Marketing Strategies of Marks and Spencer

This report discusses the current marketing strategies of Marks and Spencer, including segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategy. It proposes two market segmentation criteria and their marketing strategies, namely cost leadership and market diversification. The report also covers Porter Generic Strategy, marketing mix, and proposed marketing strategy. The subject is Marketing and the course code is not mentioned. The college/university is not mentioned.

2018
Marks and Spencer
7/15/2018
Introduction to Marketing

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Overview of Marks and Spencer............................................................................................2
Current Marketing Strategy of Marks and Spencer...............................................................3
Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Strategy of Marks and Spencer.......................3
Marketing Mix of Marks and Spencer...............................................................................5
Proposed Market Segmentation Criteria................................................................................6
Porter Generic Strategy......................................................................................................6
Market Diversification.......................................................................................................8
Proposed Marketing Strategy.................................................................................................9
Cost leadership...................................................................................................................9
Market Diversification.......................................................................................................9
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Marketing is the business activity that is associated with acquiring and vending a service or
product. It is comprised of promoting, vending, and supplying services and products to
people. People who perform their roles in the department of marketing of organization put
their efforts to grab the attention of target market with the help of packaging design, general
media exposure, slogans, and celebrity endorsements (Baker and Hart, 2016). The report is
being presented to suggest two market segmentation criteria and their marketing strategies.
For this, the report will highlight the current marketing strategies of Marks and Spencer.
Overview of Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer Group is a big British retailer with headquarter in London. The business
is registered on the Stock Exchange of London and is component of the FTSE 100 Index. It
has a specialization in the retailing of superfluity food items, home merchandises, and
clothing. Thomas Spencer and Michael Marks established Marks and Spencer in 1884. The
company started vending branded products such as Kellogg’s Corn Flakes from 2008. Marks
and Spencer presently possess 979 stores in the United Kingdom comprising 615 stores that
only vend food items (Reuters, 2018). The company operates its business in two segments
that are UK and International. The United Kingdom segment is comprised of the retail
business and the franchise operations of United Kingdom. The International segment is
comprised of retained businesses of Marks and Spencer in the Republic of Ireland, Asia, and
Europe, along with international processes of the franchise (Reference for Business, 2018).

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Current Marketing Strategy of Marks and Spencer
Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Strategy
Targeting
Marks and Spencer particularly aims the market of the United Kingdom, the target is
comprised of around 95% of the whole population. The business is planning to increase its
food stores in the country to meet the needs of the consumers in the local area.
The market segmentation purpose is to manage the resources and support in fulfilling the
customer’s needs. Marks and Spencer target particularly the young people and encounter the
customer's needs. They entice a segment of the younger female into their store (Campaign,
2017).
Segmentation
Segmentation is the market separation of people with likes/dislikes in terms of preferences
and tastes (Williams and Williams, 2017). Marks and Spencer define the market and targets
that market with the help of the approach of diverse measures like the clothing line support to
discover the market in an appropriate way with the support of geographic, psychographic,
and demographic profile.
Demographics- In the market of clothing, Marks and Spencer majorly target women and the
business gratified the market segment of each age group and normally above 20 years of age
group. The company has targeted teenage girls as they look for colorful clothing, and are very
conscious of their styles.
Psychographic- The personalities and social class are the same but the difference is in the
lifestyles. The consumer buying behavior can be understood by the transaction and it assists
marketers to offer better items for the target market (Hobbs, 2016).

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Geographic Segment- The key geographic segment of Marks and Spencer is comprised of
337 stores internationally. It divides the market geographically by building a store in regions
and shadows the method of regular packaging and it is very simple for the customers to do
shopping.
Behavioral segmentation- The superior customers of M&S are the regular consumers. They
come back for shopping at the stores because they are pleased with its offering. Regular
consumers are vital in order to be profitable in the industry because they possess the power to
pay more and collect more items. Loyal consumers will support the business in enhancing the
sales.
The positioning of Marks and Spencer
The positioning of the business in the market is a premium brand. It provides customers with
premium price products because they are ready to pay for this brand at a premium price. The
company fixes its prices with the approach of premium brand perception in the eyes of the
customers.
Source [(Reddit, 2018)]

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Marketing Mix of Marks and Spencer
Product
Marks and Spencer is a well-known and world’s big retail chain based in U.K. The business’s
portfolio of the product is wide-ranging that covers the items for all the age group kids,
women, and men. Marks and Spencer provide products for a female that comprises clothing
such as Cardigans, Jeans, Shirt, Blazers, Linen, skirt, Cashmere, etc. M&S Company also
involve Furniture and Home section that offer bedroom furniture, dining room, home
accessories, living room, lighting etc. Marks and Spencer include the section of Wine and
Food, which offers all dinner and lunches, wine, starters, and main courses, etc. Further, the
Company provide various gift items such as Flowers. Marks and Spencer mostly operate its
business in-house brand in place of other international brands (Bhasin, 2018).
Price
M&S shadow the competitive pricing strategy for its portfolio of product. The business
possesses its own in-house brands for kids, men, and women clothing. Normally, the prices of
these in-house brands are between the categories of average to higher and reason is of the
high price is its high quality. However, Marks and Spencer follow a strategy of competitive
pricing because the consumers today have various options to select from due to increased
competition.
Place
M&S is a well-known international brand with numerous stores operating in 50 countries.
The key business of Marks & Spencer is in the United Kingdom with approx. 850 stores. In
India Company, have 50+ stores where it started its business activities in 2001(MBA Skool,
2018). In some more countries where the company has its operation are France, Finland,
Turkey, Hungary, Spain, Ireland, etc. M&S operates its own website from where consumers
purchase products and receive home delivery services. It also offers the option of

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international delivery for some products. All the items could be purchased in domestic
currency in only shopping.
Promotion
Marks & Spencer picks its strategies of marketing very wisely to bring into line its campaign
of advertisement with in-store strategy and digital marketing strategy. Marks and Spencer
stress to offer a shared message on every communication medium. M&S make use of TV ads,
social media campaigns, mobile ads, and print media. The company makes use of its website
to advertise its offers and clothes for kids, men, and women. Consumers can get fashion tips
and find blogs on the company's website. M&S also endorses its season sale to its regular and
loyal customers by offering them discounts. The company also operates a loyalty program i.e.
‘Sparks’ that helps in adding points to the account of consumers depending on the amount
spent by them on shopping. These points of reward can be used on future shopping from
M&S stores.
Proposed Market Segmentation Criteria
Porter Generic Strategy
According to Michael Porter, if a company is presently a market leader that does not mean
that it will always remain at the same position, therefore he suggested three primary ways to
make a supportable competitive advantage i.e. Focus, Differentiation, and Cost leadership.
Cost leadership- It means businesses offer rational value at a lower price. Businesses do this
by regularly enhancing working efficiency (Amadeo, 2018).
Differentiation- It refers to those companies offer superior benefits than anyone else in the
industry. It can be attained by offering an exclusive or high-quality product.

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Focus- It refers to those leaders of the company who understand and offer better service to
their target market as compared to their competitors in the industry.
From the above analysis, it can be said that Marks and Spencer can adopt cost leadership
strategy in order to get another market segment, which can help, in increasing the market
share in the industry. In the market, the behavior of the customer changes regularly as per
trends and fashion. Besides this, what changes the customer behavior is the cost or price of
the product. Marks and Spencer offer luxury brands and products at high cost, which can only
be affordable for the high-class customers. This reflects that the middle-class segments which
are eager to purchase branded products at low cost are not able to purchase such high brand
products, which eventually affect the market, share and customer share of Marks and
Spencer.
In order to cover this market segment, Marks and Spencer should reduce some prices of its
products such that middle-class people can also purchase branded products. This strategy will
not only be beneficial for the company in the apparels segment but also in the food segment.
In the market segment of food Aldi supermarket, Tesco, etc. are the market leader due to their
low price strategy that can be seen in the below diagram.
Source [(Nielson, 2017)]

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Market Diversification
Diversification strategy normally exists when a business establishes a new product in the
marketplace. These strategies are said to be diversification strategies (Zkjadoon, 2016). In
order to increase the market share Marks and Spencer Company can diversify its business
into the hospitality segment by opening a hotel and resort due to the increasing demand for
luxury hotels and tourism.
According to research, the global hotel and resort market size has been valued in 2017 at
USD 83.10 billion and is expected to enlarge at a CAGR of 4.3% over the prediction period.
Developing corporate and tourism industries of different areas, increasing disposable income,
improving the living standard of people, and increase in liking for leisure travel are likely to
drive the market (Grand Review Research, 2018). Increase in the living standard and
purchasing power are the key factors responsible for attracting customers towards luxury
resorts and hotels.
Moreover, the industry of hotel is the most essential segments of the lodging sector in the
U.K. Overall 17.4 billion British pounds in 2015 was generated, which adds most of the value
to the economy of UK as compared to other services of accommodation (Statista, 2018). This
market analysis reflects that Marks and Spencer can diversify to Hotel and Resorts business
in the UK to increase customer and market base. The company can concentrate on business
class and high-class customers to offer luxury services in this segment.
Proposed Marketing Strategy
Cost leadership
In order to promote the products at the low-cost company can make use of television, radio,
and print media because this entire medium can reach to a maximum number of people of the
population.

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Market Diversification
In order to promote the hotel and Resort business Marks and Spencer can place their
brochures on the airports to attract high-class and business class customers. Besides this, it
can contact the different travel and tourism companies by soliciting potential customers.
Conclusion
From the above analysis of marketing strategies of Marks and Spencer, it can be said that it is
one of the well-known business in retailing as it has adopted various approaches to promote
and present its offerings in the market such as Segmentation. Targeting, and positioning. The
above report has shown the market position of the company in relation to its competitors.
Further, the report has suggested two segments in which business can concentrate to increase
the market and customer share that are cost leadership and market diversification.

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References
Amadeo, K. (2018) What Is Competitive Advantage? Three Strategies That Work [online].
Available from https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-competitive-advantage-3-strategies-that-
work-3305828 [accessed 15 July 2018]
Baker, M.J., and Hart, S. (2016) The Marketing Book 7th ed. U.S: Routledge.
Bhasin, H. (2018) Marketing mix of Marks and Spencer [online]. Available from
https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-of-marks-and-spencer/ [accessed 15 July
2018]
Campaign (2017) Will the new M&S brand strategy boost the retailer's fashion and food
credentials? [online]. Available from https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/will-new-m-s-
brand-strategy-boost-retailers-fashion-food-credentials/1433486 [accessed 15 July 2018]
Grand Review Research (2018) Industry Insights [online]. Available from
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/luxury-hotels-market [accessed 15
July 2018]
Hobbs, T. (2016) M&S targets attitude not age to rebuild fashion business [online]. Available
from https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/11/04/ms-dismisses-segmentation-saying-
fashion-attitudes-are-ageless/ [accessed 15 July 2018]
MBA Skool (2018) Marks & Spencer Marketing Mix [online]. Available from
https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/services/17122-marks-and-spencer.html
[accessed 15 July 2018]

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Nielson (2017) Discounters hot record grocery market share [online]. Available from
http://www.nielsen.com/uk/en/press-room/2017/discounters-hit-record-grocery-market-
share.html [accessed 15 July 2018]
Reddit (2018) Is there a supermarket hierarchy in your country? [online]. Available from
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEurope/comments/7otj1x/is_there_a_supermarket_hierarchy_in
_your_country/ [accessed 15 July 2018]
Reference For Business (2018) Marks and Spencer p.l.c. [online]. Available from
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/68/Marks-and-Spencer-p-l-c.html [accessed
15 July 2018]
Reuters (2018) Marks and Spencer Group PLC (MKS.L) [online]. Available from
https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/company-profile/MKS.L [accessed 15 July 2018]
Statista (2018) Hotel industry in the United Kingdom - Statistic & Facts [online]. Available
from https://www.statista.com/topics/3146/hotel-industry-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/
[accessed 15 July 2018]
Williams, R.L., and Williams, H.A. (2017) Vintage Marketing Differentiation: The Origins of
Marketing and Branding Strategies 1st ed. Germany: Springer.
Zkjadoon (2016) Diversification Strategy Definition | Types of Diversification Strategies
[online]. Available from http://www.businessstudynotes.com/finance/diversification-strategy-
and-its-types/ [accessed 15 July 2018]

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