Principles and Practices of Marketing: A Case Study of Primark

This case study focuses on the marketing strategy adopted by Primark, a multinational fast fashion retailer. It discusses the marketing mix used by the company, reflects on the strategic decisions and relevant theories in marketing efforts, and evaluates the effectiveness of marketing efforts. The study also includes STP analysis and provides insights into the principles and practices of marketing.

Principle and
Practices of
Marketing

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Overview of the business............................................................................................................3
Marketing mix of PRIMARK.....................................................................................................4
Reflecting the strategic decisions and relevant theories in efforts of marketing ......................7
Evaluation of the effectiveness of efforts in marketing.........................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is known as the collection of all sources and set of actions which are vital
for directing and facilitating the smooth flow of products and services from producers to end
users. Marketing is referred to as the process of attaining potential consumer's interested in the
firms goods and services. It includes the research,promotion, selling and distributing the goods
and services. Marketing is what every organisation implement in its growth and development
strategy. Firms use techniques of marketing for achieving the goals and targets. It starts with
determining the needs and wants of the buyers and satisfy them by the means of products and
services. The present topic of marketing is focused on buyers and concentrated on only earning
profits and improving revenue by the fulfilment of demands and needs of the consumer's. The
employees of marketing department main motive is to satisfy the wants and needs of buyers and
so they do research about what users want. It starts with buyers and end on ends users. This
project is made in context of PRIMARK which is a Irish multinational fast fashion retailer
having its headquarter in Dublin, Ireland. Company was incorporated in the year 1969 by
Arthur Ryan(Araujo and et,al., 2021) . It deals in clothing,cosmetics and housewares segment
and have its stores presence in almost more than 400 locations. It trades as the name of Penneys
in Republic of Ireland. This project will mention the marketing strategy adopted by Primark in
detail and its marketing mix used for effective marketing. A reflection on the strategic decisions
and their relevance by different theories in the efforts of marketing will also be stated. In end the
evaluation of the effectiveness of the efforts of marketing will be discussed.
Overview of the business
PRIMARK is a Irish retailer which is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods and its
stores presence all across Europe and United States. It was established on 13 June, 1969 in by
Arthur Ryan on behalf of Weston family at 47 Mary Street in Dublin. Irelands success led to
expansion of the business, by opening a big store in Belfast City Centre in year 1971. After this
firm opened store outside Ireland in Derby, England in 1973. Company offers a wide range of
goods such as baby and small children clothes, menswear, women wear, home ware,footwear,
accessories, beauty products and confectionery. The firm sells the clothes at cost below which is
usually charged. From the year 2914 onwards company has started selling the make up products
and vegan snacks in 2018. With its competitors Zara and H&M firm contributes to modern fast

fashion trend. As per the 2021 data Primark was operating in 14 nations with almost 400 stores.
Companys trade mark name Penneys is not used by them in other nations except Ireland as it is
registered by J.C. Penney so the enterprise invented the new name PRIMARK for using in
outside nations(Asseraf, Gnizy and Shoham, 2020).
Marketing mix of PRIMARK
For understanding the marketing strategy of the business organisation uses marketing mix
which is a setup used for alluring the demands for products and services. The starting formulae
of marketing mix involves the 7 components. It is known as the techniques of the marketing
mix which they have used for satisfying the consumer's needs and requirements and position the
brand in the mind set of customers. It consists of needs and wants of the buyers so they may
fulfil them. Here is the explanation of each factor in context of Primark-
 Products- It refers to the manufactured goods by firms and developed for meeting the
core demands of the consumers. The main challenge with manufactures is creating the
right bundle of benefits which meets the need. When the consumers changes the needs or
new opportunities come manufacturer has to improve the offering, create he new
versions of existent goods or launch the brand new goods. In context of Primark which
has key products line of Women, kids, home, baby, men and beauty. Every product line
has a large no. of goods and versions which makes the product mix very extensive. Firms
goods line are very closely related in terms of usage and raw materials. Company oftens
adds new goods to its existent goods lines, Its various offerings and basic style appeals
the consumers from many walks of life. Primark focus is not just on goods but also on
marketing and floor space allocation. Firm have limited edition stock which targets the
selective consumers and increase the perceived value of brand and provide consumer's a
sense of exclusiveness(Belasen and Belasen, 2019).
 Price- It is the only revenue generating component of the product mix as all the other
activities of marketing represents the cost. It is important for getting the right price for
covering the costs and generate profit. But before setting the prices company's needs to
research on what consumer's are ready to pay and get understanding of demand of goods
and services in the market. Price is a strong indication of market positioning against the
rival companies. Primark mainly targets the consumer who seeks values and promises
them with for keeping with latest looks in reasonable prices. It offers them affordable

prices which allures millions of consumers. It is due to economies of scale and
manufacturing of goods in nations where cost of production is low.
 Place- It is where the consumers makes purchase and can be a physical store, a app or
website. Many firms have store for taking the goods and service to the consumers but
some enterprises work with intermediaries with place, storage and sales experiences for
aiding with the distribution. The decisions in this mix are of involvement of
intermediaries in chain of distribution and logistics. The goods of Primark are available
in more than 370 stores in 14 nations across USA and Europe. Company does not sell
anything online. The behaviour of consumer's is changing and firm must sell online.
Many people are selling the goods of the firm online by reselling and it is causing loss to
firm. Primark has strong channel of distribution and is expanding in Germany and
France for increasing the base of consumer's(Bhattacharyya, 2022).
 Promotion- Promotion in the mix is for communicating messages to consumers in which
ever stages they are in journey of buying for generating the awareness, interests, desire
or action. There are various tools for communication with many benefits. Advertising is
one of them for raising awareness and reach to new audiences whereas personal selling
uses the team of sales for building relationship with consumer's and closing the sales.
Primark most effective promotional strategy is word of mouth, as satisfied consumer's
tell the name of retailer leading to attraction of more consumers. Primark uses social
media like Facebook, Twitter extensively and gets many comments and like in less time.
Firm also contributes to the social causes for building positive image.
 People- Business organizations peoples are at front while interacting with consumer's,
taking and processing the enquiries and complaints by chat, social media. They interact
with consumer's in the buying journey and become the company's face. Their knowledge
about the firms goods and services and about using them needs to be effectively
optimized. People with proper training and encouragement can represent the
differentiation in market and build good relations with consumer's. Primark gives
employment to more than 70,000 employees and contribute in the employment of 700,00
workers through its various suppliers.

 Process- Every firm wants to create the smooth, efficient and consumer friendly journey.
Understanding the consumer's journey steps from enquiring online for info and
purchasing, all this aids in considering what process is needed for making sure that
consumer's have positive experience. When the consumer's makes enquiry how long will
they wait for response and generation of reviews after the purchase. All these aids in
building the positive consumer experience. Various activities of Primark have many
processes for example consumers will have to go to store for purchasing goods and stay
in queues for purchasing. Goods are manufactured in other country and sent to Europes
and USA where the store are located.
 Physical evidence- It gives the tangible cues of quality of experience which a firm is
offering. It may be useful when the consumers have not purchased from the firm and
needs reassurance and expects to pay for it before its delivery. In context of Primark the
stores of the company are very massive and multi levelled. But narrow aisles in some of
the stores are very inconvenient for some of the consumer's. Company has a wonderful
website which is very user friendly(Finkler and Aitken, 2021).

Reflecting the strategic decisions and relevant theories in efforts of marketing
STP analysis of PRIMARK
The STP acronym is Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. It is basically the
aggregation of 3 different types of approaches of marketing which helps the firms management
for analysing the various types of goods in which they deal and aids them in communicating the
products benefits to the target audience. In addition the frame work also aids the firm in market
segmentation in many parts and then target the specific market place and in the end position in
market place by creating positive brand image in the mind sets of consumers. These 3
components plays a vital role in enhancing the effectivity of the business organisation in the
specific targeted market. In reference to Primark, the STP analysis is explained below-
Segmentation- Segmentation of the market is basically the research in which
management of the business enterprise divide the market in various small groups on basis of data
which is acquired from the market place. In easy language it means that dividing the market in
various sections representing wants and needs of consumer's(Guenthner, 2020) . The enterprise
segments the market on various basis explained below-
 Demographic- In it the business firm divides on basis of individual attributes such as
marital status, age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, education and occupation.
 Geographic- In this the firm segments the market on basis of state, city, region, nation
and many others.
 Psycho graphic- In it the enterprise divides the market on basis of risk, hobbies, values,
lifestyle and many others.
 Behavior- In this the organisation segments the market on the basis of how customers
use the goods and their loyalty towards brand.
Primark may segment the market place on basis of behavioral and demographic bases. In
the demographic segmentation the business organisation may segment market place on basis of
gender and age. Mean while on basis of behavior the enterprise segments the market place on
present trends and preferences of customers.

Targeting- It is being known as the significant variable of STP model. There are
various types of approaches which aids the business organisation in targeting the market
place(Gbadamosi, 2019). There are primarily 4 types of marketing strategies which are
explained below-
 Undifferentiated marketing- This strategy is primarily used by the business
organisation which have large audience with supply of mass manufactured goods. For
example Pepsi and Coca Cola(Vos, 2021).
 Differentiated marketing- If the enterprise launches the new goods in existent goods
then this is used by the firm. For example- Samsung and Apple Inc.
 Focused or concentrated marketing- This strategy is basically used by the business
firms who have very limited resources but they have the proper understanding of the
consumers.
 Customized marketing- In this the enterprise solves the issues and problems in
accordance to their desires and wants.
Various strategies of marketing may be used by Primarks management for targeting the
consumers. As the enterprise basically deals in clothes and accessories they may target the
individuals of age group between 20- 55.
Positioning- The main aim behind positioning the goods is for effectively connecting
with the consumers and create the good brand image in mind sets of consumer's. Various types
of factors should be considered by the management of the firm for product positioning which is
mentioned below-
 Symbolic positioning- It is also known as the lifestyle positioning and figured out by the
firm by focusing on types of images which is projected.
 Functional positioning- In this type the issues which the goods have are included a and
their solution for making the lives of consumer's better(Rosenbloom, 2021).
 Experimental positioning- It is fully related to experiences which are given by products
and services of the business enterprise to their consumer's.

In context of PRIMARK the firms management positions the goods in market place as
the ongoing trend of fashion at very affordable and competitive costs. Business firms
management has been focusing on the goods quality for gaining competitive advantage over the
competitors. Company also focuses on the satisfaction of consumer's which makes them more
happy and satisfied.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of efforts in marketing
Various types of techniques and tools are used by the business enterprise management for
measuring the effectiveness in the market place. By the help of it they enhance the revenue and
decrease the cost. It is very crucial for the business organisation management for evaluating the
efforts of marketing as it not only aid in enhancing the strategies but aids in doing changes in it.
Social media, KPI, bench marking and many others as this tools aids in measurement of the
efforts of marketing(Hanson and Kalyanam, 2020). In context of Primark, various types of
efforts might be used by the business enterprise for measuring the marketing efforts which are
explained below-
 KPI- KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator which is as famous quantified tool
which aids in measurement of the performance and efforts which are done by the firm.
With the aid of this the management of the enterprise ensures that efforts made by
members of team are in right direction or not. In context of Primark, KPI is used by firm
as the tool for measurement which aids in aligning the work force towards the objectives
and goals and keep the team working in same direction. The method represents the actual
performance of the business organisation. Along with it the method success and failure
are effectively measured which helps them to put more efforts. It also aids the Primark
for analyzing whether every employee is working with full efforts or not. Performance of
employees is tracked for helping the executives for thinking the various ways(Khan,
2021).
 Social media analytics- This tool is known as the best tool for the business organisation
for measuring the efforts effectiveness. By the aid of this tool the revenue of the
enterprise is also been enhanced by tracking the leads and queries as well. Efforts of the
enterprise is measured on basis of posts, shares, comments and followers counting. In
context to Primark the social medias analytics is used by the enterprises for measuring the
efforts effectiveness. On basis of observation of likes, comments, shares and feedbacks of
consumers the business performance can bed tracked. It aids in knowing about the wants
and needs of consumers and present trends prevailing in the market. The analytic also
aids the business firm management in understanding and knowing the like and dislikes of

consumers. By the consumer's reaction on company's goods may be effectively
determined in comments and likes form. Complaints received by the company on
platform of social media aids in understanding the areas in which they lack by putting
more efforts for resolving them. So the tolls helps in measurement of the efforts of the
company.
 Bench-Marking- Bench marking is practice which is used by the firms for comparing
the performance and process. It is also known as the best procedure for the firms.
Dimensions measured ares time, quality and cost. By this way the business organisation
may identify the performance of the targets and more importantly it explains about how
company is successful. The process measures progress of employee's and used in the
firm. It sets the certain goals and certain standards of the company leading to
productiveness, vision and mission of market for long time for accomplishing the
competitive advantages. By this method the organization can understand the needs and
wants of consumer's easily. Through the process of bench marking cans increase the
effectiveness and efficiency by identification of the areas externally and internally. The
firm perform the process regularly so the new opportunities might be achieved and
enhance the success and growth by improving the performance of sales(Alshaikh,
Maynard and Ahmad, 2021).

CONCLUSION
From the above project it has been concluded that process of marketing is on going in
which the discovering and knowing consumer's need and demands for products and services. It
aids in understanding and knowing the requirements and needs of the buyers so they get the idea
of habit of purchasing. It involves the buying behaviour and conditions of market so the
manufactures can get to know about what is going in marketplace. It has been implied that
marketing has got the ability of analysing the customers minds and help in getting idea of what
is currently trending in market and about the future trends. In addition the analysis for need for
effective marketing team is also done for understanding consumers wants and needs. Marketing
team aids in raising the revenue and set the targets for company for having clear goals and
objectives of marketing. In end the different types of promotional strategies which aids in
understanding what will be appropriate for business so the company can reach out to target
audience and communicate directly to consumers.

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