Marketing Essentials and Functions

This assignment discusses the essential aspects of marketing in a business context. It covers the functions of marketing, which are crucial for developing a business, and how they interact with other departments like finance and HR. The 7Ps of marketing mix are also explained, providing a framework for businesses to effectively meet customer needs. A marketing plan using the SOSTAC model is presented, highlighting its importance in solving customer issues and fulfilling demands.

Marketing Essential

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Roles and responsibilities of the marketing functions..........................................................1
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing which are interrelate with other functional units...3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P3. Marketing mix to the marketing planning process to attain business aims..........................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P4. Formulation and evaluation of a basic marketing plan.........................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing refers to a process of buying or selling goods and services of a firm that are
produce by it to provide satisfaction to the needs and demands of its target audience so that the
company can earn profit. Marketing essential refers to an inbound digital marketing & sales firm
which make partnership with businesses who are develop minded (Babin and Zikmund, 2015). It
is beneficial for a company to make the online presence, branding and promoting product and
services to attract customers. This assignment is related to Amazon which is an American
multi8national technology firm based in Seattle, Washington. This firm was founded in 1994 by
Jeff Bezos and this organisation make concentration on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital
streaming and artificial intelligence. This report will discussed about the key roles and
responsibilities of the marketing function and interrelation of them with other functional units of
a firm. Further will defined about the model of marketing mix and formulation of a marketing
plan fro a company.
TASK 1
P1. Roles and responsibilities of the marketing functions
In each business organisation, marketing is an important and essential function which
help the management for the company for the proper running of the business of it. This function
help in creating awareness about the products and services to the customers with the help of
promotional and advertising channels like internet, radio, news paper, social media and various
others. Every firm set organisational goals and objectives so that they can earn profit and
establish a strong brand image at market place. No firm can increase sales and enhance
productivity without the help of this function. At present time, there are high competition in the
market so it is required for each and every business that they should develop and formulate
effective and appropriate marketing strategies which can be beneficial for the company to take
competitive advantages from market. In each organisation, the management of the firm do
marketing analysis to identify the needs and demands of the customers so that they can produces
goods and services according to them and fulfil their desires (Baker and Magnini, 2016). In
Amazon, the marketing department of the company play and essential and effective role and
have several responsibilities regarding the company which are mediation as following:
Roles of marketing department
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Marketing department play a crucial role in advertising the business and mission of the
firm. The role of this department are as following:
Collecting and monitoring market information- In Amazon, marketing department play
an import role to gather information from the market related to the demands of the products. For
this, they organise and conduct marketing research so that they can collect information about the
taste and preferences of the customers and they can offer products according to them (Baker and
Saren, 2016). With the help of feedbacks and review sites, they collect and determine market
information and about the consumer's wants.
Manage the brand image- Marketing department help in managing brand image. In
Amazon, the marketing department manage the brand image and reputation of the firm by
producing quality products and services as per the needs of the audience. This help in managing
the brand image of the company to manufacture products by using good quality raw material.
Managing social media- marketing help in the management of social media that how the
management should use and implement this tool of promotion to provide information about the
products an services. In Amazon, the marketing department play an crucial role to manage the
social media so that the customer can get right information. When the firm sited in the media the
marketing department often acts as spoken person for the company or leads executives in how to
respond media queries.
Responsibilities of marketing department
Setting marketing strategy- The member of marketing department are responsible for the
formulation of the marketing strategies. In Amazon, the marketing department is responsible for
development of the marketing strategies like promotional strategies, marketing strategies and
others. The strategy may be beneficial to increase the share in a particular market industry. For
example, to enter in a new market or to open a new channel of distribution such as online mode
and internet. Then, it is the responsibility of the marketing department that they formulate
strategies in this context.
Overseeing outside vendors and agencies- Marketing department is responsible fro
choosing and managing the agencies and vendors who provide material for the production of the
goods an services (Bastable, 2016). In Amazon, the marketing department responsible for the
selection of these agencies like print vendors, web providers and others who are help in the
proper running of the all activities of the marketing.
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Product designing and development- Marketing function is responsible for the product
designing and development. In Amazon, the marketing department of the company, is
responsible for providing suggestion in context of the design, packaging, material, pricing and
others (Blythe and Martin, 2019). This department is also responsible for the development of the
products and firm by manufacturing good quality products.
Producing internal communication- In Amazon, the marketing department of the
company is responsible for maintaining interaction and communication with the internal system
of the firm. With the help of internal communication, they provide information the employees
about the goals and objectives of the marketing regrading products and services in context of
earning profits through them.
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing which are interrelate with other functional units
In any of the organisation, department which have the control over market have to play
vital role but it not like that they themselves can do all the activity. In context of Amazon, their
marketing team is required to coordinate with other department too if they want to enhance their
business at greater platform. It will be crucial for there team that how they operate greater
platform if they can be able to operate with other department. There are number of department
that need to be considered by marketing team are listed below:
 Human resource management : The HRM department of any of the organisation have
to overlook at some of the important things such as recruiting, motivating, giving
necessary training to the worker and many more. While talking about Amazon, their
marketing team can play all the necessary role which are required to be played within the
company. They can help to them by advertising in the market about vacancy in the
company and to whom company is looking for in future. It is necessary for Human
Resource Management and Marketing team to coordinate with each other so that
necessary work can be accomplish easily.
 Information technology department : It has been found that technologies have been
changing rapidly and it is necessary for organisation to adopt them in quick succession so
that targets can be achieved in short period of time (De Jong, Marston and Roth, 2015).
In context of Amazon, they are required to know that what are the essential things which
is required to be included in their personal website from were they operate business
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activity. Marketing department can easily tell that what are those essentially technologies
which is need by the technology team for enhancing the business activities.
 Research and development department : It is being found that business activity
requires changes in every short interval and for that it is necessary that research and
development program should be conducted on regular interval (Hair and et. al., 2015).
When it comes to Amazon, they are one of those company where tough competition can
be easily found so it is necessary for R&D department to keep researching new things. It
requires proper planning and coordinating and that is only possible if there is proper
coordination between marketing and R&D department. Marketing team can specify
where R&D should focus more so Amazon can perform better in marketplace. Also, it
will helps them what are those essentially system and services which need to be deliver to
customer so that they can connect with company.
 Finance department : This department is required to separate the budget every year
because they have the responsibility to manage financial work of the company. The
finance team of Amazon is required to have conversation with marketing team that what
should be the amount that need to be spend for doing any of promotional activity for
increasing the daily basis sale. Both, finance and marketing department need to have
proper communication because they are the one who sets the benchmark for the company
what can be the profit and loss for the year.
TASK 2
P3. Marketing mix to the marketing planning process to attain business aims
Marketing mix refers to a process and activity of developing a product and putting it a
right place at the right time and at right price. It can be a combination of various factors which
can be controlled by the management department of a firm to attract target audiences to buy its
products and services. In Amazon, it is a group of marketing elements that the company
combines and controls them to develop the desire response in the target market. There are 7P's of
marketing mix, they are as following:
Product- It refers to an item which is developed or manufactured by the company to
convert the raw material in to finished good which have some values (Lane, 2016). It can be
tangible and intelligible as it can be in the form of goods and services. In Amazon, the
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management of this firm is also manufactured various products like apparel, baby products,
electrical items, beauty products, gourmet food, grocery items, home appliances, kitchen
product, health and personal care goods, accessories, sporting goods and several others.
Price- It indicates to the cost of the products or cost of those elements which are used by
the production department to develop a product. In Amazon, it refer to that amount which pays
by the customers and clients for a particular product which have values (Miller and Jentz, 2017).
It is an most essential component of a marketing plan because it help in monitoring the profit and
profit margin of the company. Setting price of a product has a great impact on the whole
marketing strategy and it also influence the sales and demand of the products. For example, if the
price of the product is high then the demand of it will be low but when the price is low, the
demand will be high.
Place- It refers to the location and place where the product is available for sale. In
Amazon, it indicates to the distribution channels or modes which can be use by the management
department of the pm any for the distribution and sales of the goods and services. This company
operate its business internationally at different locations and use various channels of distribution
like e-commerce, online delivery and others.
Promotion- It is the most crucial component of marketing which help in increasing the
brand image and reputation of the firm. It is an activity of promoting goods and services or
creating awareness about them. In amazon, the management of the company use this component
for proving awareness bout its products and services so that they can get information and attract
towards them for purchasing.
People- It is another important component of marketing mix which indicates to the target
audience and employees of the company. In Amazon, employees are essential in marketing
because they are the one who help in delivering the services. Customer are also important for this
firm because they help in increasing the profit margining or enhancing the economic condition of
the company by purchasing goods and services.
Process- It refer to the activity and act of designing and manufacturing goods and
services. It can be an activity of delivering goods and destaining strategies (Pike, 2015). In
Amazon, there are different process used by the management for different purpose of marting.
Physical Evidence- It is an another essential component of marketing mix which is
important for the sales of the goods. The packaging of the goods is most important so it is
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necessary for the management department of Amazon that they should use good packaging
which attract numerous customer towards the product.
Marketing mix Amazon Alibaba
Product There are various products
like clothing, grocery item,
accessories, gifts, electronic
devices, musical instruments,
baby products, gourmet food,
beauty products, home
appliances, sporting goods,
health and personal care
products and Amazon web
services etc.
The products of this firm is e-
commerce, cloud computing,
entertainment, mobile
commerce, retail, retail mobile
media, films, TV shows and
others.
Price The management of the
company following premium
pricing strategy for its goods
and services. In additional
rang of its pricing strategies,
the management of this firm
use penetration, promotional,
skimming and various others.
Alibaba follow penetration
pricing, discount and cash
backs pricing strategies. This
strategy followed by this
company so that it can capture
vast market at international
level (Pike, 2016).
Place This company use online sales
channel, e-commerce, mobile
applications and others for
operating its in more than 16
nations to reach its products
and services to the customers
(Purvis, 2015).
Alibaba operates its business
in more than 240 nations. It
use both online and online
channels for selling goods to
the clients. It provide its
products on its discount stores,
supercenters, express stores
and others.
Promotion In Amazon, the management In Alibaba, the management of
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of the company use aggressive
marketing campaigns to
promote its brand. For the
promotion and creating
awareness about the goods and
services, the firm use social
media, internet, web
advertisement, Facebook,
Twitter and others.
this company invest millions
of fund on the promotion of its
goods and services. It use
above the kline a dn below the
line promotions. The
management use a proper mix
of ATL, BTL and digital
channels (SHUKLA, 2016).
People It refer to the employees and
customer of the firm. There
care 2,30.800 people who are
working under this
organisation across the globe.
The firm is also operate its
business internationally so
there are numerous clients of
this company.
In Alibaba, the company
operating its business
internationally so there are
101,958 employees working
under it.
Process In Amazon, the management
of the company use different
process of different purpose.
For example, for the
promotion process of the
goods, they use various
channels of advertisement. For
marketing analysis, they
getting feedbacks and analyse
the review then they make
improvement in their products
according to the needs and
In Alibaba, the shopping can
be done on a wholesale basis,
group shopping and customer
to customer (Simkin and Dibb,
2013).
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demands of the customers.
Physical evidence In Amazon, the biggest
physical presence is its
website. It is an another
retailer which provide its
services on its websites and
apps which are very user
friendly and built with great
design.
In Alibaba, the management
use and focus on smooth and
trustworthy and e-commerce
platforms which should be
user friendly. Because this
company has a wide range of
products and services so to get
attention of employees.
TASK 3
P4. Formulation and evaluation of a basic marketing plan
Marketing plan refers to a broad document which outline the advertising and marketing
efforts form the coming year. It help in defining activities which are include in accomplishing
particular marketing objective within the set period of time (Zaccagnini and White, 2015). This
plan included various activities like situational analysis, marketing strategy, sale forecast and
expense budget etc. This plan is beneficial for the company because it help in setting mission,
vision and business objectives. The new product and service which will be launched by the
Amazon is “Amazon Variable” which will help the customers to place order and getting all the
information about the product until it will be deliver to them. The marketing plan of new service
and product of the Amazon which will defined with the help of SOSTAC Model.
SOSTAC Model
It is a marketing model which is formulated by PR Smith in 1990 as a planning tool. This
model highly used by various organisations for marketing and business planning. This model
provide a framework for digital marketing strategy and planning which can be implemented by
the firm to make concentration on modifying the individual channels. This model consist some
steps like situation, objectives, strategy, tactics, actions and control. This model can be used by
Amazon in context of new product or service development.
Situation analysis- It is the first component of this model and in it the management of the cony
find out the situation if the possible web presence at the current era. Then, they go into doing an
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industry analysis and review the organisation performance, services, resources, strengths and
weaknesses. In Amazon, for this the management of the company can use SWOT analysis.
 SWOT Analysis- It is an strategic tool and technique which can be used by the company
to monitor the strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and threats of the firm (Zgarrick and et.
al. 2016). Strength and weakness are the internal factor of the company whereas
opportunity and threat are external factor that can be controlled by the company. The
SWOT analysis of Amazon is as following:
Strengths Weaknesses
 The company has a strong brand image
at the market place cause of its good
quality products like toys, electronics,
hoe products, clothing and others.
 This company also has the strongest
brand in the online retail market and it
is partly responsible for the
development of the business.
 Cause of extensive or free delivery
network and price wars affect the profit
of this company in negative manners.
 Tax avoidance controversy and losing
margins in few areas are the biggest
weakness of Amazon. For example, tax
avoidance in Japan, UK and US has
sparked negative publicity for this
company
Opportunities Threats
 By making innovation in its existing
products and services, the management
department of the company can create
various opportunity for the growth of
the firm.
 By making global expansion or
expanding it business in those countries
where it is not operating (Zikmund and
Babin, 2012).
 There are number of competitors like
Walmart, Tesco and other e-commerce
retailer which are creating competition
for this firm by manufacturing
substitute product and services.
 Change in government regulation is
also a threat for the business of
Amazon. This firm operate its business
internationally so the fluctuation in the
national polices generate threats for it.
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Objectives- It is an another important component of SOSTAC in which the management of the
company set and develop aims and SMART objectives for the company so that it can attain its
business goals in set period of time (Babin and Zikmund, 2015).
 Vision- The vision of the company is to be the best e-commerce company in the world
which have its reach at global level, customer centric approach and widest selection of
the goods.
 Mission- The mission statement of Amazon is provide goods and services to its
customers at lowest possible prices, the beset available selection and the extreme suitable
products. Business objectives- The business objective of the company is to increase the sales of the
company by 10% with in 1 year with the help of new service “ Amazon Variable”.
Strategy- It refer to that process and acts which are required and necessary for the superior of a
company in order to achieve the business objective and meet the organisations demands. There
are following strategies that can be used by the management of Amazon are as following:
 Segmentation, targeting and positioning
Segmentation- It refers to the divination and separation of the market on the basis of
different segments. In Amazon, the management of the company do segmentation on the basis of
demographic, psycho graphic. The segmentation of the company is basically on the basis of
purchasing behaviour. For its new service “ Amazon variable”, the management department of
the company make segmentation on the basis of internet users.
Targeting- It refers to the process that for whom the new service is best and how it will
be fitted and suitable for the business. In Amazon, the management will target internet users and
those people who purchase goods an products by online or mostly like online online shopping. In
it, they can target middle and upper middle class people. Apart from it, they can target working
people because now theses days most of individuals are working so they prefer online shopping.
Positioning- It refers to the place where the products of the firm re stands in comparison
to other substitute products and services in the market. To set up the place and gaining
competitive advantages, it necessary and important that Amazon have USP of its new service
which make it differ from others at market place so that the target audience can easily make
differentiation (Baker and Magnini, 2016). The USP of this company is that it providing service
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of online shopping so with the help of new service they can provide unforgettable experience to
its customers.
Tactics- It refers to those strategies which are used by the management of the company for
solving short term issues. Tactics takes the strategy down in to individual tool and initiatives that
are likely to develop the expected outcomes (Baker and Saren, 2016). There are various tactics
that can be used by Amazon like marketing mix, communication mix, use of online funnels,
innovation and others to solve the short term issues. Innovation- It refers to the process of making or adding values in the existing products
or developing it according to the issue so that it can be solve. For example, in Amazon,
the management of the company can use this tactics at that time when the consumer of it
facing issues related to online shopping. Then the firm can solve of minimise this
problem by manufacturing new service of “Amazon Variable”.
Actions- This is the next step of SOSTAC Model which refers various plans of actions that are
required to performed. In Amazon, the management of the company allot various duties and
responsibilities to its employees and workers according to their ability and skills so that they help
and contribute in achieving the business objective of the company. Apart from it, actions are the
effective and organised structure in the organisation which help in doing work according to the
mission, vision and business objective of the firm. This factor consist responsibilities, structure,
systems, process, guidelines, internal marketing and use of internal or external resources etc.
Budget:
Year 2013 Jan Feb Mar April May
Food Sales 37,820 38,147 40,103 42,060 43,038
Beverage Sales 18,650 13,650 14,349 15,049 15,399
GROSS SALES 56,470 51,797 54,453 57,109 58,437
Cost of Sales
Food 14,525 12,589 13,234 13,880 14,202
Beverage 6,515 3,412 3,587 3,762 3,850
TOTAL COST OF SALES 21,040 16,001 16,821 17,642 18,052
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GROSS PROFIT 35,430 35,796 37,631 39,467 40,385
General and Administrative
Employee Salaries 14,118 12,949 13,613 14,277 14,609
Management Salaries 3,400 3,400 3,400 3,400 3,400
Employer Taxes/Benefits (15% Wages) 2,102 1,962 2,042 2,121 2,161
Workers Compensation (6% Wages) 1,051 981 1,021 1,061 1,081
Advertising 800 800 800 800 800
Bookkeeping 150 150 150 150 150
Credit Card Charges (1%) 565 518 545 571 584
Insurance 250 250 250 250 250
Legal and Professional Fees 100 100 100 100 100
Misc. Other 250 250 250 250 250
Office Supplies 175 175 175 175 175
Rent 3,200 3,200 3,200 3,200 3,200
Repair and Maintenance 300 300 300 300 300
Small Equipment 200 200 200 200 200
Telephone [phone]
Garbage 200 200 200 200 200
Utilities 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,200
Total Gen. and Admin. (Fixed) 28,210 26,785 27,595 28,405 28,810
NET PROFIT OR LOSS 7,220 9,011 10,036 11,062 11,575
SBA Loan 3,582 3,582 3,582 3,582 3,582
Cash Flow After Financing 3,638 5,429 6,454 7,480 7,993
Draw 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000
Net Cash Flow (362) 1,429 2,454 3,480 3,993
Accumulated Cash Flow 1,066 3,521 7,000 10,993
Average Daily Sales / 22 days 2,567 2,354 2,475 2,596 2,656
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Control- It is the last step of this model which define the control on the actions of a company. It
is beneficial because it help in identifying that the plan is good and executed according to the
strategies if an d issues generates then the effective action can be taken by the management
department. In Amazon, the management of the company properly getting feedback and review
from audience so that they can insure that the products and services which are provide to them
are good and provide satisfaction to the needs and demands (Bastable, 2016). If there are any
issue are generated then the management of the company can use 5S's model in term of
promotional activities. With the help of this model the management of the company can make
control on the actions.
CONCLUSION
From the above information, it can be analysed that marketing is an essential tool and
function for each business because it help in creating awareness about the products and services
so that the firm has a strong customer base which help in increasing profit margins of the firm. It
is important for the formulation of the various business strategies because without effective
strategies no business can run properly and attain its business objectives on time. In this
assignment has been defined about the roles and responsibilities of marketing which are
necessary for the development of the business of the firm. Marketing functions are also
interrelate with other functions like finance, HR and others which is important for managing the
business activities and fulfil the needs of each others. 7P's of marketing mix is also defined with
the comparison and in a effective manner where business objective can be easily meet. Apart
form it a marketing plan is also described in which SOSTAC model is defined to fulfil the
necessary demands of the customers and solving issues.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Babin, B. J. and Zikmund, W. G., 2015. Essentials of marketing research. Nelson Education.
Baker, M. A. and Magnini, V. P. 2016. The evolution of services marketing, hospitality
marketing and building the constituency model for hospitality marketing. International
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 28(8). pp.1510-1534.
Baker, M. J. and Saren, M. eds. 2016. Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
Bastable, S. B., 2016.Essentials of patient education. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Blythe, J. and Martin, J. 2019. Essentials of marketing. Pearson UK.
Campbell and et. al. Media essentials: A brief introduction. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2018.
De Jong, M., Marston, N. and Roth, E., 2015. The eight essentials of innovation. McKinsey
Quarterly. 2. pp.1-12.
Hair Jr and et. al. 2015. Essentials of business research methods. Routledge.
Lane, P., 2016. Human resources marketing and recruiting: essentials of employer branding.
Handbook of Human Resources Management. pp. 23-52.
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