Understanding Marketing and IT Interfaces

This assignment provides a comprehensive overview of the intersection of marketing and IT. It covers the essential concepts of marketing, including the 7Ps of marketing, and how these elements interact with IT to drive organizational objectives. The assignment also touches on the importance of marketing-IT collaboration in achieving sales volume targets and business success.

Marketing Essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Roles and Responsibilities of marketing officer...................................................................1
P2 Interrelation of marketing activities with organisational context..........................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3 Comparison between organisations using 7P's......................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P4 Formulating a basic marketing plan.......................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is a vital part of the organisation. It is an activity which focuses on the
promoting and selling of product. The contemporary marketing has a wider scope as it includes
the market research to identify the profitable goods that can be produced by the company. It
determine the potential customers for the product. The prime task of the marketing is attracting
and retaining customers for the purpose of achieving the business objectives. These potential
tasks are performed by an marketing manager by utilising various tools and techniques. Your
Destination is the latest company to enter into the transportation sector. The main areas of
operation of this company are in London and Essex. The marketing manager of this
transportation company is responsible for fulfilling the marketing activities. The company is
looking to expand its operations in Newcastle, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Manchester. This report
includes the various roles and responsibilities of marketing team which will help achieve the
expansion goals. The elements of the marketing mix are analysed and formulated for goal
accomplishment. Business plan will be formulated to achieve the expansion goals (Blumberg,
Cooper and Schindler, 2014).
Marketing is defined to activities aimed to promote the product and services of the
company along with generation of demands. The activities which are encompassed in this
function are creating, communicating and delivering value to the customers. The another
definition of marketing states that, “Marketing is an activity which aims to maximise earning of
shareholders through business activities”.
TASK 1
P1 Roles and Responsibilities of marketing officer
Marketing is indispensable part of the organisation. It helps in fulfilling the objectives in
the effective manner. There are a variety of marketing functions which are to be performed by
the marketing officer with the help of various tools and measures. The objectives aims to cater
the needs of the people and their successful retention by providing quality services. In the case of
transportation, it focuses on the timely delivery of the product with effective handling.
Research
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The market department is responsible for conducting market research on the timely basis.
It focuses on gathering information about the product (feedback), needs of the consumers, rival
goods and majorly understanding the market situation and trends (Bovée and Thill, 2013).
Distribution
Distribution refers to the effective use of the distribution network so that the product
reaches target market. It mainly focuses on how the product will reach to it final buyers?. It can
be achieved through opening an outlet. The company starts making money when the product is
effectively distributed to its final customers.
Pricing
Pricing is one of the important factors when it comes to product. Effective pricing is
important which can be decided after evaluating factors such as cost of production, profit margin
and the price of competitive goods. The right price can be achieved with the help of 'trial and
error' method.
Financing
Marketing function is responsible for identifying the various sources of funds for
business operations. In order to expand its business the marketer will evaluate the various
sources of funds such as loans, investments and personal capital and select the most appropriate
one (Ebert and et. al., 2014).
Promotion
Promotion is the process of making prospects aware about the new product or service.
Advertising is a common tool used to promote the product over various sources such as TV,
billboards and social media marketing. In order to expand its operations Your Destination should
opt for a semi modern method such as combination of social media marketing and news letters.
Selling
the Orthodox role of the marketing is to sell the products of the company. But even the
latest function have the essence of selling in its operations. All the task and functions of the
company are aimed to sell more of its service.
Responsibilities of the Marketing Function
The prime responsibility of the marketing is to improve the sales volume and profitability
of the company and all the activity are directed towards this purpose only. The marketing
department depends on the scale of operation (Ebert and Griffin, 2012). For instance in an
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emerging Firm like Your Destination it can either be outsourced or involves a team of 4-5
members including Marketing manager and marketing director and executives who are
responsible to carry out marketing functions for the organisation.
Strategy
This is one of the most crucial task to be done by the marketing manager. The strategies
are the plans to achieve the targets established by the company. The Strategy of Your Destination
is to increase the size of operations. To facilitate the expansion effectively it is necessary to
develop a action plan which supports the strategy of the company. The strategies formulated are
to be approved by senior management to for their execution.
Product/ Service Development
It is the responsibility of the marketing department to ensure that the products and
services are developed and evolved so that they matches the needs of customers. The analysis of
sales is to be conducted and compared with the established standards. The deviation found out is
resolved by the marketing department. It was found out that condition of the carriers was not up
to the mark when compared with the rivals so the marketing Dept. proposed these changes to
increase the revenue of sales (Engemann and Henderson,2011).
Communication
Communication is an critical tool to promote the products and services of a company.
The medium of communication totally depends the allocated budget for the same. The company
can develop marketing campaigns, emailing and promotional programs to boost the sales of the
service and to obtain feedback on the same.
Sales support
The marketing function helps in facilitating the sales of the service by provision of
adequate and suitable marketing techniques. Your Destination operates in London at a large scale
so the company can use sales promotion technique such as 10% discount to first time users to
penetrate into the market.
MEMO
Date: 12th October, 2017
Your Destination held a meeting of the senior management and concerned people and the
company will be expanding its operations to Manchester, Aberdeen and New castle. There may
be some transition in the near future in the company. Cooperation of all will be appreciated
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during this course.
B 2 B marketing is an activity which happens between two organisation. In B to B sales
and marketing finished product from one organisation remains supporting product for another
organisation. Basically it B to B sales are seen in the the departments of administrative and
offices. Such as stationary, newspapers, papers and printings.
B to C is refers to the marketing activities between a business organisation to customers.
Your destination can use this marketing strategy to improve the brand recognition among the
customers. The company can have provide access of the mobility services to the customers.
P2 Interrelation of marketing activities with organisational context
It is not a secret that the all the function in an organisation are interlinked. The impact on
one function will have its effects on other functions as well (Hair, 2015). Marketing is one of the
essential function in an organisation and it is related to other business functions. The roots of
marketing lies in all the department. The marketing function supports others in task of marking
decisions. The interrelation of marketing with other functions is as follows:
Marketing and Finance function
Marketing and finance department work together to ensure the availability of funds for
various marketing and business operations. The main areas in marketing to which funds are
allocated are advertising, research and for promotional activities. The allocation of the budgets
provides the functions with the parameters within which they have to perform. If the organisation
believes that there can be high ROI then they may wish to allocate more budget to the same. The
marketing aims to increase the sales volume and profitability which is used by the finance
department in maintaining a effortless work cycle and paying back the creditors and investors.
Marketing and Human resources
Human resources department is concerned with effective managing and retaining of the
human capital in the organisation. Human resources can fulfil the requirement of executives in
the marketing department. Youth Destination is looking for two competent marketing officer and
this requirement can be fulfilled by the human resources department. Other than this HR
department have to ensure staffing needs are fulfilled in other marketing functions such as
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research staff, production targets and effective sales force. The HR Dept. of Your destination
should fulfil the needs which are generated by the marketing department (Marketing Interfaces
with other functional areas, 2016).
Marketing and Production function
In order to accomplish the R&D and logistics needs the marketing and production
function needs to work together for the purpose of to fulfilling the present and future needs of
customers. Production function concerned with the generation of the services. In case of Your
Destination the company caters the need of mobility of personal and industrial goods so to
ensure the right channel from which they can be transferred to the place of consumption. The
marketing and production both are crucial for business as they focus on providing the services
which satisfy the needs. Production and marketing fulfils the five economic utilities i.e.
 Form Utility
 Task utility
 Time utility
 Place Utility
Marketing and IT function
In the present day business environment marketing and IT are the most important
functions that can help achieve competitive advantage for a company. IT helps an organisation in
digitalization and automation of business operations which helps in achieving efficiency. IT can
help marketing in development of an website or an e-commerce portal. The another task which
can be done with the integration of is data analysis and product enhancement (The Relationship
Between Marketing and IT, 2016). Your Destination can develop e-commerce platform to boost
its sales over online platform. With the help of IT the company can give develop transparency by
giving tracking functionality to the consumers.
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(Source: Marketing-IT collaboration benefits, 2016)
R&D and marketing function
The common function between R&D and marketing function is to provide the products
which are capable of fulfilling the needs of the customers. The Research and development aims
to invent or innovate a product based on the data collected by the marketing team. The marketing
team identifies the satisfaction level and finds the features or the factors they lack (Jaggia and et.
al., 2016). This data is collected and interpreted and transferred to the R&D development so that
they can utilise their creativity to create a product which fulfils the requirement. Your
Destination is a emerging organisation therefore they may not have separate department for
research therefore these activities are performed under the marketing function only.
TASK 2
P3 Comparison between organisations using 7P's
The 7P's or marketing mix is a set of controllable tools which are utilised by the company
to fulfil the demands of the consumers . All the elements in the marketing mix are related to each
other and perform to achieve the marketing objectives. The increase in the number of elements is
known as Extended marketing mix.
1) Product:
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Illustration 1: Marketing-IT collaboration benefits

Your destination provides services for mobility of personal as well as industrial goods.
Therefore there is no physical existence of the same. The company have to ensure that the
product in requirement is delivered to the people. The market research conducted informs the
company about the existence of similar service in the market and their drawbacks so that the
service offered by the company excels the customer satisfaction (Kongstvedt, 2012).
National express is another company which is fulfilling the carrier needs of the
consumers. Both the companies are offering the same product in the market. Your Destination
should focus on the finding the USP of the service or focuses on explaining, How their services
are different and better from the competitors?.
2) Price:
Price is the amount which is paid by a consumer to avail the service. Price is a very
crucial in determining the level of sales of service. It helps in building the perception of
consumers. Youth destination can charge premium pricing in London and Essex as they have
established a brand name in that area. When expanding to the new markets an organisation
should opt for competitive pricing so to increase sales and lure new consumers.
National Express is the market leader in United Kingdom. The company have a well
established brand name and they have opted for premium pricing as higher prices signifies better
quality as well. The consumers who wish to play safe opts for such company only ( Laudon and
Laudon, 2011).
3) Place:
Place is described as a place where production or provision of service takes place.
National Express is a well established company therefore carries a deep understanding of the
market and encompasses the target market in an effective manner.
Your Destination is an emerging company and places its services in the London and
Essex. The company does not carry a very good understanding of the market when comparing
with its rivals. An effective placement helps in achieving the targets of the company (Prewitt,
Weil and McClure, 2011). The popular distribution strategies are: Intensive distribution,
selective and franchising.
4) Promotion:
Promotion is a technique used by the company to boost temporary sale of the company
and create a brand image. The various elements of sales promotion are:
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 Sales Promotion is a way in which discounts are offered to products to maximise the
sales of products and services. The company can offer 15% discounts to the customer
who is using services for the first time.
 Advertising is another form of marketing the product through various channels of media
such as TV, radio and over social media platforms. Your destination can use advertising
to market the services.
 Public relation is a broader term which encompasses all the activities of marketing. It
defines the quality of relationship between an organisation and surrounding parties.
Your Destination is an emerging company therefore it has to utilise the sales promotion
tools in order to fulfil their objectives (Leach, 2011). The company can expand its operations
smooth with the help of sales promotions. Advertising and other paid communications have
multiple benefits. They help achieve sales and targets and enhance the brand name of the
company.
National Express is an established name therefore the need of sales promotional tools is
very less. However there is always threat of a new entrant, in those circumstances the company
can use this methods to retain their position in the market.
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(Source: 7P's of marketing, 2015)
5) People:
People or employees constitute as one of most critical component of the organisation.
Employees are the one who ensures that the objectives are met in an efficient manner. Finding
and managing the capable workforce in an organisation carries an positive outcome. Your
Destination is looking for two capable marketing officers who can assist company in its
expansion programs (Ragas and Culp, 2014). Employees can help develop a competitive
advantage which can't be imitated by the rival companies.
National Express is operating at a national develop and have developed a competent
workforce with adequate experience to face the obstacles and resolve them in an efficient
manner. Feedback system and creativity in accomplishing task can be incorporated by the people
in the organisation.
6) Process:
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Illustration 2: 7P's of marketing

This process in the marketing mix refers to how the service will be delivered to the
customer. It takes into consideration the procedure, tasks and mechanism form which it will be
provided to the prospects. Your Destination caters the private and industrial needs of
transportation (Robbins and Judge, 2012). The best and efficient strategy of service provision is
to be adopted by the company. It should enhance the customer participation and minimal
complexity in the service.
National Express is the market leader and carries a well- tailored process. The large scale
operation have provided them with economies of the scale. Regular enhancement in the process
help in developing competitive advantage and gather more profits.
7) Physical Evidence:
There lacks a physical evidence in the service industry. The physical can evidence of a
service company can be the way its services are perceived in the market. The physical evidence
of a company covers the sign and symbol along with online website. The company can form
attractive logos which shows company's area of operations. National Express in the market
perceived as a reliable company when it comes to transportation of personal and industrial
goods. Because of this perception they are able to charge premium pricing for that. Therefore the
pricing gives emerging company like Your Destination gets the opportunity to deliver its
services. Company can manipulate the perception of people as cost friendly quality services
(Robyt, 2012).
TASK 3
P4 Formulating a basic marketing plan
A Marketing plan is a written material which provides the serial of activities which are to
be executed to accomplish the expansion program. The document specifies the objectives, target
market and budget for the same. The document is generated within the company and kept
confidential. The structure can be formal as well as informal depending upon the organisation.
The Essential component of marketing plan are as follows:
Market Research
The most important component of marketing plan is research. The data collected by the
marketing team assess the importance of expansion and it also focuses the areas where the
expansion program is to be conducted and at what scale and resources.
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Target Market
Your Destination is expanding into Manchester, New castle and Aberdeen. These cities
are only finalised after the market research which proves that high number of prospects in these
areas (Wilson, 2014). Segmentation should be effective as it can have negative outcomes of the
company. After realising high need for a transportation company, the business is being expanded
into these cities.
Positioning
Positioning means the perception of the company in the mind of the consumer. Your
Destination should manipulate the people perception by positioning it as a company who
provides quality service at a pocket friendly prices. By such a positioning it can have establish
itself in the new market.
Competitive Analysis
This component of the marketing plan focuses on a detailed analysis of the competitors.
Which in this case is National Express. It can help identify the strength and weaknesses of the
company which can be put into consideration. The pricing strategies adopted by the rival can be
analysed as well. This evaluation can help in better placement and targeting their weaknesses for
the benefit of business (Young and Dhanda, 2012).
Market strategy
Strategy is defined as the action plan to reach out to prospects and lure them into availing
the service. It focuses on the tactics by marketing team to reach out to people and make them
aware about the services. Your Destination can utilise coupons, social media marketing, events
and partnerships for purpose of gaining access to customers.
Budget
Budget is the amount which is assigned by the company for conducting the expansion
program. Your Destination have assigned a special budget to conduct marketing in the area. The
company can utilise the tool of metrics to analyse the success of marketing programs.
Metrics
Metrics help in evaluating the success of marketing by calculating the Return on
Investment (ROI). Your destination should evaluate the performance on the regular interval of 30
to 60 days.
SWOT
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Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats abbreviated as SWOT is a common tool
which is used by an organisation to examine the internal factors. It is crucial for a business to
conduct this assessment on a timely basis as it helps in identifying the current standing of
business. Strengths are the key performing areas which can be further utilised by the company to
maintain its position in the market. Weaknesses are non performing areas of business.
Opportunities are defined to be the chances to expand the business and threats are the domain
which are likely to bring losses to organisation. The SWOT analysis of Your destination is as
follows:
Strengths
 Large industrial market
 Product offering in Personal and
industrial sector Enhancing customer base
Weaknesses
 Strong competition
 Strict regulations
Opportunities
 Market expansion
 Association with E-commerce
companies. Formulation of promotional strategies
Threats
 Price fluctuations in the market
 National express dominating the
market.
It is equally important to assess the external environment of the company. The factor in
the ecosystem are crucial as they influence the business operations. The uncontrollable factors
are need to be thoroughly understood so that counter policies can be formulated. PESTLE is a
tool which helps in conducting a detailed examination of external factors. PESTLE of your
destination is as follows:
POLITICAL FACTORS: these factors focuses on the political environment of a country.
Your destination is influenced a great deal by the political environment. The recession in the
market have lowered the mobility of personal and industrial goods therefore affecting the
company's sales revenue.
ECONOMIC FACTOR: this factor undertakes the market situation. While considering
the economic factor it is necessary to evaluate factors such as inflation, wages, interest rates and
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demand of a product or a service. Stability in the market promotes real income therefore
enhancing the mobility of personal and industrial goods in UK.
SOCIAL FACTOR: lifestyle and preferences of people are taken into consideration. This
external factor carries a large impact on the business operations as well. The positive attitude and
preference of people towards company will definitely promote the company in terms of growth
and market share.
TECHNOLOGICAL FACTOR: Technology plays a crucial role as well. The company
can adopt the transparency in the process so that more and more people are aware of the current
position of the goods and are relieved in that manner.
LEGAL FACTOR: the government have established various laws which are to be
adhered by a transport company. The laws are regarding emissions and use of renewable sources
of company.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS: Your destination have to strictly follow sustainable
means of development and adhere to the rules and regulations laid down by the government to
avoid legal trouble. Adoption of sustainable means will help in spreading a positive image of the
company.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from this report that marketing is an key function in an organisation.
It is the duty of marketing officer to perform the crucial tasks such as formulating strategies,
conducting research, service development and boost selling for the purpose of achieving the
organisational objectives. There is an interrelation between marketing and other essential
business function such as finance, human resources, operation and research and development.
Extended marketing mix consist of 7 elements which help a company in manipulating its
environment and achieving its sales volume targets. A marketing plan is developed keeping in
mind the expansion program of the company.
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REFERENCES
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Online
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<http://www.brainkart.com/article/Marketing-Interfaces-with-other-functional-
areas_7197/>. [Accessed on: 12th October, 2017].
The Relationship Between Marketing and IT. 2016 [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.business2community.com/marketing/the-relationship-between-marketing-
and-it-01567946#axH6qTSqtOa0Q2mQ.97>. [Accessed on: 12th October, 2017].
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