Analyzing Marketing: Roles, Responsibilities, Mix & Unilever's Plan

This report examines the critical roles and responsibilities of marketing functions within an organization, focusing on Unilever as a case study. It details how marketing interrelates with other functional units, emphasizing customer relationship building, sales enhancement, and business insight provision. The responsibilities covered include tracking market trends, exploring new marketing tools, and fostering innovation. The report further analyzes how organizations utilize the marketing mix (product, place, price, promotion, people, processes, and physical evidence) in the marketing planning process, specifically within Unilever's strategic framework. Finally, the report outlines Unilever's marketing plan, covering its business summary, initiatives, customer analysis, and competitor analysis, highlighting the company's commitment to sustainable living and providing quality products at reasonable prices. Desklib offers a wide range of solved assignments and past papers for students.

Marketing Essentials
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
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TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Roles and responsibilities of marketing function..............................................................3
P2 In which way the roles and responsibilities of marketing is related with the organisation4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3 How organisations use the marketing mix in marketing planning process.......................6
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P4 Marketing plan..................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
Books and journals:..............................................................................................................10
INTRODUCTION
Marketing plays a very important role for the success of the organisation and to achieve the
competitive growth in the market also. In the present time there is a large production of goods
and services in which the company has to make the differentiation as how their product is unique
and different from the other companies in the market(Xia, 2018). To make and create the
difference it is important to do the promotion and advertising of the products and services. For
the success of the companies also the advertisement and promotional activities have become
important as people get to know about the company and its products with the help of some
promotional activities. For providing any information about the new launch of products it is
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important to do the marketing of products and services. Unilever is the biggest company which
produces the consumer based products needed by the people in their daily life. The company was
founded on 2 September, 1929 and the headquarter of the company is in London, UK. This
report will cover role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional units, marketing
mix and the marketing plan.
PART 1
TASK 1
P1 Roles and responsibilities of marketing function
Marketing is the main tool by which the companies can make the effective communication in the
market about themselves and the products and services which they are providing. The marketing
function is the concept of many other things which includes selling, promotion, pricing,
advertising and many other things(Dimitrova, Smith and Andras, 2020). Unilever is the biggest
brand which has made the production of many goods and services according to the likes and
dislikes of people. But these products could not be known by the larger number of people if they
were not communicated in the market effectively.
Roles of marketing function-
 Builds the relations with the customers- People wants that business and like the
products of those company who communicates with them. The development of the
relations is the biggest thing which can help the company to grow and succeed in the
market. The relations with the customers can be built with the help of marketing and
promotional activities by the company. Unilever advertisements and promotional
activities are amazing and excellent in which the people connects themselves which is
shown in any of the marketing tools.
 Helps in increasing the sales- The marketing is the only factor which informs the people
about the existence of the particular company and the products and services which is
launched by them. The products and services which are of high quality and without the
marketing would be of no use. Unilever always tries in the marketing of the products to
inform the people about the features of its products.
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 Insights about business- The marketing are the tool which informs the people about the
business and the products. The marketing involves the promotion and advertisements
which provides the insights about the business and the things which they have launched.
Responsibilities of marketing function-
 Tracking trends and competition- The marketing function cannot be made or planned
until it is being researched in an effective manner(Lacy-Nichols, Hattersley and Scrinis,
2021) . The trends of the market which is working and the other companies of similar
industry needs to be identified so that the company can make the marketing campaigns
accordingly. Unilever always conducts such activity so as to make it differentiated from
the other big companies. Searching of new marketing tools- The tools which are used for making the
promotional activity are many and varied and it depends on how the company will be
suing the tools for bringing the productivity. Unilever have adopted many methods of
using the tool which are effective and which brought results. Make and bring innovation- Innovating idea is the key for making the success of the
marketing efforts by the marketing department of the company. Considering the Unilever
which is the biggest company have used different and new innovation to look unique in
its approach.
P2 In which way the roles and responsibilities of marketing is related with the organisation
The roles and responsibilities of marketing are related with the organisation in a larger way. The
whole success of the organisation is related with the advertisements and promotional activities
which the company have chosen for accomplishing the objectives(Saura, Palos-Sanchez and
Correia, 2019). The success of the company is based on when the product and service will reach
to the larger audience and when they will get information about the products which the company
is producing. For Unilever also the roles and responsibilities of marketing are related in variety
of ways-
Roles of marketing in relation with the company-
 Identifying customer needs- The main work for the success of the business is to identify
the needs of the customers so that company can make the production of the products
accruing to the likes of people. This work is given to the marketing department of the
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company to identify and work on this thing. Unilever produces many things and all the
things which are produced by the company are demanded and used by the people in their
daily work.
 Develops awareness about the products- The awareness of the product cannot be made
by launching it in the market as this would not be able to increase the sales as people
would not be knowing about the new product in the market (Campbell, Naidoo and
Campbell, 2020). For every company whether it is small or large it is important for them
to introduce the product with the use of some marketing tools so as to increase the
awareness of people about the launch of new product. Unilever also does this so people
get to know about the new launch and make the purchases.
Responsibility of marketing in relation with company-
 Understanding of target market- It is important for the business to identify the target
market in which they want to make the launch of the product. Target market is that
market which is identified by the marketing department for the selling of product. This
market is that which in which the people will make the purchases as was identified by the
Unilever. Identifying the target market is very important as it helps in increasing the sales
and purchases by the people.
 Communicates with the rest of the company- The communication with other
department means to link the activities of the department with the other department so the
objectives of the company can be achieved on time and in an easy manner. The marketing
department conducts the initial search for identifying the demands of the people and what
the other competitors are offering to them (Dogu and Albayrak, 2018). If the marketing
department of the company will identify such things then the other department which
includes the production, sales, finance department will work. If the marketing department
of Unilever would be unable to identify such factors then the other things will also be
failed.
TASK 2
P3 How organisations use the marketing mix in marketing planning process
Marketing mix is the process in which the companies use the tactics and actions to promote and
build the brand image of the company. The marketing mix is helpful in the launch of new
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products so that the company does not faces any issue (Brahme, Bryant and Luscinski, 2018).
Marketing plan is the strategy which is followed by the business to achieve the objectives for the
success of the company. Unilever uses the tool of marketing mix for the planning of marketing
of the company-
Marketing mix-
 Product- The product must be in accordance with the likeability of the people so that
they can purchase the item. Unilever makes the marketing planning in context with the
demands of the people and according to their use.
 Place- The place at which the product has to be located must be suitable place so that it
does not makes and creates any issue for them to purchase the product. The main aim of
Unilever is to provide the products at the near stores in their marketing plan.
 Price- The price at which the people want to make the purchase of any product should be
the reasonable cost. This is because now the consumers have many options and if the
product pricing is not make at reasonable price then people will not purchase it.
 Promotion- The promotional activity is the most important in which the people get to
know about the company and the products which they are using. Unilever always tries to
use that tool of marketing which can reach to larger number of people.
 People- It means the human resource which is working for the company and the team
which is working for the marketing (Simasathiansophon, 2019). Unilever has to make
the planning for such things also for the smooth flow of work.
 Processes- It means the process which is used for delivering the product to the
consumers. For it proper process is used by the Unilever so that the people does not face
nay issue.
 Physical evidence- These are the intangible things which is shown for what the
consumer is making the purchase. Unilever packaging of products is the main highlight
of them.
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PART 2
TASK 3
P4 Marketing plan
Marketing plan is the planning which is made by the company for the products and according to
the objectives of the company. It is the strategy which is used by the companies and the
marketing department of the company to make the unique identity of the product and the
company so that the company can be distinguished from the others in the market. The
development of planning in the initial stage is very important because it provides the direction as
how the company has to move and what objective they have to accomplish (Tan and Vicente,
2019). This is because if the marketing planning is not made in a proper way then the results for
the company would not be successful. Marketing plan for Unilever has been discussed below-
 Business summary- The Unilever is the consumer based product company which
produces the products used by the people in their daily use. The company have produces
the best quality product to the people and the pricing of the products are also in a
reasonable cost. The products of Unilever are present in around 190 countries and the
usage of the company products are being used by around 2.5 billion people.
 Business initiative- The main initiative and objective of the Unilever is to make the
sustainable living for the people. They are focusing on the saving the environment and
earth and providing the clean and best environment. Also, the main initiative which they
focus on and want to provide to the people is to provide the best quality product at the
most reasonable price.
 Customer analysis- The other stage of the marketing plan is the analysis of the
customers according to needs and wants(Swanson, 2019). The consumers of the
company are all almost as the basic work of Unilever is to produce the products which
are used by the people in their daily life. For which they are identifying the needs and
demands of the people so that the people can use it.
 Competitor analysis- The competition identification is very important for the company
this is because the marketing department of the company will make the marketing
planning according to what is prevailing in the market and which is used by the
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competitors. Unilever have many competitors and the proper identification of the
strategies which is used by competitors becomes very important for the success.
 SWOT analysis- The SWOT analysis is helpful for the determination of both the
external and internal factors. The strengths of the company is the strong brand image
which the company have built in the present time (Dunn, 2020). The weakness is that the
products which the company is providing in the market can be replaced by the other
company. Opportunities is the international presence of the company and the threats for
which the company is facing is the competition.
 Developing market strategy- The market strategy of the company is always made
according to the dynamic market environment and competitions which is existing in the
market. Unilever is using the marketing tools which are modern and with the use of
Internet the digital marketing have come up in trends (Xiao, 2019). The market strategy
requires the clear planning for the launch and doing marketing of products.
 Budget- Marketing requires a good amount of investment and for being in trend it is
important to leave the traditional methods of marketing and to use the modern ways of
channelizing the products. Unilever is a big company and they have made the investment
according to the needs and demands of the environment.
 Marketing channels- The channels of marketing are many and for the success of the
marketing strategies it is important to conduct the proper research (Thomas, 2021). The
availability of marketing channels are many and it totally depends on the marketing team
as how they want to do the work and what they have to choose out of many.
Thus, it can be concluded that preparing and planning the activities in the initial stage of any
process is very important. The marketing plan is the core in any company because it provides the
direction as how the company has to make the use of the tools and what strategies they have to
follow.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that marketing is the most essential tool for the
business as it helps in engaging the customers and in providing the information about the
products and services which the company is providing. The reputation of the business cannot be
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build on the basis of the larger production of goods but it will be based on the marketing and
promotional activities which the company is doing. Marketing is not just for providing the
information about the new launch of the products but it is about building good bond and relation
with the consumers also.
References
Books and journals:
Brahme, M., Bryant, S. and Luscinski, A., 2018. A literature review covering 20 years of
research on marketing library resources to distance learners. Journal of Library &
Information Services in Distance Learning . 12 (3-4). pp. 130-147.
Campbell, K.S., Naidoo, J.S. and Campbell, S.M., 2020. Hard or soft sell? Understanding white
papers as content marketing. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. 63(1).
pp.21-38.
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Dimitrova, B.V., Smith, B. and Andras, T.L., 2020. Marketing channel evolution: From
contactual efficiency to brand value co-creation and appropriation within the platform
enterprise. Journal of Marketing Channels. 26(1). pp.60-71.
Dogu, E. and Albayrak, Y.E., 2018. Criteria evaluation for pricing decisions in strategic
marketing management using an intuitionistic cognitive map approach. Soft
Computing. 22(15). pp.4989-5005.
Dunn, R.A., 2020. Marketing to Gamers: The Effects of Video Game Streams on. Digital
Marketing Strategies and Models for Competitive Business, p.160.
Lacy-Nichols, J., Hattersley, L. and Scrinis, G., 2021. Nutritional Marketing of Plant-Based
Meat-Analogue Products: an exploratory study of front-of-pack and website claims in the
USA. Public Health Nutrition, pp.1-32.
Saura, JR, Palos-Sanchez, PR and Correia, MB, 2019. Digital marketing strategies based on the
e-business model: Literature review and future directions. Organizational transformation
and managing innovation in the fourth industrial revolution , pp.86-103.
Simasathiansophon, N., 2019, July. Educational Marketing Strategy Through Online Platform: A
Case of SSRUIC, Thailand. In proceedings of the 2019 3rd international conference on
education and multimedia technology (pp. 287-290).
Swanson, S.R., 2019. The defining dozen: undergraduate students preconceived views of
marketing. Marketing Education Review. 29(1). pp.3-16.
Tan, TAG and Vicente, AJ, 2019. An innovative experiential and collaborative learning
approach to an undergraduate marketing management course: A case of the
Philippines. The International Journal of Management Education . 17 (3). p.100309.
Thomas, R.K., 2021. Marketing Planning. In Health Services Planning (pp. 247-277). Springer,
New York, NY.
Xia, X., 2018. Assessment of marketing management performance audit practices of tourist
destinations. International Journal of Tourism Policy. 8(2). pp.147-171.
Xiao, Y., 2019. Tourism marketing platform on mobile internet: a case study of WeChat. Journal
of Electronic Commerce in Organizations (JECO) . 17 (2). pp. 42-54.
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