards, Twitter, and Facebook as well as company website are the major promotional tactics (Starbucks, 2020c).

3.5 People

Marks & Spencer	More than 84939 employees working across the globe with an effective human resource management strategy to handle a diverse workforce.
McDonald's	210000 employees are efficient to serve customers worldwide.
Starbucks	More than 291000 workers are working efficiently.

3.6 Process

Marks & Spencer	Store design, online customer service management, and loyalty cards.
McDonald's	Great process of effortless and personalized services, as well as transparency to serve customers is the tactic of the company (McDonald's, 2020d).
Starbucks	Creating long-term bonds with customers by providing high-quality products and services at the store (Starbucks, 2020c).

3.7 Physical evidence

Marks & Spencer	The organization expands the business across the UK market as well as other countries like France, Turkey, Hungary, Spain, Ireland, Finland etc.
McDonald's	Focuses on building maintenance, interior design of the restaurant, and speed of service.
Starbucks	Store design, logo, as well as coffee cups and napkins are effective to improve the physical evidence of the firm (Starbucks, 2020a).

Conclusion

As per the comparative analysis, it can be stated that, the firm are focusing on different strategies as per their products and services in order to promote their business internationally.

Task 3: Marketing plan – produce a marketing plan for a product to be launched by Marks & Spencer

1. Introduction

The marketing planning is effective for the organisations to expand the business across the international market (Dolnicar, Grün and Leisch, 2018). The marketing planning needs to be developed for the organisation Marks & Spencer which provides a scope to the firm to expand their business across the international markets where SMART objectives, tactics and control and proper monitoring process are effective to suggest proper solutions for Marks & Spencer to establish the brand in the international retail market and adopt new promotional activities for better performance and achieving specific goals. Before conducting the marketing plan, it is necessary to conduct the situational analysis for understanding the external environment as well as reviewing the organisational capabilities to strategise the organisational activities in future. Through this marketing planning, the situational analysis will be conducted and after that, the strategic objectives, marketing plan will be proposed with proper evaluation and control mechanism.

2. Situation analysis

2.1 Macro environmental analysis:

As per the macro environmental analysis, it is possible to analyse the environmental where the business can perform efficiently. The market structure and the external influences can also be evaluated through the macro environmental analysis, which can be done through PESTLE analysis.

Political	The political situation is stable in the UK as well as the government supports the business activities in the country for better performance and expansion. There is trade agreement and copyright patents which are effective for the organisation to run their safely. Marks & Spencer can expand their business with the help of the UK government where the government is collaborative and there are proper rules and legislations to run the business ethically (Tomczak, Reinecke and Kuss, 2018).
Economic	As per the economic factors, there is high growth of the UK economy as well as the inflation rate is moderate which is under 2% and thus there is no such inflationary growth in the market. Apart from that, the purchasing power parity and personal income of the customers are rising over the years and it is also another contributing factor in the market which provides a positive scope to Marks & Spencer to run their business efficiently by retaining the customers in the market. On the other hand, the customer confidence and market growth are good for Marks & Spencer to establish their business sustainably.
Social	Social development is there in the UK with 99.9% literacy rate. The customers are very knowledgeable and updated with the...
Technological	Technological advancement also provides a scope to the firm Marks & Spencer to improve creativity and innovation of the services, where mobile commerce, e-commerce services as well as creative machineries for manufacturing the products of Marks & Spencer can be enhanced properly under the latest technology. In recent years, online shopping is increasing where the customers prefer to choose their products online and get the quality products within proper time at their place and it also influences the company to enhance their business activities in the long run.	-
Legal	Legal compliances are there where rules and legislations are effective to restructure the organisation and it is beneficial for the company Marks & Spencer to develop the business legally. The consumer protection act, organisational licensing and trade agreements are the major documentation through which Marks & Spencer can run their business legally.	Hollensen, 2018
Environmental	Environmental practice is also updated and there is great scope for Marks & Spencer to be environmentally sustainable by acting responsibly and in this regard, green practice, environmental protection rules and sustainable strategy will influence Marks & Spencer to develop effective practice for running their business efficiently.	-

2.2 Micro environmental analysis:

The micro analysis can be conducted through SWOT analysis of the firm in order to identify the organisational capabilities to run the business successfully. Through SWOT analysis, it is also possible for the business to acknowledge the market opportunities and threat in future to run their business efficiently.

Strengths	High quality products leading to customer retention Strong customer service and relationship building Efficient management of staff members Effective manager training program Enhanced shopping experience
Weaknesses	Lack of proper market analysis about customer segmentation and positioning Poor marketing tactics Inadequate stock control and warehouse management Failing to target the right customers
Opportunities	Utilizing technology for e-commerce and online shopping Promoting healthy lifestyle and eating habits Global market expansion
Threats	Intense competition from other retail firms Threat of substitute products Competition from other fashionable clothing and organic food brands

3. Objectives

The marketing objectives of the brand must be set properly which are SMART objectives, so that the organisation can achieve it in future for successful establishment of the company. The objective of the company Marks & Spencer is to expand the business across the international market and create new branding through developing organic clothing and organic food items products. The brand tries to diversify their business innovatively by launching organic clothing products in the market, where the company can utilise the organic material and colours to develop fashionable clothing and organic food items in the market. This is a new business horizon where the business can expand their activities creatively in the market (Marks & Spencer, 2020b).

S-Specific	The goal is specific where the organisation is able to achieve success by implementing the strategy and fulfil the objective by utilising the organisational resources and capabilities.
M-Measurable	The goal is measurable by managing performance of the firm, sales volume for the newly launched product and customer retention and increasing website visit rate for the new product category. These are the tactics of measuring the success rate of the company after launching the new category of the clothing and organic food items products.
A-Achievable	The goal is achievable was the leader and management team of Marks & Spencer are efficient to utilise the organisational resources and engage all the stakeholders of the business including the employees, shareholders and suppliers to design the fashionable clothing and organic food items and distribute it across the market for attracting the customers successfully.
R-Reliable	The goal is realistic compared to the competitors and resources in the market, as in the recent era of globalisation, the customers are concerned about environmental sustainability and it is fruitful for the firm to expand their baseness creatively by designing organic clothing and organic food items products in the market.
T-Time bound	The time for launching the new product is 6 months where the organisation is already invested in the organic clothing and organic food items segment to diversify their products and launch it immediately to attract the customers in the market.

4. Strategy

As per the Ansoff matrix, the strategic of the company can be developed after analysing the market condition and the organisational capabilities. In this regard, the organisation Marks & Spencer focuses on new product launch for attracting the right customers in the market.

Hence, it is also related to the product diversification strategy where the new product is organic clothing and organic food items including fresh fruits and vegetables as well as the organic ingredients which are helpful to create healthy food products in the market. This is the major strategy of the business to expand the firm with creative product category (Marks & Spencer, 2020c).

STP analysis is important in this regard to strategise the organisational activities and secure future sustainable development and in this regard, the segmentation is done on the basis of customer choice and preferences, perception of the customers towards sustainable solutions, age and gender as well as economic status. The target customers of the company are the female members for organic clothing and both male and female for the organic food items. The company also will target the customer’s age group between 22 years to 45 years where the purchase intention is high and targets the medium and high income earners so that they can afford the products in the organic category (Marks & Spencer, 2020c).

5. Marketing Tactics

Product	In order to launch a new product, Marks & Spencer focuses on designing organic clothing and food items using organic materials and colors, manufactured with the latest technology.
Price	Marks & Spencer adopts a premium pricing policy for its newly fashionable products to attract customers.
Place	Strengthening the supply chain and distribution network to maintain product stock across Marks & Spencer stores in the UK.
Promotion	Sales promotional activities include advertising in stores, social media ads, and website promotion to attract customers.
People	People management strategies involve providing incentives, performance-related pay, and fostering an organizational culture that encourages innovation in product design.
Process	Process innovation includes providing customer direction, feedback channels, and leveraging technology to enhance the shopping experience.
Physical Evidence	Managing activities, logistics, and organizational infrastructure for successful product launches in the retail market.

6. Actions

Budgetary plan:

Activities	Estimated Cost in £
Developing production unit	10000
Hiring organic clothing and organic food teams manufacturer	5000
Hiring staff	2000
Raw material of the clothing and organic food items	8000
Organic colors	5000
Administrative cost	2000
Electricity	1000
Distribution cost	1500
Marketing and sales	800
Total cost	35300

7. Control

Through competitor analysis, customer analysis as well as research and development, analysing customer feedback and cost analysis, it is possible for the firm to control the whole system for the new product launch. The customer feedback evaluation and competitor analysis after the product launch will provide a scope to the company Marks & Spencer to control their operations and manage the whole production and distribution system at a cost effective way, where cost analysis is fruitful for the firm to minimise the cost of the manufacturing of the product and improve economies of scale for better production and distribution of the newly launched product of Marks & Spencer (Marks & Spencer, 2020b). On the other hand, monitoring technique needs to be incorporated for better management of the tasks where the budgetary control plan, time scale for managing activities, number of enquiries, customer management system, media coverage and sales volume are effective method to monitor the progress of the new product, launched by the firm.

8. Conclusion

Marks & Spencer is capable to launching new product for expanding their business efficiently and in this regard the SMART objective can be fulfilled by developing the planning of new product launch. The organisation is capable and financially stable to invest the estimated capital for designing the organic clothing and organic food items of the customers, where the newly organic materials and organic colours are utilised to manufacture the clothing and organic food items. The market is also preferable for the company to manage their operation and secure future sustainable development where organic clothing and organic food items is also beneficial to attract the customers who are concerned about environmental sustainably.

Reference List

• Banerjee, S.B., 2017. Corporate environmentalism and the greening of strategic marketing: Implications for marketing theory and practice. In Greener Marketing (pp. 16-40). Routledge.
• Chernev, A., 2018. Strategic marketing management. London: Cerebellum Press.
• David, M.E., David, F.R. and David, F.R., 2017. The quantitative strategic planning matrix: a new marketing tool. Journal of strategic Marketing, 25(4), pp.342-352.
• Dolnicar, S., Grün, B. and Leisch, F., 2018. Step 9: Customising the Marketing Mix. In Market Segmentation Analysis (pp. 245-254). Berlin: Springer.
• Galati, A., Crescimanno, M., Tinervia, S. and Fagnani, F., 2017. Social media as a strategic marketing tool in the Sicilian wine industry: Evidence from Facebook. Wine Economics and Policy, 6(1), pp.40-47.
• Gupta, C.B. and Rajan, N., 2020. Marketing management. London: Sultan Chand & Sons.
• Hollensen, S., 2018. Marketing-Strategie und Marketing-Mix. In Einführung in das Bildungs-und Kulturmanagement (pp. 31-44). Ziel-Zentrum für interdisziplinäres erfarungsorientiertes Lernen GmbH.
• Hunt, S.D., 2017. Strategic marketing, sustainability, the triple bottom line, and resource-advantage (RA) theory: Securing the foundations of strategic marketing theory and research. AMS Review, 7(1-2), pp.52-66.
• Josephson, B.W., Johnson, J.L. and Mariadoss, B.J., 2016. Strategic marketing ambidexterity: Antecedents and financial consequences. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 44(4), pp.539-554.
• Marks & Spencer, 2020a. About ushttps://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus">[online] Available athttps://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus">https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus [Accessed on 14 June 2020].
• Marks & Spencer, 2020b. Historyhttps://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus/history">[online] Available athttps://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus/history">https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus/history [Accessed on 14 June 2020].
• Marks & Spencer, 2020c. Leadershiphttps://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus/our-leadership-team">[online] Available at https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus/our-leadership-team">https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus/our-leadership-team [Accessed on 14 June 2020].
• McDONALD, M.A.L.C.O.L.M., 2016. Strategic marketing planning: theory and practice. In The marketing book (pp. 108-142). London: Routledge.
• McDonalds, 2020a. Our values. https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/our-values.html">[online] Available at:https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/our-values.html">https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/our-values.html [Accessed on 14 June 2020].
• McDonalds, 2020b. Our business model. https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/our-business-model.html">[online] Available at:https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/our-business-model.html">https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/our-business-model.html [Accessed on 14 June 2020].
• McDonalds, 2020c. Our growth strategy. https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/our-growth-strategy.html">[online] Available at:https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/our-growth-strategy.html">https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/our-growth-strategy.html [Accessed on 14 June 2020].
• McDonalds, 2020d. Leadership. https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/leadership.html">[online] Available at:https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/leadership.html">https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/leadership.html [Accessed on 14 June 2020].
• Moutinho, L. and Vargas-Sanchez, A., 2018. Strategic Management in Tourism, CABI Tourism Texts. London: Cabi.
• Starbucks, 2020a. Company information.https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information">[online] Available at:https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information">https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information[Accessed on 14 June 2020].
• Starbucks, 2020b. Coffee. https://www.starbucks.com/coffee">[online] Available at: https://www.starbucks.com/coffee">https://www.starbucks.com/coffee [Accessed on 14 June 2020].
• Starbucks, 2020c. Customer service.https://customerservice.starbucks.com/">[online] Available at:https://customerservice.starbucks.com/">https://customerservice.starbucks.com/ [Accessed on 14 June 2020].
• Tomczak, T., Reinecke, S. and Kuss, A., 2018. Market-oriented corporate planning. In Strategic Marketing (pp. 49-95). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.
• Tomczak, T., Reinecke, S. and Kuss, A., 2018. Planning the Marketing Mix. In Strategic Marketing (pp. 171-221). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.
• Varadarajan, R., 2019. Theoretical underpinnings of research in strategic marketing: a commentary. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47(1), pp.30-36.