Marketing Information Systems and Crisis

This assignment explores the critical role of Marketing Information Systems (MIS) in reducing the negative effects of international financial crises, specifically focusing on banks operating in Saudi Arabia from an Islamic perspective. It involves analyzing case studies and research papers to understand how MIS can help businesses navigate turbulent economic conditions.

MARKETING

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
QUESTION 1Process of online marketing planning.......................................................................1
1. Setting vision and mission:................................................................................................1
2. Market audit:.....................................................................................................................1
3. SWOT analysis...................................................................................................................3
4. SOSTAC model:.................................................................................................................3
5. Marketing objectives and strategy:.....................................................................................4
6. Core Strategy:....................................................................................................................5
7. Marketing- mix decision:..................................................................................................5
8. Budget:...............................................................................................................................6
9. Implementation plan:........................................................................................................6
QUESTION 2 Need and techniques to control marketing activities...............................................7
QUESTION 3 Role and Skills of marketing manager and efficiency in handling marketing.........8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

Executive summary
The process of online marketing has become of very dynamic nature for the users. The
companies are needed to get familiar with the latest online marketing tools in order to improve
the services constantly and to stay more connected with the consumers. The purpose of this
research report has been to understand the process of marketing planning for the companies. For
that purpose Marks & Spencer have been taken into consideration. The report has shown the
application of different kinds of business and marketing models within the business operations.
The report has concluded that for the planning, understanding of the market conditions is very
essential. This will help in achieving the competitive advantages over the competitors.

INTRODUCTION
Online marketing is a process of building communication between organization and
consumers to develop goodwill of the company by inducing them to buy products or services
through internet. To do a proper marketing of any particular good or service, a number of steps
are to be followed. The present research report is based on Marks and Spencer which is a retailer
organisation serving worldwide for hundreds years. It deals in luxurious clothes, home-wares and
high quality food as well. So the following assignment will help to understand the procedure of
marketing planning. Further, critical evaluation of need and techniques will be discussed.
QUESTION 1Process of online marketing planning
For planning marketing process, M&S follows a systematic procedure which is as
follows:
1. Setting vision and mission:
Company has a clear vision to become a milestone in the retail industry. Further, the
mission is to provide best quality products to the customers by bringing continuous innovations.
Besides this, it takes care of interest of its stakeholders as well and also provides maximum
returns by increasing sales. Further, cited organisation considers its employees as an important
part for achieving success of the organization. The above mentioned vision and mission guides
the firm in making strategy to move ahead in achieving those objectives.
2. Market audit:
As the M&S deals in various products, hence it has to keep track of number of factors.
For audit purpose, internal and external environment has to be scanned (Baker and Saren, 2016).
Five M and PESTLE analysis will help to carry out the auditing in a better way:
Five M model- This model comprises of following 5 Ms-
 Men- Men or employees of the firm do the tasks and operations so their efficiency affects
the functioning of the cited organisation. More potential employees can be hired to make
the appearance of site attractive.
 Material- The raw and finished goods used in firm belong to the company so there is less
chance of faults in materials. Besides this, high quality materials are used in products this
can be highlighted on website to promote goods online.
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 Machine- Organisation uses best and latest techniques for operations. Its modern IT
software provides all important information for maintaining good customer relationship
management.
 Method- cited Company uses best methods to attract more customers maintaining high
quality and modernisation Firm sells products online which helps in boosting sales of the
organisation. Money- Large amount of investments are made in the company by many shareholders.
Firm tries to maximise revenues through online and physical sales for giving higher
returns to shareholders (Rowley, 2016).
PESTLE analysis
Scanning of external environment can be done by PESTLE concept as under:
 Political- Free flow of trade amongst other countries made easier for the firm to import
supplies with less difficulty. While frequent changes in government rules make
conditions critical with different tax laws and many more. So organization use fair trade
practices like less use of fat and salt in its food.
 Economical- Recent changes in VAT rates have pulled the sales down to the some
extent, yet company has now managed to improve its condition by focussing in niche
markets. For instance, firm focuses more on fashion section as it provides maximum
earning.
 Social- Though consumers prefer to wear latest trend's clothes but same new product
available in fewer prices which gives firm loss, so firm has lowered its price now and
offered schemes on online purchasing. Due to recent inflation in country it has boosted
sales of firm.
 Technological- By going online, the company has been able to survive competition
successfully (Boztepe, 2016). Moreover, big screens placed in stores help in attracting
customers and choosing their products.
 Legal- M&S have applied all necessary measures to maintain consumers and employees
safety by launching safe work environment and other customer service programmes. Environmental- The idea of not using plastic bags in packing has given added advantage
to the sales of organisation. It created a good publicity of brand in the market.
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3. SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis of the firm will help to know about the internal and external factors of
organisation. In order to understand all these factors of M&S, each aspect is explained in
detail as under:
 Strength: Mentioned firm has a strong customer base because of strong brand value in
the mind of users. The main strength of this firm is that, it does not sell products of other
brands. Besides this, it provides products of high quality and best customer services.
Cited organisation has maintained the stores with modern designs and convenient
shopping by going online which increases sales.
 Weakness: The cited organisation has branches in different countries which may restrict
it to adapt flexibility. The firm provides its services online as well but customers are not
satisfied with delivery services. Substitute products which are available in lower range
limit the scope of expansion for the business. Besides this, cited firm has many extra
spaces in store which are not being utilised by the organisation.
 Opportunity: As the company operates internationally in many countries, yet it has
many regions where it still can set up its stores. Most of its markets are located in UK
region so it can expand its operations in other countries and increase online marketing
with best delivery services. Moreover company has segmented food products in veg, non-
veg and low fat food which have boosted sales of company. Threats: Aforesaid organisation is one of the leading firms in the retail market. As a
result it attracts more competitors towards the industry in local and international market
as well. Besides this, many other retail firms have emerged in providing the same
products online at a lower cost forcing the organisation to share a slice of pie in the profit.
4. SOSTAC model:
SOSTAC model can be applied for improving current situation of online marketing in M&S.
This model show following aspects:
 Situation- Presently cited firm's online shopping facility is not up to the mark as delivery
services are not satisfactory.
 Objectives- M&S want to sell high quality products to maximise its online shopping and
purchase through stores as well.
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 Strategy- Hiring of highly qualified programmers and software developers to make
online shopping easy and attractive.
 Tactics- The organisation is focussing to make website user friendly and providing more
personalised services by giving suggestions related to best products for purchasing.
 Action- mentioned Company has increased the investment for online promotions and
made it easier to buy products through its official website. Control- The company's efforts have bring positive results as the sales of M&S increased
in all sections like food, clothing etc.
5. Marketing objectives and strategy:
The Cited firm aims to be the number one retailer company by specialising in high quality
products through online and physical sales. Since last two years, due to high competition,
company's profit has gone down. This has increased to understand the strategy of its marketing,
Porter's five force models and Ansoff matrix will be helpful.
Porter's 5 force model
 Threat of new entrants- Threat of new entrants will be low for Marks & Spencer. There
is less chance of new entrants as to enter and beat the M&S is a bit tough as huge
investment is needed for that. So it acts as barrier for new entrants yet competition is
quite high (Saenko and et.al, 2016).
 Substitute's threat – Threat of substitute is high for M&S in the retail industry. Due to
maintaining its high quality in products there is a large number of brand loyal customers.
But due to other facilities like online shopping at lower prices some consumers tend to
move for other substitute products.
 Supplier's bargaining power- M&S does not sell products of other brands hence
company has less number of supplies from outside. In this case, supplier power becomes
less.
 Buyer's bargaining power - Products of M&S maintain high quality standards due to
which its buyers are always ready to pay the price. So, bargaining power of buyer
becomes low.
 Rivalry of firms- High competition exists in the retail market for M&S at the local as
well as at international level (Fidel, Cervera and Schlesinger, 2016). Moreover online
marketing is also not much impressive which keeps the company behind in race.
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Ansoff matrix
 Market penetration- M&S can go with same policies in the existing market with same
products by more advertising and sales promotions.
 Market development- Firm can move in new markets where its branches are not still set
up with existing products and strategies.
 Product Development- Cited firm has good option of coming up with new innovations
in same market. For example it can try to start selling kids wear from 0-5 years of age
group and expand its services online as well. Diversification- Setting up in new market with new products can be very challenging
strategy. This can lead to condition of both profit and loss (Miles, and et.al, 2016).
6. Core Strategy:
M&S is focussing on product development with innovation in the existing market. Firm
is promoting clothing through online channels. Different social media platforms are being used
to promote the products. This is because, the customer attraction towards this section is relatively
low and firm is not able to make high sale. As a result, not much profit is driven. Thus, here the
role of marketing manager will come into play and he/she will emphasize on promoting this
section whole around UK (Caliskan, 2016). For this move, company is required to carry out the
research and study market with proper forecasting of demand. Besides this, strategy to promote
the product through various mediums should be planned.
7. Marketing- mix decision:
This decision is done by considering the four P's of marketing which is explained as
below:
 Product- With core strategy of developing new product in existing market, firm is
concentrating to move in the kid’s wear. The company already has good brand value and
goodwill in the market so in this case the customers will welcome the product. It can
promote goods online also which will give faster response.
 Price- Cited firm mostly charges premium price from customers for the products which
generally attracts higher class people. Now, in this new strategy, company can go for
different pricing strategies like premium pricing, skimming or high-low pricing and
offers on purchasing through online (Barakat, Shatnawi and Ismail, 2016). According to
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the market research done, £11500 is the price which manager has estimated to develop
this section in UK.
 Promotion- Selection of right media for promoting products is essential part while
launching the new product. Firm can choose mediums like internet, fashion magazines,
newspapers, street hoardings etc. Another influential way is to organize some
competitions of children in schools and awarding winner with discount coupon for
shopping in the kids section. Place- M&S distribute products from existing retail stores which are already located in
best locations which is convenient for shopping. Besides this, firm can provide the
clothes online also which will make shopping easier (Cucchiara, 2016).
8. Budget:
The manager has estimated investment of £20000 in the promotion and other related
tools. As mentioned earlier, kids section is not popular and it is unable to give more profits.
Further, new promotion tools will help the market to grow like its other products.
Particulars Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Social media postings £8000 £15000 £25000
Landing page generation £6000 £9000 £15000
Other £6000 £10000 £20000
Total sales and
marketing expenses
£20000 £34000 £60000
9. Implementation plan:
To implement whole marketing strategy, manager can contact the advertisement agencies
to promote products through different mediums. Moreover, he\she can tell advertising
department of the company to make their website attractive and display all-important
information there (Fidel, Cervera and Schlesinger, 2016). Offers and discounts should be visible
in same portal to draw attention of customers. Besides this, firm should replace outdated stock
with new one or can sell out the old stock on huge discount.
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Conclusion
This document depicts the market auditing done by M&S in form of 5 M model and
PESTLE analysis. This will give the reader brief of strengths of the venture.
Recommendation
This will enhance venture performance and firm will be able to excel their revenue and
productivity. It is also recommended to enhance employee’s performance by undertaking right
performance management method in form of appraisals.
QUESTION 2 Need and techniques to control marketing activities
Marketing control is a concept to measure effectiveness of strategies implemented with
pre-determined goals and to make corrections if there is any gap. Need of controlling marketing
activities in M&S firm is explained below:
 Control system will help to take action for correcting the deficiencies. The gaps in the
marketing plan will be checked by this measure.
 Timely measurement of progress can be done according to set goals. For this, firm should
review goals and objectives regularly to move in the right direction (Boztepe, 2016).
 This technique assist in assessing quality of plan made. So, if the manager has not made
an effective plan it will give an opportunity to revise the plan in new way.
 Without control system, employee will not do their work with efficiency. In absence of
proper system to compare work of employees with standard goals, the employee will be
less encouraged for doing good work.
Techniques to control marketing activities of M&S as per SMART perspective:
 Specific: Mentioned Company has specific goal to set up a team of qualified employees
who can increase sales through attractive online pages of official websites (Miles and
et.al, 2016).
 Measurable: Company should set targets for employees and their performance should be
measured as who contributed in more sales and how much they improved the appearance
of site
 Achievable: The goals set by organisation should not be so tough to achieve (Strauss,
2016). It should be like achieving at least 10% more sales this year as compared to last
year.
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 Realistic: Manager should set goals that are realistic and not too high to achieve nor too
low that can be achieved very easily.
 Time bound: The objectives should also have a time frame so that appropriate
measurement of goals can be done. For instance to achieve 20% more sales through
online as compared to physical stores by the end of year 2016 (Selvi, 2016).
Conclusion
From the above study it can be concluded that control is essential on the marketing
activities. It can bring the scope of improvements within the business.
Recommendation
It is also found that their exist lot of competition in dynamic environment and thus it is
utmost necessary to bring new changes in technologies which will boost their market share as
well as goodwill.
QUESTION 3 Role and Skills of marketing manager and efficiency in
handling marketing
 Critical thinking: The changes in business environment are quite frequent so the
marketing manager should have the ability to forecast these changes (Five Essential Skills
for the Future Marketing Manager, 2016). Further, to deal with these changes, a manger
should make plans beforehand.
 Analytical efficiency: A manager has to analyse lot of data before making any strategy
for marketing. So he/she should have the skills of interpreting data in the correct form
and plan accordingly.
 Technical skills: In the age of advancement, without being tech savvy, it is not possible
to keep pace with the development. Hence, a marketing manager should be capable of
handling tools and techniques at the right place.
 Strong communication: This is the important characteristic of a marketing manager
which one should possess. If a manager is able to communicate ideas clearly, then a
strong base of marketing can be built easily (Cucchiara, 2016).
Recommendations
The managers of Marks and Spencer are recommended to use best of the techniques for
improving their operations. Manager also need to take certain steps in order to boost employee’s
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morale so that they can work with best of dedication to meet their individual and organisational
goals and objectives.
Conclusion
From the above report it is evident that marketing plays an important role for the
organisation as with the help of it they are able to achieve the stated goals and objectives. This
report also concludes with some core strategy which will give the firm a competitive advantage
over the rival competitors who are working within the same industry. Budget of new proposed
strategy is also highlighted which will give reader an idea of how much cost will be incurred and
the profit which firm will make in coming time period.
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REFERENCES
Journals and Books
Baker, M.J. and Saren, M. eds., 2016. Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
Barakat, H.J., Shatnawi, H.A. and Ismail, S.T., 2016. The Role of Marketing Information
Systems in Reducing the Effects of the International Financial Crisis: A Study Applied on
the Banks Working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from Islamic Perspective.
International Journal of Marketing Studies. 8(1). p.181.
Boztepe, A., 2016. Green marketing and its impact on consumer buying behavior. European
Journal of Economic and Political Studies. 5(1). pp. 5-21.
Caliskan, G., 2016. Incidence of Guerrilla Marketing Practices in Small and Medium Sized
Turkish Exporters. European Journal of Economic and Political Studies. 5(1). pp. 23-34.
Cucchiara, M., 2016. Thinking Locally: Attending to Social Context in Studies of Marketing and
Public Education. Peabody Journal of Education. 91(1). pp. 121-130.
Fidel, P., Cervera, A. and Schlesinger, W., 2016. Customer’s role in knowledge management and
in the innovation process: effects on innovation capacity and marketing results. Knowledge
Management Research & Practice. 14(2). pp. 195-203.
Miles, M.P. And et.al, 2016. The influence of entrepreneurial marketing processes and
entrepreneurial self-efficacy on community vulnerability, risk, and resilience. Journal of
Strategic Marketing. 24(1). pp. 34-46.
Rowley, J., 2016. Information marketing. Routledge.
Saenko, N.R. and et.al., 2016. Research in action integrated marketing communications as the
elements of information and virtualization market relations. International Review of
Management and Marketing. 6(1S). pp. 267-272.
Selvi, M.S., 2016. Mobile marketing applications of travel agencies.International Journal of
Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478). 3(4). pp. 68-84.
Strauss, J., 2016. E-marketing. Routledge.
Voorhees, C.M. and et.al., 2016. Discriminant validity testing in marketing: an analysis, causes
for concern, and proposed remedies. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 44(1).
pp. 119-134.

Online
Five Essential Skills for the Future Marketing Manager. 2016. [Online]. Available through:
<http://essentialsofbusiness.ufexec.ufl.edu/resources/marketing/five-essential-skills-for-
the-future-marketing-manager/#.V-94YFR948o>. [Accessed on 1st October 2016].
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