Business Marketing Essentials: A Comprehensive Guide to Marketing Strategies

This comprehensive guide delves into the fundamental principles of business marketing, exploring the role of marketing within organizations, the interrelationship with other functional units, and the application of the 7Ps marketing mix. Using Vodafone UK as a case study, the guide analyzes the organization's marketing strategies, compares them to its competitor O2, and develops a basic marketing plan for launching a new product targeting senior citizens. The guide also examines the importance of monitoring and evaluating marketing plans to ensure alignment with organizational goals and objectives.

Business Marketing Essentials

Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................3
Task 1................................................................................................................................4
LO1 Explain the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional units of an
organization.......................................................................................................................4
Using examples from your chosen organization, explain the key roles and
responsibilities of the marketing function [P1]...................................................................4
How roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context
[P2].....................................................................................................................................5
Task 2................................................................................................................................8
LO2 Compare ways in which organizations use elements of the marketing mix (7Ps) to
achieve overall business objectives..................................................................................8
Using your chosen organization and another organization, compare how organizations
use the various elements of the 7Ps marketing mix in the marketing planning process to
achieve business objectives. This will be submitted as a briefing paper for the marketing
team. [P3]...........................................................................................................................8
LO3 Develop and evaluate a basic marketing plan. (NB: A marketing plan template is
available in the VLE, but it is not mandatory to use this)................................................11
Using your chosen organization, produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan to meet
marketing goals and objectives. The marketing plan should include all elements of the
7Ps marketing mix, with an action plan and measures for monitoring and evaluating
progress and meeting of your chosen organization’s goals and objectives [P4]............11
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................15
References.......................................................................................................................16

Introduction
The term marketing essentials in terms of business identifies the different factors as well
as attributes that can make the overall business and its management an effective one. It
is quite an understandable fact that the marketing department is one of the most
significant departments that are in the current times. The organizations actually
communicate with the external market with the help of the marketing department and
this is where the importance of marketing and the marketing essentials lies
For understanding the importance of the marketing essentials along with the role it plays
the case study of Vodafone has been chosen for the purpose. The assignment will
concentrate on the key roles as well as the responsibilities that the marketing manager
play in the organizations have also been included in the below sections. The
comparison of 7 Ps of Vodafone along with O2 have also been provided in the below
sections. The final section of the project will also concentrate in developing a proper
marketing plan that may be needed by Vodafone to launch their product in the market.

Task 1
LO1 Explain the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional
units of an organization
As discussed by Aghazadeh (2015), the marketing is indeed one of the most vital
concepts that plays a vital role in promoting the products and the services of the
organization in the market. If carried out effectively then the whole of the marketing and
the concepts that are pertaining to it actually reflects the organization in the market and
it also helps them to reach out to the pinnacle of success.
Using examples from your chosen organization, explain the key roles and
responsibilities of the marketing function [P1]
The above sections has proved to be effective enough in understanding the impacts of
marketing as well as the roles an effective way. The roles of the marketing are indeed
huge and it is extremely important to understand them effectively. The basic roles and
the responsibilities of the marketing involves
Research Function- This is by far the most important and the significant responsibility
of a marketing manager at Vodafone. The marketing manager at Vodafone is
ascertained with the duty of collecting and analyzing a whole lot of data and information
from the market about the products and the services that are produced by the
organization. It actually helps them in gathering proper information about the target
market (Agnihotri and Rapp, 2017)
Development of the product and its management- this is by far the second of the
most significant duties that are performed by the marketing department. The step
involves identifying the demands and the wants of the customers and hence developing
the products and services to fulfill their needs and wants. This type of functions actually
helps in bridging up the gaps among the customers and the organization.

Pricing Function- The pricing function of the marketing indicates conducting proper
and effective researches so as to determine the overall price of the different products
those are produced by them. As part of the pricing functions the key roles and
responsibilities if the marketing manager involves conducting proper and effective
research so as to determine the pricing of the other similar products and services and
hence setting a standardized product for the product. The prices should be set in such
a way that it turns out to be effective both for the customer as well as the organization
(Anderson et al.,2017).
Promotion function- the promotion function involves the steps that are adopted by the
marketing manager for motivating the buyers to buy the particular product or procure
the services from the organization. At Vodafone the marketing department gives utmost
importance to the promotional activities and adopts suitable steps to make the whole of
the process an effective one. There are indeed a whole lot of advertisements both
online as well as offline that are utilized and promoted by the marketing department of
the organization (Baack et al., 2017)
In a nutshell the different marketing functions play a significant role in helping the
different macro marketing systems in overcoming the different separations as well as
the discrepancies among them. It also helps in communicating the value of the services
as well as the products that are produced by them. The marketing and all its associated
functions also plays a vital role in developing the products and hence the services that
can prove to be profitable for the organization in all aspects.
How roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational
context [P2].
As discussed by Babin and Zikmund (2017), the modern marketing and all of the
concepts that are pertaining to it are considered as an example of an integrated
business function that ensures the success of the entire organization. In every
organizations including Vodafone, there are indeed a number of functional units such as

the finance, research and development and the production department all of them work
effectively towards the success of the organization.
Production Department and the marketing department – The marketing department
can assist the production department in determining the different services that are to be
provided to the customers of the organization. In fact if conducted effectively then the
marketing department can also create a crave for the products among the customers in
the market. This will find extensive usage as well as applications in maintaining the
demands of the products as well as the services in the market (Lovelock, 2018). The
productions as well as the marketing department need to work in hand in hand such that
the marketing department can actually conduct effective researches and can make
suitable planning for satisfying the current as well as the future needs of the customers
of the organization. The design of the services can also be rescheduled in accordance
with the demands of the customers thus collected by the marketing department.
Moreover the marketing department can also set proper deadlines for stretching the
overall capabilities of the production department thus enhancing their capabilities as
well.
Research and the development wing and the marketing department- The
marketing department can actually assist the research and development wing by
providing them with new and effective ideas for developing new products or services.
These ideas are developed with the help of data that are collected through the
researches that are conducted by the organization. The marketing researchers can
actually provide an effective idea as to what are the different types of products that are
in demand by the customers. They also provide an effective idea as to which products
are more likely to be marketable and what are the different features that are mostly
preferred by the customers (Bakeman and Hanson,2017)
Sales and the marketing department- The sales and the marketing department are
considered as both sides of the same coin and are always intertwined with each other in
all aspects. In most of the organizations these two departments work together for
fulfilling the needs as well as the demands of the customers of the organization and
helping the organization in making more outputs (Lamb et al., 2017).

Finance and the marketing department- The marketing plans thus made and
implemented always contains huge amount of financial information for both the existing
as well as the new products. In case of Vodafone the marketing serves the role of a
supporting management that is capable of supporting the financial decisions that are
adopted by the organization. The marketing also gives idea of the sales forecasts that
are likely to be experienced by the application of the different marketing strategies thus
developed by the organization (Baker, 2015)
Human Resource department and the marketing department- As discussed by
Malhotra (2018), the marketing as well as the human resource department need to work
together to ensure that the individuals with appropriate skills are recruited. The staff
should have effective research skills as well as effective enough in meeting the
production targets. In accordance with the marketing department as well as its needs
the human resource department need to organize the different training and
development skills for enhancing the skills of the individuals as and when needed
(Bennett, 2018).
The above sections have proved to be effective enough in establishing the need for the
different departments to maintain a proper inter relationship among them.

Task 2
LO2 Compare ways in which organizations use elements of the marketing mix
(7Ps) to achieve overall business objectives
The 7 ps of marketing is an important and significant tool that provides an effective
view of the different factors that may affect the overall business of the organization. In
this particular section a comparative study have been conducted among Vodafone U.K.
and its greatest competitor O2 to determine the different factors of the marketing mix
that may affect the overall business of the organization
Using your chosen organization and another organization, compare how
organizations use the various elements of the 7Ps marketing mix in the marketing
planning process to achieve business objectives. This will be submitted as a
briefing paper for the marketing team. [P3].
Comparative factors of the 7ps
factors Vodafone O2
Price The pricing strategy that has been
adopted by Vodafone is quite
competitive. The organization always
ensures that they provide the best
network as well as the data packages
within economic ranges. However, the
pricing is based strictly on the product
segmentation policies (Blythe, 2017).
The pricing strategies that are
adopted by the organization is
quite costly one. The organization
provides different packages for
mobiles as well as broadband.
The organization indeed provides
a huge variety of plans and the
customers can actually choose the
best one as per their convenience
Place The organization operates through a O2 holds the second place in the

large number of stores, shops
ministores and other customer care
centers. They also operate through a
large number of retailer shops
telecommunication industries
operating in UK. The distribution
channel is well defined and it
operates through more than 500
outlets all over the world
(Malhotra, 2018).
Product Vodafone Uk provides a large range if
the different telecommunication
services. They also provide a large
number of branded products such as
the branded phones, voice as well as
type messaging services (Cavusgil et
al., 2018).
The organization provides
products as well as services to the
customers of the organization. The
organization provides smart
phones and is considered as one
of the first of its kind to introduce
4G services in the country.
Promotion As put forward by Brady (2018),
Vodafone is considered as one of the
leading telecommunication brands that
operates in a global scale. The
organization aggressively promoted
their products through the offline as
well as online platforms. The
organization is also quite active in the
social media platforms
The organization sponsors rugby
since 1995 and it also offers the
priority customers a range of
privileges such as the stadium
tours. The organization is also
quite active in the different social
media platforms
People In case of Vodafone UK special
emphasis is given to the people. The
organization caters more than 4 billions
of customers across more than 150
countries all over the world. The
organization has an effective employee
base comprising of more than 100,000
employees all over the world.
The organization provides services
to more than 40 million customers
in all parts of the world. The
employees are extremely co
coordinating and they prefer to
help the customers in all ways
possible (Brooks and Simkin,
2017).
Physical
evidence
The Zhu zhu introduced by Vodafone is
one of the most significant physical
evidences of the organization. The
The organization has their own
registered office at Berkshire,
London. It has more than 400+

organization also have a number of
stores and a proper customer care
service that caters 24*7 throughout the
year
retail outlets and four offices in
significant parts of England.
process The processes that are made by
available by Vodafone allows the
organization to provide easy recharge
as well as top ups. The organization
also provides effective signal strengths
in all parts of the country
(Vodafone.co.uk.2017).
The organization promotes their
products aggressively and they
consider the customers their first
priority.

LO3 Develop and evaluate a basic marketing plan. (NB: A marketing plan template
is available in the VLE, but it is not mandatory to use this).
Using your chosen organization, produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan to
meet marketing goals and objectives. The marketing plan should include all
elements of the 7Ps marketing mix, with an action plan and measures for
monitoring and evaluating progress and meeting of your chosen organization’s
goals and objectives [P4]
Executive Summary
The market plan is one of the most significant success factors of an organization If
done correctly and appropriately the marketing plan can help an individual to reach its
pinnacle of success while exactly opposite may occur in case of an inappropriately
designed and implemented marketing plan. The below section will concentrate on
developing a proper market plan that will help the organization to enhance the overall
market share of Vodafone.
Vision
The main vision of the organization is to provide excellent services at much economic
rates. The services need to be up to- the mark and should be effective enough in
satisfying the customers in all possible ways
Objectives
The different objectives of the marketing plan are
- To enhance the overall market share of the organization
- To enhance the customer base of the organization
- To elevate the sales volume of the organization by approximately 10%
Target markets

The financial reports of the organization have pointed out that currently Vodafone
enjoys a stable market. The customers are extremely satisfied with the type of services
that Vodafone is offering. However, it is an obvious fact that expanding the market of
the organization taking advantage 0f these situations will always be an effective idea for
the organization. Taking advantage of the current demands and the trends Vodafone
has planned to launch 4G handsets with more next-generation features. The smart
phones will be available at much economic rates with the sole aim of providing handsets
to the customers who cannot actually afford them. The target age group of the products
are the individuals of the age group of 60-80 both male and female. In terms of
economic conditions individuals belonging to the economically weak sections of the
society will be the target customers of the organization.
Market segmentation and definition
As discussed by Engemann and Henderson (2018), the market segmentation is one of
the vital parts of the marketing plan and aims at adopting strategies for segmenting the
market effectively. The factors that play a pivotal role in this regard are service usage,
age, gender. Economic conditions as well as the geographical factors
Age- The market researches that have been conducted in this regard have clearly
pointed out that the basic users of smart phones are individuals of the age groups of
15-60.since the smart phones is comparatively a new technology in the
telecommunication world and hence the adopting themselves with the new and latest
technologies have often turned out to be a challenging situation for the senior citizens
worldwide. The new edge smart phone that is designed by Vodafone and is yet to be
launched by the organizations is designed specially targeting these senior sections of
the society. The organization has adopted this strategy with the sole aim of bringing
technology one step closer to the human life. It is also believed that this will help the
senior citizens to take advantage of the new and latest inventions in the fields of science
and technology as well.
Genders- In case of genders both the male as well as the female individuals of the
societ6 are counted among the target customers of the organization.

The other factors like the demographics and the service usage have not much impact in
the business plan of the organization.
Communications
Communications is also one of the significant forces that find their application Iin the
entire process. As part of the communication processes Vodafone will utilize the
different digital platforms for communicating with the customers of the organization. A
range of both online as well as offline communication methods will be used for the
purpose. The organization will advertise through the different social media platforms
such as facebook, tweeter. They will also advertise through the different offline
platforms and will organize a set of effective promotional campaigns in this regard.
Success factor
The greatest factor of success or the USP of the product is that the product is designed
mainly for the senior citizens of the country. It is expected that this type of smart
phones will bring the senior citizen a step closer towards technology.
Budget
For the effective execution of the marketing plan thus devised above proper budget
needs to be designed. The budget needs to consider all of the factors that can make the
whole of the process an effective one. The budget that will be needed for the purpose
have been added below.
Options Expenses
Promotional events £ 20,000
Designing the product £ 30,000
Human resource requirements £ 15,000
Distribution of the products £ 10,000
Marketing and sales of the
product
£ 15,000
Communication methods £ 10,000
Stationery requirements £ 5000

Other miscellaneous expenses £ 3000
Total £ 10800
Monitoring and Evaluation- The whole of the marketing plan thus devised should be
monitored and evaluated continuously by comparing the targets achieved against the
expected targets of the organization.

Conclusion
The above section has proved to be effective enough in analyzing the different factors
that may effect the overall marketing of an organization, The key roles as well as the
responsibilities of the marketing manager at Vodafone UK have also been included in
the above sections. It has been identified that in the recent times Vodafone is one of the
leading organizations that operates in the sector and the presence of an effective
marketing department is one of the main reasons that have contributed to this. A
comparative study of Vodafone along with O2 have also been included in the above
sections,

References
Aghazadeh, H., 2015. Strategic marketing management: Achieving superior business
performance through intelligent marketing strategy. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 207, pp.125-134.
Agnihotri, R. and Rapp, A., 2017. Perspectives on competitive intelligence within
business: A tactical tool for sales-people to gain a competitive advantage. The
Marketing Review, 11(4), pp.363-380.
Anderson, D.R., Sweeney, D.J. and Williams, T.A., 2017. Essentials of statistics for
business and economics, revised. Cengage Learning.
Baack, D.W., Harris, E.G. and Baack, D., 2017. International marketing. Sage.
Babin, B.J. and Zikmund, W.G., 2017. Essentials of marketing research. Nelson
Education.
Bakeman, M.M. and Hanson, L., 2017. Bringing social media to small business: A role
for employees and students in technology diffusion. Business Education Innovation
Journal, 4(2), pp.106-111.
Baker, M.J., 2015. Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Bennett, A.G., 2018. The big book of marketing. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Blythe, J., 2017. CIM Coursebook Marketing Essentials. Routledge.
Brady, D.L., 2018. Essentials of international marketing. Routledge.
Brooks, N. and Simkin, L., 2017. Measuring marketing effectiveness: an agenda for
SMEs. The Marketing Review, 11(1), pp.3-24.
Cavusgil, S.T., Knight, G., Riesenberger, J.R., Rammal, H.G. and Rose, E.L.,
2018. International business. Pearson Australia.

Engemann, K.J. and Henderson, D.M., 2018. Business Continuity and Risk
Management: Essentials of Organizational Resilience. Rothstein Publishing.
Hair, J.F., 2015. Essentials of business research methods. ME Sharpe.
Lamb, C.W., Hair, J.F. and McDaniel, C., 2017. Essentials of marketing. Cengage
Learning.
Lovelock, C., 2018. Services Marketing, 7/e. Pearson Education India.
Malhotra, N.K., 2018. Essentials of marketing research: A hands-on orientation. Essex:
Pearson.
Vodafone.co.uk.2017. Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online] Available at:
https://www.vodafone.co.uk/ [Accessed 6 April. 2018].