Marketing Essentials: A Comprehensive Guide to Marketing Principles and Practices

This comprehensive guide delves into the fundamental principles and practices of marketing, exploring the role of marketing within organizations, the elements of the marketing mix (7Ps), and the development and evaluation of effective marketing plans. Using real-world examples from Tesco and Sainsbury, the guide provides insights into how organizations utilize marketing strategies to achieve their business objectives. It also includes a detailed marketing plan for Tesco, outlining its objectives, target market, distribution channels, competitive forces, and a comprehensive action plan for implementation and monitoring.

Marketing Essential
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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................3
LO1: Explain the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional units
of an organisation.........................................................................................................4
LO2: Compare ways in which organisations use elements of the marketing mix (7Ps)
to achieve overall business objectives.........................................................................6
LO3: Develop and evaluate a basic marketing plan...................................................11
Conclusion..................................................................................................................16
Reference List.............................................................................................................17
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Introduction
Philip Kotler has defined marketing as a process following a chain of communication,
creation and in time delivery to the customers, developing customer relationship
(Armstrong et al., 2015). Marketing acts as the heart for many business or firms
through which many operations are conducted. The activities of marketing include
advertising, sales, promotions, and Public Relations (PR). The marketing activities
take place through an interaction between the supplier and the purchaser. Marketing
has different concepts persuading a mutual objective to meet the customers’
demands and increase the revenue of the companies (Mishra, 2016). The marketing
manager of any company performs his role right from the purchasing of the raw
materials to the delivery of the products to the consumer serving the purpose of an
umbrella. The manager is the central force controlling the budget and other activities
to benefit the employees and the organization. This assignment briefs about the
marketing activities conducted by the marketing manager of well known company,
Tesco. The responsibilities of the marketing manager are outlined in this assignment
which fosters the organization’s growth and increases the brand image. To meet the
future demands and hold a leading position in the market, Tesco has been taken into
consideration of for the elements of marketing mix widely.
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LO1: Explain the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional
units of an organisation
Using examples from your chosen organisation, explain the key roles and
responsibilities of the marketing function how roles and responsibilities of
marketing relate to the wider organisational context [P1, P2].
Tesco is renowned as one of the leading British multinational company and
merchandise retailer with employee strength of about 476,000 across the world
operating in 6,553 stores (Tesco.com. 2018).The marketing manager in this
company actually has the function to monitor, implement and evaluate the actions
taken to enhance the productivity of the organization. According to Peter Drucker,
there are mainly two core functions involved in a business- innovation in the products
and strategies and marketing. To have a developed marketing activity, every
organization needs to maintain a healthy communication between the suppliers,
retailers, stakeholders and especially the potential customers. The 4Ps of the
marketing mix generally helps to increase the productivity of the company in a larger
scale. The market position of the Company determines the quality of products
supplied to the customers and the buying behaviour of the customers (Malhotra,
2015). To meet the threats from the competitors it is essential to develop new
strategies accordingly with the help of market research and understand the trends in
the market. Consumer buying behaviour has to be analysed as it is changing with
the introduction of globalization. Manager plays many vital roles within an
organization having a positive influence on the customers and the organization
overall.
Manager has the key role of promoting about the brand, thus creating awareness
among the potential customers of the innovative services offered (Huang and
Sarigöllü, 2014). The manager works with the Public Relations to execute the
marketing campaigns. The marketing manager of Tesco incorporates a marketing
led ethos in the organization for the growth in the production. The yearly sales are
determined by the manager, thereby working on the aspects overlooked (Brown,
2013). The marketing manager analyses the strategies adapted by the
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competitors through market research and communicates with the customers to
understand their requirements in specific. The marketing manager organizes
marketing plans and looks after the requirements of the employees. The marketing
manager analyses the company’s strength and weaknesses and works upon it to
hold the position in the market. The marketing manager of Tesco identifies the
opportunities to deal tactfully with the threats such as Sainsbury, Marks and
Spencer. To improve the efficiency of the workers, the marketing manager
distributes the works into various departments. The marketing manager has to
anticipate, identify and satisfy the demands of the customers. Performance
management has to be overseen by the manager in order to direct the employees to
the goals of the company (Khan, 2014). Manager develops new plans and strategies
to attract the customers like offering discounts or brochures and thus promotes the
brand efficiently. The marketing manager of Tesco creates plan to meet long-term
goals in the market. The marketing manager coordinates with the other
departments (Baker and Saren, 2016) to have growth in the productivity and
provide quick delivery of products to the customers.
Thus from the above discussion, it is clearly evident that the marketing manager
provides the roof for all the activities to take place to meet the organizational
objectives. Tesco has appointed the marketing manager to cater to the needs of the
employees and the organization. The manager has to oversee that the employees
hired have the charm and the charisma to encourage customers to purchase the
products, increasing the market share. In time delivery of the products to the
customers is possible when all the departments work effectively ad smoothly in
coordination with other led by the marketing manager.
The roles of the business organizations vary upon the aims, missions and their long
term goals. Marketing function helps to define the roles and responsibilities of the
organization and helps to develop new products and promote these products. There
is an interrelationship between the marketing function and the different
organizational factors. The different organizational factors are a part of the day-to-
day activities of the business and thus it is connected to the diverse functions of
marketing.
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The other departments of Tesco need to depend on the marketing function to
understand the goals and objectives of the business and thus the different marketing
functions need to provide backup to the other departments to perform properly. If any
business has to reduce the prices of the organization or offer discounts to the public,
then the marketing team needs to follow the different functions of marketing and
communicate with the finance, production and the research and development
department to determine the price.
Some of the roles and responsibilities are mentioned below:
Research and Development: Even if the research and development department
wants to increase the demand then this department must help to promote and
advertise the products and services so that more people become aware of the
commodities.
Sales: Marketing helps to determine the sales and profitability of the company and
also promotes the products and services to create awareness among the people.
Responsibility and conscientiousness of the employees of the organizations enlarge
goodwill of the brand. For the determination of the prices of the manufactured goods,
the business must know the demand of the consumers, the market perception and
the competitors of the business.
Marketing communication: One of the significant role and responsibility of the
organization is to maintain the marketing communication with the other factors of the
organization. This can help to develop the quality of the product and the services
offered.
Quality of the Services and the Products: The growth and survival of the
organizations depend simply on the quality of the products offered to the public and
the complementary services to increase the brand name. For instance, Tesco has to
determine the quality of the products and the services according to the demand of
the market and the satisfaction level after using the product.
Enhance the liability: If Tesco wants to provide the best quality products to the
public, then it should take the help of the packaging and other departments to attract
more customers.
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Promotion of services: Promotions of services are very important for the
development of the customer base, and advertisements help to attract more
customers. Promotion helps to attract more customers as it helps the customers to
become aware of the commodities and know the utility of the product. Thus, Tesco
might promote the good it produces and create an improved customer base. Tesco
can take the help of social media marketing and digital marketing because these
techniques help to promote the products faster.
Standardization and grading: The different functions of marketing helps to determine
the brand image and develop the products so that the brand image is either
developed or stays the same. Standardization guarantees to produce commodities at
firm pattern. Standardization helps to understand that the produce meets up to the
stipulated excellence and capacity by the consumers. Grading is allocation of
commodities in a range of groups based on the definite prearranged quality. It entails
the principles of size, weight etc. Thus, Grading facilitates in price making of the
product.
Figure 1: Marketing functions in an organization
(Source: Created by learner)
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ResearchandDevelopmentSalesMarketingCommunicationQualityofProductsandServicesPromotionEnhanceliabilityStandardizationandGrading

LO2: Compare ways in which organisations use elements of the marketing mix
(7Ps) to achieve overall business objectives
Using your chosen organisation and another organisation, compare how
organisations use the various elements of the 7Ps marketing mix in the
marketing planning process to achieve business objectives. This will be
submitted as a briefing paper for the marketing team. [P3].
Marketing mix of Tesco and Sainsbury aims to establish its new products in the
markets depending on the external factors (Akroush, 2011). Both the organization
though rival company’s has their business objectives and aims at satisfying
customers’ demands and growth in the revenue by expanding its business across
the world. Marketing mix of both the companies is discussed below:
Elements of Marketing Mix Tesco Sainsbury
Product Holding the position of one
of the leading supermarket
chain, the company offers
a wide range of products
varying from groceries to
clothing and also
electronics. The company
is stressing on expanding
the variety of products to
meet the demands of the
customers. The company
in order to improve its
productivity has opened
up online marketing
channel.
Sainsbury on the on the
other hand has more than
30,000 products in line
having more than 20%
products with its own
label. The company offers
products ranging from
fruits and vegetables to
fish and meat and also
dairy and bakery products.
The variety is huge
consisting of products for
pet care, babies and also
soft drinks.
Price With respect to this
element, the company
The company aims at
having competitive
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aims at having low
pricing scheme for the
customers without
compromising with the
standards of the products.
The company employs
economies of scale
concept to satisfy the
needs of the customers.
This pricing policy has
enabled Tesco to capture
the position of the leading
company in supermarket.
Tesco mainly follows the
principle that ‘every little
counts’ concepts to keep
the expectation of the
customers. Tesco also
uses club card facility
which permits the
customer to collect points
for their purchase,
transforming to money
later.
pricing scheme for its
products without affecting
the quality of the products.
The prices for the kids’
products are relatively
lower than other
companies. The company
has developed a strategy
of having different prices
for different categories of
products. This helps the
company to retain its
customers, thus targeting
mainly the households and
families as target
customers.
Place The company is
headquartered in
Chestnut, England. The
stores are expanded
almost in many parts of
the world. The company
uses both online and
offline channels of
distribution. The company
The company is
headquartered in Drury
Lane in London. The
company has a record of
having 608 supermarket
stores and about 6 stores
in the market. He
company operates in the
local region with the help
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has analysed that all
customers are not
satisfied with the big
stores so it has set up
many smaller stores.
of the small stores and
also offers online shopping
facility.
Promotion The brand image of Tesco
is influenced by its low
pricing strategy. The
company focuses to
promote the brand with the
concept that it has lower
prices as compared to
Sainsbury and other
company and are reliable
in terms of product quality.
For promotion, the
company offers many
discounts throughout the
year. The company uses
the Club card service to
offer additional discounts
to the customers. The
service enables to
understand the purchasing
pattern of the customers
and the market trends as
well.
The company has adapted
for promotion, the ATL
and the BTL strategies to
promote about its brand.
The company also
promotes through tools
like newspaper, leaflets,
and billboards to create
awareness of the brand.
The company also uses
database marketing
strategy to promote about
its brand. To increase the
customer base the
company has utilized the
Nectar Reward Card
(Bhasin, 2018).
Physical Evidence The company lacks to be
so large in appearance
like Sainsbury but believes
to have smaller stores.
Though the stores are
small yet they are clean
As a part of the physical
evidence, the company
uses its online shopping
facility. The Nectar card
through which the
customers can earn points
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and attractive in
appearance (Bhasin,
2018). The stores have
made the customers
comfortable to access the
products without any
hindrance in the
navigation. It has its own
website which acts as the
physical evidence for the
market and the customers.
and later it can be
redeemed has served as
one of the physical
evidence. The
convenience stores are
also physical evidence of
Sainsbury.
Process The process through
which the company deals
with its customers is rapid
billing service. The
customers can easily
access the products both
offline and online.
The company interacts
with the customers
through the online
transaction receipts.
People Tesco in order to meet the
customers’ demands both
offline and online has
employed skilled staffs
and competent in nature
having the ability to
address all the issues. The
company has hired
excellent workforce like
the sales assistant. The
company works to
encourage the employees
through strategies like Buy
as you earn or Save s You
Earn.
The company employs
skilled labour to increase
the productivity of the
company and employees
are also hired to educate
the customers about the
various facilities of cards.
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Table 2: Marketing Mix of Sainsbury and Tesco
(Source: Created by Learner)
Thus it can be seen from the above table of marketing mix of the both the companies
that they have achieved the objective of satisfying the customers without
compromising with the quality of the products. The companies have tried to retain
the customers and attract new customers through many card facilities. Tesco has
earned its reputation through keeping the prices lower for the easy access of the
customers. Online and offline systems have been created for the customers to easily
purchase the products.
Figure 3: Marketing Mix
(Source: Created by learner)
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MarketingMix

LO3: Develop and evaluate a basic marketing plan
Using your chosen organisation, produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan
to meet marketing goals and objectives. The marketing plan should include all
elements of the 7Ps marketing mix, with an action plan and measures for
monitoring and evaluating progress and meeting of your chosen
organisation’s goals and objectives [P4].
Executive Summary:
Tesco organizes a marketing plan to identify the threats and adapt strategies
accordingly. The marketing plan helps to launch a new product in the market post
market research has been conducted. The market research analyses the budgets
and the expenses, segments the target customers and creates awareness about the
services. Depending on the survey or the market research conducted the company if
necessary shifts its focus to meet the requirements of the customers. The marketing
plan starts with the creation of the objectives to be fulfilled within a definite span of
time. The marketing manager while framing the plan has to accordingly make a
schedule of the performance of the activities.
Vision:
The vision of the company is to provide good quality services create an impression
in the minds of the customers that the company values for money.
Objectives:
Tesco aims to:
 Have an increase in the market share by 20% within a span of 9 months
 Create awareness among the customers about the various services offered by
the company through online medium keeping the prices lower
 Improve the position of the market and meet the challenges from the competitors
Target Markets:
Tesco in the marketing plan aims to target the teenage group of 20-30 years of age.
Based on the demographic market segmentation (Wertime and Fenwick, I.2011),
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the company aims to launch its products in the market. The company has targeted
the young generation as they are customers who are most addicted to the source of
internet. As Tesco has aimed to promote the brand online, these targeted customers
will be more active in giving feedbacks. They will be more interested to browse about
the services and features developed by Tesco. With globalization, the customers are
demanding to purchase the products online, eliminating the concept of going to the
market. Leading a busy life, target customers have been observed to be unavailable
to purchase products from the markets. Tesco has therefore taken the initiative to
offer products online.
Distribution Channels:
The company has adapted the strategy to distribute the products to the customers
both through online and offline sources. Offline, the products are made available
through the stores situated in many parts of the country. Online the customers can
browse about the products and its latest features and purchase through online
transaction.
Competitive Forces:
The company has faced threats from many rival companies like Sainsbury. The
company has developed equally superior standards of products ranging in large
varieties. Tesco has adapted the strategy to use latest features in the products to
meet the competitive forces in the market and acquiring the leading position.
Marketing Mix Elements:
Product: Tesco offers a large variety of tangible products in the markets being one
of the leading supermarket chains in UK. The company has led stress to improve the
quality of the product without increasing the price of the products.
Price: Tesco has adapted the economies of scale strategy for the pricing scheme of
the products. Since the company aims at selling the goods to the families and
household, the pricing scheme is kept lower so that it is affordable by all users in the
markets.
Promotion: Tesco has adapted the promotional tool like online web designing and
promoting through social media platform like Facebook and YouTube.
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Place: Tesco operates in small convenience stores according to the requirement of
the customers.
People: Tesco employed skilled labour to cater to the needs of the customers and
technological advanced staffs to communicate with the customers and address their
issues online.
Physical Evidence: The Company through its rapid billing system and small stores
serves as the physical evidence for the customers.
Process: Tesco interacts with the customers both offline and online through which
they have to increase the revenue and the productivity overall.
Key to Success:
The Company by developing the small stores has made the customers freely
access to the products of the company. Through online stores, the target customers
have the opportunity to browse about the products without wasting their time visiting
the stores. Thus, Tesco has met the demands of the customers through both the
distribution channel.
Marketing Plan Strategy:
Tesco has adapted the strategy of keeping the price lower and offering innovative
products meeting the demands of the targeted customers.
Expense Budget:
Elements Budget
Event Cost 40,000
Creation of online portal 10,000
Promotion through social media 15,000
Total Estimated Cost 65,000
Table 4: Budget Expenses within 9 months for the Marketing Plan
(Source: Created by learner)
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Event Cost Creation of online
portal Promotion through
social media Total Estimated
Cost
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
Budget
Budget
Figure 5: Graph presentation of the budget
(Source: Created by learner)
Month Activity Deadline Person
Responsible
January- March Framing the
objectives and the
vision to be fulfilled
by the end of the 9
month
28th March Concerned manager
of the company
April- May To appoint staffs
efficient in
addressing the
issues of the
customers online
30th May Marketing manager
June-July To create an online
official site and give
the customers to
freely browse any
information related to
the products and
promote about the
28th July Marketing Manager
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services
August- September To improvise the
feedbacks and
analyse the final
outcome
30th September Marketing Manager
Table 6: Action Plan for the marketing campaign
(Source: Created by learner)
Progress Measurement and Monitoring:
From the above discussed analysis it has been observed that the Company has
achieved the objective by having an increase in the revenue by 15% within 9
months. Through the promotion, the Company was able to target the customers
based on demographic segmentation and meet their requirements. The marketing
mix has helped to introduce the products in the online sources and increase
productivity. The increase in the revenues has monitored and measured the
effectiveness of the marketing plan. The Company has also developed an alternative
strategy to promote about it services offline by appointing sales person directly
interacting with the customers through surveys.
Even opening sites in Facebook will enable the Company to view the comments and
feedbacks of the targeted customers. This will enable to measure the end
consumers and the numbers of customers shown interest in the Company. In future
the company aims to target different segment of people based on geographical
segmentation. In future the company aims to expand its business overall with the
help of online shopping facilities for customers across the world.
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Conclusion
This assignment focuses on the various key roles and responsibilities performed by
the marketing manager of Tesco. A marketing manager acts as the umbrella under
which many operations are carried out. The manager has to have the potentiality to
plan, analyse and execute any strategies considering the risks factors associated
with it. Employee relations are maintained by the managers by looking after their
requirements. Marketing mix including the updated 7Ps is also discussed above with
respect to two companies, Tesco and Sainsbury determining its position in the
market. The elements of marketing mix help to launch new products in the markets
keeping in line with the standards of the products. With globalization, the customers
are demanding new varieties in products, thus the marketing mix helps Tesco to
meet the demands successfully. This assignment has conducted a marketing plan
determining the budgets before the product is launched in the market. Marketing is
actually the set of activities including suppliers and buyers to develop end
consumers.
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