Role and Responsibilities of Marketing Function in ASDA

This report analyzes the key role and responsibilities of marketing function in ASDA, its interrelationship with other functional units, and comparison of the 7P's of marketing mix with competitors. It also includes a detailed marketing plan for the company.

MARKETING ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Explain the key role and responsibilities of marketing function.................................................3
Explain how role and responsibilities of marketing is related to the wider organization
context.........................................................................................................................................4
Comparison of the 7P’s of marketing mix of the organisation with another competitor............6
Marketing Plan............................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Marketing can be defined as those variety of activities that a company undertakes in
order to increase the buying and selling of their products or services that they offer to the
consumers. ASDA is headquartered in Leeds, UK and is a chain of retail stores that are operating
in UK. In the current report, the role of marketing and its functions as well as its interrelationship
with other functional units of the company will be analysed and studied. This report will also
include analysis of the marketing mix of the company and comparison of the 7P’s of the
company with its competitors. Lastly, this report will also present a detailed marketing plan of
the company producing an evidenced based plan and the concluded and present appropriate
findings.
MAIN BODY
Explain the key role and responsibilities of marketing function
Meets the customer needs and wants: It is one of the most important role which is
played by the marketing in the organization. As marketing used to research the market on the
regular basis and on the basis of the same different trend and the preference are carry out by the
marketing department of the company. Generally the marketing department in the market
research used to identify the different need of the customer in the market and on the basis of the
same different product are developed by the company to full fill the need of the customer in the
market. Marketing team of the Asda used to pass on the information gather to the manufacturing
department of the company which used to develop the product which can satisfy the need of the
customer.
Promote the product of company: It is the another role of the marketing in which the
marketing department of the company used to promote the awareness of the company product in
front of the consumer in the market. This help the company in getting better efficient customer in
the market. Generally marketing department of the company used to select the best customer
from the market which is suitable to sell the product of the company. After that the marketing
team of the company used to use the best promotional tool to promote the product of the
company in front of the market. This eventually help the company in promoting the product of
the company in context to the selected customer base. This eventually help the company in
getting good support from the market.

Distribution channel and price: Marketing department of the company also help the
organization in setting up the price of the product on which the product of the company will be
offer in the market. Generally, the marketing team of the organization used to take the help of the
market research in which they used to look at the price of the product of the competitor
organization and also on the basis of that used to decide the price of the company product on
which product will be offered in the market. Marketing department of the Asda also used to
decide the best available and suitable distribution channel which is available in front of the Asda
to distribute the product of the company in the market.
Customer Base: It is the another role which is played by the marketing department of the
Asda in which the marketing department of the company used to increase the customer base of
the company by using the larger number of the resources and the platform to promote the product
of the company in the market. The reason behind the same is that there is no universal platform
which can help the company in promoting the product of the company in the market. That's the
reason the marketing team used to use more than one platform to promote the product of the
company which help them in improving the customer base of the company. For example: The
marketing team of the Asda uses the social media platform to promote the product of the
company in the market which help them in getting all the youth cover. At the same time they
also used to take the help of the news paper advertising which help them in covering all the
eldest customer toward the company.
Explain how role and responsibilities of marketing is related to the wider organization context.
Marketing department of the company not only help the company in improving the
profitability of the business or customer base of the company it help the company internal
function also so that with the help of the same different department of the company used to carry
out their operation in the business.
Marketing and manufacturing department: Manufacturing department is the
department which used to develop the different product of the company to be sold in the market.
This is the department which is well supported by the marketing department of the company.
Marketing department used to provide the variety of the market information to the manufacturing
department of the company. The information includes the customer preference, needs and the
requirement in the market on the basis of the same the manufacturing department of the company

used to develop the product of the company which can help the customer in satisfying there
need. At the same time manufacturing team of the Asda used to give the information about the
product of the company on the basis of the same the marketing team used to develop the
different marketing strategies in the organization.
Marketing and Human resource department: Human resource department is the
department which used to look at managing the employee of the organization in such a efficient
way that it help the company in achieving the organizational goal efficiently. As in today's era
the need of the skill set used to change in the market to carry out the day to day operation of the
business. Marketing department of Asda used to guide the Human resource department about the
skill set which is require in the Asda. On the basis of that Human resource department of the
Asda used to plan the different human resource activity of the organization. In return of the same
the human resources department of the company used to provide the best human resources to the
marketing department to carry out the marketing activity of the company.
Marketing and sales department: Sales department of the Asda used to sell the product
of the company in the market so that customer is able to get the product of the company to
satisfy there need. Marketing department of the company used to pass on the message to the
sales department of the company about the customer which can be targeted by the company in
the market to sell the product of the company. At the same time the sales department of the
company used to provide the variety of the different information to the marketing department of
the company in context to the product of the company. On the basis of that the marketing
department of Asda used to make the change in the promotion material of the company.
Marketing and the procurement department: Procurement department is the
department of the organization which used to look at buying the different raw material and the
resources in the organization to achieve the organizational goal very efficiently. Marketing
department of the Asda used to provide with the different sources through which the different
material in the organization can be gather. As marketing department used to gather the
information from the market about the different sources which are available. At the same time in
return the procurement department of the company used to give the best resources to the
marketing department of the company to carry out the marketing activity in the organization. At
the same time also used to provide the raw material to the manufacturing through which the good
quality of the product can be develop to satisfy the need of the customer in the market.

Marketing and Information Technology department: Marketing Department of the
company used to provide the information about the competitor IT performance. On the basis of
the same the IT department of the company used to take the variety of the decision to improve
the performance of IT. At the same time IT department used to provide the supporting hand to
the marketing department of the company by the way of opening the different promotional tool
for the organization.
Comparison of the 7P’s of marketing mix of the organisation with another competitor
The marketing mix of a company helps in analysing various aspects related to the
marketing strategy of the company that they use in order to target the consumers in the market.
These factors are under the control of the company and can be categorised in seven different
headings:
7P’s of Marketing
Mix
ASDA Sainsbury
Product There is a wide variety of goods
that ASDA provides and cater to
food and grocery, entertainment,
clothing, leisure, home décor and
many other requirements of the
customers (Baker, 2016). The
company also gives financial
services such as credit cards,
travel insurance, personal loans
etc. to its customers.
There are over 15000 brand
products that are of the company
itself and apart from them there
are many other categories as well
that the company supplies to its
consumers. After taking over
Argos, the product range has even
widened further.
Price The pricing strategy used by
ASDA is basically lower pricing
strategy where they charge lower
prices from its customers and
despite charging lower prices, the
quality of the products is
extremely good. They also
The pricing strategies of the
company are linked with their
positioning strategies i.e. since the
company is located in the high-
end market sector, mostly
premium pricing is used by the
company which however devoid

exercise competitive pricing
where they place their goods at a
lower price than the competitors
such as Tesco, Sainsbury etc.
the company of a wider consumer
range (Deal, 2018).
Place ASDA operates in both online
and offline manner and there are
approximately 525 stores of
ASDA that are operating across
the entire UK (Choi and et.al.,
2016). They have supermarkets,
supercentres, superstores, petrol
stations, ASDA living etc. that
are serving people in different
manners satisfying variety of their
needs.
There are 1432 stores of the
company and the online market is
also extremely well developed.
There is a Chop Chop App
Scheme that was started by the
company in 2016.
Promotion The company uses TV,
Newspaper, radio and many other
media channels in order to
promote their product and uses a
variety of attractive schemes such
as buy one get one free, special
schemes, sponsorships etc. they
are also funding many charitable
projects under The ASDA
Foundation.
Apart from all the normal media
outlets that a company can use to
promote its products, Sainsbury
additionally uses many celebrities
as its brand ambassadors and sales
promotion technique usually
involves customer loyalty
schemes and price cuts.
People ASDA employs as many as
160000 people in its network of
offline and online stores and uses
both on the job as well as off the
job training style in order to
develop the skills of the
The employees of the company
are adequately trained regarding
the various products and services
of the company and they are given
training that is suitable to their job
role. The characteristic of the

employees. The wages given to
the employees are also high and
fair thus keeping them satisfied
and loyal to the company.
employees to always know which
product is placed on which shelf
in the store particularly segregates
them from others.
Processes The entire process adopted by
ASDA in order to make its
product accessible to the general
public involves buying of these
products from the suppliers or
manufacturing them and then
supplying them to the consumers
in their stores. The stores open
early in the morning and close
late or given services for 24 hours
to their customers.
The process of the company is
simple i.e. to gather or
manufacture the products and then
make them available in the stores.
The online delivery process of the
company is quick and products
are easily made accessible in a
timely manner (Chalikias and
Skordoulis, 2017).
Physical Evidence This is the last element and
describes the physical structure of
its products, services, stores and
their aspects related to the
company. ASDA has an attractive
logo and the packaging of the
products is also attractive and
distinctive making the product
easily recognisable. Its website is
also very attractive and pleasing
to view and easy to surf.
The colours and packaging used
by the company is catchy,
expensive and attractive but due
to similar strategies used by the
other competitors, consumers fail
to keep the brand sign in mind.
Marketing Plan
Executive Summary
Asda is looking to introduce healthy energy drink in the market with own company name. This
plan highlights the vision, mission and objective of the company. After that the plan has

highlighted the STP, Budget and 7 ps of the product. In the end the report highlights the
monitoring and controlling process of company (Deal, 2018).
Company Overview
Asda, is a British supermarket retailer, headquartered in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The company
was founded in 1949.
Mission and vision
Asda is looking to introduce the healthy energy drink in the market with the vision to improve
the health of the consumer in the market. The mission of the company to launch the energy drink
which has the herbal product in the energy drink.
Objective
 Objective behind introducing the new product is to improve the market share of the
company by 20 percent.
 To increases the sales of the company by 15 percent.
 To increase the revenue of the company by 20 percent.
Internal and External Analysis
SWOT
 Strength: The biggest strength of the company is that the company is the good will of the
company which is developed by the company due to the good quality of the product
which is offered by the company. Another strength of the company is the good financial
position of the company in the market.
 Weakness: The biggest weakness of the company is the lower profit margin as to be
competitive in the market the company used to offer the product of the company at the
lower rate so that the company can be competitive in the market (Eades and Thornhill,
2017). This eventually lower down the profit margin/. Another weakness of the company
is the clothing sector of the organization as organization clothing sector is not performing
that good as expected.
 Opportunity: There is a very good opportunity in front of the Asda to use the new
technology to develop the product which can be sold in the market.
 Threat: The biggest threat for the company is the amount of the competition which is
faced by the Asda in the local market.
PESTLE

 Political Factor: political environment is in the positive side of the organization. As the
UK government used to support the healthy food in nation it will help the company.
 Economical Factor: This is also in the favourable side for the organization as the interest
rate is low in the UK which help the company in getting the finance very easily.
 Social Factor: As the need of the customer used to change on regular basis this
environment is not that favourable as organization has to change there operation on
regular basis.
 Technology Factor: In the rapidly changing environment the need of the new technology
used to change on regular basis which eventually affects the company as company has to
evaluate the technology on regular basis.
 Legal Factor: This environment do not used to affect the Asda as all the activity which
are performed are performed by compiling with different rules and regulation (Brownlee
Dmytriyev and Elias, 2017).
 Environmental factor: This factor are successfully defended by the company by using
the recycling packaging material.
STP
 Segmentation: Asda will be segmenting the different segment on the basis of the age
group of the customer and also on the basis of the feedback of the company.
 Targeting: Asda will be targeting the customer with the age group of the middle age
group that is between 20-40 years.
 Positioning: Asda will be positioning the product of the company with the help of the
different advertisement technique.
Budget
Particulars Cost
Advertising activities ( using print media and
social media )
$ 50,000
Human resource $ 15,000
Packaging and labelling $ 20,000

Production cost $ 40,000
Supply chain management $ 25,000
Total $ 150000
7 P's
 Product: Product of the company will be the healthy energy drink which will be sold in
the two size of cans.
 Price: Asda will be using the screaming pricing method to sell the product of the
company in the market.
 Place: Company will be selling the product of the company in the local market of the UK
and after seeing the result will decide the future plans.
 Promotion: Asda will be using the social media marketing and the newspaper
advertisement as the two promotional tool to promote the product.
 People: Asda will be offering the good amount of the incentive to attract the employee
toward the organization.
 Physical evidence: Asda will be using the logo as a physical evidence (Chalikias and
Skordoulis, 2017).
 Packaging: The product of the company will be packed with the help of the recycling
material and also in two different size of the cane.
Monitoring and Controlling
 Controlling: Asda will be hiring the new employee in the organization to control the
operation of the new healthy energy drink.
 Monitoring: Asda will be using the benchmarking tool in the organization to monitor the
performance of the new product (Eades and Thornhill, 2017).
CONCLUSION
The research conducted in the above report helps in concluding that marketing is a very
important aspect for any company and marketing essentials helps in targeting particular aspects
related to the marketing activities of the company. This report identified the basic functions of
the marketing activities and further analysed the relationship of marketing with the HR
department, finance department and production department of the company ASDA. The report
also made a comparison between the 7P’s of the marketing mix adopted by the ASDA with

comparison to Sainsbury and the differences were clearly identified and evaluated. Lastly, in this
report a marketing plan has been prepared on the healthy energy drink of the ASDA company
and therefore, the proper analysis of the importance of marketing essentials for a company was
done in the report.

REFERENCES
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