Marketing Analysis of Marks and Spencer: Strategies to Increase Brand Awareness and Market Share

This content provides a marketing analysis of Marks and Spencer, including the company's current business performance, marketing strategy, market position, competitor analysis, segmentation, targeting, and positioning. The article suggests strategies to increase brand awareness and market share, such as adopting a low-cost pricing strategy and bringing the latest fashion trends to increase customer footfall.

Marks and Spencer 0
Marks and Spencer
Marketing analysis
Student’s Name
4/5/2019

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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Current Business Performance...................................................................................................2
Marketing Strategy.....................................................................................................................3
Market Position of Marks and Spencer......................................................................................4
Competitor Analysis...................................................................................................................6
Segmentation of Marks and Spencers........................................................................................7
Targeting....................................................................................................................................9
Behavioral Segmentation.....................................................................................................10
Demographic Segmentation.................................................................................................11
Positioning................................................................................................................................12
Strategies for increasing brand awareness...............................................................................12
Strategies to increase market share..........................................................................................13
SWOT Analysis.......................................................................................................................14
PESTLE Analysis.....................................................................................................................15
Conclusion................................................................................................................................16
References................................................................................................................................17

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Introduction
In the complexities of the business environment, it becomes vital to understand the needs of
the customers and develop an appropriate marketing strategy. A marketing strategy of the
company helps in reaching to the people and turning them into loyal customers. Marks and
Spencers is a unique retailer that focuses on delivering greater value for the money. The
company is constantly striving for accelerating change by becoming more relevant to the
existing customers and appealing to the new larger households and busy families. It provides
high-quality clothing, food product to the customers. The company currently operates in the
UK and 41 territories and has growing international business (M&S, 2018).
The report will cover the current business performance and the current marketing strategy
adopted by the company. It will provide insight into the position that the company holds in
the market. It will cover the segmentation, targeting and positioning of the brand. The further
paragraphs will suggest the strategies to increase the brand awareness and market share of the
company.
Current Business Performance
According to the annual report 2018, the current business performance of the company was
not satisfying due to falling corporate sales and falling footfall levels. It is analyzed that 14
stores were closed and 86 stores are under investigation. The corporate profits plunge 62%
and the group revenue increased by 0.7%. The adjusted profit before tax decrease to 5.4 %.
The decreasing figures developed the emerging need to make the transformations and
renovate the brand in the eyes of the customers. The basic earnings per share were reduced
by 77.8%. The company currently employs 81,000 colleagues and serves about 32 million

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customers. The company is focusing on transforming and restoring the basics to deliver
sustainable and profitable growth to the investors, colleagues, and community (M&S, 2018).
Marketing Strategy
Digital Marketing
Marks and Spencers are centering on increasing its one-third of the sales through the use of
the online digital platforms. The company has designed a new inspirational product
campaign across online, mobile and in-store. The marketing team of the company has
launched its “must have” wardrobe essential campaigns on digital channels including VOD,
advertising, and Instagram. This campaign is launched to share and celebrate with the
customers the Must-Have wardrobe essentials for the coming seasons across Kidswear,
Womenswear, Menswear, Home and Beauty (Cawsey and Rowley, 2016).
The focus is to start a new conversation with customers that are more seasonally relevant,
inspirational and more agile. The campaign will be promoted on TV advertising through
video on demand services and will be using Google inventory advertising so that the
customer can easily search what is present at the local store. The company will also showcase
inspirational videos on shoppable Instagram and shoppable Facebook to create brand
awareness and increase consumer footfall (Calu et al, 2015).
Pricing Strategy
Marks and Spencers adopts the combination of competitive pricing and dynamic pricing
strategy. It offers lower prices for its sandwiches in the morning to entice the customers and
ease the rush during lunch time. It offers discounts and applies freebies marketing during the
seasonal time to provide the products at a cheaper price and clear the old stock of the

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company. The company also adopts the competitive strategy to respond to the price war by
reducing the price of its products (Bolton and Shankar, 2018).
Diversified product ranges
Marks and Spencer provide diversified ranges to its customers which includes Autograph,
Big&tall, Blue Harbor, Collezione, North coast in Menswear and offers Autograph, Classic,
Indigo collection, Limited collection, Per Una in case of Womenswear. This designer
collection helps the brand in sustaining its competitive advantage and focuses on continuous
innovation in the product portfolio to target more potential customers for the brand (Bolton
and Shankar, 2018).
Market Position of Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer are considered as the market leader who has high market share and high
growth rate. From the statistics, it is analyzed that the market share of M&S has decreased
from 9.7% to 7.6% but the brand is still the market leader in comparison to its competitors. It
delivers a wide range of products and has diversified business lines (Global Data, 2018).

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(Global Data, 2018)
The market position of the brand is reflected through Boston Consulting Group
growth/share matrix which will reflect the attractiveness of the brand’s products against
market growth rate and relative market share. The diversified portfolio of the brand is
categorized under four categories i.e. Stars, Question marks, Cash cows and Dogs
Stars are the business units that have high market share and high growth rate. It requires a
huge investment to sustain them. Marks and Spencer are categories as Stars which reflects
high market share and high growth rate of the brand. To expand the market share and growth
rate of the brand it demands huge investment. The new M&S.com website propelled in 2013
reinforced by the new e-commerce distribution center at Castle Donington capable of

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processing one million products daily has shown great potential for growth (CioIndex, 2018).
(CioIndex, 2018)
Question marks represent a high growth market with low market share however requires
investment to convert them into stars. It is analyzed from the matrix that Womenswear and
beauty product are a complement to the lingerie which is categorized under Cash cows.
However, divesting them will create a negative impact on the marketing of one product. The
Menswear and Kidswear generate enough revenues; therefore, the company can invest more
to convert them in Stars (Grundy, 2017).
Cash cows operate in low growth or mature markets with high market share. It is reflected
that food and lingerie hold the major position of the brand and the brand must make the
rigorous efforts to renovate these product categories by adding more product category to it.
The revenue generated from these cash cows helps the brand in representing a strong market
position as compared to its competitors (CioIndex, 2018).

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Dogs are the last category of the matrix which represents low market share and low growth
rate. The premium pricing products of the brand are placed under this category which does
not provide any revenue and must be divested from the portfolio because these products are
just draining the resources and not providing the desired level of returns. The premium
pricing products are not able to generate revenue because of high brand competitors and high
bargaining power of the buyers (Bolton and Shankar, 2018).
However, Marks and Spencer is considered a market leader and reflects a strong brand
position in the market.
Competitor Analysis
Marks and Spencer face increasing competition and develop the emerging need to make
continuous innovation according to the changing requirements of the customers. In order to
sustain the brand position, the company has to adopt the novel marketing strategies that will
increase brand awareness and the market share of the company (Piercy, 2016).
Market share
Marks and spencers
Primark
Next
Asda
TK Maxx
Tesco
JD Sports
Debenhams
Sports direct

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From the above diagram, it is analyzed that Marks and Spencers hold the maximum market
share with 7.6 % by offering a diversified product portfolio and transforming it to meet the
current needs of the potential customers. The main competitors of Marks and Spencer
include Primark, Next, Asda, Tesco. These companies provide greater competition to the
brand and continuously strive to become the market leader (Olins, 2017).
The companies are adopting different marketing strategies to expand their market share and
becoming a threat to Marks and Spencer. It is analyzed that the market share of its
competitors Primark has increased from 4.4% to 7.0% because of the reasonable pricing
strategy adopted by Primark. However, it describes the alarming situation for the company to
adopt another marketing strategy (Piercy, 2016).
Segmentation of Marks and Spencers
Segmentation of the market helps to classify the customers into a group who have similar
needs. It helps in better understanding of the customers and satisfying the diversifying needs
of the target market. Marks and Spencer mainly target women and provide a variety of
products to them. It targets according to the demographic segment and has designed per unit
range for the customers. This range provides the designer clothes and responds to the
diverging needs of the customer at a faster pace. In the geographic segmentation, the
company designs its collection based on the climate. The company is focusing to adopt cost
leadership strategy and providing a quality product at the lower prices (Pedersen et al, 2018).
Types of segmentation Segmentation Criteria Marks and Spencer Target
segment
Geographic Segmentation

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Region
Density
Climate
Domestic/International
Urban population
Rainfall, humidity, and wind
Demographic Segmentation
Age
Gender
Life cycle stage
Income
Occupation
6-45
Male/Female
The company mainly targets
the teenage age, children, and
older age group.
Middle and higher income
groups.
Students, employees,
professionals, role models.
Behavioral Segmentation
Degree of loyalty Hard core loyal and
switchers

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Benefits sought
Personality
User Status
High quality, low pricing
Price conscious
Potential and regular
customers.
Psychographic
Segmentation Lifestyle The social class and the
personalities are the same but
different lifestyles.
Targeting
The two proposed segments include behavioural and demographic segment.
Behavioral Segmentation
The buying behavior of the customers majorly affects the profitability of the company. It
must target the customers based upon the usage, brand loyalty, and quality vs. price, fashion.
The company must respond to the changing tastes and preferences according to the current
needs of the customer (Hannington, 2016).
Brand loyalty
It is analyzed that the youngsters and the age group of above 60 are more loyal towards the
brand and turn into regular customers. They have the attitude to purchase from the same

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retailer however the company must target the youngsters and the older age group to increase
the market share from loyal customers (Hanssens and Pauwels, 2016).
Fashion
It is evaluated that the youngsters and the age group between 20-45 demands for the latest
designer clothes and are fashion-savvy. The desire for fashion gets decreased from the age of
above 45 however the companies must focus on targeting the younger generation and
responding by developing the latest designer clothes. It is scrutinized that 50% of the
population who are under 35 year age get highly influenced by the latest market trends and
demands for fashionable products (Atulkar and Kesari, 2016).
Price vs. Quality
The preferences of the customers vary from price conscious or quality conscious. It is
analyzed that the youngsters from the age 16-24 are price conscious and some customers
focus on quality rather than the price of the product. However, the consumers who are the
regular customers of Jon Lewis, Debenhams, and Zara prefer quality and the customers who
shops from Primark are price conscious (Hanssens and Pauwels, 2016).
From the above, it is analyzed that in order to target the younger generation the company
must adopt a low-cost pricing strategy and must bring the latest fashions at a fast pace. It
must focus on both the quality and price of the product to increase customer footfall.
Demographic Segmentation
The demographic segmentation is done based upon the age, income, occupation and the life
cycle stage. It will help in getting a deep insight into the customers and expand the market
share of the company.
Age

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In the clothing industry, it must target the age from 16-25 and in the food industry, the
company must target the above 40 age group.
Life cycle stage
The youngster creates growth opportunity and demands for fashionable products. The older
age group are getting health conscious and providing growth opportunity by developing
organic and healthy products (Wilson, 2016).
Income group
The main target of the company must be middle and higher income group and must adopt the
low-cost pricing strategy because the customers are getting price conscious. It must deliver
high-quality products to satisfy the desire of the higher income group (Islam, 2016).
Occupation
The main target of the company is the students and the employees and has developed classic,
per unit and autograph range to satisfy the different age group.
From the above, it is analyzed that the main target of the brand must be on the youngster and
the older age group. The company must adopt the competitive pricing strategy and must set
the prices in accordance to its competitors. It must target the older group and must develop
healthy and organic products to increase the profitability of the company (Wilson, 2016).
Positioning
From the above description, it is analyzed that M&S is perceived as a “premium pricing
brand” which deliver a quality product to its customers. The company must reposition its
brand as delivering innovation at medium prices. It must focus on adopting a competitive
pricing strategy to expand its market share and must focus on getting the deep insight of the

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local customers. The brand will be repositioned based upon demographic and behavioral
segmentation. It should be positioned as reasonable pricing brand that delivers fashionable
products (Souza-Monteiro and Hooker, 2017)
It must focus more on the healthier products and designing the campaigns that showcase the
healthier products delivered by the brand. The brand is often perceived as delivering better
services at in stores. However, the brand must reposition by increasing its online space and
using digital platforms to deliver a strong message that showcases its online presence (Baker
and Saren, 2016).
Strategies for increasing brand awareness
Use of social analytics tools
The company must focus on using social analytics tools to determine the best time for
posting on social media platforms and other digital platforms. It will help in greater
interaction with the customers and will increase brand awareness (Armstrong et al, 2015).
Use of search ads and free social media platforms
It is analyzed that various competitors like John Lewis and Debenhams use search ads on
Google and Bing to increase its brand awareness. The company must use these search
engines and must use social media platforms to increase brand awareness and market share
of the company (Moss, 2017).
Design online videos and digital campaigns
It is analyzed that usage of digital platforms leads to a high increase in the brand awareness
and sales of the company. Marks and Spencers must focus on designing online videos that

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deliver strong messages and helps in creating a strong brand presence in the target market
(Armstrong et al, 2015).
Sponsorship events
Marks and Spencers can contract with the most popular international events to promote the
brand and increase its presence in the eyes of customers.
Strategies to increase market share
Innovation
Innovation is considered as the best strategy to increase the market share. The company must
focus on innovating new healthier products and designing new ranges for the younger
generation customers to enhance its market share. It must respond to the changing taste and
preferences at a faster pace (Baines et al, 2016).
Strengthening the customer relationship
The company can increase its market share by delivering a valuable experience to its
customers. Marks and Spencer can involve freebies marketing that provide discounts, gifts to
the consumer and increasing the efficiency of services by adding its variety on the online site
to expand its sales (Baines et al, 2016).
Acquiring Competitors
Marks and Spencer can increase their market share by acquiring the customer base of its
competitors. The company can acquire it by using competitive pricing method and
developing the products and the services that are innovative in comparison to its competitors
(Moss, 2017).

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SWOT Analysis
Strengths
 High recognition of the brand.
 A wide variety of products
 A large number of stores and outlets.
 Popular designer brand
Weakness
 The customers perceive it as a non-
trendy brand.
 Uses traditional methods which
increases the labor cost.
Opportunities
 Geographical expansion in the
emerging markets.
 Opportunity in the online retail place.
 Segmenting the younger generation.
 Simplifying of the operation model
Threats
 Still reliant on megastores
 The main competitors are Primark,
John Lewis, and Debenhams.
 Changing trends in the clothing sector
PESTLE Analysis
Political factor
M&S has been favored through EC’s free trade agreements and have led to decreased
sourcing cost. The political factors majorly affect the functioning of the company. M&S is
well recognized for its CSR plan but the lack of clarity in the US energy efficiency schemes

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creates a negative impact on the brand. Marks and Spencer is highly disadvantaged due to
high-cost structures in the international markets (S&P. com, 2019).
Economic factor
The financial crisis has reduced the purchasing power of the consumers and the consumers
are getting price conscious. Such a crisis affects the cash flow of the company because the
company is adopting a low-cost pricing strategy. The competitors discount pricing
techniques also affect the business of the company (Wilson, 2015).
Socio-cultural factors
Change from baby boomers to millennial requires changing strategies for catering to the new
segment. The customers in the US are getting health conscious and demands for more
healthy and organic products. These shifts in the trends affect the performance of the
company (S&P. com, 2019).
Technological factors
The increasing use of social media and online presence creates the need to make the use of
technological advances and develop the services that provide ease to the customer. M&S has
increased its online presence by using digital platforms and providing efficient services
(Wilson, 2015).
Environmental factors
The increasing pressures and protection towards the environment have developed the need to
apply strict standards and implement the policies that focus on protection of the environment.
M&S is poised to take advantage and creates pressure on the consumers to adopt green
ethical practices (Zokaei et al, 2016).

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Legal factors
There are various rules and policies drawn by the government regarding the packaging,
production and the environment protection standard. Failing to which M&S can open to
litigation (S&P. com, 2019).
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is concluded that Marks and Spencer are considered as the
market leader and has a strong brand position in the market. It is analyzed that the market
share of Marks and Spencer has decreased from 9.7% to 7.6% in the year 2018. The
decreasing market share and the increasing competition emerges the need to bring
transformation and adopt new marketing strategy. It must reposition its brand from premium
pricing product to reasonable pricing high-quality product. It must focus on adding brand
extensions and responding to the changing needs of the customers. The company must
increase its brand awareness by using digital platforms and strengthening the relationship
with the customers.
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