Marketing Strategy Analysis and Segmentation

This assignment explores the fundamentals of marketing strategy, including SWOT analysis for performance evaluation. It delves into the marketing mix for strategy development and emphasizes market positioning through segmentation, targeting, and promotional methods. Four types of segmentation – demographic, behavioral, psychographic, and geographic – are examined. The assignment highlights how selecting appropriate segments can enhance profit and market share, and it discusses how buyer behavior is influenced by situations and segmentation.

Introduction to marketing
assessment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
Marketing audit of current business performance.......................................................................3
Evaluate organization current marketing strategy and market position......................................4
Market segmentation and explain how these market segmentation help in growing business
within retail marketplace.............................................................................................................6
Evaluate behaviour of buyers according to segmentation and justify marketing strategy to
meet requirement and move business forwards .........................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Marketing refers to the process of business which help in creating relation with customers
and satisfy them. It also include strategies relate to promotion and selling of products and
services in effective manner which leads business forward by enhancing market share and
profitability (Armstrong and et.al., 2015). This report is based on Marks and Spencer which is
founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in year 1884. It is a British multinational retail
organization whose headquarter is in Westminster, London. They offer variety of product range
related to clothing, home products and luxury food items. Topics include in this report are
company marketing audit, current marketing strategy and position, market segmentation and
identify customer group. Along with this it explain behaviour of customers and marketing
strategy to move business forward.
MAIN BODY
Marketing audit of current business performance
Marks and Spencer is a one the most popular clothing and accessories retail brand which
headquarter is in London, United Kingdom. They are serving number of categories such as
formal wear, casual wear, swimming wear, party dress, casual dress, eyes wear, hosiery and so
on. The target audiences of Marks and Spenser are men, women and kids and high and middle
income group peoples. The respective company operating their business through more than 300
full line stores and approx 900 stores are in UK (Malhotra and Malhotra, 2012). To understand
their marketing audit Marks and Spencer conduct SWOT Analysis by which they able to analysis
their current business performance and position. Through this respective company able to
understand their internal strength which help them in achieving goal in effective manner and they
also able to know there weakness that they can improve to get successful. Along with this
respective company can identify their external opportunities and threats. Explanation of SWOT
analysis in context of Marks and Spencer are mentioned below:-
Strength- It refers to the business or project characteristics which gives advantage to a company
form its competitors or separates them form rival. Strength of Mark and Spencer are mentioned
below-
 Clear brand image: The respective company create itself as a high end goods that
targeting to premium segment of market. Clothing products which are offer by Marks and

Spencer are stylish, modern and sophisticated. Hence this refers as clear branding and
their customers know what they are expecting and get from respective company stores. Innovations: Marks and Spencer is approx 150 years old company and they are in race
of one of the best retail clothing store, this become possible due to their innovation spirit.
The respective company always come up with new design and ideas which is out of box
and creative.
Weakness- It refers to the areas on which a company need to work on or improve so that they get
succeeded at marketplace in effective manner. Some major weakness of Marks and Spencer are -
 Inability to penetrate successfully in foreign market: Marks and Spencer is opening
their stores in various foreign location but in some places they are facing unsuccessful
situation (Wright and De Hert, 2012). This happen because they not able to understand
demand and need of customers, respective company almost all designs are western not
traditional which seems as weakness. Misuse of brand name: Marks and Spencer is one of popular brand and there is
availability of fake products on their name. So they need to take action to protect their
brand name and image.
Opportunities- It refers to external factors which an organization can take or use to get effective
competitive advantage. Some of key opportunities of Marks and Spencer are given below- New segments: The respective company can introduce or launch new segment such as
ethnic and traditional wear which is not available in respective company. Through this
segment they able to attract more audiences.
Threats- These factors are consider as those element which seem as barriers or detrimental in
growth of company business. Some threats of Marks and Spencer are mentioned below-
 Competition: Marks and Spencer is one of the leading clothing retail store and they
have numerous of competitors such as Uniqlo, Gap, Zara, United colors of Benetton,
Tommy Hilfiger and so on.
Evaluate organization current marketing strategy and market position
It is very essential for every organization to do evaluation of their marketing strategy and
market position because by this they get outline or guideline for developing strategies in
effective and appropriate manner (Nufer, 2013). Marketing strategy refers to the portion of
outline or guideline of business plan of overall plan of action which help a company in

identifying clients and customers of their business. It focus on the goal and objective which a
company want to achieve and marketing efforts done by them for achieving goal. Marks and
Spencer conduct marketing strategy evaluation by using marketing mix.
Marketing mix- It refers to the combination of plan of action which is use by a business to
promote and sell their products and services at marketplace. These plan of action start with
developing products and services, deciding price of products, place products at there where it can
be sold easily (Burns, Bush and Sinha, 2014). It also help a company in deciding its promotional
and communication strategies. This plan of action further classified into 4 P's- product, price,
place and promotion but now a days it include other 3p's that is process, people and physical
evidence. Marks and Spencer use 4 P's for analysing marketing strategy, which is explain
below:-
Product- The respective company believes in offering eco- friendly products which is
trendy, skin friendly and comfortable. For achieving this objective they give there full efforts in
working process. They provide variety of products for women, men and kids such as apparel,
accessories, footwear, lingeries, night wear, formal wear, apparel, school uniform, dresses,
swimwear, tights and so on. They are also offering beauty and skin care products, home
products, furnitures, wine, food and flowers.
Price- The respective company has it own brand for clothing and they mainly focus on
upper and uppers middle class peoples of market or society. Their products are consider as value
for money because they serve diversified ranges, high quality products and convenience. The
respective company follow competitive pricing strategy for its goods portfolio. They follow a
dynamic pricing strategy during seasonal time, they offer discount and offers to attract
customers.
Place- Marks and Spencer is international brand and they sell their products through their
retail stores. They have approx more than 1000 stores operating their business in more then 50
countries (Smith and Wong, 2016). In United Kingdom they have around 850 stores. Some
countries in which respective company operating their business are Turkey, Spain, France,
Ireland, Hungry and so on. They also offer their products online and customers can buy it in
local currency.
Promotion- For promotion of products and services Marks and Spencer use various
channel such as print media, TV ads, mobile ads, social media campaigns and many more. They

also use several programs such as loyalty program in this points are added to customers account
when they do shopping from respective company. Marks and Spencer also use celebrity face for
promotional activity.
Market position is refers to perception of consumers on a brand and products and services
offer by them . This also related to strategies which help in creating positive image or identity of
a brand in mind of consumers. For analysing market position the Marks and Spencer conduct
Segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy, which is explain below:-
Segmentation- Through segmentation a company can identify their target market
according to their specific demand and need. An organization can segment or bifurcate their
audiences on the basis of demographic, psycho-graphic, lifestyle, belief and values, life stages,
geography, behaviour and benefits (Cooper, 2012). The segmentation which is selected by Marks
and Spencer is demographic and lifestyle basis because they are design their products by
considering target audience age, income, status and so on. The respective company focus on
women, men and kids of age group till 45 years and high and middle income group.
Targeting- It refers to process of identifying attractive segments from above stage of
segmentation which is seem to be most profitable for business. There are major three type of
market on which a company can focus that is undifferentiated, differentiated and niche
marketing. The Marks and Spencer select undifferentiated market by which they able to focus
and reach to wide target segment.
Positioning- It is last and final process and it is most business oriented. In this company
can evaluate their competitive advancement and create positive image in customer's mind that
they are most appropriate option for purchasing (Isaenko and Tarasov, 2014). Positioning
strategy selected by Marks and Spencer is that they mainly focus on quality of products which
they are offering in international marketplace.
Market segmentation and explain how these market segmentation help in growing business
within retail marketplace
Market segmentation refers to the procedure of bifurcating market of potential users or
customers into group or segment which is based on various features. Segment which is created
by a company are based on consumers who react same to marketing strategies and share same
traits like interest, needs and location. Conducting a market segment help a company in making
strategies according to need and demand of there target customers. The segmentation is divided

into four categories that are demographic, behavioural segmentation, psycho-graphic
segmentation and geographic segmentation. The Mark and Spencer conduct evaluation of all
four segmentation and then decide best out of it. Evaluation is explained below:-
Demographic segmentation- This section is most simple and widest type of segment use
by an organisation. This is use a company to identify right and appropriate audiences for their
products and services, here audiences are divided on the basis of variables (Morrison, 2013).
There are various variables of demographic segmentation that are age, gender, family size,
income, occupation, religion, race and nationality. If Marks and Spencer select demographic
segment they have to identify their audiences on basis of various factors like age, gender and so
on.
Behavioural segmentation- In this market segment the population or audiences are
divided on the basis of behaviour, usage, lifestyle, consumption and pattern of decision making.
In this company make or design their products on the basis of behaviour of target audiences. If
respective company select behavioural segmentation they have to design products according to
lifestyle, usage etc. of target audiences.
Psycho-graphic segmentation- This segment of market segment is based on interest and
lifestyle of their consumers. It is quite same to the behavioural segmentation. It also consider
consumer buying behaviour and its interest, lifestyle options. If Marks and Spencer select this
segmentation they design their products on basis of consumers lifestyle options and current
trends.
Geographic segmentation- In this segmentation audiences or consumers are divided on
the basis of geography (Hamper, 2014). Potential customers of different geographical location
have different demand and needs and company has to design products accordingly. If respective
company select geographic segmentation they have to design products according to the location
such as for cool place they design warm cloth and so on.
The Marks and Spencer select two set of segmentation which are demographic
segmentation and psycho-graphic segmentation. They design and develop their products and
services according to audiences of these two segmentation. On the basis of this target audiences
of respective company are men, women and kids who age is till 45 years. They are focusing on
high and middle income group people. The clothing, accessories and other things offer by
respective company are of western style.

Now a day most of population is young peoples and they are mostly attracted towards the
western culture. So if Mark and Spencer offer products and services of western style they able to
attract more more peoples through which they increase their sell which directly enhance
respective company profitability and market shares. By both segment respective company able to
identify appropriate customers and able to design products according to their need and demand.
These segments help this company in growing business within retail marketplace because Marks
and Spencer offer quality products which is comfortable, stylish and worth of money. Through
these segmentation they able to attract major portion of population which is more attracted
towards western culture (Lees-Marshment, 2014). By selecting this segment company able to
focus audiences according to their products specification. They also design products which are
trending and quality which help them Marks and Spencer being up to date which attract
customers and enhance market shares.
Evaluate behaviour of buyers according to segmentation and justify marketing strategy to meet
requirement and move business forwards
Buyer behaviour refers to the process how an individual customer, group or organisation
select a product,services or ides, buy and use it and after that dispose it to fulfil there wants and
need. Marketer conduct regular evaluation and analysis of consumer behaviours and how it get
affect, after this they develop strategy accordingly (DAILY, KIEFF and WILMARTH, 2014). In
other words it refer to behaviour of consumers in decision and action process of purchasing
goods and services for self consumption. The behaviour of a consumer get affected in various
situation like increase in price of products and services, change in treads, get same products in
less price and many others. There are various factors which influence buyers behaviour, which is
mentioned below:-
 Cultural factor include role of society, behaviour of society, values and tradition of
society and if there is change occur in these element there is fluctuation in consumers
behaviours.
 If there is any change occur in personal factors such as age, income, occupations,
economical status, lifestyle so on their will change conduct in the buyer behaviour of
particular products and services.
The consumer behaviour of Marks and Spencer get influence according to segmentation
which they are selected for targeting audiences in effective and appropriate basis :-

Consumer behaviour at demographic segmentation:-
 At this stage buyers behaviours get affected when there is change occur in price of
products and services of Marks and Spencer. Such as if price of products increase there is
reduction in purchasing of product from consumer who belong to middle income.
Whereas if the respective company reduce product price high status group this that they
reduce quality of products which also affect sell of products and services.
 Demand of the product change according to change in age of person or consumers
because when age of a consumer increase, change will occur in their dressing style.
Which directly and indirectly affect sell of products and services of Mark and Spencer.
 If a person who consume products and services of Mark and Spencer change nationality
or shift from one country to another, then it will directly and indirectly affect the sell of
respective company. Such as it can be possible that he/ she get substitute of products in
more price effective this will decrease sell of Marks and Spencer.
Consumer behaviour at psycho-graphic segmentation:-
 If there is change occur in lifestyle or trends demand of Marks and Spencer products get
also affected according to consumers need (Morgan, 2012). Such as if trends get change
then demand of products get change so it is responsibilities of research and development
team of respective company to do research on regular basis. Then design products
according to demand and need of consumers.
 The behaviour of consumers also get affected if there is change occur in the interest of
consumers clothing. Such as Marks and Spencer majorly focus on western culture
clothing and if the interest of consumer get change into traditional dresses it will directly
affect the sell of Marks and Spencer.
Marketing strategies which company take to move business foreword are:-
Their are various marketing strategies which a company use to fulfil need and demand of
there consumers in effective manner. These strategies help them in achieving goal in effective
manner and move business operation foreword (Proctor, 2014). Some major marketing strategies
which Marks and Spencer use are mentioned below:-
 The respective company can offer various offers or discounts which attract customers and
encourage them for purchase products. Such as if they offer discount on their products

they able to attract more customer and also catch attention of middle income group
peoples.
 They can develop scheme which attract more peoples such as they can develop scheme of
happy Saturday offer in this they can offer 50 % additional discounts to their first 10
customers (Gibbs and Knapp, 2012). By this they able to increase footfall at the stores
and this will also enhance sell and profitability of the Marks and Spencer.
 To retain and attract customers they can offer loyalty cards in which respective company
add points when particular customer do shopping to their stores and he/ she can redeem
the amount when they want.
CONCLUSION
Form the above discussed point it can be conclude and evaluate that every organisation
has to conduct marketing analysis to develop effective strategies and plans and this help a
company in grow a business in appropriate manner. For conducting marketing audit a company
can conduct SWOT analysis and through it they able to know current performance of a company
business. A company evaluate marketing strategy by using marketing mix and through it they get
to develop business plan in effective manner and for analysing market position a company
conduct Segmentation, targeting and promotional method. For identifying appropriate target
audiences a company examine market segmentation which is divided into four type
demographic, behavioural, psycho-graphic and geographic segmentation. If a company select
appropriate segment they able to enhance profit and market shares. The buyers behaviour get
affected according to the situation and segmentation.

REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Armstrong, G., and et.al., 2015. Marketing: an introduction.
Malhotra, N.K. and Malhotra, N.K., 2012. Basic marketing research: Integration of social
media. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Wright, D. and De Hert, P., 2012. Introduction to privacy impact assessment. In Privacy Impact
Assessment (pp. 3-32). Springer, Dordrecht.
Nufer, G., 2013. Ambush marketing in sports. Routledge.
Burns, A.C., Bush, R.F. and Sinha, N., 2014. Marketing research (Vol. 7). Harlow: Pearson.
Smith, L.C. and Wong, M.A. eds., 2016. Reference and Information Services: An Introduction:
An Introduction. ABC-CLIO.
Cooper, C., 2012. Essentials of tourism. Pearson Financial Times/Prentice Hall.
Isaenko, E.V. and Tarasov, A.S., 2014. Automobiles selling organizations’ marketing
communications assessment directions. Life Sci J. 11(9s). pp.239-242.
Morrison, A.M., 2013. Marketing and managing tourism destinations. Routledge.
Hamper, R.J., 2014. The Ultimate Guide to Strategic Marketing: Real World Methods for
Developing Successful, Long-term Marketing Plans. McGraw-Hill Education.
Lees-Marshment, J., 2014. Political marketing: Principles and applications. Routledge.
DAILY, J.E., KIEFF, F.S. and WILMARTH JR, A.E., 2014. Introduction. In Perspectives on
Financing Innovation (pp. 13-16). Routledge.
Morgan, N.A., 2012. Marketing and business performance. Journal of the Academy of Marketing
Science. 40(1). pp.102-119.
Proctor, T., 2014. Strategic marketing: an introduction. Routledge.
Gibbs, P. and Knapp, M., 2012. Marketing higher and further education: An educator's guide to
promoting courses, departments and institutions. Routledge.