Marketing Essentials and Strategies

The assignment report discusses the importance of marketing in business growth and expansion. It highlights how companies like Aldi use effective marketing strategies to meet customer needs and build loyal relationships. The report also includes references from various books and journals on marketing research, product planning, supply chain management, and human resources marketing.

Marketing Essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1. Roles and responsibilities of the marketing function of ALDI.............................................3
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context.............6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3. Application of marketing mix into the marketing planning process.....................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P4. Producing and evaluating a basic marketing plan for ALDI................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is an important activity of an organisation as it facilitates selling and
distributing of products and services into different market places. It is the best way to connect
with customers and make them aware about different goods and services company is providing.
By manufacturing goods, company can achieve their main target and that is customer
satisfaction. marketing departments plays different roles and functions that help company to sell
their products into market and attract large number of customers (Kahn, 2014). This marketing
term involves different activities of management in which company's items and goods are shifted
from manufacturer to market and from their buyer purchase company's items. Marketers also
implement innovative ideas that help in encouraging sales and also attract customers. Aldi is one
of the leading and discounted supermarket chains that has been operating in more than 20
countries with more than 10,000 stores. It is headquartered in Germany and was founded in
1913. This assignment will cover different roles and responsibilities of marketing functions and
their relation with organisational context. Application of marketing mix in marketing plans with
a business plan of Aldi is also enlightened in this project.
TASK 1
P1. Roles and responsibilities of the marketing function of ALDI
There are several key roles that are played by marketing department in order to achieve
marketing objectives of the company. As mentioned above, marketing is a key activity that is
performed by marketers in order to make company's products and services available to target
markets as well as customers. Different procedures are used to market a product such as
communication, exchange, delivering and distribution, promotions and advertisements, etc.
Marketing helps company to increase their sales and revenues and help establishing a strong
position in the market. Marketers of Aldi tries to come up with new plans that can encourage
their sales of their products and services (DuBrin, 2011). While developing strategies, marketer
implement different marketing functions in order to make their plans more effective and
accurate. They take expert advice from their senior or sometimes from experts for better
development of plans and procedures. From previous experiences and old marketing plans,
marketers get the idea of improvement and areas where they are lacking, so with this they can
modify their plans and can formulate better plans to improve their marketing. By identifying

different new markets and growing economies, company can expand their business in those areas
to increase their profits and revenue. This help them achieving their marketing as well company's
objectives in better manner. Aldi's main aim is to satisfy each customers who is coming to their
stores. With the help of marketing, company an attract large number of people and also make
them aware about the products they sell.
Company invest huge funds while marketing their goods so that their manufactures goods
can be preferred by every people. For that managers prepare a proper budget plan which includes
all details of marketing plan and how the activities are gonna performed. They also see different
and effective distribution channels that will be suitable to distribute their products and services.
A company can achieve all its targets is they focuses on marketing of their goods (Ottman,
2017). Following are some roles and responsibilities of marketing functions:
Marketing information management (MIS): There are various activities and functions
which performed by the organisation as they focus on collecting informations regarding
marketing and manage them properly within organisation. Therefore, they consider modern
techniques and methods for appropriate information such as cloud computing and many others. It
is effective component where Aldi company gather data related to marketing conditions and use
them while making any decision as well as strategies in more efficient way.
Promotions: It is very important component and best element of the marketing that
promote any particular goods or services in the market place. It generally support in pre-sale of
the item by using number of tools and techniques so that huge audiences can be targeted and
reached. Some of tools are magazines, television, social media, internet, newspaper and many
print media which increase sales volume by creating better markets awareness. Social media and
digital marketing etc. are new modern techniques that less expensive and also very effective.
Selling: This is an important factor of company as their aim is to sell their products into
the markets. Aldi have different products and ranges which they sell at reasonable prices to
encourage selling by the customers. More the selling, more will be the profits earned by
company. Aldi has been operating in many countries with multiple stores and have been famous
for their discounted prices and high quality. They claims to provide better quality products as
compared to other retailers and that is the main reason why they are gaining so much of profits
and popularity. As they are focused towards providing quality products, this help them to build

harmonious relationship with their customers and they become loyal to company and prefer them
over other retailers.
Distribution: This is defined as the process and activity which support in delivering any
goods and services to the target audiences in an effective manner. Marketing department
consider distributions channel while making decisions as how products can be delivered to the
right customers for satisfying their needs or wants (Hugos, 2018). It must be required to choose
effective channel of distributions and take support from any partners who can help in this
process.
Pricing: It play crucial role in the organisation as marketing department consider
appropriate pricing strategies so that customers can afford and ready to pay willingly for
consumption of service and products. It will support in increasing sales volume and generate
more profits within the Aldi firm so that competitive advantages can be achieved. As Aldi
provides its products in affordable prices, then can attract more customers and this will increase
their profits. They uses different pricing strategies which help marketers to set appropriate prices
for the products and also provide different offers which can seek the attention of people.
Product and service management: It is another crucial marketing functions that help
company by managing all products and services manufactured by them. It is concerned with
designing, creating, developing, maintaining and managing a product or services through all
stages of their developments. It involves a wide range of operations, marketing and sales related
activities (Rowley, 2016). Aldi focuses on each of their products and ensures that quality has not
been damaged at any stage whether it is manufacturing, distributing or delivering.
Finance: It is defined as the backbone of the organisation because without funds, a
business cannot be implement their business operations. Research department gathers
information regarding various elements and components. To obtain important information,
company runs different surveys and investigations for which they require appropriate funds and
financial support. Aldi firm consider this and provide financial support to promote their products
or services and increase sales in the market place. They try to produce several products including
home appliances, kitchen items and accessories so they required sufficient funds to manage and
maintain quality or quantity of whole products in an effective manner. Their main aim is to
reduce maximum costs and in crease products while running an organisation. Therefore, Aldi

organisation try to get more outcomes by investing limited funds for generating profits and
revenues.
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context
Marketing activities helps company to build a strong position in the market and also help
company to attract large number of customers towards their company. Marketing department
play an important role in the organisation as they perform number of functions and activities for
the purpose of increasing market shares and competing rival companies. Aldi is very precise in
using different market functions at the time of strategy formulations. It is a known fact that every
organisation have different departments and all of them plays different and crucial roles in order
to gain success for the company (Lane, 2016). All departments help marketing department with
different resources or informations, with the help of which marketers can develop strong
marketing strategy and also promote their products to different new markets. As Aldi is one of
the famous brands and has been operating in many countries, this has become possible due to
effective management by superiors and employees and strong communication and coordination
between different departments. Following are some department and their roles and
responsibilities:
Research and Development department: This is a very useful and crucial department
as it is responsible for conducting surveys and research related to target market, customers.
Competitors, etc. They also analyse different internal as well as external factors that can pose
negative as well as positive impact on business operations as well as its profitability. It is
important to carry out research and investigations that help in making different strategies and
counter plans. Various information are gathered and collected from different sources, mainly
primary and secondary sources. There are two types of research methods which can be used by
marketers and they are quantitative and qualitative method. They provide necessary information
to marketing department so that they can use that information and make strong marketing plans.
Human resource management: This department is concerned with numerous
responsibilities and functions which they carry out in order to ensure smooth functioning of the
company. Aldi have a strong HR department and is primarily concerned with recruitments and
selection procedures. They hire eligible and desired candidates which can fill the vacant position
and also help company to increase their profitability and enhance productivity. They provide
talented employees to marketing department so they can give innovative ideas and opinions to

their superiors while developing different plans. Secondary function is that, they provide
marketing department with raw materials and resources that can be utilized at the time of
implementation of activities.
Production department: This department is concerned with developing and designing
products and ensuring highest quality of products and services. Company have different products
lines and they ensures that each products are of highest quality. They set reasonable prices to
their products so that customers can easily buy their products. They also ensures that, customers
gets their desired products on time (Wolfinbarger and Bush, 2012). This help in building the trust
of customers on the company and they become associated with them for longer duration.
Finance department: This department is responsible for providing appropriate funds and
financial support to different departments so that they can smoothly carry out their activities and
implement their innovations. If company lacks funds then they can take assistance from different
financial institutions and investors. They also keep records of company's investments and other
essentials like profits and loss statements, balance sheet, ledgers, etc. Company earn revenue by
selling their products in markets. With funds, company can also expand their business to growing
economies. This will result in more revenue inflowing to the company.
IT and Technical department: This department provides technical support and services
to company. It stores all the relevant data related top company's financial transactions,
information related to each employee and employer working in the organisation, profit and loss
statements, etc. This department provide necessary information to the departments who are in
need of information. They ensure that all software on which employees and company are
working is up to date and free from any kind of viruses. Company also implements different
types of securities and firewalls, that help company in protecting all secret and confidential data
from thefts and leaking.
TASK 2
P3. Application of marketing mix into the marketing planning process
There are different ways that is used by marketer in order to make their marketing plans
more efficient and strong. Marketing mix and functions are some of the criteria which they
consider while formulating marketing strategies (Baines, Fill and Page, 2013). Marketing mix
consists of some tools that help company to achieve their marketing goals and objectives.
Initially marketing mix includes 4P's and later on, it was extended to 7P's. These were considered

as essentials for formulating marketing plans as they provide appropriate directions to marketers.
Superiors always try to improve their plans so that they can enhance their sales as well as
introduce something new in the market. These helps in making effective strategies for promoting
company's goods or services and create strong image among competitors (Blyhte, 2012).
Aldi organisation is one of the best firm who deals in different product ranges. To sell all
their products they utilises concept of marketing mix and marketing functions in order to
increase their goodwill and brand image in the market. This also help company to achieve
competitive advantage over others.
Following is the comparison of marketing mix between two famous brands Aldi and Lidl.
They both are dealing in different product lines and have strong hold in the market. They both
give tough competition to each other.
Marketing mix tools Aldi Lidl
Product This company provide several
kinds of products at wider
range to people so that they
can fulfil different needs,
wants and demands of
customers in proper manner.
The variety of goods provide
by ALDI includes fresh goods,
bakery, drinks, household,
heath & beauty, pet care and
whole foods which are mainly
considered as key products
categories.
The LIDL provides several
kinds of goods such as fresh
fruits & vegetables, meat, fish,
bakery, frozen food, health and
beauty products, cleaning and
household products, pet food,
baby food, baby health care
and so on. They observe
carefully actual; needs of
people and them manufacture
correct goods to fulfil exact
requirements of consumers in
proper way.
Price This company is usually
considered as famous discount
provider as it render goods at
proper discounted rate as well.
It focus on the factor of
The pricing strategy of LIDL
is all about to follow the
technique of penetration
pricing as it indicates criteria
of low pricing and more

providing products to
customers sat reasonable rates
so that every person can afford
them along with high quality
of features of goods. This will
help them to maintain their
number of customers and
attain better productivity and
profitability for long period of
time and make sure about
growth of company.
selling so that due to this
technique, this firm is known
as cheaper then other grocers.
This method of low pricing is
utilised by this company
because their products are
private label brands.
Place They have an effective
management of distribution as
they carrying out the same
procedure in more effective as
well as efficient manner to
make goods available to
customers. ALDI make sure
to retain their customers and
attract ones also so that they
will provide products to
desired consumers in correct
way so that people will not
switch themselves to other
brand.
This company has various
kinds of of distribution
channels along with better
number of regional distribution
centres which provide support
to render required quality of
products at correct time across
United Kingdom. They have
almost 650 stores in UK as
well as 10,000 shops in
Europe.
Promotion There are various kinds of
promotional activities which
are used by ALDI to get better
advantages from them in terms
of boosting up number of sale
The is company also prefer
several promotional activities
and carrying out them in more
effective as well as efficient
manner to generate better

and customer so that
profitability of an organisation
can be improved in an
appropriate manner. Along
with this, they also organise
several campaigns such as
Teenage Cancer Trust to
render an accurate services to
people which also promote
brand effectively.
outcomes in order to boost up
number of sales and
customers to improve profits
as in riverside way. They
basically utilised integrated
promotional campaigns
throughout the year on
television in many of nations
to increase clients.
People Aldi has built a very effective
and smart store layout which
reduces the requirement of
employees needed on every
floor to assist customers
(Perreault, Cannon and
McCarthy, 2015). They have
very talented staff and can
handle several tasks at the
same time. They are well
trained and dedicated towards
their work.
Lidl also employs employees
that are talented and qualified
and know their duties and
responsibilities well. Company
offers them quiet attractive
salaries to its employees so
that they remain motivated and
dedicated towards their work.
Company also provide
necessary training to their
employees in order to make
them more proficient and
talented.
Process Aldi have easy layout that
helps customers to reach to
their products for which they
are looking for. They have
proper segmentations of
different ranges of products
which makes their shopping
It primary process involves
buying and selling large
quantity of goods at lower
prices (Baack, Harris and
Baack, 2013). Lidl do not
involves customer in any of its
procedure or processes.

more easy and convenient.
Physical evidence Aldi has been famous for its
simple layout, processes,
standardisation, global pricing
and operations all round the
world. It claims to provide
30% cheaper products as
compared to other retail stores
and is the only store to
maintain same price for
groceries across world.
Lidl stores have been
following linear and traditional
layout design facilitating
customers at the time of their
purchases. This helps them to
find products easily. It utilizes
its brand colours in its stores
and its surroundings to make it
convenient for them to locate
it.
The above mentioned factors are all includes in marketing mix in comparative manner.
These elements are necessary to be analysed properly to get desired outcomes on regular basis.
Various kinds of companies has their own strategies for these components of marketing mix
which ensures about profitability of them.
TASK 3
P4. Producing and evaluating a basic marketing plan for ALDI
Marketing plan are necessary for company to carry out their marketing activities and
know about the competition in outer world. It also analyse different factors that can influence
company's profit and sales (Charles, JOSEPH and CARL, 2011). Every organisation should
develop strong and effective marketing plans that can help them achieving all their marketing
objectives and targets. As Aldi is one of famous and well reputed plan, marketer are very precise
about their plans and strategies. Due to this, they have been a global brand. Following are some
elements that are considered while formulating marketing plan:
Vision of Aldi
Their main aim is “ to enable British shopper to live richer lives for less”. Company
provides different varieties of products with highest quality so that every customers can afford it.
Mission of Aldi

Company main mission is to provide their customers with different ranges of products at
one to with highest quality. With this mission, Aldi is able to fulfil needs and wants of
consumers and also satisfy them.
Managers and other key personnel should have clear idea about company's vision and
mission and formulate market plan according to that (Baker and Saren, 2016). They can also
perform some market research and analysis to identify different threats and opportunities
available in the market.
SWOT Analysis
This tools helps in identifying company's strengths, weakness, threats and opportunities.
Where, strengths and weakness reflects internal aspect of company and on the other hand, threats
and opportunities reflects external aspects of company.
STRENGTH:
 Aldi have high customer support level as they provides products and services at
discounted rate.
 They offers products at affordable prices.
 Operating in more than 20 nations worldwide.
 Have more than 10,000 stores.
 They have low operating costs.
 Strong hold in the markets of Germany.
 Provide high quality goods and services.
 Price edge over various retailers.
WEAKNESSES
 Has low presence globally as compared to other retailers.
 Poor employee satisfaction.
 Have low penetration in high income groups.
 Have low level of advertising.
THREATS
 Cannot achieve 'complete shopping experience'.
 High level of competition faced by company.
 They face risks associated with suppliers.
OPPORTUNITIES

 They can invest in advertising and promotions to maintain position in the markets.
 They are capable to out perform big two supermarket of Australia that is Coles and
Woolworth.
 They can expand into growing economies like Asia and Africa.
Goals and objectives of Aldi
These are some targets that are prepared by company in order to achieve them in future
by performing different business activities (Jones and Rowley, 2011). Aldi is focused towards
their objectives and plans according to achieve that as soon as possible.
The major objective of company is to provide best quality products and services to their
customers at reasonable prices. They also consider people's demands and wants and act in the
direction of fulfilment.
STP of Aldi
Segmentation: This is an effective ways to divide different markets as per requirements
and focuses on the market which is crucial for company. Every organisation perform this
segmentation in order to know about their target markets and customers. This help in proper
achievement of customers requirements. Aldi group is looking out of people to purchase grocery
at competitive prices.
Target group: Company is focusing on selling households to customers. This help in
targeting customers and markets and can satisfy them in proper manner.
Positioning: Aldi has strong brand image as people can recognise this brand from private
labels. It has strong hold in markets of Germany and trying to expand its business in other
countries which have growing economies.
Marketing Mix of Aldi
Product: Aldi claims to provide products at reasonable prices that are of same quality as
other branded products. They also have other product line such as stationery, fresh fruits and
vegetables, household goods, soft tools, clothes, health and beauty products. They focuses on
providing highest quality of products to their customers.
Price: Aldi has built strong customer base by providing them products and services at
economic prices. Their products are cheaper as compared to other retailer (Fill, 2011). They uses
different pricing strategies which help them setting appropriate price of the product. Some of the
strategies are given below:

 Market penetration.
 Unit pricing strategy.
 Loss-leader pricing.
 Psychological pricing.
 Competitive pricing.
Place: Aldi has been operating in more than 20 countries with thousands of stores. They
keep simple store layout so that customer bear minimum costs. Aldi is supplied with different
products in bulk and stores in a warehouse. They ensures that quality of the products is not
deteriorated (Babin and Zikmund, 2015). They also minimise waste disposal at the time of
transportation of goods. Other than physical stores, they have good presence over internet that
facilitates customers to check details of product and easily locate to nearest stores.
Promotion: Aldi is weak when it comes to promotion as they invest very less amount in
promotions and advertisements. They offer only 'Super Buys' offers that is available till the stock
lasts. They keep on changing their offers and communicate to customers via the means of
newsletter that is known as 'Aldi informs' (Campbell and et al, 2013). In countries like UK and
US, they use expensive print, electronic and display media to advertise about their stores that
help them attracting large number of people towards them. They also promote their products on
online media and Email marketing in order to inform all customers about their offers and 'Special
buys' and new products.
Marketing strategy: This includes different and innovative market plans that are required to
carry out their marketing activities. Marketer should run prior research on target market and
consumer in order to analyse factors like, tastes, preferences, market share, competition, prices of
products, strategies, etc. This help in formulating effective as well strong strategies that can
encourage profits and sales for company (Lilly, 2014). In order to identify competition and about
impact of macro factors, company can also use different techniques like, PESTEL Analysis,
Porter five force modes, SWOT Analysis as given above, etc. These are effective tools and give
accurate ideas about what's going on in external environment.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can concluded that marketing is a crucial activity which help
organisation to grow and expand in different market of countries. With marketing activities,
company can provide customers with their products and services. Their aim is to fulfil all needs

and desires of customers and build good relations with them over the time. This also facilitates
building of loyal relationship between customers and company. Aldi is one of the leading
discounted company which offers their products at affordable prices by meeting all quality
standards. This is a great marketing strategy as it attract large number of customers towards them
and this encourages more selling of goods. They are very focused towards their marketing
objectives and perform several research and surveys in order to find actual needs of market as
well as customers. This help in achieving overall success and satisfaction to customers.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Kahn, K.B., 2014. Product planning essentials. Routledge.
DuBrin, A., 2011. Essentials of management. Nelson Education.
Ottman, J., 2017. The new rules of green marketing: Strategies, tools, and inspiration for
sustainable branding. Routledge.
Hugos, M.H., 2018. Essentials of supply chain management. John Wiley & Sons.
Rowley, J., 2016. Information marketing. Routledge.
Lane, P., 2016. Human resources marketing and recruiting: essentials of employer
branding. Handbook of Human Resources Management, pp. 23-52.
Wolfinbarger, M. and Bush, R., 2012. Essentials of marketing research.
Blyhte, J., 2012. Essentials of marketing. 5. Painos. Barcelona. Person Education.
Perreault, W.D., Cannon, J.P. and McCarthy, E.J., 2015. Essentials of marketing: Amarketing
strategy planning approach.
Baack, D.W., Harris, E.G. and Baack, D., 2013. International marketing (Vol. 3). Sage.
Charles, W.L., JOSEPH, F. and CARL, M., 2011. Essentials of Marketing. Cengage Learning.
Baker, M.J. and Saren, M. eds., 2016. Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
Jones, R. and Rowley, J., 2011. Entrepreneurial marketing in small businesses: A conceptual
exploration. International Small Business Journal. 29(1). pp. 25-36.
Babin, B.J. and Zikmund, W.G., 2015. Essentials of marketing research. Nelson Education.
Lilly, M.C., 2014. Content marketing essentials for small business. London: Create Space
Independent Publishing Platform.
Campbell, R. and et al, 2013. Media essentials: A brief introduction. Bedford/St. Martin's.
Fill, C., 2011. Essentials of marketing communications. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Financial Times
Prentice Hall.
Baines, P., Fill, C. and Page, K., 2013. Essentials of marketing. Oxford University Press.