Marketing Management: SWOT and STP Analysis of Marks and Spencer

This report analyses the SWOT and STP analysis of Marks and Spencer, a British multinational retailer organisation that works in the fashion retailing industry. It also discusses the marketing strategies of the company and provides recommendations.

Marketing Management

Executive Summary
Marketing management defines as a process that can be used for controlling the aspects
of marketing, to set goals & objectives, also taking the decision regarding the firm as per the
consumer demand. In this report it was analysed that SWOT analysis with the STP strategies for
targeting the market. Also, identified the 4 p's of marketing which were played important role in
the market.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
SWOT analysis on Mark & Spencers.........................................................................................4
STP analysis of M&S..................................................................................................................6
Marketing strategy......................................................................................................................8
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing management is the process that is useful in controlling various aspects
involved within the marketing process. It includes setting of the goals and objectives for the
organisation of planning while making certain decisions in favour of the company. Marketing
management is the process to attain maximum turn over with the help of understanding the
demands of the customers (Deepak, and Jeyakumar, 2019). It helps in managing the marketing
resources of the company along with its business activities. Marks and Spencer is a British
multinational retailer organisation that works in the fashion retailing industry. The company is
headquartered in London, UK. The product range for Marks and Spencer is clothing, home
products as well some options for the food products as well.
The company follows various forms of marketing strategy to reach its targeted audience.
Marks and Spencer is known to offer high quality products within affordable price range for its
customers. These marketing strategies for the company helps them to cover a wider range of
market and attracting maximum customers. This report deals with the analysis of the company
using different frameworks such as SWOT analysis hat helps in determine the different aspects
related to the company (Adams, Freitas, and Fontana, 2019). Moreover, there is an analysis of
the segmentation of the company along with its target audience and position within the market.
The marketing strategy of the company will be discussed following by providing some
recommendations. This analysis will hep in determining the opportunities for the company and
challenges that is faced in the process.
MAIN BODY
SWOT analysis on Mark & Spencers
This comprehensive SWOT analysis of M&S for examine the internal and external
factors such as strength and the weakness of the company in order to explore the threats and
opportunities for Mark & Spencers (Babu, 2018). Cited firm is multinational retail company, it
has introduced more than 1500 location across the world.
Strength of M&S
Well experienced- It has been 140 years M&S leading retail business in the UK, firm
started its retail journey from Penny Bazaar which is situated at Kirk-gate market. This also

collaborate with many companies across the world, the abundance of experience is a plus point
for the organization.
Multinational brand- Cited firm not only has online stores but also deals with the offline
stores( physical) in the Asia, Middle East and Europe (Lee and Liu, 2019). On the basis of
secondary research it has been considered that Mark & Spencers has more than 1500 store all
over the world.
Innovation- This refers to communication and creativity that is famous in the product of
M&S, the biggest strength of the company to consider the customer feedback and suggestion in
order to innovate the products.
Brand recognition- It is famous for brand reputation in the best quality of products in the
world and also appraised as a premium supermarket as per the survey in October 2018 with the
title of 2nd best in-store in the UK.
Weaknesses of M&S
Public perception- People have different perception s per their need, many people
thought that M&S offer clothes for adult not for teenagers and youngsters. Though this is wrong
perception, on another side company spent a lot. For other firms click and collect is famous for
online shopping but for the M&S it doesn't work correctly due to wrong perception.
Sales decline- For clothing sales it is continuously declines in late 2018 due to lack of
availability of stores with the improper dates of supply chain (FATRICIA, 2017). At the time of
Christmas the clothing and food sale fell over the period, it has an bad impact on the
organization. In February 2019, firm closed 15 stores in the UK because of the covid-19 and high
rates of staff.
Financial constraints- organization maintains imported assets that has very low realized
value at the time of reselling, this considers as debt income and burden for the company. On
other side, the investors also not wants to invest in the company due to improper financial
services.
Opportunities of M&S
New market segmentation- For clothing fashion used to change according to the time and
firm introduced its products as per the new segment. There are huge demand of ethnic wear in
Asia, where M&S can work on. This can be the biggest opportunity for the company to grab the
Asia's market.

Online stores- M & S has an online store where it has a great position on eBay and
Amazon e-commerce retail stores. This online shopping is a future of all people who are busy
with their daily life and also those who avoid visiting crowded and public places for shopping.
International expansion- this is a multinational brand with various stores in Russia,
Poland, Brazil etc (Filip, 2017). So, now organization currently need to expand the business in
those countries like Indonesia, India etc. M&S played great role through increasing more and
more stores.
Threats of M&S
High Competition- Entity has large number of competitors across the world like, Tommy
Hilfiger, Uniqlo, Zara, Gap and Benetton. Apart from these various competitors are Tesco,
Amazon, ASDA, Sainsbury, Morrisons, John Lewis etc. As per the research it has been stated
that if the firm not change its marketing strategies as per the current market, it might get fade
away from all these industries. To avoid this threat firm can offer its product at offer and
discount as other companies do and increase the sales after the pandemic.
Laws and regulations- Government increasing the tax rate of importing and exporting so
that firm has faced a lot of issues in selling the product at France and Europe. Due to high taxes
company gets low productivity (Bolon and et.al., 2018).
Rapid change in fashions- The fast change in fashion also impact the sell of products
because in clothing fashion may change anytime and M&S cause heavy losses for this.
STP analysis of M&S
This is a model that including three steps for development of product and actionable
strategies of marketing. It also allows M& S to increase the sales by defining market for the

positioning products. STP analysis helps to analysis the gap between other companies, this
avoids to wasting money in the advertisement for whole market.
Segmentation- It is the process for dividing the marketplace on the basis of particular
segments such as actionable, definable, profitable and growth of the business (Mayewski and
et.al., 2021). This is the first step for segmenting the market into groups such as demographic,
geographic, psychographic and Behavioural. Also, helps to identify the need of the products as
per the desires, uses, buying ability of the consumers.
Demographic- This refers to categorized the market such as age, ethnicity, income,
education, occupation, marital status, gender. M&S offer product as per the age of the customer,
for kids it has different sections were all the products related to them were cover under that
category like, clothes, toys food etc.
Geographic- Organization sorted its product as per the region, state, country, urban area
etc., in UK it sells top quality of product with normal rate, on other hand, in Europe it sells at
higher price because of the exim policies.
Psychographic- This refers to segmenting the market according to the hobbies, activities,
religious view, entertainment choice, personality etc. Company offers product for the Asian
countries where people prefer ethnic wear much as compared to the western clothes.
Behavioural- Reputation of M&S is great in market so that people would like to purchase
the product as brand loyalty. This is the key benefit for the company that helps to enhance the
customer base.
Targeting- It is the process of identifying the most attractive segment on which company
can focus to increase the sale of commercial purpose. This includes factors related to mass,
segmented, concentrated and micro marketing. M&S followed the undifferentiated or segmented
strategy for targeting the whole market with same advertisement strategy, this helps company to
innovate the product and also charge the premium prices (Correll, Spencer and Zanna, 2021).
Company offers product to target the particular market like in online store firm offer various
categories of products such as clothing, beauty, food, furnitures etc. In beauty products
organization target the UK market because where women are more conscious than other
countries. For kids, it offers free accessories like toys, chocolates etc.

Positioning- There are five steps of positioning on the basis of product characteristics,
price, quality, application and competition.
Characteristics- M&S positioned its products as per its features like it uses the packaging
that attract the customer and provide them new products (Lukowiak and et.al., 2019). For selling
food it measured some physical scale like temperature of product. This helps to promote the
product on the basis of satisfaction of the customer.
Price of productions- M&S offer the product according to the price of production like for
premium products it may charge high as compared to other regular items. On other hand, it
considers the products by keeping the minimum quality commitment and standards.
Competition- This strategy refers to use the image that already developed by the
competitors that can be helped as communicating with another image. When Firm mention its
address it uses the landmark, school, banks that are already famous and well-known for others.
Marketing strategy
Marks and Spencer works on several strategies to market its products and services within
potential customer base. It is a British origin public company that specialising in retail category
products and services (Lahtinen, Dietrich, and Rundle-Thiele, 2020). It is one of the leading
companies functioning within the UK market. Marketing strategy of Marks and Spencer helps it
to position in a competitive way within the market and is aligned with the goals and objectives of
the business. This strategy helps them to address various aspects present within the broad area of
marketing.
Price: The current strategy of Marks and Spencer is competitive pricing strategy based
on its product portfolio. It has its own house brand for the clothing purpose and producing for all,
men, women and kids sections. These house brands from Marks and Spencer are ranged between
being middle and higher category due to the premium quality of the products. This attracts the
upper section of the middle class society where its products are worth the money as they are high
quality with diversified range. Marks and Spencer makes use of dynamic pricing policy during
the festive seasons and some off seasons (Park, 2020). During the seasonal time, it offers various
discounts and incentives to its customers. The competitive pricing strategy helps in asking for
higher prices than its competitors as the products and services from Marks and Spencer are
having more features and better quality. Optional product pricing is applied on particular

products from the company, where the price is for the base product and separate price for the
accessories with it.
Place: Marks and Spencer works on the international level and is operating with wide
range of physical stores within several places. The major business of the company is within the
UK market. With more than 800 physical stores. These stores are well illuminated and designed
to provide a comfortable as well as sophisticated approach for its customers. The company sells
its products on different marketing channels including, selling directly to the customers from the
online platforms such as website for the company as well as on some e- commerce channels. It
also sells to the wholesalers who them will sell it to different retailers present all over the country
(Kotabe, and Helsen, 2020). Marks and Spencer follows an intensive marketing strategy where
the company will try to include its products within as many possible retailers as much it is
possible. This makes the products be available to its customers present at assorted parts of the
country. It allows omni- channel system for distribution of its products and services that is a
combination of online and offline stores. This helps in providing its customers easy access to
their desired products.
Promotions: This company believes in having a complete marketing policy that is
aligned with all the possible tools and applications for its marketing. The marketing campaign
chosen by the company is done in very careful way and includes displaying on the prints, digital
platforms and visual sources of medium. Marks and Spencer advertises its products on the
magazines, newspapers, television even on the billboards along with many other places to market
(Parsons and Lepkowska-White, 2018). Moreover, the company also makes use of the online
channels and advertises on the social media networks. This method for promoting its products
and services is cheaper as well as helps in generating many benefits for the company as there is
high increase in the usage of internet in this digital era. Promoting on social media helps in
reaching out to wide range of audience regardless of their demographic areas (Blut, Teller, and
Floh, 2018). The content is exposed on frequent basis from the company' s profile to remain
active for its customers. It also undergoes various promotions for sales and takes part in the
exhibitions and events present within the whole year.
Products- There are various products offered by the firms in such categories like, men,
beauty, lingerie, kids, food, home, flowers, furnitures, gifts, wine etc (Kocher and et.al., 2017).
On Christmas M&S offers different gifts and decoration accessories during the festive season. In

each category of products are sub divided such as, nightwear, accessories, footwear are under
women and men category. On other hand, dining, bedding, cooking, bathroom and lightning are
cover under home category.
Cited firm is famous for quality of the products, in such a way customer like to wear high quality
clothes for everyday wear. Entity also collaborating with other sustainable suppliers in terms of
acquire market friendly products (Shellis, Addy and Rees, 2020). The product packaging is also
played important role in enhanced the customer base of M&S. For some products it categories
under the luxury products in clothing with elegant detailing that makes it unique from others.
Mark & Spencers offer the high quality of food at the premium rate by providing great service to
the customer and the value of money.
Recommendations
The marketings strategies and the strengths of Marks and Spencer helps the company to
stay in the leading side within the fashion and retail industry. However, the company improve in
some areas within its marketing strategy to beat the high competition present in the industry and
sustain. The strategy applied by Marks and Spencer is beneficial in covering wider market share.
Moreover, company must allow additional benefits to its customers when they are purchasing
products from the company (Hutt, and Speh, 2021). These benefits include, warranties, delivery
and credit along with some help line services. It must also introduce new products aligned with
the latest trends within the market. This is an opportunity for the company to enter in new
markets. However, it is important for the company to test the new products before fully
commercialising it.
Marks and Spencer must also allow discounts and allowances to its customers while
working on the lower price strategy. Keeping lower prices for limited period will help in
attracting more customers and increasing the market share for the company. Introducing products
with new price range is a price penetration strategy that involves keeping low prices than its
competitors to gain the market share while also being popular among the customers. Marks and
Spencer is very active on social media and has good amount of followers, meanwhile it Is good
for the company to start selling its products on these channels and attract the same audience to
have an easy access to purchase the product (Chernev, 2018). Online shops and the social media
channels must be integrated to helps the users with easy navigation. The website of the company
must be more user- friendly rather than being a complex design, this will ensure increase in sales.

Promotions done by Marks and Spencer are fulfilling the purpose of attracting maximum
audience as it uses traditional as well as online channels for this purpose. Company must invest
in hire influencers will promote their products on social media. There are many individuals
looking forward to buying such products. Bloggers will help he company by posting the content
on different pages that will promote the brand name of company (Chang, McAleer, and Wong,
2018). Along with this, Marks and Spencer must also undergo various digital marketing
techniques that will improve the traffic on company's online site such as making use of search
engine optimization. Collecting data from the customers is great way to understand their
demands and expectations from the company and will eventually lead to repeat the purchase
done by these customers.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that marketing management is the process that helps the organisation
to have a control on different aspects and execute plan that will attract maximum customers for
the company. It is essential for the company as it helps in making the company stand competent
within the highly competitive market. Moreover, it also helps in developing certain strategies
that company can implement to improve their profits and sales while reducing the costs involved
in the costs of its products. Marketing management has become a major source for the purpose of
exchanging the goods to be transferred. It helps in maintaining the reputation of the company
high within the market and among its potential customers. It can be seen that Marks and Spencer
is doing well within the fashion and retailing industry. It is working with certain strengths that
helps the company to stand out when compared to its competitor companies while the weak
points of the same are forming threat towards the process of the attaining the goals of the
company. Marks and Spencer can make use of several opportunities to make their business grow.
In addition to this, the marketing strategy followed by the company is helping positively to reach
a wide range of customers.

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