Marketing Essentials: A Case Study of Your Destination and National Express

This assignment explores the crucial role of marketing in business success, focusing on the transportation industry. It examines the key duties and responsibilities of a Marketing Officer, the interrelationship of marketing with other functional units, and the application of the marketing mix (7Ps) to achieve business objectives. The assignment compares the marketing strategies of Your Destination, a new transportation company, with those of the market leader, National Express. It also develops and evaluates a basic marketing plan for Your Destination's nationwide expansion, highlighting the importance of a coherent marketing strategy for achieving competitive advantage.

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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Part 1.....................................................................................................................................................4
LO1: Explain the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional units of an
organization.......................................................................................................................................4
P1: Explain the key duties and responsibilities for a Marketing Officer and a proposed structure
and operations of the marketing department..................................................................................4
P2: Explain how the roles and responsibilities will contribute to the wider organizational
objectives.......................................................................................................................................5
Part 2.....................................................................................................................................................9
LO2: Compare ways in which organizations use elements of the marketing mix (7Ps) to achieve
overall business objectives................................................................................................................9
P3: Using the 7Ps compare Your Destination approach to applying the marketing mix to that of
National Express in achieving the business objectives..................................................................9
LO3: Develop and evaluate a basic marketing plan.........................................................................12
P4: Produce a basic marketing plan for the nationwide expansion..............................................12
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................14
References...........................................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
Marketing is very crucial for business organizations as the success or failure of the business
operations depends on the marketing approach adopted by the organization. The following
assignment focuses on the various aspects of the marketing with respect to a new
transportation company of UK “Your Destination”. The comparison is being made between
Your Destination and that of the market leader of UK’s transportation industry “National
Express”. The various aspects including the roles and responsibilities, the significance of
marketing mix and the basic as well as coherent marketing plan for Your Destination has
been discussed in the following assignment.
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Part 1
LO1: Explain the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional units
of an organization.
Office Memorandum
Date: 08/06/2018
To: All Senior Executives
From: David Harley, Marketing Officer
Your Destination
P1: Explain the key duties and responsibilities for a Marketing Officer and a proposed
structure and operations of the marketing department.
Marketing can be defined as the process that involves the planning and execution of the
various processes including pricing and promotion of goods in order to create value through
them in exchange for the products and services to the customers. In other words, marketing
can be defined as the process through which organizations creates, communicates and
delivers value to the customer and therefore build strong relationships with the various
stakeholders involved in the process that helps in achieving the organizational objectives. The
marketing includes identifying the needs of the customers, anticipating the same and then
deliver the services according to the needs of the customer keeping in mind the objectives of
organization at the same time (Kotler, 2012).
Structure and operations of Marketing Department: The structure of the organization
should be capable of carrying out the marketing plans of the organization and the marketing
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strategies. For a small firm, a single person is capable of carrying out the marketing functions
like research, planning, selling, advertising etc. But in case of large organizations, various
marketing heads according to the functions are required by the organization like marketing
head, research head, advertising experts etc. Your Destination is a new transportation
company. Therefore, in order to better understand the customer needs and to build strong and
long term relationships with the various stakeholders, the organization needs to do proper
marketing with the help of a responsible Marketing Officer. The Marketing Officer at Your
Destination will be required to do research, planning, product development, carrying out
various promotional activities for the products and services and ensuring the timely delivery
of services to the customers in order to meet customer demands and fulfil the objectives of
the organization (Pike, 2015).
P2: Explain how the roles and responsibilities will contribute to the wider
organizational objectives.
Among the main roles and responsibilities of the marketing officer at Your Destination
includes reviewing the overall marketing department of the organization, to develop the
marketing plans for the organization, to coordinate with other functional departments of the
organization and to study and analyse the marketing activities. The roles of responsibilities in
context of wider organizational objectives can be better understood from the following
interdependency of the various departments of the organization:
Finance: The finance department deals with the cash flow of the company and has the
information related to the benefits to the company from a particular product or service. The
marketing department needs to make sure in coordination with the finance department of the
organization that the firm has enough budgets to meet the financial needs of the research,
promotion and distribution of the products and services of the Your Destination (Connolly,
2014).
Production: The production department of Your Destination is responsible for producing
quality goods and services in a timely and effective manner for the benefit of the
organization. In order to make the products effective enough to meet the customer needs, the
marketing department carries out much market research so as to identify the exact
requirements and needs of the customers and help the production department to meet those
needs.
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Research and Development: The research and development department of Your Destination
aims to produce new products and services through innovative ideas. But in order to make
sure that the new product meet the customer’s requirements, the Research and development
department needs to collaborate with the marketing department.
Human Resource Management: The human resource management deals with the
management of the employees of the organization by recruiting and selecting the best staff
and rewarding them. Therefore, the marketing department needs to collaborate with the
marketing department in order to make sure that the recruited staff has the required skills for
the market research and other marketing functions and to provide them proper training for
this (Dibb & Simkin, 2013).
Thus, from the above, the roles and responsibilities of the marketing functions can be
understood clearly in wider organizational context.
M1: The marketing environment of business consists of all those external as well as internal
factors that affect the operations of the business. The main roles and responsibilities of
marketing with respect to marketing environment are as follows:
Marketing Research: The most important role of marketing with respect to marketing
environment is the market research. In order to provide the best quality products and services
in the market, the organization needs to know the target customer, specific requirements of
the customer, and the specifications of the product required which is made available through
effective market research.
MIS: MIS stands for marketing information system. The important information related to
various activities like product planning, promotion, controlling, implementation etc. is
obtained by the organization through market information systems. For example: The
information related to the logistics can be obtained by making use of MIS on a real time basis
that can help the distribution system to work effectively.
Market Strategies: Another important role of marketing with respect to marketing
environment is the planning and development of effective marketing strategies for the
organization. The marketing strategies need to be effective in order to identify the exact
customer requirements and provide services and products in the market accordingly. It helps
the organization in achieving its objectives in a more effective and timely manner.
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Monitoring the marketing environment: Changes keeps on taking place in the external as
well as internal environment that affects the market trends and requirements of the customers.
It includes various political, environmental, social, cultural as well as legal factors. Therefore,
organizations need to be aware of the new developments that have taken place in the
marketing environment. This is done by marketing. Accordingly, the changes are being made
in the products and services offered by the organization.
Market Segmentation: Market segmentation has become the requirement of the business
organizations and this important function is performed by the marketing function of
organization. Market segmentation helps the organization to know their customers better by
dividing them on the basis of same characteristics. This helps the organization in promoting
and selling services according to the needs of the customers (Howell, 2015).
Brand Name: In order to stay ahead of the competitors and to add extra value to the
products, it has become very important for the organizations to add brand equity to their
products and services as customer these days are more inclined towards the brands.
Marketing helps the organization to gain strong brand reputation through various promotional
activities and this helps in increasing the sales volume of the organization.
M2: The marketing function and other functional units of an organization are interrelated
with each other. It is very important for them to be interrelated with each other for the
effective working of the business operations of the organization. In order to work in an
effective manner, all other functional units of an organization are dependent on marketing
functions and needs the collaboration of the marketing department. On the other hand, the
effective cooperation of other functional units is required for the effective functioning of the
marketing department. For example, in order to carry out a marketing plan of an organization,
the support of financial department, sales personal, human resource management system,
production department as well as distribution department is required. All the decisions and
strategies related to finance and budget needs to be carried out in the expert guidance of the
finance department. Any changes in the product need to be made with the support of the
production department. All the functional units of an organization are separate entities in
itself but their effective functioning depends on one another as they are linked with each
other and the success and effectiveness of one depends on the effectiveness of other
department. Thus, it can be said that the objectives of the organization to achieve profit and
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increase sales can be achieved by the equal collaboration of each department of the
organization including marketing department (Lewis, 2013).
D1: The various key elements of the marketing function are as below:
Research: Research is the most important element of the marketing function. It plays a vital
role in the success of any organization as all the important information related to the product
and other important functions of an organization are collected through market research. It
brings effectiveness in the organization. The information related to the customer needs and
changing market and customer preferences is gained through market research. Thus, it is a
very important element of marketing.
Strategy: The organization needs to evaluate all the possible strengths as well as weaknesses
of the information obtained through market research for increasing the effectiveness of its
business operations. The marketing department needs to develop effective strategies for the
achievement of the organizational objectives. Thus, these strategies provide the proper
guidance as well as the instructions for remaining strong in the competitive market and
succeed in the organizational objectives. Research helps in evaluating the future prospects by
measuring all the possible outcomes of the strategies (Baines, et. al., 2013).
Planning: Successful planning is another key element of marketing after research and
strategy. The organization needs to do effective planning in order to convert the
organizational targets into practical success in the market (Lorange, 2013).
Tactics: Tactics is also an important element of marketing function which refers to the
various short term as well as long term plans so as to attract customers and increase sales. In
order to stay ahead of competitors, the organization needs to offer discounts, schemes etc.
“like buy one get one free” so as to give boost to the sales and increase the organizational
profit (Armstrong, 2012).
All the above mentioned key elements of marketing are closely related with other functional
units of an organization. The success of one depends on the success and effectiveness of
other. For example: in order to carry out research, making strategies, for successful planning,
promotion and distribution, the various economic resources are required by the marketing
department which in turn, are provided by the finance department of the organization.
Therefore, it can be said that in order to work effectively, the marketing department needs the
support of all other functional units of the organization. For example: Product specification
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information is provided by production department, human resources required to carry out
operations are provided through HR department, finances through finance department etc.
Thus, the functioning of marketing department depends on the other functional units of an
organization (Baines, et. al., 2013).
Part 2
LO2: Compare ways in which organizations use elements of the marketing mix (7Ps) to
achieve overall business objectives.
P3: Using the 7Ps compare Your Destination approach to applying the marketing mix
to that of National Express in achieving the business objectives.
Your Destination is a small organization which uses the 7Ps of marketing mix in its
marketing planning in order to achieve the organizational objectives. The comparison of the
marketing mix of Your Destination to that of National Express’s marketing mix is as follows:
Product: Being a small organization, the products offered by Your Destination includes
small buses, Volvo services, cars and taxis. On the other hand, the products offered by the
National Express includes a variety of buses, trains, coaches etc. including transport for the
major events of UK. In addition to this, National Express offers additional services like food,
drinks, hygiene etc. during travel (Jain, 2013).
Price: Price refers to the amount charged by the organization in exchange for their services
provided to customers. The pricing strategy of National Express is differentiation strategy.
According to this strategy, National Express charges low for early customers while the same
service is being charged costlier for the late arrivals. In order to compete with National
Express, Your Destinations needs to adopt a pricing strategy which is unique in nature and
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competitive at the same time. For example: Charging high during peak travel season and low
during the weak season to attract customers (National Express, 2018).
Place: The place with respect to Your Destination and National Express refers to the location
where the services are being sold or provided to the customers. The National Express
provides the transportation services in most of the destinations of UK and this is what makes
it a market leader in UK. Therefore, in order to become a competitor of National Express,
Your Destination needs to expand its services to much more destinations in order to increase
the market share and become competitive.
Promotion: Promotion refers to the marketing strategy adopted by the organization in order
to communicate its services with the customers and market. It includes advertising, personal
selling etc. Your Destination needs to adopt more advanced and technological promotional
strategies in order to arrive at the level of National Express which uses interactive websites,
friendly online booking facilities etc. in order to promote its services and products to the
target customers.
People: People refer to the employees and staff of the organization who delivers the services
of the organization to the customers. National Express focuses on its people by recruiting
only high skilled drivers and staff with interpersonal skills in order to deal effectively with
the customers. It also gives importance on giving trainings to its employees so as to make
them more effective. The same technique should be adopted by the Your Destination so as to
have skilled and well trained staff at work (Jain, 2013).
Physical Evidence: The office as well as the ticket counters and reservation counters of
National Express are attractive as well as maintained. The website of the company is also
interactive and simple which offers the customers to explore much with less difficulty. On the
other hand, the website and office of the Your Destination is spacey and attractive with good
interiors which gives a nice presentation of its services to its potential customers.
Process: Process refers to the whole set of activities through which the services of the
organization reach its customers. The customers of the National Express have a great
experience by experiencing the good service of the driver as well as the comfort of the luxury
seats and food services while travelling. Your Destinations needs to focus more on its process
to make it more comfortable for the customers (National Express, 2018).
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M3: In order to carry out the marketing plan more effectively, every organization need to
follow a systematic approach by applying following tactics:
Analysis of Environment: First of all, the marketers need to do the market analysis of
business environment so as to have the idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the business
at present and the future prospects and opportunities for the business.
Planning: After the analysis of the internal as well as the external environment, the next
important step is the planning. During planning, the marketing officer needs to develop
blueprint of the ideas so as to have the idea of the processes and their order. Planning consists
of decisions related to the pricing strategies, budget, marketing strategies etc.
Implementation: Implementation refers to converting ideas and plans into action. The
activities drafted in the planning needs to be carried out in an orderly flow so as to implement
the ideas into action.
Control: Control is another important activity that needs to be executed with the activities of
the plan. Control monitors each activity of the planning process and keep a check on them so
that proper measures can be taken in case of any deviation from the plan is found.
Marketing Strategies: In order to execute the marketing plan effectively, several strategies
needs to be adopted by the organization. It involves pricing strategies, promotional strategies,
distribution strategies etc.
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LO3: Develop and evaluate a basic marketing plan.
P4: Produce a basic marketing plan for the nationwide expansion.
Your Destination is a small and a new transportation company. Therefore, for the nationwide
expansion, the company needs a basic marketing plan consisting of the following tasks:
 Your Destination, at first, needs to identify the target market for the organization in order
to achieve its objectives by setting the clear objectives of the company. The objective
setting is important in order to analyse the following:
 What is special in the services of the Your Destination?
 Why would a customer prefer Your Destination Services over others?
 What are the competitive qualities in the services offered? (McDaniel & Gates,
2014)
 The second most important step for Your Destination is the identification of the target
customers. This will help in the identification of the requirements of the customer and
thus creating the plan and product accordingly.
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 After successfully identifying target customers and target market, the organization must
focus on identifying the competitors of the organization in order to have the information
related to their strategies.
 The organization then, needs to make strategies accordingly in order to achieve
competitive advantage in market.
 Finally propose budget and define clear promotional strategies in order to promote the
products of Your Destination.
 At last, the marketing plan needs to be monitored by the organization and the results
should be evaluated to check the efficiency of the marketing plan.
M4: The coherent marketing plan of Your Destination involving 7Ps of marketing mix is as
follows:
Product: The Your Destination products and services should have the unique properties
including quality, branding properties and easy availability with excellent customer service so
as to meet the needs as well as the expectations of the customers (Khan, 2014)
Promotion: Your Destination should adopt effective promotional strategies in order to
communicate its services with the potential customers like advertising etc.
Price: The pricing strategy of Your Destination needs to be unique offering competitive as
well as added value and profits to the organization.
Place: The services offered by the Your Destination needs to be offered at various
destinations and those should be easily accessible.
People: Your Destination should hire skilled and trained staff with good interpersonal skills
Process: The process of Your Destinations needs to be customer focused in order to bring
efficiency in its operations (Lee, et. al., 2016).
Physical evidence: The offices and booking counters must be attractive as well as
interactive. The overall experience of the customer with the company needs to be impressive.
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Conclusion
The above report has discussed the various aspects of the marketing in relation with the
business organization. The roles and responsibilities of the marketing officer as well as the
key elements of the marketing function have been discussed in the above report. In addition
to this, we have also discussed the significance of the interrelationships between the
marketing and the other functional units of the organization. The marketing mix of National
Express as well as of Your Destination has been compared and the basic marketing plan has
been evaluated for the Your Destination. We have also suggested a coherent plan including
7Ps for the Your Destination in the above report.
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