Marketing Functions and Business Objectives

This assignment explores the critical role of marketing functions in achieving business objectives. It delves into the significant relationship between marketing activities and other organizational functions, emphasizing the importance of the 7 Ps of marketing for effective planning and risk reduction. The analysis highlights the value of evidence-based marketing strategies in increasing productivity, profitability, and fostering customer loyalty.

MARKETING
ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Key roles and responsibilities of marketing officers of your destination.............................1
M1. Key roles and responsibilities in context of marketing environment .................................2
D1. Critical evaluation of elements of marketing and the way they relate with other
departments.................................................................................................................................3
P2. The way roles and responsibilities of marketing contribute to wider organisational
objectives.....................................................................................................................................3
M2..............................................................................................................................................5
D2................................................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P3 Comparison of ways in which marketing mix can be applied on marketing planning.........5
M3...............................................................................................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P4 Evaluate marketing plan for an organisation.........................................................................7
M4...............................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Marketing essentials offers solutions for effective sales and make it efficient and
profitable. This concept states that its management is a simple activity and it creates foundation
for achieving excellence in it. It also states that marketing should be consumer focussed.
Marketing plays the major role in effective functioning of business. It assists in brand awareness
and grabbing attention of customers to increase the sale of particular product (Baines and et. al.,
2013). This report is about company, 'Your Destination'. It is a business concern involved in
transportation services. It is specialized in providing transportation facilities to industries. This
business concern is growing continuously because of its hard work and dedication. Now, this
entity wants to expand its business at global level. Main objective of this study is to identify the
essential marketing tools which will enable this company to compete in global market especially
with its toughest competitor, National Express.
PART 1
P1. Key roles and responsibilities of marketing officers of your destination
Main aim of marketing officers is selling goods and services to customers in a manner
which satisfies their needs and demands. It begins with analysing the needs of users and fulfilling
them with rendering highest level of satisfaction. Common functions of marketing are selling,
buying, storing, grading, standardizing and collecting information related to marketing.
Nowadays, it also includes market planning and strategy formulation. The important roles and
responsibilities of marketing function in Your Destination are:
Managing brand- It includes defining what a company is, what are its operations and
how it operates. This includes explaining the effectiveness of brand along with essential features
of same (Berkowitz, 2016).
Conducting marketing campaign- It also includes organising activities related to
management of marketing. It consists identifying products and services to make the production
process more effective.
Producing marketing materials- This is one of the most important roles of marketing
function to make material that explains description of product and promoting core products and
services with keeping them updated.
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Forming strategies- In this, senior members of marketing department forms strategies
that will help in working efficiently and effectively. This will assist in increasing the market
share in transportation sector.
Market research- It is the major responsibility of marketing function which helps
company in identifying opportunities available in market. It includes collecting more information
about consumers’ needs and wants. It results in knowing the strengths and weaknesses of
company and helps in overcoming the identified weak points.
Innovation- It is necessary for a company like Your Destination to focus more on
adopting new and innovative promotional programs, ways to improve quality of services and
taking consumer retention measures.
Strategic plans- Their another vital role is to make strategies which are cost effective.
This includes aligning marketing strategies with the overall company's plans and objectives.
Achieve competitive advantages- Another important role is to work towards attaining
competitive advantages (Blythe Blyth, 2014). There is huge competition in transportation sector
and to deal with same, marketing department focusses on making strong strategies.
Building brand value- Marketing function is also important for forming ideas and
advertising strategies that will assist in improving the brand value. It is essential to provide high
quality in products and services that will create a positive impact on the minds of consumers.
Customer survey- It is a vital role of marketing function to conduct customer survey to
know their perspective and views related to company. It will help in knowing whether they are
satisfied with the services or not. They can take corrective measures instantly so that
performance can be improved.
Social media- As it is an important platform for marketing in today's scenario, so its
another major role is focussing on promotions through online platforms and digital marketing
techniques.
Maintaining budget- They are also responsible for managing the budget allocated for
marketing activities. They ensure that this given budget will be used properly in an effective and
productive manner (Brassington, and Pettitt, 2013). It also includes reducing wastage of money
on irrelevant activities.
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M1. Key roles and responsibilities in context of marketing environment
Marketing environment includes all factors whether internal or external that affects the
strategies directly or indirectly. It is important to cooperate with such factors to make effective
plans related to promotion of products and services. Some major roles in this context are as
follows-
Identifying relationship- It is the responsibility of its department to identify relation
between mission and vision of company as well as strategies of it. Goals, objectives and vision
are important factors that are to be considered while forming marketing strategies.
Consumer behaviour- Another role in this scenario is to examine the factors that affect
behaviour of consumers and their tastes and preferences (Desa, 2013). This will help a lot in
enhancing business in global marketplace.
Competitor’s study- It is an important part of its environment as it influences marketing
strategies the most. Hence, another important role is to identify competitors and effectively deal
with the competition to achieve competitive advantages.
D1. Critical evaluation of elements of marketing and the way they relate with other departments
According to Blythe, (2013), elements of marketing are related with other functional areas
in an organisation. All departments in the business focusses on customers and increasing profits
through maximized sales. An important element in this context is product which is important for
other departments also. Marketing also includes market research which is handled by research
and development department. Production department is also related with marketing.
They produce as per the demand identified through marketing division. People are another key
element of marketing which is related with human resource department. It includes employee
motivation, training and professional development that will assist in effective production. Since,
there is direct relationship in between marketing elements and other functional areas.
P2. The way roles and responsibilities of marketing contribute to wider organisational objectives
Marketing plays an important role in the success of an organisation. Most of the aspects
to conduct successful operations are dependent on this (Draelos, 2010). It includes advertising,
promotions and sales of products and services. Without marketing, consumers will not be aware
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about the products and services an organisation is offering. It plays a major role in increasing the
sale of company. It is related with wider organisational context in the following manner-
Identifying potential buyers- Marketing helps business concern in knowing the potential
customers. It is important to know them as without identifying interested customers, company
cannot offer products and services that will satisfy their needs and wants. Marketing also helps in
promoting the offerings of business to potential buyers by targeting them through various
promotional tools (Jones and Rowley, 2011). This facilitates the business growth in long run.
Higher sales- As company is aware about the target customers so, they will focus them
more. This will increase the chances of user’s buying products and services. Sales will increase
on continuous basis. Marketing strategies are related with organisation as it results in increasing
sales which leads to increase profits.
Company image- Success of company depends on strong reputation. Marketing helps in
building brand name and makes product common amongst consumers. Effective marketing leads
to improves image of company and builds goodwill for long run. Strong reputation results in
increased sales and expansion of business. It helps in this context through actively participating
in programs of community, effective communication with external and internal factors and
producing quality products and services. This assists in building consumer and loyalty and trust
in the brand. Such factors helps in attaining long term goals of company and overall growth of
firm.
Healthy competition- Marketing also results in maintaining healthy competition at
marketplace. Efforts of marketing works towards pricing of products and services which not just
reaches to consumers but also to competitor firms. It helps in keeping price competitive and to
win this all firms involves in healthy competition. As it facilitates strong and good competition
so, it allows new businesses to enter the marketplace and grow successfully.
Identifies changes- It also assists the organisation in identifying changes and trends. It helps
in making customers satisfied by providing them goods and services that are as per the new
trends (Lamb and Hair, 2011). Organisations who neglects these changes may face consequences
of it hence, marketing plays an important role by making them aware about changing factors and
cooperate with them effectively.
Product differentiation- It is one of the major focus of marketing functions which aims at
producing distinguished products and services by inserting additional features in it. Uniqueness
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plays a important role in attracting more customers. So, efforts of marketing helps in bringing
these specialized characteristics which leads to increased sales. This ultimately results in
increased profitability and assists in expansion of business.
Customer loyalty- It also results in building customer loyalty as they get what they want to
satisfy their needs. It helps in retaining them for long term and reduces the chances of switching
with other brands.
M2
Relationship between marketing and other functional areas is very significant for
organisation. It is required to have interaction between business functions and marketing. Its
plans are based on financial information. It is supporting while making investment decisions.
Marketing also assists production department in identifying type of product to be produced
and how much to produce. Strategies of marketing also identifies influence of demand on
production of goods and services. Sales department creates relations with customers and
marketing helps in making it profitable (Malhotra and et. al., 2013). Research conducted in
marketing assists R&D in developing new and innovative ideas to achieve creativity and
uniqueness in products and services.
D2
Company can use 7Ps of marketing in setting their objectives, goals and targets. Through
these, SWOT analysis can be done which will help in identifying strengths and weaknesses of
business. These 7Ps can be very useful in developing strategic marketing plan to attain overall
objectives. Marketing plan for this company will be-
Product- Transportation services like delivery of goods from one place to another.
Price-It will be on the basis of current pricing scenario and prices followed by competitors.
Place- Markets of new countries where it has not delivered its services before.
Promotion- Print media, advertising through TV, and by using online platforms.
Physical evidence-Services of company for which customer will pay.
People-Human resource and target customers will be included in this context.
Process- Suitable process of production that will be able to meet needs of customers easily.
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TASK 3
P3 Comparison of ways in which marketing mix can be applied on marketing planning
Marketing mix is mixture of various components of marketing. It is combination of various
ideas and plans which are useful for marketing manager to make strong promotion of a product
or service. It includes elements like product, price, place, promotion, people, process and
physical evidences (Mihart, 2012). These components are very important in marketing plans as it
assists in making effective and better strategies in this context. It also helps in determining that
which strategy will be more helpful in organisation. It includes identifying the target customers
and make plans which will be best suitable for them. Marketing mix also allows the business in
building customer value. It is an integral tool in building strong strategies and plans and
implement it in productive and profitable manner.
Basis Your destination National Express
Product It is an growing company in
transportation sector. Quality of its
products is not as per the standards
as compare to its competitors.
For this company, product is very
essential component therefore, they are
focussing more on maintaining quality of
products and services.
Place This company is not having very
strong distribution channel due to
this it is not involved in global
market.
This company is a global player due to its
effective channels of distribution. It is
providing its services online which is
another important marketing strategy of
this concern.
Promotion Main promotional tools in this
company are advertising through
print media and TV.
It is doing marketing through traditional
methods of promotion and also through
digital platforms which makes its
promotion very effective.
Price It is focussing on pricing strategies
to gain more customer attention but
it resulted in low quality of its
Its pricing strategies are based on market
scenario. It is maintaining quality of
services even when prices are low.
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services.
People In case of this company human
resource is not that effective. They
are not focussing more on making
them skilled and efficient.
National express is emphasizing on
hiring quality employees. It is also
providing regular training and
development sessions to maintain
efficiency of its workers.
Process Its process of delivering services is
not strong as they are not working
towards reducing wasteful services.
It is working hard in maintaining its
schedules in impressive ways so as to
decrease unnecessary activities and
making process impactful.
Physical
evidence
Its management is working for
fulfilling the demand of customers.
It is taking feedback of customers to
improve the manner of service providing.
M3
Marketing plays an important role in achieving business objectives. It can be done by
following these strategies-
Increase market share- Marketing plans includes making strategies by considering overall
business plans. It involves identifying demanded products and services, target market, potential
buyers and analyses competition. All these strategies assists in attaining business objectives.
Strong financial resources-It is important to invest in future expansion plans to develop
financial resources of business (Papasolomou and Melanthiou, 2012). It helps in increasing
assets of company which will attract the investors to expand fund.
Productivity-Marketing plans includes improving productivity of services which helps in
achieving goals of company.
Innovation-It is main aim of every company to bring innovation and uniqueness in goods and
services offered by the. It helps in easy access of business and company will effectively achieve
its targets set for long term growth.
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TASK 4
P4 Evaluate marketing plan for an organisation
Marketing plan is an important blueprint that describes activities to be done in future in
context of marketing. It involves functions and steps to be performed to gain marketing
objectives. Marketing process should not be left alone so, it is to be reviewed, evaluated and
adjusted continuously. It is done to judge whether marketing plan is giving enough results or not.
Marketing plans can be evaluated in following manner-
Situation analysis- To develop a marketing plan firstly, situation analysis is to be done. It
includes describing current products and services which will offer marketing advantages in
challenges faced by the company. It also includes identifying external factors related with
business.
Target audience- At this stage target audience is to be identified. They will be the person
for marketing is to be done. It is based on studying customers on the basis of various factors such
as age,gender, demographics, behaviours, cultures etc. It helps in identifying the customers who
needs products and services offered by a company. This criteria is essential to develop strategies
by keeping these targeted customers in consideration.
Goals-Every company sets various goals for marketing every year. These goals are to be
realistic and measurable (Perreault, 2010). It may be formed for long term or short term.
Setting goals and objectives provides directions in marketing plan as planning is to be done in
such a way that these goals can be achieved easily.
Budget-It is very important part of marketing plan as it includes describing the amount
which can be used in marketing activities. This budget is to be breakdown on the basis of various
activities. Budget is to be allocated in well manner so that it can be utilized in effective manner.
It is key factor for all activities involved in overall marketing process. Therefore, it is an integral
part of marketing plan.
Strategies- It is another important part of marketing plan as it includes formulating
strategies for promotion, distribution, grading and other related activities. Strategies and tactics
are important for smooth functioning of marketing functions. These are based on current
marketing environment and emerging issues in this scenario.
Market research- It is another important part of marketing plan. It includes identifying
target market and analysing factors that may affect the strategies. If there are various issues
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which can make business strategies weak then, these factors should be eliminated by taking
corrective actions.
SWOT- This analysis is very essential as it assists in identifying the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It will make marketing plan more effective and identified
weaknesses can be converted into strengths by taking corrective actions against such issues.
Identifying opportunities will help in taking advantages of them.
M4
Evidence based marketing plan is a approach in which company uses research, statistics,
trends, customer interviews and industry practices to develop marketing plan. It includes making
plans based on real scenario of marketplace hence, it is very effective way of planning. It can be
done in following manner-
 Firstly by analysing situations that exists in marketplace. It helps in gathering data and
using it for the purpose of marketing plan.
 After this, assessment is to be done. It will help in deeply understanding the facts
identified in situation analysis (Wirtz, 2012).
 Now, reality check of research is to be done, which includes understanding the feasibility
of marketing plans.
 Another phase is expansion which includes allowing the marketer to learn everything
about the marketplace for successful formation of evidence based marketing plans.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that marketing is very essential
part of every business whether it is for goods or services. Functions of marketing plays a major
role in growth of business. It helps in achieving ultimate business goals that is profit and survival
in long run. It can be identified that, roles and responsibilities of marketing plays a major role in
attaining business objectives. This report also states that, there is significant relationship between
marketing functions and other functional units of an organisation. It also identifies role of
marketing mix in overall business development. It is very important to consider 7 Ps of
marketing while making plans for its activities. This makes planning process more effective and
chances of risk reduces. It also evaluates importance of evidence based marketing plan. This
report helps in analysing the effectiveness of marketing and its functions in increasing
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productivity of business. It also contributes to profitability of organisation and building customer
loyalty.
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