Roles and Responsibilities of Marketing Department in eBay

This article discusses the basic responsibilities and roles of the marketing department in eBay, including identifying customer demands and managing the marketing budget. It also explores the interrelationship between the marketing department and other functional units within the organization.

MARKETING
ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Mention about basic responsibilities and roles of marketing department within selected
business firm...........................................................................................................................1
M1 Analyse responsibilities and roles of marketing in market atmosphere..........................2
P2 Discuss the manner in which roles, duties and responsibilities of marketing unit is related
with wider context of an organisation....................................................................................2
M2 Analyse value of interrelationship among marketing and other functions of an
organisation............................................................................................................................3
D1 Critical analysis of key aspects of marketing function and their relationship with other
functional units.......................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P3 Compare the methods by which various firms apply marketing mix to attain their business
goals and objectives................................................................................................................4
M3 Multiple tactics adopted by selected business to achieve their organisational objectives7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P4&M4&D2 Produce an effective marketing plan for selected business to attain
organisational objectives and targets efficiently....................................................................8
D2 Development of a basic marketing plan including marketing mix to achieve organisational
targets...................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is referred to the activities and efforts which are performed by the employees
of a company so that customers can be acknowledge about their services and products. There are
multiple activities which are part of marketing like research, advertising, promotions etc. Hence,
marketing department plays essential role in the success of a company (Pike, 2015). This project
work is carried out in context with eBay which is a multinational company operating at global
level. This company is founded in California, USA and employees more than 14000 employees.
This assignment is going to cover about role of marketing team in performing activities of a
company. Also, interrelation of marketing department with other functional departments will be
mentioned. Other than this, a marketing mix will be prepared to evaluate current performance of
company in market. At last, an effective marketing plan will be prepared so that goals of
company can be attained properly.
TASK 1
P1 Mention about basic responsibilities and roles of marketing department within selected
business firm
Marketing is a process that includes the use of various techniques and tools so that
existing and potential customers of a company can be acknowledged about offerings of a
company. Marketing will help eBay in increasing their sales and revenues due to increment in
their customer base. Marketing function is basically a role that is performed by the employees of
marketing team of a company so that offerings of company can be promoted properly (Blythe
and Martin, 2019). Marketing team of a company perform varied activities and operations so that
organisational targets can be attained in a proper manner. Below are mentioned some
responsibilities and roles of marketing function in context to eBay:
 Identification of customers demand: It is considered as the basic role of marketing in a
business firm. Marketing department of a firm have the responsibility to identify and
analyse the present needs of the consumers so that company can provide them
appropriate services. For example, In case of eBay, marketing manager of organisation
have the role to perform market analysis so that changing needs of people can be
identified properly.
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 Managing marketing budget: It is most essential responsibility of marketing
department. By preparing an appropriate budget, overall activities of department can be
performed in a proper manner. In this context, manager in eBay is required to prepare
effective budget so that all the costs and expenses of department can be summed up
without any confusion. For example, Formulation of marketing budget will help the
employees in understanding the amount which they can invest on a particular activity. By
this, organisational productivity of eBay will improve and company will attain their
expected targets in proper manner (Lipsman, A. and et. Al., 2012).
M1 Analyse responsibilities and roles of marketing in market atmosphere
 Development of market strategies: This is another important role of marketing team
within business organisation. It is the responsibility of marketing unit in eBay to prepare
marketing strategies so that high competitive advantage over competitors can be achieved
in a successful manner. By formulation of appropriate strategies, market environment for
eBay can became advantageous. For example, marketing manager of company can adopt
a new promotional tactics or introduce products of company in new marketplace so that
maximised sales can be achieved. By this, eBay will be able to earn maximised growth in
limited time period.
 Advertisement and promotion: This is an important responsibility of marketing
function in market environment. This is because, if marketing team in eBay will not
advertise and promote the services of company, customers will not be able to
acknowledge the offerings of organisation. Due to this, company will not be able to
achieve their expected results and targets. By promoting, marketing team increasing
customer base and sales for company which assists in earning of high revenues and
profits (Mihart, 2012).
P2 Discuss the manner in which roles, duties and responsibilities of marketing unit is related
with wider context of an organisation
Main role of marketing team is to advertise and promote the offerings of an organisation
so that concerned company can achieve their sales targets without any compromise. But, it is not
possible for marketing team to achieve expected goals by themselves. Hence, Marketing team is
needed to work in collaboration with other departments so that high productivity can be attained
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by eBay. In context with eBay, interrelation in marketing team and other department is specified
below:
 Marketing and HR department: Role of HR department is to hire, recruit, select and
train efficient employees that are capable to perform complex work in a simplified
manner. Vacant position and jobs of a company are promoted by marketing team due to
which skilled individuals apply for vacant positions. In order to perform marketing
activities, HR team hire employees (Fırat, 2013). For example, If HR team in eBay will
not hire skilled employees, marketing team can not perform their activities in productive
manner. Due to which revenues and profits of company will be compromised. Hence,
these departments are interrelated for their organisational work.
 Finance and marketing department: Finance department of a company have the role to
manage all the activities related with funds and finance. This department allocated funds
and finances to marketing department due to which they perform their business
operations. In return, marketing team finds investors which can invest in eBay so that no
shortage of funds can be faced by finance department. Without the assistance of
marketing team, finance unit can not perform their work. Due to this, these departments
are required to work in a coordinated manner.
 Marketing and production department: In an organisation, responsibility of
production team is to manufacture products which are then advertised by marketing
department. If production team will not produce products and services in a timely
manner, marketing team will not be able to advertise them. Due to this, working of
marketing team will get disrupted. Marketing team of a company performs market
research due to which production department is able to acknowledge which products are
in demand. If these departments will not work in coordination, then production team will
not be able to produce right product and customers will shift their presence to other
organisations (Khan and Adil, 2013).
M2 Analyse value of interrelationship among marketing and other functions of an organisation
It is very important for marketing team of an organisation to have efficient coordination
and working with other departments. For example, if marketing team will not work in
coordination with finance team then shortage of money can be faced by a business firm. This
will disrupt the entire working of company due to which revenues and profits will suffer. In case
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of HR team, if marketing and HR manager will not work efficiently, then skilled employees will
not be hired. This will reduce the overall working potential of company. If all of these
department will work together, complex situations can be handled in a simplified manner. Also,
all the work will be accomplished prior deadline. By this, eBay will be able to achieve their
objectives and targets due to which high advantage over rival will be gained in a proper manner
(Papasolomou and Melanthiou, 2012).
D1 Critical analysis of key aspects of marketing function and their relationship with other
functional units
Key elements in context to marketing function are market research and analysis,
development of business strategies, promotion and advertisement of products etc. All of these
activities which are performed by marketing function, impacts the working of other departments.
Due to advertisement and promotions of products, sales team is capable to achieve their sales
targets. If marketing team will not introduce new strategies, earning high profits will not be
possible by this shortage of finance will be faced and finance team will be unable to perform
their work efficiently. Hence, all of the functional team in eBay are interrelated with marketing
functions and department for their efficient working. Appropriate relation between these
departments will help the company to achieve their expected outcomes in a timely manner.
TASK 2
P3 Compare the methods by which various firms apply marketing mix to attain their business
goals and objectives
Marketing mix is the technique through which a business firm can adopt and implement
multiple strategies and tactics so that potential and existing customers can be attracted to
purchase offerings of the organisation. As eBay is a For-Profit company, main business objective
of the firm is to augment its profits and revenues so that they can became market leader in e-
commerce activities. Amazon is also a US based e-commerce organisation which have same
business objective as eBay (Baker and Magnini, 2016). This means that these organisations have
similar objectives and working. To evaluate their current position in market, manager in eBay is
going to compare their organisational performance with Amazon. In this context, marketing mix
of eBay and Amazon is mentioned below:
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Marketing mix of eBay and Amazon
Basics Ebay Amazon
Product eBay is an e-commerce company
which offers online shopping facilities
to their customers. At first, company
offer their services and associated
products at local level only but later
own company started offering
shopping facilities in global context.
Main products available at E-bay sites
are books, home appliances,
electronics, home décor etc. Services
provided by eBay includes their
subsides like PayPal, Skype etc.
Amazon is one of the best organisation
in e-commerce industry. They initiate
their business activities as online book
retailer. Before long management of
company predicted different doors in
online market. So they enhance their
product portfolio and provides different
items to their customer base which
cover all aspect, for example,
appropriate targeted market, services
for wide range of customers (Jones and
Rowley, 2011).
Price Products available at eBay are
moderately priced so that maximum
number of people can purchase them.
To increases the interest of customers
in the products of eBay, company
uses bundle pricing in which
customers are given good discount if
they buy products in bundles
(Muralidharan and Raval, 2017).
Amazon choose the cost of their items
according to market demand of
products. As they carry out their
business via online medium which
confirm that to continue in industry it is
fundamental for them to beat prices of
rival firms. Competitive pricing is the
significant pricing technique that is
execute by Amazon to choose the cost
for their items. It specify that they
generally chooses low cost for its items
until they beat their rivals.
Place As eBay is an online site due to which Most of the Amazon work is performed
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business of firm is designed as online
platform only. This is the reason,
infrastructure of eBay is not very
robust. But website of eBay is
accessible in almost every part of
globe due to which people can easily
use the services of company.
via E-trade due to which they hold their
activities through online stage.
Alongside this, organization has stores
and centres explicitly for books and
journals. This is because selling of
books is the basic source for Amazon to
earn high revenues.
Promotion Ebay is a popular e-commerce
organisation in global context but due
to presence of rival organisations, it is
important for concerned company to
promote their services in efficient
manner. In this context, company
adopts promotional strategy in which
products of firm are advertised via
online and traditional platforms like
social media, digital platform, radio
and TV advertisements etc.
Amazon is notable online organization
that is selling various items through
online stage. For impacting enormous
number of client, organization execute
aggressive advertising tactics to
advance and advertise their items.
Organization significant way to
promote its items is through inventive
commercial advertisements at social
media platforms (Wirtz, Tuzovic and
Kuppelwieser, 2014).
People Organisation has good relation with
their customers and employees.
Employees of firm are given regular
training about IT and use of internet
so that they can perform their work in
efficient manner. Customers are given
timely services and their grievances
are resolved in an efficient manner.
Individuals for a business firm is
defined as the workforce that work with
a company to achieve organization
objective and targets. The top
administration of Amazon give
advantages to its workers without
distinguishing on the basis of their level
and office position. It implies that
organization encourages their
representatives so they carry out their
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work viably.
Process Company has influential digital and
delivering processes due to which
employees of company are able to
fulfil orders of customers in a proper
manner in global context. Due to this,
it can be said that company has
influential processes to perform their
work.
Amazon is the pioneer in web
administrations, services and E-
business. For this organization has
created robust ordering, production and
delivering procedure that help to assign
their work deliberately between various
divisions in proper manner.
Physical
evidence
Online website of company and
mobile application are the basic
physical evidence for the company.
Other than this, packing packages,
suppliers and employees of firm are
also physical important physical
evidence for firms.
Amazon is operating in global context
all world through its site. As this
organization work in E-business sector
so they create diverse application and
site through which they can deal with
various clients in global manner. For
instance, Amazon make their site easy
to understand with a systematic
structure due to which E-marketing is
very friendly. Main physical evidence
of company is its website.
M3 Multiple tactics adopted by selected business to achieve their organisational objectives
There are multiple kind of tactics that has been adopted by the concerned company so
that expected goals and targets can be achieved in a proper manner. In case of price, company
has chosen the tactics of bundle pricing so that maximum number of products can be purchased
by the customers. In case of advertisement, eBay has adopted the tactics to promote their
offerings via both digital and traditional media. In case of place, company has initiated to sell it
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via online site only. These tactics will help the company in gaining maximum attention from
customers. Due to this, they will be able to earn high revenues, market shares and sales in a
proper manner. This will help eBay in accomplishing their business objectives in a timely
manner (Nicholls and et. al., 2013). The company eBay adopts effective tools and techniques
such as benchmarking as well as market analysis in order to compare business processes as well
as performance metrics and it involves the dimensions of cost, time and quality as well which
gives a competitive advantages in a open marketplace.
TASK 3
P4&M4 Produce an effective marketing plan for selected business to attain organisational
objectives and targets efficiently
Marketing plan is the basic prerequisite of a marketing function through which they can
execute their advertising tactics in accordance with their item or services. This planning is
advantageous for the eBay in deciding the action-plan which ought to be taken for guaranteeing
the accomplishment of the new service or offering gave by the organization to their clients (O
Ogunmokun and Hsin Tang, 2012). Marketing and Promoting plan acts like an outline for
executing the showcasing exercises. The advertising plan for the eBay is as per the following:
Executive summary: eBay is an online shopping platform which is mainly popular for its
electronic products. In this context, company is planning to introduce wireless earphones in
market so that sales of company can be rise exponentially.
Vision and mission: Vision of company is to became best online shopping site in global context.
Mission of firm is to gain competitive advantage over rivals.
Objectives: Main objective of organisation are stated below:
 To increase their sales by 40% in upcoming 1 year.
 To gain high profit margins and achieving a hike of 20% in overall profitability of
company.
 To achieve 10% increase in market shares of company without any acquisition or merger.
STP
Segmentation: It is the way of dividing the clients into section and gatherings with the goal that
the items and services can be given according to their presence to fulfil their requirements. eBay
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will segment the clients on the basis of their lifestyle and demographic dependent like age and
income.
Targeting: The concerned organization is targeting the clients who are progressively active on
Youtube or like to listen the music on regular basis. Organization is additionally targeting the
Gym individuals as device will be helpful to them in listing music while performing exercise
(Bačík, Štefko and Gburová, 2014).
Positioning: Amazon is world known E-commerce trade organization because of which the item
will be set on the site of organization. As people are already aware about the quality of product
sold by eBay, new product is going to gain wide advantages.
Situation analysis:
SWOT framework
It is an analysis which will help the concerned organisation in identifying the strengths,
weaknesses, threats and opportunities for their new product in marketplace. By this concerned
company i.e. eBay can carry out required improvements and modifications so that best outcomes
can be gained in an advantageous manner. SWOT analysis for wireless earphones are stated
below:
Strengths: This product has powerful music and sound quality due to which hearing experience
of customers will be maximised while using this product.
Weaknesses: These wireless earphones has limited range of Bluetooth connectivity. Due to
which it is important for customers, to keep their phone near the earphones at the time of use.
Opportunities: eBay can offer additional discounts and vouchers to their customers which will
purchase these earphones. By this, consumers will feel enthusiastic in purchasing these
earphones and overall sales of eBay will increase (Baker and Saren, 2016).
Threats: Rival organisations like Amazon, Flipkart etc. are performing very well and offers high
quality product in genuine rates. Due to this, sales and profits of eBay faces big threat from these
organisations.
SWOT analysis of marketing plan:
Strength: Systematic planning, appropriate skills, team work, effective applications of
marketing tools, positivity and confidentiality are considered as a strengths of this marketing
plan.
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Weakness: As limited resources along with the small budget of advertising considers as a
weakness or disadvantages while making a marketing plan.
Opportunities: During formulating marketing plan manager gets many opportunity to develop
their knowledge towards the uses of several tools and techniques which are required in marketing
activities. Also, this facilitates future opportunities to conduct further market research and
designing effective market plan.
Threats: Increase in the prices of raw material creates some kind of threats at a time of
formulating marketing plan. Also, while positioning the brand image in front of customers
results in threats because of huge market competition.
Action plan
Budget allocation: The organization has estimated a measure of € 500, 000 for the
manufacturing of this product on huge scale. This spending will be utilized for the different
purposes, for example, acquiring the raw materials and machines, for hiring the workers and for
promoting tactics.
Forecast
Particulars Amount (€)
Marketing 100000
Workforce 100000
Equipment 150000
Raw materials 150000
Budget evaluation:
For evaluating the budget estimations a company eBay use sales analysis for the effective
evaluation of marketing plan. The sales analysis are shown below:
Sales analysis: By introduction of this product, company is estimating a hike of 40% in their
sales in next 1 year. As company launch new products or services in the marketplace so they
need to estimate their sales on the basis of budget requirements as well as marketing plan.
Control and monitor
For controlling the procedures and operations of a business firm, the executives of the eBay has
chosen estimation instruments like Key performance indicator and benchmarking. Likewise, the
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firm will contrast & evaluate the past and present performance so as to decide the development
or achievement of this new product in a proper manner (Brady, 2014).
D2 Development of a basic marketing plan including marketing mix to achieve organisational
targets
Marketing Mix for new product will help in analysing the right position of product in
marketplace. In this context, marketing mix for new wireless headphones are mentioned below:
Product: The new offering of eBay is a decent quality earphone having great and exquisite
sound quality. This product will come in two appealing shades which are Red-dark and Yellow-
dark. The sound nature of this new earphone is exceptionally great just as Dolby encompass for
an appropriate experience of the clients while listening the music.
Promotion: The organization has chosen to utilize the online networking channels for the
promotional and advertising exercises. Concerned organization will gift the products
uninhibitedly to the famous people having huge fan base for drawing the attention of maximum
people towards the product. Organization is also planning to publicize the product on Google and
different sites for drawing in more clients (Clow and James, 2013).
Price: The organization has chosen to adopt penetration pricing policies and system for
introducing, propelling and selling the new products in marketplace. Through this charging
strategy and system, eBay will keep low prices in the early phase of this product and will
improve the prices dependent on request of the clients or after the product become widely
popular in the market.
Place: The organization will give the product through their sites so as to sell the products around
the world. Also, concerned organization will give the product on electronic retail locations sp
that maximum number of people can buy it (Desai, 2013).
Sustainability of marketing plan
To acknowledge the sustainability of marketing plan, opinion of customers can be
identified. For this, traditional methods like face to face communication and digital method like
social media marketing is used to interact with customers. If maximum number of people will
acknowledge this new product of eBay and company have attained their objectives and goals
properly. This means sustainability for this specific marketing plan is very high. Otherwise,
marketing plan was not good enough to gain the attention of customers.
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CONCLUSION
As per this given report, it has been summarised that marketing team of a company plays
different roles like analysing, research, identification of needs of people, advertising etc. so that
services or products of a company can be popularised among maximum number of people. It is
essential for marketing team to work in coordination with other departments such as HR team,
finance unit, production department etc. so that business operations and tactics can be performed
efficiently. Marketing mix helps a company in evaluating their performance in context with
rivals so that important modifications in strategies can be carried out. A marketing plan helps in
promotion and advertising of products in a proper manner so that high sales and profits can be
earned by concerned business.
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Online
Functions of marketing. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<http://smallbusiness.chron.com/functions-marketing-business-32399.html>.
Marketing Mix. 2017. [Online]. Available through: <https://marketingmix.co.uk/>.
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