Process and Stages of Marketing: Role of Marketing Mix

This essay discusses the process and stages of marketing, focusing on the role of marketing mix in promoting goods and services. It also explores the use of SWOT analysis and Porter's five force model in strategic planning. The essay further examines the marketing strategies of Adidas, a German multinational corporation in the sports industry.

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is defined as set of activities that is undertake by an organisation in order
to promote the buying as well as selling of goods or services. In addition to this, marketing is
a significant procedure & action which assist business entity in enhancing sales and
profitability of an organisation (Baines, 2017). One of the main important role of marketing is
promotion, advertising, identifying customer requirements, conducting market research,
delivering products and many more. The present essay is based on Adidas which is a German
multinational corporation founded in year 1924 and headquarter in Herzogenaurach,
Germany. The products offered by company is sportswear, footwear, sports equipment and so
on. The report will cover the process & stages of marketing along with the role of marketing
mix. In addition to this, Porter's five force model, STP analysis and SWOT analysis of
respective organisation is described. Moreover, Stakeholder engagement and their influence
on the marketing activities of a company is elaborated in the report.
PART 2
1. Process and stages of marketing including the role of marketing mix
Marketing is termed as a procedure as well as actions of promoting goods and
services offered by company through advertising and market research. In addition to this, it is
a significant function for a business entity in order to enhance its sales as well as profitability
in an effective manner. Moreover, marketing is basically how an entity develop value for
customers and create strong relationship with customers properly.
Marketing process Stages allow a company to identify the customer issues,
developing marketing material to reach target audience, analyse market opportunities and
many more. In addition to this, marketing process involve five steps that an organisation
require to discover in order to develop offerings which meet with the requirements of
customer (Boshnakova and Goldblatt, 2017). The first step is setting mission which is
important for an organisation in order to align the activities in a proper manner and achieve
objectives as well. The mission statement of Adidas is “To be the global leader within sports
industry with brands develop on a passion for sports & sporting lifestyle”. The second step is

Situational analysis that allow a business entity to develop effective strategies and attain
competitive advantage at marketplace. In addition to this, situational analysis is significant as
it help in knowing both the internal as well as external factors affecting on the organisational
performance and productivity.
In order to conduct situational analysis, the higher authorities of Adidas make use of
SWOT analysis and Porter's five force model that is explained below in context to respective
organisation:
Porter's five force model is an strategic tool which analyse and identifies five
competitive forces that shape every business entity and assist in determining industry's
weaknesses. In addition to this, this analysis is frequently adopt by company to identify
business structure that directly determine corporate strategy. It is analysed that managers of
Adidas make use of porter's five force model as it help in analysing the level of competition
prevailing at marketplace. The model consist of five competitive forces that is explained:
Adidas is one of the renowned and leading organisation within the sports fashion
industry and apart from this, it is making apparel and sports. In the recent years, Adidas gain
higher growth that take place because of high focus on marketing (Çalı and Balaman, 2019).
The company also gain improvement in its operating margin. With the help of porter's five
force model, the company is able to focus on the factors which are favourable as well as
unfavourable for Adidas & how it impact its ability to deal with the competitive forces. The
threat of new entrants for Adidas is low as there are more barriers to entry and to open such
level of business require high cost and time as well. In addition to this, because of its high
capital investment, it is complex for new entrants to invest and reach on its level as well. It is
important for the company to offer quality and maintain relationship with customers as it help
in maintaining the performance at marketplace. The second competitive force is power of
suppliers, it is analysed that Adidas has a high brand power that attracts large number of
suppliers globally. Along with this, Adidas has multi-layered and global supply chain which
states the suppliers has low power to influence. It allow respective organisation to set the
rules which suppliers are needed to comply with that impact positively on its performance
and productivity.
It is stated that the customers are looking forward for the standardized goods and for
the people who have no knowledge about offerings, organisation make decision for them.
The bargaining power of buyers for respective organisation is low to moderate due to the
presence of high competitors such as PUMA and NIKE. With the increase in number of

competitors that is small or large, threat of substitute product for Adidas is low to moderate.
It is determine that some of its rivals supply the requirement of high end customers, but its
competitors give goods at low price. Therefore, it is important for Adidas to offer innovative
and quality products to its customers as it ensure customer satisfaction and retention with the
brand. The last competitive force is rivalry among the competitors. It is analysed that
respective organisation is facing tough competition as there are lot of competitors prevailing
at marketplace such as Puma, Nike and so on that offer same kind of products (Chaffey,
2019). It is significant for Adidas to focus on maintaining its relationship with customers and
provide them innovative product as it help in attaining competitive advantage at marketplace.
One of the main advantage of porters five force model is it help in determining about
the competitors and their strategy that allow respective organisation to develop effective
strategy and attain its competitive advantage at marketplace. On the other side, the model did
not consider other factors which may have bearing on environment in which the organisation
it operates and is consider as disadvantage of porter's five force model.
SWOT analysis is a matrix used by the management of the company to recognise the
internal affairs of its structure, it helps to identify key strengths, weaknesses, future
opportunities and alert the management for the upcoming threats to the organisation. It is
stated that it allow business entity to develop an effective strategy for declining the level of
threats and make improvements which leads to raise in performance of respective
organisation. The SWOT analysis of Adidas are as follows:
Strength:
Adidas being an established company has strong hold in its financial position, because of
which it can expand its market globally and gain higher profits as well.
It is determine that the company has high online presence and as per the current situation
online market have gain high importance that directly leads to raise in sales and revenue of
company (Chautard and Collin-Lachaud, 2019).
Weaknesses:
It is been observed that the company suffers high cost structure as a result the net prices of its
product is high, that resulted in capturing only high income level of people.
The company sometimes face difficulties in sale maximization due to its limited product line.
Opportunities:
The company is a supporter of innovations, with the changing lifestyle of people it have a
huge growth opportunity as the basis of production is been set to consumer oriented.

Adidas have a good reputation in the market that gives opportunity to company to expand its
product line and attain objectives of sales maximization.
Threats:
Existence of competition in a marketplace act as a threat for Adidas, its major are Nike,
Puma, Fila and Air Jordon.
The respective organisation is dealing with the legal issues that affect its brand image
negatively at marketplace.
One of the major advantage of SWOT analysis is it enable business entity to achieve
its mission in an effective manner. In addition to this, it help organisation to know about the
threats and weaknesses associated with it that can be improved by company. Moreover, it is
basically a source of information for strategic planning and assist in identifying core
competencies. On the other side, it consist of some limitations that is not in the control of
higher authorities. These are lack of research & development facilities, government
regulations and it is determine that it is basically a subjective analysis that sometimes arise
inappropriate and irrelevant decision by company.
The third step of marketing process is marketing strategy that is significant for an
organisation in order to attain objectives and measure the goals in an effective manner. For
this, STP analysis is conducted by the managers of Adidas.
STP analysis is a tool used by management to carry its marketing strategy in an
effective manner. It generally divides group of people into segments, analysis various
segments according to their taste and preferences and make necessary changes in the
marketing strategies as per demand in market (Dogu and Albayrak, 2018). It is difficult for
the management of organisation to completely understand market demands, using of this tool
helps business entity to overcome problem and maintain its performance. STP analysis of
Adidas are as follows:
Segmentation is the process of dividing group of people in given market on basis of
their needs and preferences, such as on the basis of demographic conditions, Geography,
Psycho-graphics, values, Life stages and Behaviours. It helps the management in focusing on
different aspects efficiently. In regards to Adidas, it offers its product to young man, women
and children which covers Life stage segment for the company.
Targeting refers to target various segmented groups formed by following the
segmentation process. It helps firm to utilise its resources efficiently by avoiding wastage of

resources (Hua, 2019). In respect to Adidas, the company targets age group between 14-40
years that also includes customer type of middle class and luxury class as well.
Positioning involves various tangible data extracted are been analysed and are been
modified to change if needed, it's all about seeking opportunity to upgrade and growth in
market. It helps an organisation to evaluate opportunities in the market and improve it's
functioning as per market needs. In relation with Adidas, it delivers stylish, comfortable and
in trend products to the consumers that help in developing positive mind set of customers
towards the brand (Palmatier and Crecelius, 2019). Moreover, the company make use of
social media platforms in order to position its offerings at marketplace.
The fourth step is marketing mix which is basically a set of marketing tools which an
organisation uses in order to meet with the targets and attain objectives in an effective and
timely manner. The marketing mix of respective organisation is discuss below:
Marketing mix is the tool used by management of a company to promote its products
and brand within the marketplace. Previously it was used to consist of Price, Product,
Promotion and Place. However, as per changing marketing conditions and growing demands
of customers, people, process and physical evidence were also included in it. The marketing
mix of Adidas is mentioned below:
Product offered by Adidas include athletics wear and athletic apparatus for diverse
sports events along with sports ancillary and invests in improving designs of such products by
investing in innovative strategies. The organisation gives their consumers clothing range with
elements of sportswear and street fashion combined to form athleisure garments (French and
Gordon, 2019). The organisation manufactures watches, sunglasses, fragrance, and
moisturisers. Price: Due to huge brand image of the organisation, customised and innovative
products with high prices are able to attract consumers from the elite society. Apart from this
the organisation utilises skimming price policy for their costly products such as garments
made out of expensive material. The organisation sells some of their product at competitive
prices to gain consumers from middle class section. Place: The organisation sells their
products through merchandising, spreading their franchises across the world, selective
flagship outlets and retail stores. The organisation has vast distribution channel in various
international markets which allow the organisation to complete the demands of the consumers
swiftly . The organisation sells their products by online channels which include their website
and major online retail sites. Promotion: Adidas promotes their products in through digital
and print media by signing famous sports personalities to endorse their products. The
organisation ensures that their promotional movements are visible to every consumer and

enhance their brand image by sponsoring sports teams or individual athletes in various
tournaments which include cricket, football, Olympic sports, and many others. Adidas
digitally markets their products by collaborating with famous fashion influencers . People
refers to that force which is engaged in selling activity of business firm, it is the most
important part of marketing mix as they are one who sells and promote product or service
offered to customers. With relation to Adidas, company provides best possible environment
and fulfils all possible needs of its employees in order to enhance their productivity and
efficiency which in turn impact on performance of respective organisation (Lichtenthal,
2020). Physical Evidence relates to everything a customers of an organisation can perceive
at the time of delivery of product which includes branding, packaging and also relates to
attitude (positive or negative) of staffs working in an organisation. With regards to Adidas, it
is an established brand that provides good quality products with proper packaging that attract
customer towards brand in an effective manner. Process refers to different stages of work
involved from production to selling. It also helps in reducing costs and helps the management
to acquire principle of effective utilisation of resources. In respect of Adidas, it follows a
proper process that helps in cost reduction of its product which positively impact on its
revenue.
The last step is implementation and control, it is important for the managers of
Adidas to check and monitor the activities performed by the employees. It help in making
improvement or changes where employees lack that directly leads to achievement of
objectives timely and effectively.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it has been concluded that marketing plays an important
role within an organisation as it help in enhancing the sales and profitability of company
which is one of the objective of a company. In addition to this, SWOT analysis is used by
business for strategic planning that is important in order to make improvements and enhance
performance of an organisation. With the help of porter's five force model, company is able
to know about the level of competition prevailing at marketplace.
RECOMMENDATION
The organisation should introduce a system which takes feedback from the consumers
and gives the company relevant information about ways which enhance consumer experience
and increase consumer satisfaction. This will create loyal consumer base for the organisation
and increase overall profitability of the firm for longer time period. The organisation should

invest in manufacturing environment friendly alternatives for their leather goods in order to
gain consumer base which is sensitive about any environmental harm from their purchase.
This will not only increase organisations profits by attracting new consumer base but also
prepare the organisation for increase in environment friendly future.
2. Stakeholders engagement and their impact on the marketing activities of an organisation
Stakeholders are a party which has an interest in an organisation and can either
impact or be impacted by the business. Stakeholders can be external and internal. External
stakeholders are mainly those people who do not directly work with the organisation but are
impacted outcomes and actions of company. The external stakeholders are creditors, public
groups, suppliers and many more (Prabhuram, 2020). Internal stakeholders are those who
has interest in organisation and comes through a direct relationship that is ownership,
investment, employment and so on. With reference to Adidas, its stakeholders are employees,
business partners, suppliers, unions, service providers, government, shareholders, executive
board, trade associations are also stakeholders of Adidas.
The employees of Adidas as internal stakeholders are important resource that helps
company to achieve its objectives. They undergo professional trainings which helps
workforce to deliver quality products and services to its consumers. Owners are individual or
group of persons who have more than 50% share of the company. In relation to Adidas, its
owners have stake in organisation which helps in achievement of objectives. Board of
Directors are the group of people who controls the activities of the company.
External stakeholders are suppliers as they are the one who supply raw materials
that helps company to deliver good quality finished products to their consumers. Adidas have
ample of suppliers so it can control the prices of its product. Customers are treated as God
in market as products or services available in market are to be consumed by them. Creditors
are the one who provides relevant resources to the firm for its effective working. As Adidas is
an established company requirement of funds is low so the number of creditors are low.
How the organisation communicate with their stakeholders & how they impact
on marketing activities of Adidas:
According to miken, 2017, stakeholders engagement is important for the success of a
company. In order to succeed, business entity have a clear vision traced from robust strategic
planning procedure and an effective marketing and strategic plan which can only gain from

stakeholders engagement. Stakeholders engagement is basically the procedure through which
organisation communicate and gain knowledge about its stakeholders (Eskerod and Larsen,
2018). With the help of this, Adidas are able to know what they require, when they require
and how the organisation actions and plans will impact their objectives. In order to make
good relationship with stakeholder, it is significant for Adidas to communicate with them as
it clarify the mission, vision and objectives that is crucial in order to gain success.
Stakeholders analysis is the first stage of stakeholders management and is defined as
significant procedure which organisation adopt in order to gain support from others. It is
determined that managing stakeholders in a proper manner assist in ensuring that project get
success and is completed timely (Rai, Verlinde and Macharis, 2018). The Reason for using
stakeholders analysis is to help in getting project into shape, to take the opinion of their
most powerful stakeholders for defining their project. Gaining support from any of the
powerful stakeholders helps in winning more resources, money and time which helps in
successful projects. Building communication can help in support when they are knowing in
detail about the projects.
It is significant for Adidas to conduct stakeholders analysis that involve several steps.
The first step is to identify the stakeholders. Company think about who is its stakeholders,
who have power, who are affected by work or who have the interest in activities of
organisation. The second stage is prioritize stakeholders that take place with the help of
stakeholder getting knowledge about which stakeholders have more power and interest and
which has not.
The third step is understand your key stakeholders, this take place by communicating with
them in a proper manner. In addition to this, herein the company analyse whether the
stakeholders has emotional or financial interest or who have positive as well as negative
influence on the organisation (Yoo, D., 2018). It is determined that understanding them will
help in gaining knowledge about the factors which influence them and what factors help in
retaining them for longer time period.
There are various ways by which an organisation communicate with its stakeholders
and clarify the objectives, mission and vision of the company. Adidas conduct a formal
meetings and sessions with its stakeholders so that every aspect is clear to them and all the
activities is execute in a proper manner.
The company has an online platform through which it communicate with the stakeholders
at any time and also stakeholders can contact the higher authorities about any issue. The
company conduct webinar on quarterly basis in order to update stakeholders about the

changes if any take place within the organisation. This also allow company to know about its
stakeholders opinion that matters for the growth and development of organisation (Zarour and
Benmerzoug, 2017). It is determine that stakeholders provide funds to company which help
in timely and proper execution of marketing activities that leads to raise in sales as well as
profitability of respective organisation.
CONCLUSION
From the above study, it is stated that stakeholders play an important role as they help
in proper execution of activities and operations which leads to attainment of growth and
success. Moreover, it is determined that it is significant to maintain a good relationship with
all the stakeholders as it help in proper implementation of activities that leads to raise in
productivity and profitability of organisation.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended to the company to maintain good relationship with its stakeholders
as it assist in proper implementation of activities that leads to attainment of higher growth
and success as well. Along with this, it is suggested to communicate with the stakeholder in a
good way with the help of effective tools as it directly impact on the marketing activities of
organisation.

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