Principle of Marketing Report for ASDA

This report discusses the marketing principles, segmentation, targeting and positioning for ASDA. It appraises the rationale of marketing decisions taken by ASDA and how marketing is linked with organizational strategy and other functional areas.

SALES AND
MARKETING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................3
TASK..............................................................................................................................................3
Key marketing principles.............................................................................................................3
Appraise the rationale of marketing decisions of ASDA............................................................5
Assess they concepts of segmentation, targeting and positioning for specific product offered
by ASDA.....................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Sales is one of the key functions of business which involves business activities which are
helpful for generating leads into sales and thus it will be helpful in leading towards business
success. Marketing is a business function which supports organization in promoting, selling and
distributing products and services and get customer attention which will be helpful in generating
leads and higher revenues. The sales and marketing business functions can coordinately work
together, which will be one of the important factors for business success. ASDA is a British retail
supermarket chain which was started by Peter and Fred Asquith in the year 1949 in Leeds,
England, UK. The company merged their retail business with Associated Dairies company of
Yorkshire. ASDA is currently operating in 632 locations and offers their products and services of
groceries, general merchandise and financial services (Hanssens and Pauwels, 2016). The project
report will quote marketing principles and factors of marketing which are followed by ASDA.
The study will evaluate and appraise the rational of the marketing decisions taken by ASDA and
how marketing is linked with organizational strategy and other functional areas. The report will
also state the importance of marketing in strategic planning and the concepts of STP approach.
Lastly, the study will highlight some of the techniques which will be helpful in improving
relationship and communication process which will be helpful for manipulating customer
purchase positively and increase the business sales.
TASK
Key marketing principles
7P’s of marketing
Marketing mix is a marketing technique which is used to accomplish marketing
objectives in the target market. The marketing mix approach of marketing involves price, place,
product and promotion and this technique is further explained briefly with the help of 7P’s of
marketing through which all marketing objective of business can be met. 7P’S of marketing is
considered as principles of marketing which supports organization in promoting and advertising
the products and services. The marketing mix and brief description of 7P’s in relation to ASDA
has been discussed underneath:

Price- ASDA offers a wide variety of products and engage in mass selling. For meeting
targets through mass selling the company has adopted cheap and reasonable pricing strategy
which supports in attracting customers at larger scale (Hossain and et.al, 2017). By using low
price strategy, it supports ASDA to create high sales volume and larger profit margins. Such
pricing strategies opted by ASDA supports in targeting customers belonging from middle class
families.
Place- This marketing strategy emphasis on distribution plan, which is followed by an
organization as companies must select locations and right distribution channels which are
convenient and easily available to the customers. In terms of ASDA, the company must focus on
selecting most desirable distribution channels and locations which are easily accessible by
customers and also provide products through online distributors such as Amazon through which
sale of products of the company can be enhanced and this well be helpful in maximizing business
profitability.
Product- This marketing strategy reflects the solution to the customer needs. ASDA is
one of the leading retail companies with a wide range of product portfolio and also offers
doorstep services to the customers (Johnson, Matthes and Friend, 2019). As the company have
wide variety of products, the products which are offered in malls are grocery items such as
Frozen food, chilled food, drinks, snacks, bakery and fresh food, pet food, household and laundry
products, home and entertainment products, baby products and cosmetics. The company also
offers clothing and footwear range, mobile phone network services and as the money which
involves car insurance gift cards credit cards and business rewards.
Promotion- This element of marketing mix strategy is one of the important component
and function performed by ASDA to achieve their marketing objectives with the help of their
innovative promotional strategies. The company uses social media platforms and commercials
which are advertised through leaflets, billboards, newspaper, radio or TV as a promotional
strategy to get customer attention through which organization marketing objectives can be met
and this will also help in strengthening the customer base (Khamitov, Grégoire and Suri, 2020).
The company also recognizes the power of celebrity endorsement and collaborate with different
celebrities to promote their products and services which will help in increasing customer
engagement.

Process- A process is a collection of actions taken to achieve a specific purpose. ASDA
collects products from vendors, organizes them, and arranges them on shelves for customers to
buy. Customers are able to pick up their products and pay for them with the assistance of
customer service agents. They can also use self-service machines to make payments. ASDA
stores open early in the morning and close late at night. Some stores are open seven days a week,
24 hours a day.
People- Around 145,000 individuals work at ASDA. The company offers both on-the-job
and off-the-job training to improve personnel at all levels (Lashgari and et.al, 2018). To appraise
and recognize the hard work of employees, ASDA pays an extra £2.04 for unsociable hours
between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Furthermore, the company is paying employees more in exchange
for signing a new contract that includes unpaid breaks and the requirement to work on holidays.
Physical evidence- Physical evidence is the key element of ASDA's marketing mix. It is
the physical characteristics of the environment that visitors and customers are exposed to.
ASDA's tangible evidence comprises, among other things, its stores, equipment, logo, website,
and brochures. The ASDA website is well-designed and easy to navigate.
Appraise the rationale of marketing decisions of ASDA
Importance of marketing in strategic planning
Strategic planning is the process of establishing and maintaining a functional fit that
enables the achievement of organizational objectives as well as the identification of extra skills,
resources, and opportunities. The marketing strategy is a description of a company's marketing
plan and layout for achieving its marketing objectives (Lawson and et.al, 2015). The strategy
also aids businesses in focusing valuable resources on the best possible opportunities, resulting in
increased sales.
The marketing strategy of ASDA emphasize on targeting quality centric customers and
market by providing products and services at medium and high end of the market through there
high-quality products and low pricing strategy. The company uses effective product positioning

strategy which is helpful in creating value for customers, increasing revenues, meeting
organization objectives, increasing customer engagement, retaining maximizing business
profitability and making progress towards organizational success.
The importance of marketing in strategic planning and its importance in relation to
ASDA are listed below:
 Marketing facilitates in understanding current business scenario- Strategic planning
helps in creating effective marketing plan by gathering all valuable data which helps in
getting better insight of the current dynamic environment. It supports in getting
knowledge regarding the current business scenario, which offers support in forward
planning of all marketing activities and making sure the right marketing decision is
created, which will enhance the efficiency of the business (Lee and et.al, 2019). In terms
of ASDA, the company creates their marketing function and formulate plans by gathering
information. Through it they can understand the dynamic business scenario and form
strategies for achieving the marketing objectives. Such strategies help in understanding
demands and meeting all marketing objectives in desired timeframe.
 It is helpful for planning strategies to meet objectives- Strategic marketing planning is
one of the approaches for creating a layout of actions which will be taken by the
employees in order to meet the marketing objective. With the help of a strategic
marketing plan, it will help in understanding continuous changes in the market and plan
strategies for product positioning by which an organization can maintain and strengthen
their position in the industry and can gain competitive advantage. In context of ASDA,
the management plans their marketing strategies on the basis of marketing objectives
which needs to be accomplished and create an action plan which will facilitate in meeting
the desired objectives.
 States clear marketing objectives- Setting SMART goals, defining performance
criteria, and ensuring organizational success can all be achieved by creating clear
marketing goals with the help of a marketing plan (Madhani, P. M., 2015). In the case of
ASDA, the company must develop clear and detailed marketing plans and goals that must
be communicated to the entire company so that everyone can work together to reach the
company's goals.

Link of marketing with organizational strategy and other functional areas
The interlink of marketing decisions and strategies with the organizational functions of
ASDA are listed below:
 Marketing and supply chain management- The focus of an organization's supply chain
management is on managing the flow of goods and services, which includes operations
where raw materials are transformed into finished products (Momeni and Martinsuo,
2019). The supply chain functions require assistance from ASDA's marketing
management in interacting and addressing the demands of potential customers. Supply
chain management's marketing tasks include promoting communication and knowledge
exchange between divisions while also advertising products and services.
 Marketing and research functions- ASDA's marketing and research departments assist
the company in performing in-depth research in order to better understand changing
customer demands. The research business functions assist the marketing department in
analyzing data that aid in the understanding of client needs and the timely fulfilment of
their demands.
 Marketing and finance department- ASDA marketing and finance departments
collaborate closely to determine the appropriate budget for research, promotion, and
distribution. The finance department ensures that all businesses have the financial
resources they need to stay within their budgets (Moon and Alle, 2015). The marketing
department collaborates with the finance department to establish budgets and costs that
will be required by the organization in order to promote products and services and attract
more customers.
Appraisal of marketing decision
The components of strategic marketing plan comprise of goals, objective strategies and
tactics which will be taken by ASDA for meeting the marketing objectives and to successfully
increase their market share. The marketing objective of ASDA is to establish and develop
goodwill of the organisation by delivering quality customer experience, quality and wide variety
of products to the customers which will be helpful in delivering value to customers and lead to
higher customer engagement. Moreover, the marketing and organizational strategies will support

in simplifying operations and plan cost efficient programs by which the organisation can engage
in activities through which higher customer retention can be gained.
These marketing decisions followed by ASDA are promotions through online and offline
mediums such as social media platforms, TV, radio, leaflets and newspaper through which
offers, products and services can be promoted through which customers can be attracted and this
will create a positive impact on the sale and profitability of the company. The company focus on
targeting customers by pricing products at low cost through which low-income customers are
attracted and this helps in creating higher sales of the company.
Assess they concepts of segmentation, targeting and positioning for specific product offered by
ASDA
STP approach of ASDA
STP is a marketing approach which is a three-step framework. This marketing approach
highlights three factors of marketing which are segmentation, targeting and positioning of a
business (Peterson, Gordon and Krishnan, 2015). This approach is a part of modern marketing
which emphasis on the development of a specific product or service offered by the company.
The detailed STP marketing approach which will be followed by ASDA is discussed
below:
Segmentation- This is the first step of STP marketing module which focuses on creating various
customer segments on the basis of different criteria. The different customer segments which are
divided are: geographic segmentation, demographic behavioral and psychographic segmentation.
In terms of ASDA, the company segments its market on the basis of demographic segmentation,
location and income of customers (Peterson and et.al, 2021). The company has segmented the
market for customers with lower income, where they provide cheap range of products which will
be helpful in meeting the targets. The segmentation strategy of ASDA focuses on customers
looking for groceries and daily needs items though which the organization can meet demands of
their customers and maintain their competitive position in the industry. Therefore, ASDA will
segment their market on the basis of psychographic segmentation and demographic segmentation
where customers can be targeted on the basis of lifestyle, attitudes, traits and their values.

Targeting- This is the second stage of marketing approach where organisation have to look at
the segment and determine the most likely segment to generate higher sale of the products and
services offered by the company. The organisation must target their customers by analyzing the
size, profitability and reachability which will be helpful in maintaining the profitability of the
business. In terms of ASDA the company target customers with low-income and to families who
can and wants to buy products at lower prices (Rahman and Lambkin, 2015). Through offering
products and services at lower prices it will help the company in generating higher revenues by
increasing the sale and this will also help in retaining a greater number of customers. The
company targets almost all segments of society and general customers of ASDA are women’s of
age 20’s and 30’s these are the women's who buy day to day use of products for themselves and
their families and the second group of market segment of ASDA are males. As ASDA will target
customers on the basis of lifestyle and demographic segmentation, the company will majorly
target men’s and women’s of age between 20-40 where they will promote the benefits of their
products through which maximum customers can be retained.
Positioning- This is the last stage of marketing model which allows a business to sell their
products or services which differ from their competitors and create a competitive position in the
industry. This can be done through 3 mediums which will help the organization to gain
competitive edge. The three mediums which can be used for positioning by the company are:
symbolic positioning, functional and experiential positioning. In context of ASDA, the company
offers products at cheap prices while maintaining their quality which is a primary source for
attracting customers. ASDA will position their organic food selection and promote its benefits in
order to attract a larger number of customers, which will aid in satisfying demand and growing
product sales.
Innovation in product and service design in line with organizational strategy
The innovation and change which will be driven in the organization for enhancing the
service design and to target customers is to introduce healthy food range and promote such
product at lower cost through which a greater number of customers can be attracted and they can
understand the value of the same. Some of the innovative strategies which will be opted by
ASDA are introduction of organic and healthy food products, effective inventory management
strategies such as keeping track of stock regularly and through using environment friendly

material for packaging (Ranjan and Friend, 2020). These innovative strategies will support in
spreading awareness regarding the responsibilities of people towards the society and will
promote healthy lifestyle.
Techniques to enhance relationship and communication process
The approaches and techniques which will be used by ASDA for improving their
customer relationship and communication process for earning higher revenues by increasing the
sale, some of the techniques are mentioned below:
 Strengthen and expand customer base through referral schemes- A business can
strengthen and expand their customer base by introducing innovative referral programs
which will aid in getting higher customer retention and will lead to increase in revenue
generation of the company (Rapp and et.al, 2017). In relation to ASDA, the company can
introduce customer referral schemes and promote their products and services through
which customer engagement can be increased and it will also help in building strong
interpersonal relationship with customers through effective communication.
 Improve customer relationship with VIP programs- By introducing and offering VIP
programs to customers a sense of value by the organization is created and it is also
helpful to retain higher number of employees. In relation to ASDA, the company must
introduce VIP programs for their existing and new customers as this will be a strategic
approach for increasing customer engagement and maximizing business profitability and
success.
 Ask for feedback and value them- An organization must focus on taking feedback for
the products and services from the customers and must value them which will be helpful
in understanding the customer demands and this can be done through maintaining two-
way effective communication through which business sales can also be increased
(Rokonuzzaman, 2018). In terms of ASDA, the company must emphasis on taking
regular feedbacks from customers and understanding their opinions which will be helpful
in getting better insight of demands and ability to meet demands of customers through
which organizational profitability can be maintained.
 Think about the perspective of customers- Through establishing strong communication
with customers, it will be helpful for ASDA to understand customer’s opinions through

which they can regularly meet demands. This will also ensure higher customer
engagement and retention for the brand through which business sales and success can be
enhanced.
 Engage in active listening and clear public speaking- The management must focus on
their active listening and clear public speaking skills as this will help the personnel of
ASDA to promote the products and services. It will be helpful in positively influencing
purchase decisions of customers through which sales can be increased and it will also be
helpful in understanding of the demands of customers in the changing market trends and
maintain business position in the industry.
As a result, the firm benefits from these strategies in terms of increased sales and client
retention. ASDA will be able to enhance their brand image in the industry. As a result of these
activities, by bringing innovation to their products will help them in attracting customers and
lead to company success.
CONCLUSION
As per the report, it can be concluded that sales and marketing are two interconnected
business functions which helps in getting customer retention, promoting products, generating
leads, increasing business sales, having business profitability and strengthening brand image of
the company in the industry. The sales and marketing business function collectively focus on
promoting the products and services offered by the company which will be helpful in meeting
organizational objectives and maintaining the business position in the industry. Innovation in
products services and sales and marketing strategies is important as this will help in getting
customer retention, increase customer engagement and retain high number of customers which
will support in making progress towards business success. For effective performance of
marketing functions, it is essential to interlink the business activities of marketing department
with other functional areas which will help in creating innovative strategies as this will enhance
organizational productivity performance and efficiency. By following the STP approach, an
organsiation can position a product or service efficiently to target different groups of customers.

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