Roles and Responsibilities of Marketing Function in Sainsbury

This report discusses the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function in Sainsbury, a leading supermarket in the UK. It also explores the interrelation of marketing with other functional units and compares the marketing mix of Sainsbury with its competitor, Tesco.

Marketing essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1) Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function................................................1
P2) Roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context........4
PART 2............................................................................................................................................5
Part A...............................................................................................................................................5
P3) Marketing mix..................................................................................................................5
PART B............................................................................................................................................9
P4) Marketing plan.................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is a business term playing a crucial role in success or failure of any of any
firm. It is basically a management process which is responsible for identifying, anticipating,
meeting and satisfying consumer needs and requirements for increasing profitability of
organisation (Arendt and Allain, 2019). The various activities included in marketing process are
creating, developing, communicating, transferring and exchanging offerings and items that have
value for clients, customers and other related parties. The organisations selected for this
assignment is Sainsbury which is a one of the largest supermarket in UK having its headquarter
in London, UK. In this report a detailed discussion about role and responsibility of marketing
manager is included. Beside this interrelation of marketing with other functional unit is also there
in this assignment. Further, the ways in which organisation apply different elements of 7P's of
marketing mix are compared. Beside this, it also consists a basic and strategic marketing plan to
meet the goals and objectives.
PART 1
P1) Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function.
Marketing Process
It is basically shows the series of step that allow an organisation to evaluate and identify
customer problems and desires, analyse market opportunities and create marketing materials to
achieve the desired goals (Lippold, 2019). The marketing process of Sainsbury is described
below with all the steps to counter and garb the target audience.
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(Figure 1: Marketing process, 2020)
(Source: Marketing process, 2020)
Mission – The mission of Sainsbury company is to have an effective marketing strategy
that is mainly based on use of digital platforms to attract larger number of customers.
Situation analysis- Under this step efforts are made by Sainsbury to analysis the gap
between what consumers want and what they are offering to them, thus situation analysis provide
an opportunity to have a better understanding about customer needs so that product or service
can be offered to satisfy those needs and desire of consumer (Makhitha, 2019).
Marketing strategy- After analysis of customers needs the next process of marketing of
Sainsbury is identifying a strategic plan for pursuing or grabbing the opportunity. This include
proper segmentation, targeting and positing of a right product to provide values proposition to
target market.
Marketing mix decisions- Under this step of marketing process detail tactical decisions
are made by managers of Sainsbury for controlling the different parameters of marketing mix
like product development, pricing decisions, place, promotion, etc.
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Implementation and control- The last step of marketing process of Sainsbury where all
the decided plans and strategies are implemented and executed with grate efficiency. The results
and outcomes are closely monitored to have a control on flaws and adverse situation (Arendt and
Allain, 2019).
Role and responsibility of marketing manager
Marketing manager is an individual who is the main in charge of marketing department
and controls all the promotional and market study and activities of an organisation. The
marketing manager of Sainsbury is responsible for developing, implementing and executing an
effective strategic marketing plan for whole organisation to attract and maximize the numbers of
potential customers and also maintain and retain the existing and current customers. . The main
responsibility and key role of marketing manager of Sainsbury organisations is provided below:
Timely market research- It is one of the key responsibility of marketing manger to
conduct timely market research to properly analysis the current scenarios and existing marketing
conditions. As marketing environment is highly dynamic so that it become necessary for a
marketing manger to conduct regular marting research. Marketing manager of Sainsbury plays
an important role in analysing and determining the current opportunity and threats that are
prevailing in the market so that best possible efforts and steps can be taken to garb and prevail
that opportunity (Campbell, Martin and Fabos, 2018). Timely market research makes a
marketing manger aware about what is current demand and trend of the market and what changes
are going on in taste and preference of customers so that desired modification can be made in
product or services.
Formulation and implementation of marketing strategy- Other important
reasonability of Marketing manager is formulation and designing of an effective marketing
strategy which should be well coordinated and parallel to overall goals and objective of an
organisation. With the proper analysis of data collected through market research, best strategies
and plans are formulated by marketing manager of Sainsbury so that the prevailing opportunity
cab be grabbed and at the same time efforts are also made to reduce the threat of prevailing
consequences and issues in the market. The marketing strategy and tactics adopted by Sainsbury
is also depends on activities of its competitors so that the strategy implemented should also
provide better competitive strength and advantage in the market (Chatterjee and Chatterjee,
2019).
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Product development- Marketing manager and team plays a vital role in product
development through conveying and transferring all the relevant and required information about
taste and preference of customers to production department so that a product or service can be
designed or developed to fulfill the desire and demand of consumer. The market research which
is conducted by mangers and marketing team of Sainsbury makes them awake about the current
demand and preference of customers thus, they plays an important role in guiding production
department about the latest trend of market. At the same time, pricing of product is also based on
market and competitors analysis (Deepwell, Palmer and Greig, 2019). Thus, marketing manger
of Sainsbury plays an important part in development of product.
Promotional strategy- In today's world promotion and adverting has become very
essential to make customer aware about product and to have better market coverage than
competitors. It is the responsibility of marketing manager of Sainsbury to create and develop an
effective promotional strategy which includes a balance of online and offline mode of
advertising. Use of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, twitter etc. are are made by
Sainsbury to have a better interaction with and relationship with its target audience so that they
can be attracted to make a purchase (Lippold, 2019). Thus, an important role is played by
marketing manager and department in creating awareness about product and brands and also
maintain an effective communication and relation with customers to earn better revenue.
P2) Roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context
Marketing is necessary and important for an organisations but the desired objectives and
goal cannot be achieved by efficient marketing alone thus, proper coordination and interrelation
of marketing with other functional department is must (Makhitha, 2019). The interrelation and
connection of marketing with other functional units of Sainsbury is provided below:
Marketing and finance
Finance department is one which is responsible and related with preparation of budgets and
other accounting report to keep a check and control over expenses of organisation. In Sainsbury
organisation an interrelation between marketing and finance department is exist as the amount
required for marketing and promotional activity is provided by finance department and finance
department also keep a check on expenses on marketing department so that wasteful and
unwanted marketing activities can be eliminated (Arendt and Allain, 2019). In return, the
efficient marketing and promotional activity increase sales and volume and provide better
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revenue finance department so that it can conduct its day to day operation easily. Thus, a
coordination between marketing and finance ensure reduction in expenses and wasteful activity
as well as also enhance revenue and income to ensure smooth functioning of organisation.
Marketing and production department
Production department is one which is related and associated with timely production and
supply of product or services so that better satisfaction and experience can be provided to
customer. A connection between production and marketing ensure that product deliver is in
accordance with taste and preference of customers. In Sainsbury an interrelation and
collaboration of marketing and production department has lead to timely supply of best quality
product on the basis of timely market research thus, ensure better sales and profitability through
grabbing attention of large number of customers (Campbell, Martin and Fabos, 2018).
Value and importance of marketing
The importance and value of marketing in context of a business organisation is increasing as
the business environment and market is very dynamic in which continuous changes are going on.
Thus, business firms need to have a complete knowledge about prevailing circumstances and
tend of market which is done by marketing.Timely market research and analysis of current
market scenario is a crucial role of marketing which keeps organisation and its strategies on track
and well coordinated (Chatterjee and Chatterjee, 2019). At the same time marketing also creates
awareness about brands and its product which enhance performance and profitability of
organisations thus, marketing is necessary in context of success of overall organisation.
PART 2
Part A
P3) Marketing mix
Marketing mix is a tool that provides a set or combination of number of components and
elements to strengthen and solidify image of a product or service to increase the sales and
revenue of organisation (Campbell, Martin and Fabos, 2018). It provide a set of strategies for
betterment of organisation. A comparison between different elements of marketing mix of
Sainsbury and its competitor, Tesco is provided below to have a better understanding of
strategies and tactics used by an organisation to achieve their business objective.
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(Figure 2: 7P's of marketing mix, 2020)
(Source: 7P's of marketing mix, 2020)
Elements of
Marketing
mix
Sainsbury Tesco
Product It is a well known supermarket or
retailer of UK. A wide range of product
and services is provided by Sainsbury
with more than 15000 own brand
products (Marketing Mix: Sainsbury',
2019). The different products provided
A comprnsive range of product is
offered by Tesco which includes,
Clothing & jewellery, Technology &
gaming products, Health & beauty,
Home electrical appliance,
Entertainment & books, Home
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by Sainsbury includes meat, Fresh and
bakery products, frozen food, baby
products, drinks, health and beauty
products, clothing, cleaning products,
electronics, entertainment and many
other. This organisation has recently
taken over Arogs which has further
increased its product portfolio.
Sainsbury heavily invest on its brand
and have earned good reputation for
offering quality products(Deepwell,
Palmer and Greig, 2019).
appliances, Baby & toddler, Gardening
products, Toys for kids, DIY and other
Car accessories, etc.
Place The headquarter of Sainsbury is
located in London, UK. It is having
598 supermarkets and 714 convenience
stores out of which 45 stores operate
24/7and the rest of them are open till
mid-night on Fridays. Beside this, a lot
of orders are also received through
online sites and phone. Apart from this
facility of home delivery is also
provided to customers to provide them
maximum convenience.
The headquarter of Tesco is in UK but
is operating in mote than 11 countries
of world with around 6900 stores. It are
categorises into various group on the
basis of their size i.e. Tesco metro,
Tesco Express, Tesco Extra and Tesco
Superstore (Chatterjee and Chatterjee,
2019).
Price The pricing strategy of Sainsbury is
based on providing the customers the
actual value of money thus, maintains a
balance between quality of product and
its price. Sainsbury mainly makes use
of competitive pricing policy to have a
better stand in market. Use of price
Use of Cost leadership pricing strategy
is made by Tesco to attract maximum
number of customers.
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discrimination policy is also made by
Sainsbury thus, some of its product are
offered at premium price while some
are priced very low like basic and kids
product are low priced.
Promotions Use of ATL ( above the line) and BTL
(below the line) promotional strategy is
made by Sainsbury to garb the
attention of customers and to build
better brand image. Use of broadcast
media like television, radio are made
under ATL strategy while use of sales
promotion, database marketing, etc. are
made under BTL promotional strategy
of Sainsbury. Use of Nectar reward
card is also made by Sainsbury to
maintain long term relation with its
customers and to enhance its sales
(Fairley, 2019).
Tesco is having a strong brand image
because of cost leadership in market.
Use of television ads, hoardings, and
discount offers like Tesco club card are
made to increase sales and promotion
of its product.
People Sainsbury is having a well trained and
expert employees who are having the
capability of understanding the
behaviours of consumer so that best
product and service will be provided to
satisfy the consumer. Recently a 2
Craft skills Apprenticeship is organised
by Sainsbury to develop better
employees and leader for its store
manger.
Tesco is selecting best talent for its
organisation and diversity is also
encouraged at Tesco to have better
creativity and innovation in
organisation.
Process Facility of online shopping is provided The distribution process of Tesco is
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to customers that provide a convenient
click and collect service to its
customers. Beside this a efficient
distribution network is also there which
includes specialist like DHL, NFT,
thus Sainsbury is having a good
distribution process.
very effective and maintain a good
supply chain in around 11 countries of
world. The service features ,
accessibility and capacity level of
production process of Tesco is also
very good.
Physical
evidence
Sainsbury is having an excellent
strategy to make its presence feel at
market. Use of different store design
and layouts are made by Sainsbury to
garb attention of its customers. Best
quality and convenient baskets and
trolleys are also offered at stores which
provide an excellent and long lasting
shopping experience to its consumer.
Authentic products are provided by
Tesco to have a better image in minds
of customers. The colours, logos and
attractive labels are also creating better
physical evidence for Tesco (Ganjre,
2019).
PART B
P4) Marketing plan
It is basically is a comprehensive written plan that includes all the activities and tasks
related with marketing and promotion of a project and also include various tactics and strategies
for achievement of desired goals (Heidarzadeh Hanzaee, Sadeghian and Jalalian, 2019).
Following market plan is created and developed by Sainsbury to have better product portfolio to
give a tough competition to Tesco and all other competitors.
Overview
Sainsbury is the 3rd largest supermarket operating in UK and providing a range of
product to its customers which include various frozen food products, beauty and health products,
clothing, electronics, etc. But still it lag behind big retailers like Tesco thus, to enhance its
productivity and gain better market share and revenue it is coming up with a new product in its
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portfolio. Sainsbury is planning to launch and coming up with a new segment or product i.e. a
new range of stylish and comfortable furniture to attract more customers.
Vision
The vision statement of Sainsbury is, “ To become the most trusted retailer through
bringing creativity and diversity at its workplace to ensure greater services to customers.”
Mission
The Sainsbury is having a mission, “ To become first and foremost choice of customers
through delivering products of outstanding quality and providing great services at best
possible prices”.
Objective
the main motto and target of Sainsbury behind launch of this new range of Furniture are:
 To increase the productivity of Sainsbury by 15% in coming one year. To increase sales and revenue of organisation by 10% in next 8 months.
STP model
Use of STP model is made by organisation to have a selection of most suitable and
profitable target customers and also provide dreamwork for selection of better targeting ad
positioning strategy (Malik and Sharma, 2019). Use of STP model is also made by Sainsbury to
decide better strategies and target segment for its new range of furniture.
Segmentation- It is process through which an organisation divides a market into small
chunks and segment so that needs of most suitable and viable audience can be fulfilled. Use of
demographic segmentation is made by Sainsbury to divide its target audience on the basis of
their income level and behaviour.
Targeting- Under this component of STP model most beneficial chunk or group of
audience us targeting by organisation. The new furniture developed by Sainsbury is quite
expensive and luxury thus, the targeted audience is rich and upper class families having big halls
and rooms to get decorated and have stylish look with the furniture of Sainsbury.
Positioning- This element of STP model is focused on creating awareness and promotion
of a new product (McCabe and Weaver, 2019). Use of variety of media like social media,
internet, online websites , etc. are made to create awareness about its product and persuade
customers for purchase of its furniture.
Budget
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Following budget are prepared by Sainsbury to create, develop nad promte its new
furniture:
MARKETING BUDGET (£)
PARTICULARS Ist Year IInd Year IIIrd Year IVth Year Vth Year
Initial money 4000 7600 13300 15460 18870
Investment 9600 10600 23840 31640 13760
TOTAL 13600 18200 37140 47000 32530
MARKETING OUTLAY
Promotion 5646 2559 5693 2975 2111
Sales publicity 1365 1000 2452 1492 1050
Direct selling 2345 1900 4961 1300 4644
TOTAL 9356 5459 13106 5767 7705
Controlling and Monitoring
For success of its product and to effectively launch its new furniture proper control and
implementation measures are taken Sainsbury (Nirschl and Steinberg, 2018) Monitoring of each
and every task ensure better performance of employees for timely completion of work and use of
control measure by Sainsbury facilitates better quality of furniture through checking and
keeping an eye on quality of raw material and other associated activities.
Strategic Market Plan by using 7P's
Following strategic marketing plan is made by Sainsbury through making use of
marketing mix:
Product- Sainsbury is providing a new luxury range of furniture with stylish look and
design.
Price- The anticipated price of furniture of Sainsbury is £600.
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Place- This furniture will be available on all stores and supermarkets of Sainsbury and
online order can also be placed (Okumus and Cetin, 2018).
Promotion- Use of aggressive and effective advertising and promotional techniques will
be made by Sainsbury that includes posting pictures and video of furniture on social media .
People- Most talented, creative and skilled workforce is hired by Sainsbury.
Process- This new furniture will be produced through making use of automatic machine
and CAD (computer aided design) technology.
Physical evidence- For creating physical evidence for its new furniture use of adversing
and word of mouth will be made by Sainsbury.
CONCLUSION
From this assignment it can be concluded that marketing is an important function of an
organisation which creates better image of product and brand in market. Many roles are
performed by marketing like formulation of strategy, market research, promotion, etc. beside this
it can be summarised that international between different functional units is necessary for
achievement of desired goals. Further, conclusion can be made that marketing is an essential and
vital part of an organisation which creates better promotion of product and lead to better brand
image. Apart from this it can be concluded that use of marketing mix is made by organisation to
have a set and combination of best tactics and strategies that can be used to enhance sale of
product and earn better income and profit. At last, it can be summarised that market plan is an
important document that provide guidance and framework for completion of a project.
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Online:
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Marketing Mix: Sainsbury's. 2019. [Online]. Available
through<https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/marketing-mix-well-call-sainsburys/530673>
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