ESSENTIALS INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT OF MARKETING

MARKETING ESSENTIALS

INTRODUCTION
The concept of marketing can be defined as a social process that is mainly undertaken by
every company in order to create and exchange value with their target audience. It deals with
satisfying customer needs and want profitably (Arguello, 2013). It includes activities related to
advertisement, selling, packaging etc. that helps in transferring the goods from producer to
ultimate consumer. Marketing umbrella usually comprises of public relation, advertising, sales
and publicity. The chosen organization for this report is ALDI, which is a leading supermarket
store in Germany that mainly deals with providing goods and services to potential buyers at
relatively discounted rate. The report covers different roles and responsibilities of ALDI’s
marketing function, how other organisational departments are inter-related with marketing
function and marketing mix of two companies and lastly marketing plan that represents their
marketing tactics throughout a year.
TASK 1
P1. Roles and responsibilities of different functions of marketing
Marketing is a social process by which Organisations and individuals obtain what they
need and desire through creating and exchanging values with others. It mainly deals with
identifying, forecasting and satisfying customer requirement profitable. It stimulates the interest
of potential buyer and enables them to purchase that particular product or service to facilitate
their needs more effectively. Organisations make goods and services in order to earn high profits
but for this they must sell their products to ultimate consumer who actually wants it. It serves as
a bridge between company and potential buyers as it mainly emphasizes on meeting the necessity
of both parties in a proper manner. With the help of marketing, business can take the advantage
of high competitive edge in overseas market. Following are the various roles that ALDI has
performed towards their different marketing function which are discussed as below:
1. Marketing Information System: This system is mainly used by companies in order to
determine the actual needs and requirements of target customer which keep on changing
frequently (Baker and Magnini, 2016). It refers to the system that assembles, analyse and
distribute information concerned with distinct choices of customer to administrator who further
aid in making effective decision for the entity. According to Henry, in order to manage the
organization effectively, it is important to manage their future as well and for that it is required to
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handle the information effectively in a structured and systematic manner. ALDI is getting hold of
high competitive advantages because of this system as it enables them to identify what are the
current likes and dislikes of their target audience so that they can fulfil them by providing with
the same. For example: Through this system, the company figured out that people get easily
attracted to such products which are available at discounted or lower rates.
2. Product or service management: Once the company is done with identifying its target
market and setting the price for their product or services, the next step is to effectively manage it
(Blythe, 2012). This includes communicating to the buyers, responding to their needs and
maintenance of goods and services. ALDI is a leading discount Supermarket chain that offer
products or services at relatively lower or discounted rate. By keeping low price of the product
there is certain assumption that it is of poor quality. In order to eliminate this perception of
customer, the company decided to take feedback from buyers. As a result, the company attained
positive response and built its goodwill amongst consumers.
3. Distribution channel: It is related to companies selling strategy of the goods and services to
the consumer. ALDI buys product in bulk from their suppliers and they stock up it in their
warehouses. It mainly sells its products through company’s outlets and mobile application.
4. Financing: It takes money to make money. From a business owner’s view, it is the most
important marketing function as it deals with how a firm is going to manage their funds or what
are the sources available in the market which can provide adequate funding for smooth and
effective business operation. ALDI manages their funds through investment, share capital, loans,
angel investors etc.
5. Promotion: It deals with how company introduced or advertise their products or services in
the market. It creates awareness among customers which stimulate them to buy that following
product or service. Mostly, it is the voice of the organization which effectively sends their brand
message amongst target audience in a clear and profound manner. In order to target the right
audience, it is essential to have structured marketing and promotional strategy to give best
solution in satisfying customer needs. The common tool of promotion includes personal selling,
sale, publicity and advertisement (Brassington and Pettitt, 2013). ALDI promotes their product
through social networking sites such as face book, Instagram etc. In UK, Australia and US, they
advertise their product and services through electronic, digital and print media. In addition to that
they also offer some super buyer’s offers that help in achieving the attention of customer
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