Marketing Strategy for Sainsbury: Roles, Responsibilities, and Plan

This report analyzes the marketing functions of Sainsbury, a multinational supermarket chain, focusing on the roles and responsibilities within the marketing department, the interrelation of marketing with other functional units, and a comparison of the 7Ps marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical Evidence) with Tesco. It details how market research, product development, pricing, and financing are essential marketing functions. The report also explains how the marketing department collaborates with Human Resources, Finance, and Sales to achieve business objectives. Finally, it provides a basic marketing plan for Sainsbury, outlining strategies for product, pricing, distribution, and promotion to enhance its market position. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study tools for students.

PROJECT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Marketing function roles and responsibilities........................................................................3
P2 Interrelation of marketing with various functional units........................................................5
LO2..................................................................................................................................................7
P3 Comparison of 7Ps.................................................................................................................7
LO4..................................................................................................................................................9
P4 Basic marketing plan..............................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is predominately the series of activities which organizations carry out in order
to promote its products and services at a large platform. The main aim of this report is to analyze
the elements of the marketing function of Sainsbury and develop a thorough marketing plan for
achieving its vision.
Sainsbury is basically multinational supermarket chain being established in 1869 by John
James Sainsbury and headquartered in London, UK.
This report gives a brief about marketing function roles and responsibilities, interrelation
of marketing with various functional units, comparison of 7Ps and marketing plan.
MAIN BODY
LO1
P1 Marketing function roles and responsibilities
Marketing is basically the various activities which is being carried out by the
organizations in order to take their products to the wider audience and thus is mainly associated
with the selling as well as advertising of their products. There are various marketing functions
and each one of them has their own roles and responsibilities.
Market research
This is one of the foremost functions of marketing which mainly relates to conducting a
thorough research about the market in order to identify customer needs and wants. The major
role of market research in Sainsbury is that it provides a great treasure of information and thus
helps the company in sound decision making. On the other hand, the major responsibility of the
market research in Sainsbury is that it helps the organization by collecting various data on
consumers, competitors as well as market place and assist in making the actionable reports
according to customer preferences (Hole, Pawar and Bhaskar, 2018).

Product development
This is the another most important yet essential marketing function without which an
organization cannot survive. Product development is basically about developing a whole new
product or bringing changes within the existing product in order to give it a new essence. The
major role of marketing in product development is that it helps the management of Sainsbury to
design the product according to the needs and wants of customer and thus assists in gaining the
competitive advantage. On the other side, major responsibility of the marketing within product
development is that identifying the market trends and the constantly changing demands of
customers and develops the marketing strategies for new product.
Pricing
Price of the particular product largely determines the overall position of the organization
within market and thus serve as an important marketing function. Price is the foremost and
important factor that influences the customers to large extent. The major role of marketing in
setting price is that the correct pricing often helps Sainsbury to attract the customers. The various
essentials within setting the prices like discounts, vouchers etc helps to entice the customers.
Besides this, the responsibility of marketing within this function is that it helps Sainsbury to
conduct the market research about the various prices set by the competitors and hence putting the
relevant value on particular product (Karnaukhova and Polyanskaya, 2016).
Financing
This is the another highly essential marketing function which basically relates with profit
as well as success of the organization. The finance call for the having a sound and good financial
position within market and thus running the business. The major role of marketing in finance is
that it helps Sainsbury to advertise and deliver products to customers which h eventually assists
the company in making profit. On the other hand, fundamental and core responsibility of
marketing within financing is that it helps company to identify the various risks through
marketing research and hence develop the budget for various products and services. Through the

thorough market research, Sainsbury are able to recognize the profitable segment within market
and thus eventually enable them to secure greater returns on the investment.
M1
The marketing function has various roles and responsibilities. The various marketing
functions are prices, financing, market research etc. Each of the function have its own
responsibilities which helps the organizations to achieve their goals and objectives.
P2 Interrelation of marketing with various functional units
Marketing is one of the major function as well as department within organization without
which no other or department can function properly. Marketing department works in
coordination with various functions within company and thus helps in achieving the business
objectives.
Marketing and Human resource
Marketing is basically the function which is mainly related with advertising as well as
promoting the products and services to the larger audience and thus enlarges the customer base.
On the other hand, human resource is the another function as well as department within the
organization whose major concern is recruiting as well as hiring the best candidates for the
organization as well as managing the personnel and their talent. These two functions work in a
close coordination in Sainsbury and thus help in fulfilling business objectives (Waite and Pérez-
Vega, 2018). Where on one hand, the HR department of Sainsbury finds as well as locates the
talented and experienced personnel for company to promote and build brand on the other hand,
these talented employees in marketing helps to take the brand message to customers effectively.
In the competitive market, HR attracts the right talent within company for the marketing
department and hence these employees in the marketing align their goals with the company
strategy ad helps in promotion of organization on large platform.
Marketing and finance
Marketing and finance go hand-in-hand and thus both complement each other. The major
responsibility of finance is to improve the financial position of company within market and thus
monitors the overall cash flow as well as sales of the products. Marketing is the function which is

highly associated with marketing and promotion of the company. Marketing department usually
attracts the customers through taking the brand message and presenting the features of their
products and services. This eventually increases the sales of the products and thus in this way it
helps finance department by providing money through sales. On the other hand, finance
department in Sainsbury largely determines the cost as well as overall expenses of marketing
campaign and thus produces a budget report including all the overhead expenses for marketing
department. This report helps the employees within marketing department to work accordingly
and thus provides a base and reference to them on the basis of which they carry out their
marketing campaign.
Marketing and sales
Marketing and sales are the two departments which are misunderstood by the people as
one and hence consider it as one performing the same functions. Although, these two
departments sounds like one but both have totally different functions and roles. These two
departments complement each other and hence help in achieving the business objectives
(Kimura, 2017). Marketing function is basically responsible for encouraging the leads and
therefore builds the relationship with the prospective customers with the help if various
strategies. Marketing usually develop a long lasting relation with by promoting their products
and services. On the other hand, sales department endeavors to sell the products to the customers
which are being build by the marketing department. In short, marketing functions by creating a
treasure of customers for sales department while employees within sales department addresses
needs of the customers by providing them with the tailored solution according to their needs and
requirements. Sales department on other side of the spectrum helps the marketing department by
additionally turning the lead and customers into prospective consumers and thus helps to ensure
success of the business.
M2
Marketing is one of the department which functions in a close relation with various other
departments like HR, finance etc. This coordination is highly important as it helps firms in
decision-making. For example- HR helps to attract the talent for marketing department which in
turn take the brand message to wider audience.

LO2
P3 Comparison of 7Ps
Sainsbury Tesco
Product
Sainsbury basically deals in wide range of
products and have a wide umbrella of product
strategy. Sainsbury sells the products under the 5
categories and each one of it has a separate product
line.
Product
Tesco uses a well-defined product strategy
and thus houses a combination of house brands and
other brands. It offers a great range of the products
which mainly includes electronics, clothing, food
etc. and has more than 40000 product lines and
each one caters the different needs of customers.
Price
Sainsbury generally uses competitor
pricing strategy in order to attract its customers and
thus generally sets its prices after analyzing the
prices of its competitors. This strategy generally
helps them to gain a great market share. Like for
example- the price of its kids product is somewhat
same as that of Asda.
Price
Tesco uses the premium pricing policy and
thus generally prices its products high. In this
pricing strategy, Tesco provides a great quality of
products at high price and thus gain the competitive
advantage. Besides this, some of the products like
kids are often low to meet the needs of middle class
people.
Place
Sainsbury have around 598 supermarkets
as well as 714 convenience stores. Out of these
stores, almost 45 of the stores operate 24*7. The
headquarter of Sainsbury is located in London, UK
and it has around 5 suppliers which operates in
different countries (Chernev, 2018).
Place
Tesco is headquartered in Chestnut,
England and has its stress across the world. There
are around 6800 stores of Tesco which operates
offline and thus are present in more than 40
countries.
Promotion
The promotional strategy of Sainsbury is
highly imperative and thus focuses on both online
and offline channels for reaching customers.
Sainsbury frequently uses facebook, twitter and
other social media for promoting its products and
services. In the offline mode, Sainsbury have tie
ups with various charities where through charitable
Promotion
The highly structured promotional strategy
of Tesco helps the company to gain a greater
market share. Tesco mainly uses online channels
for promoting its products and services and thus
makes use of social media platform. Through its
facebook page, Tesco remains in touch with its
customers by promoting its products and launching

events company advertises its brand message. new schemes (Hisrich and Ramadani, 2017).
People
Sales team of Sainsbury plays a great role
within the marketing efforts. The highly trained
experts as well as professional team of Sainsbury
provide a great services to the customers all over
the world.
People
Tesco has more than 450000 employees
who are highly trained to provide a great customer
service. The sales and marketing team of Tesco is
continuously engaged in utilizing loyalty cards to
gain the trust and confidence of customers.
Process
The online shopping of Sainsbury has
made it greatly easy and convenient for the
customers to acquire the large number of products.
This online shopping basically helps the customers
to collect grocery instantaneously through ‘click &
collect’.
Process
The process aspect of the company forms
its core strength and thus helps the customers to
easily place their orders. The offline stress uses
self-service machines which makes it convenient
for the customers to make their payment and helps
in easy billing.
Physical evidence
Sainsbury has various different as well as
distinct store designs. The store designs as well as
layout of the Sainsbury stores are such that it
addresses the varied needs and wants of customers.
Quality of baskets and the trolleys at physical
stores makes the shopping experience of customers
memorable.
Physical evidence
Tesco have its tangible representations
highly imperative and thus makes the great and
effective use of colors in its stores to attract
customers. All the stores of Tesco consist of
efficient and durable furniture, business cards etc
which eventually leaves a long lasting impression
within the minds of customers.
M3
In order to achieve the business objectives and goals, organizations makes use of 7Ps
which is basically the essential element within marketing mix. Each and every organization have
different 7Ps which they apply for promoting their products. For example- while on one hand
Sainsbury uses online and offline channel to advertise its products on the other hand, Tesco
mainly depends on online channels for its promotion.

LO4
P4 Basic marketing plan
Marketing plan is basically the document which outlines the various goals and actions to
be taken for achieving business goals and objectives.
Mission
To become the first choice of customers by ensuring excellence in each and every aspect
and delivering the outstanding quality at much affordable cost.
Vision
To become the market leader and the most trusted retailer across the world by working
towards the interest of stakeholders and inculcating diversity by ensuring sustainability.
Objective
 To increase the profitability ratio by 32% towards the termination of 2020.
 To increase the customer satisfaction level by 67% in the upcoming 3 months.
 To increase the sales of products by 41% till next year.
SWOT analysis
Strength
The major strength of Sainsbury is its great brand image. This image has enabled the
company to gain a great market share. Another strength is its great product range. Company has
moved from core food products to other product mixtures like clothing etc (Omar, 2017).
Weakness
The major weakness of company is its high attrition rate. As compared to other
organizations, the turnover rate of Sainsbury is high. Another weakness is low margin. For
attracting customers, Sainsbury has lowered down its prices which have affected its overall
profitability.
Opportunity

The greatest opportunity available to the company is investing heavily in technology and
innovation. Another opportunity available to the company is growth in the rural areas as people
there have also nowadays become brand oriented (Stephens, 2016).
Threats
The major threat to Sainsbury is the growing competition. Sainsbury might face a great
brunt due to strong presence of the competitors like Tesco, asda etc.
PESTEL
Political factors
The major political factors are political stability, tax policy, corruption etc. Since
emergence of Brexit, corruption in UK has increased which has made it difficult for Sainsbury to
operate.
Economic factors
These are exchange rates, unemployment, inflation rate etc. Due to Brexit,
unemployment in UK has increased and this has posed a threat for company to hire talented
employees for the organization.
Social factors
These are population rate, attitudes, cultural barriers etc. The higher emphasis of people
on health consciousness has eventually increased the sale of organic food by Sainsbury and has
given a boost to its profit.
Technology factors
Major technological factors are automation, innovation etc. The high use of interned has
made people more technology-oriented and this has eventually helped the company in great way
as it has increased sale of its innovative products like organic biscuits.
Ansoff matrix

This is basically the tool which helps organizations in devising various growth strategies
for achieving business objectives.
Market penetration
In this organization takes its existing products to the existing markets. Sainsbury can
increase its market share by increasing the promotion of its existing products within the well
established markets.
Market development
Within this strategy, firms expand by entering into the new markets through its existing
products and services. Sainsbury can enter the new market or serve the different customer
segments using its already established products like groceries (García-Medina, Farias Coelho and
Bellido-Pérez, 2017).
Product development
In this, organizations basically develop the new products and services and targets the
already established markets. Sainsbury can invest in R & D or bring modifications in its existing
products and serve the exiting market by extending its product range.
Diversification
This is the strategy in which organizations captures the market share by introducing the
new products within the new markets. Sainsbury can develop new products or enter the new
product line in order to serve the needs of new market segments.
STP
Segmentation
Segmentation is basically the strategy in which organizations divides a large market into
smaller ones having shared characteristics. Sainsbury usually utilizes demographic segmentation
where company divides its customers according to their city and country and then targets them.
Targeting

This is the process in which organizations targets the single market segment and centers
all its efforts on to that segment. Sainsbury uses concentrated targeting where it targets the
specific customer segment (Nieminen, 2017).
Positioning
It is place which a brand mainly occupies within the minds of customers. Sainsbury
utilizes quality positioning and thus focuses on providing quality at much affordable range.
Budget
Activities Budget ($) Actual ($)
Market research 60 40
Recruitment 160 160
Rent 150 200
Social media advertising 40 30
Total 410 430
Evaluation and control
This is the process in which organizations mainly monitors the effectiveness of its
marketing plan and analyze its efficiency.
KPI
For evaluation, Sainsbury uses various key performance indicators
Sales per customer
This is one of the important KPI which Sainsbury uses for analyzing the efficiency of its
products and services. This is the ratio which shows number of units sold per customer. More the
units sold, more is its effectiveness.
Customer acquisition cost