Marketing Management: ALDI Marketing Campaign

This document discusses marketing TOWS for ALDI, marketing objectives, marketing mix plan, and recommendations to improve customer service as part of their marketing campaign.

Marketing Management
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Marketing TOWS for ALDI........................................................................................................3
Marketing Objectives..................................................................................................................5
Marketing Mix Plan....................................................................................................................6
Recommendations on how ALDI can improve their levels of Customer Service as part of their
Marketing Campaign...................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Marketing Management can be defied as the process of planning, organising, controlling
as well as implementing of different marketing policies, programmes and strategies that are
designed in order to satisfy the demands for the company's products (Aarikka-Stenroos and
Ritala, 2017). It is important for businesses as it helps them in understanding the needs and wants
of the customers, improve and offer their products to them accordingly. The process also helps
organisations in gaining a competitive advantage over their competitors in the market. The report
is based on Aldi, which is a common name for brand for two family-owned discount supermarket
chains in Germany. The company is planning to run a marketing campaign from 1st May 2020 to
30th April 2021. The report explains a marketing TOWS for the company along with objectives
that it should set for its campaign. A marketing mix plan is also proposed that can be undertaken
in order to achieve the goals and objectives. Recommendations for improving their customer
service for the campaign are also provided.
MAIN BODY
Marketing TOWS for ALDI
A TOWS analysis stands for Threats, Opportunities, Weaknesses and Strengths and can
be defined as a model that enables organisations to match their strengths as well as opportunities
to formulate strategies that ensure their overall success. On the other hand, a marketing audit can
be defined as an analysis of all the marketing activities of an organisation. An audit helps the
organisation in monitoring the marketing efforts as well as managing them effectively. Aldi is
Germany based group of discount supermarkets that sell products ranging from wines, garden
products, daily groceries etc. A TOWS analysis for Aldi is explained below -
 Strengths – One of the biggest reasons for the success of Aldi is that it offers products
with low prices to the customers as compared to other retailers in the market. Also, the
stores sell products that are needed by customers on a daily basis. Low prices of products
help people in saving more, as a result of which customers are loyal to the brand as well
as satisfied with the products that it offers (Adams, Freitas and Fontana, 2019). The
company always has constant discounts and offers running on its products in order to
attract more customers.
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 Weaknesses – The store outlets highly depend on sales volumes and thus requires high
levels of productivity to be able to survive in the market (Cortez and Johnston, 2017).
The employees of the company are often required to work in several shifts and are also
paid less than other players in the market. This has resulted in increased levels of
dissatisfaction among employees as well as a rise in the overall staff turnover.
 Opportunities – Customer needs as well as preferences are changing with time and their
willingness to spend and pay premium for a product is also going up. Thus, discount
stores like Aldi have an opportunity to offer high quality services to the customers. The
company can offer products in new categories which will attract them and encourage
making a purchase. The respective company can also carry out different marketing
campaigns to promote and market new products.
 Threats – Aldi faces a lot of competition from not only other key players in the market
like Walmart, Best Buy etc. but also e retailers like Amazon, Flipkart etc. There are also
threats posed from entrants in the market who offer similar products at a much affordable
price to the customers in order to gain competitive advantage.
 Strengths and Opportunities – Since Aldi is already a well known and popular grocery
brand, it has the opportunity of expanding itself in various untapped markets and building
a brand image there. Also, healthy relations with the suppliers can help the company in
gaining an edge against its competitors in the grocery retail market.
 Weaknesses and Opportunities – Focussing on emerging trends in the market as well as
preferences of customers can help the respective organisation in solving various issues.
Also, the company should hire more employees in order to reduce the workload of
existing employees. Since the company is widely recognised it will have the opportunity
to choose from a lot of candidates.
 Strengths and Threats – Since Aldi has a strong brand image, it can use the same to
overcome any threats that might rise and pose to be as challenges (Deepak and
Jeyakumar, 2019). Also, the company can overcome other threat including the threat of
competition through increased satisfaction among employees as well as customers. This
can be done by offering customers a large variety of products in order to satisfy their
needs and wants.
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 Weaknesses and Threats – Since employees of the respective company are not very
satisfied with their jobs and also there is an increased competition posed by brands like
Walmart, Amazon and Flipkart, the company should conduct a research and then
formulate strategies that will help it in overcoming all its weaknesses as well as various
threats.
Marketing Objectives
Marketing objectives can be defined as goals that are set by organisation when they
promote their products and services to the customers and have to be achieved within a defined
period of time (Homburg, Jozić and Kuehnl, 2017). Aldi has decided to run an intensive
Marketing Campaign with the tag line “Expressing Ourselves” from 1st May, 2020 to 30th April,
2021. On the basis of this, 3 marketing objectives are stated as well as justified below -
 To launch a new line of products by July, 2020 in order to attract more customers and
increase overall sales by 20%.
 To carry out a separate marketing campaign for these products by June, 2020 before their
launch in order to increase brand awareness by 15% among the customers in the market.
 To launch a retail outlet in 2 different untapped markets by January, 2021 in order to
increase sales and overall market share by 25%.
In order to launch a new product line, the respective company should opt various offline
as well as online channels to promotes the products. It can market products by running various
discounts as well as offers on the same. Aldi can also promote the new product line by engaging
customers on different social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, its own website
etc. through Facebook ads, carrying out in-store promotions, hosting events, email marketing etc.
This will help the customers in remaining updated and informed about any new products that the
company plans on coming up with. Also, a separate marketing campaign can be carried out
relating to the product line like hiring bloggers as well as influencers to promote the product
online as well as opting for celebrity endorsements. This will help the company in reaching out
to large segments of customers and understand their needs as well as expectations.
Setting up a new retail market in a new market will help the company in attracting new
potential customers (Keegan, 2017). IT can be done by offering high quality products at
affordable and pocket friendly prices. This will help in gaining customer loyalty as well as
satisfying their needs. Starting operations in untapped markets will be a great option to expand
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operations in different locations and thus increasing not only sales and profitability but overall
share in the market as well. There are various factors like spending behaviour, demographics etc.
that the organisation should keep in mind before launching new products in the market (Kireev
and et. al., 2016). A thorough analysis and study of various markets and their consumers should
be done in order to avoid threats and overcoming certain challenges that can affect the overall
performance and productivity in the market and thus gain competitive advantage against
competitors. A strategic plan can be developed to ensure that all tasks are completed within the
defined time period and there is no delay in the same. The plan will also help Aldi in tracking the
overall performance of its employees and the company on a whole.
Marketing Mix Plan
Marketing Mix is an important tool that in understanding what the products and services
of a particular company can offer. The concept is represented through the 4Ps of marketing
namely- Product, Prices, Place and Promotion. A marketing mix is an important tool for
formulating and developing effective strategies of promoting new products in the market. The
respective company has decided to run an intensive marketing campaign with the tag line
“Expressing Ourselves”. A marketing mix plan for Aldi in order to achieve goals and objectives
within the stated time duration stated above is explained below -
 Product – Aldi is a well recognised and reputed brand which is primarily focussed on
providing high quality products at pocket friendly and affordable rates to the customers.
The company makes sure that the quality of its products is not compromised on and the
customers still receive best quality products (Marketing mix of ALDI, 2019). The
company can offer new products from different brands to the customers like biscuits, tea,
rice etc. It can also make additions to already existing product lines like baby products,
daily grocery products, wines, beers, household goods etc. The new products that will be
launched should be in sync with the latest trends of the market. Also, the products should
be launched after identifying the appropriate opportunities in the market.
 Price – The customer market has now become very competitive as their preferences as
well as choices have gone up over the years. In order to fulfil the needs of customers, the
respective organisation should identify and carefully understand their needs and then opt
for appropriate measures and formulate strategies that will help in attaining these
objectives (Kotler and et. al., 2018). Also, while deciding on the prices of the products, a
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target market should be set besides keeping various other aspects in mind. This will help
in increasing the company's overall customer reach as well as penetration in the market.
The company can adopt a competitive pricing strategy which will be helpful in selling
products at low prices than other players in the market. The company can buy products in
bulk and then sell hem, this will give it an added advantage of negotiating the best prices
possible which it can further offer to its customers by offering products at lowest prices
possible. Aldi faces strong competition from other brands but keeps it products priced at
low prices as compared to them. Carrying out operations online will help in cutting out
costs as there would be no retailers and wholesalers involved in the process.
 Place – The company has operations in different parts of the world and is considered as a
brand that offers discounted products worldwide in various locations of its operations
(Krasyuk and et al., 2017). Since one of the objectives of the company is to open a new
retail outlet in two untapped markets, thus it should consider various external factors that
can affect the overall functioning of the organisation in the market. One of the main
factors is that the retail outlets should be set up in such locations that are accessible to the
customers and an adequate parking space should also be ensured so that no issues arise in
the future. In order to open retail stores in different markets, the company can minimise
its costs and thus keep the layout of its stores as simple and minimalistic as possible.
Online presence allows the customers to check details of the products and also locate the
stores nearest to them. The company should post regular updates regarding new products
which will help in keeping the customers engaged and can also open company-based
retail stores wherein all products of the company are offered to the customers.
 Promotion – Aldi is a multinational brand that operates in various parts of the world
which is why it is important for it to use different channels to promote its products in the
market. To promote new products in the market, the company can use both online as well
as offline channels. These channels can include televisions ads, radio, magazines, in-store
promotions, promoting through various social media platforms etc. Since the company
has taken helps of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to promote its earlier campaigns, it
can do the same for the current one as well. This provides an option for two-way
communication between the customers as well as the organisation (Lambert and Enz,
2017). This will help in increasing the visibility of the brand in the market. The company
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can also flash offers on its official online website by the usage of attractive words as well
as images which will assist in attracting customers from different locations (Shaw, 2016).
Carrying out various promotional campaigns will help the company in building a strong
and long lasting relationship with its customers, satisfy their needs and thereby gain their
loyalty.
Recommendations on how ALDI can improve their levels of Customer Service as part of their
Marketing Campaign
Since Aldi has decided to run an intensive marketing campaign for an year from 1st May
2020 to 30th April 2021, it should take into account various considerations in order to improve
their overall levels of customer service. Recommendations on how can the company do this is
explained below -
 Active Listening – The brand should make efforts to understand the needs and wants of
its customers and should then accordingly develop products which will be beneficial as it
will be able to gain their loyalty and trust. Also, the customer service professionals
should address customer feedbacks as well as their queries after carefully understanding
their concern.
 Positive Language – While addressing customer problems, the professionals should be
polite and use powerful words that will lead to creation of long lasting relationships
between the company as well as the customers (9 Tips to Improve Your Customer Service
Skills, 2020). The customers support professionals should always sound polite and
humble even during the cases where customers are angry.
 Knowledge of products and services – The employees of the respective company who
will be a part of the campaign should have complete knowledge of all the products as
well as services. And for this, they should spend time training and upgrading their
knowledge about the same. This way, they will be able to support customers in a much
more refined way.
 Measuring and Analysing Customer Feedback – This is one of the best ways to get an
understanding if the customer service that is being provided by the company
professionals is appropriate or not (Skorobogatykh and et. al., 2016). Measuring and
analysing helps an organisation in knowing the areas in which improvement can be made.
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 Providing an unforgettable experience – The respective company should develop and
carry out the marketing campaign in such a way that the customers have an unforgettable
experience being a part of the same (Wagner and Eggert, 2016). Also, they should be
involved at every stage of the campaign. This will give them a sense of belongingness to
the brand and its various initiatives.
 Rewarding loyal customers – The respective company should reward customers who
are loyal to it and have been purchasing products since a long time. This can be done by
offering them a free product, a sample product or different coupons or vouchers. Also,
customised products or services can also be offered. This will help the company in
retaining its customers for a long duration of time and attract new potential segments as
well.
 Always seek customer feedback – The customer service professionals should always
ask customers to provide their valuable feedback which helps the organisation in
understanding the areas it lacks in and thus working upon them to improve overall
performance and also overcome issues that customers provide as feedbacks to be
successful.
Thus, these are some recommendations which the respective company can consider in
order to improve its existing levels customer service and thus provide them with an unforgettable
experience during the campaign. The customers will be satisfied and thus be loyal to the brand.
This will also be beneficial in the way that the company will be able to retain its customers for a
long period of time and offer quick and convenient support to its customers. Satisfied customers
contribute to the overall profitability as well as an increased share in the market (Wali, Uduma
and Wright, 2016). Thus, the company is recommended to treat its customers with respect as
well as exceed their expectations.
Also, the kind of service an organisation provides to its customers speaks of its brand
image as well as values in the market. If customers receive good service, their willingness to pay
more to the organisation will also increase. Organisations that provide excellent service to their
customers often have a strong public persona (Zimmerman and Blythe, 2017). This means that
customers will post positive reviews online which in turn will attract more customers and
encourage them to purchase the company's products. All of this can help the respective company,
Aldi, in gaining a competitive advantage over others in the market.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that TOWS is an important strategic
framework that helps organisations in identifying their strengths and weaknesses as well as
various opportunities and threats. The managers of an organisation can evaluate different ways in
which the organisation can take the advantage of opportunities and thus minimise the overall
effect of threats on its functioning. Also, in order to achieve certain objectives, a marketing mix
plan can be used which guides the management of an organisation in carrying out various tasks
relating to the four elements of the plan namely- Product, Price, Place and Promotion effectively.
Also, customer service plays an essential part of the overall functioning of the organisation as it
helps in building a strong brand image as well as gaining a competitive advantage against
competitors in the market. This leads to customers being happy and satisfied which helps in
increasing the overall share as well as profitability of the company.
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REFERENCES
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Online
Marketing mix of ALDI. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-of-aldi/>.
9 Tips to Improve Your Customer Service Skills. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/customer/service-tips-skills/>.
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