Marketing Strategy of H&M and Zara

The assignment provides a comprehensive analysis of the marketing strategies employed by H&M and Zara. It discusses their positioning strategy, which involves providing fashionable clothing at affordable prices. The report also examines their product line pricing strategy, where they offer a wide range of products to cater to different customer segments. Additionally, it explores their distribution channels, including store selling and online shopping, and highlights the importance of promotion in attracting new customers. The assignment concludes by emphasizing the significance of people, physical evidence, and process in achieving success in the market.

MARKETING Essential
Student Name
University NAme

Contents
Task 1..........................................................................................................................................................2
P 1 Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function in relation to H&M............2
P 2 Explain how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organizational context.. 4
Task 2..........................................................................................................................................................5
P 3 Compare the ways in which H&M and Zara apply the marketing mix to the marketing planning
process to achieve business objectives.....................................................................................................5
Task 3..........................................................................................................................................................7
P 4 Produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan for H&M...............................................................7
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................10
Bibliography..............................................................................................................................................11
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Task 1
P 1 Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function in relation to H&M.
Marketing in modern time needs to be carried out in a way by which the customers could be
satisfied that the information which they want about the quality of the product is providing by the
marketing manager. The marketing of the products and services is one of the important
responsibilities about the HRM of the company because the human resource management of the
company recruits the employees who work in the marketing department of the company. There
are different roles and responsibilities which the marketing managers of the company carry out
for achieving the goals and objectives of the company. The relationship between the customers
and the company develop by the efforts of the H&M (HM.com, n.d.).
Some of the responsibilities in the context of the marketing of the H&M include the followings.
 As there are certain competitive features and economic factor which need to understand
by the marketing managers of the company
 Target markets are identifying to develop the market share of the company
 The segmentation is another important responsibility of the management of the marketing
department of the company
 The strategies are evaluated to find out the best and suitable strategies
 Conducting the research on the market
 Development of the current and new products of the company
 Finding out the ways by which the reputation and the image of the company could be
develop
 Getting to understand the strategies sand the policies adopting by the marketing
management of other companies sin the market.
 Identifying the available opportunities for the company to develop the current products of
the company
 Assessment of the threats of the company to implement more attractive control in the
company (Veiga, Rachel, 2015).
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Factors affecting marking roles and responsibilities
The roles and the responsibilities of the marketing could be affected by the certain number of the
factors within the market. The factors could be divided into the internal and external factors
which are describing as low:
Internal Influences on Marketing Objectives
 Corporate objectives: the corporate objectives of the company in respect of the functional
areas of the company are important because as an internal factor the corporate objectives
are considered as very important to adopt and select the marketing strategies.
 Finance: the marketing strategy and the actions by the marketing management of the
company are direct could be affected by the financial position of the company, so it is
very important for the marketing manager to assess that whether the finance is available
to tackle the marketing with new advance and develop technological tools.
 Human resources: the marketing objectives of the H&M could be affected by the
strategies and the policies which the human resource management of company adopt so
this is the reason that the objectives of the marketing of the company could be affected by
the workforce capacity (Ebstudies, 2012)
External Influences on Marketing Objectives
Economic environment: the economic factors could directly impact the marketing objectives of
the company because of the reason that the changes in the interest rates of the country, the
changes in the exchange rates and the fluctuation occur in respect of the inflation are some of eh
economic factors which can difficulties for the company to keep constant marketing strategies.
Market competition: the response of the competitive companies in the market is another
important factor regarding the marketing objectives of the company.
Market dynamics: segmentation, growth and the size of the market are some of the important
dynamics of the market. The marketing objectives of the company directly affected when the
Changes occur in any of the factors. The revenue of the company could be decreased when the
growth of the company is slow (Jim Riley, 2015).
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P 2 Explain how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organizational
context.
There are different activities and functions which the management performs in the company. The
association and collaboration of the managers working in different departments of the company
are very important.
Human resources
There are different organizational areas which are covering by the HRM department of the
company, and the goals of the marketing by the managers of the HRM are achieving by the
enhancing and the skills of the employees to make them able to have interactions. It is very
important for gaining the success in the market in which the company is operating that the
customers of the company must be informed on a regular basis about the new products and the
development of the current products of the company. In modern time the success in the market
could not be achieved by the company without adopting and using the HRM strategies. There is
a direct impact of the strategies of the HR manager regarding the profitability of the company.
The market share of the company could be developing and increase by significant role play by
the marketing managers in the H&M because of significant role play by HR department to
recruit and enhance the skills (Accaglobal, n.d.).
IT (websites, intranets, and extranets)
Computer hardware, information systems, and other computer software could be used by the
company’s managers for improving the operating managing system of the company.
Customer service provision
The management of the H&M is managing the marketing strategies in such a way by which the
satisfaction level of t eh customer is ensured by the company’s; marketing management. The
provision of the customer service inefficient and satisfying way is one of the main responsibility
and function of the marketing managers (Oliver Götz, 2009).
Research and development
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It is the fact that for the creation new ideas, for generating new products and evaluation and use
of the technology could be possible when there is a proper system of research and development.
Research and development of the market enable the managers of the marketing department to
develop the products according to the needs and demands of the people in the market (Oliver
Götz, 2009).
Production/operations/logistics
The marketing department of the company needs to integrate with the production, logistics
functions and other operations of the company because the marketing strategies are developing
by the company according to the demand and needs of the customers so it is very important that
the operations and production must be carried out accordingly (Accaglobal, n.d.).
Task 2
P 3 Compare the ways in which H&M and Zara apply the marketing mix to the marketing
planning process to achieve business objectives.
Marketing Mix of H&M
 Product: – the products which the management of, H&M is producing for the customers
in the market includes the men, ladies, and kids fashionable clothing and accessories. The
company is developing eh products according to the demand of the people. The company
is expanding the business operation by producing the home style and shoes.
 Place: – it could be assessing from the Marketing Mix element of the H&M that the
company is currently operating in more than 55 countries around the world which clearly
shows that the in the whole world H&M is the second ranked retailer of clothing. Sweden
is the country here the head office of the company is established. In Asia and Europe, the
company is operating by more than eight hundred factories. Enormous urban
communities and the customary shopping centers are the main places occupied by the
company for selling the products of the company. Internet selling has also been
considered by the marketing management of the company which eventually increase the
market share and the profitability of the company in the market (studylib.net, n.d).
 Price: – the prices which are charged by the H&M are noted as low because of the chic
and the stylish prices at attractive prices. The market assessment has proved that the
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products of the company in the market are considered as the best product in the context of
the price and the quality (Heather Lynn, 2009).
 Promotion: there are different marketing and promotion sources which the marketing
management of the company is considering. The main market and promotion source
include the magazines and internet sources like social media. The people who are more
focused on the marketing management are the age of the 18-24 because these age people
have more attraction in respect of the use of the clothes and other products.
 Physical Evidence: the company needs to show the customers that the company is
physically existed in the market and for this element of the marketing mix the company is
opening new outlets in the different cities of the world.
 People: the working of the operating activities need a certain number of the employee, so
the people work in the company have their concerns which must also be fulfilled by the
company.
 Process: the production of the clothes is based on a different process which needs to be
considered by the marketing management (Heather Lynn, 2009).
Marketing mix of Zara
It has been seen that the marketing managers of the Zara are very efficient in respect of the use
of the advertising techniques to attract the customers towards the products of the company. The
marketing mix of the Zara is given below:
 Product: the fashion sector around the world when assessed then it could assess the Zara
is one of the leading brands in the fashion sector around the world. There are a huge
variety of the clothes, and other accessories are producing by the company which is used
by the men, women, and children. The products of the company include the bags, shoes,
T-shirts, knitwear, skirts, tops, trousers and jeans. The products of the company are
producing with different styles which are attracting the customers around the world.
 Price: important and attractive aspect regarding the products of the Zara is that the
products are available at lower prices, but the products are meeting the high fashion
needs of the people of the world. The strategy which the management of the company is
using for changing the prices is the low pricing strategy under which the better control;
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have been established by the company in the production cost which channel to reduce the
prices (Abhijeet Pratap, 2016).
 Promotion: Zero interest in promoting is a strategy which has been adopted by the
marketing management because the company’s management is focused on investment of
money which is occurring on the promotion on the opening of new stores. The managers
of the company think that the company can attract customers automatically if
differentiations are adopted in respect of the products quality and style in contrast to other
companies.
 Place: The place elements are one of the important aspects of the marketing management,
and for this purpose, the company is expanding the retail outlets, and this is the reason
that the company has opened stores in more than 30 different nations.
 Physical Evidence: the opening of more retail stores is one of the parts of the physical
signals to the customers to show them that company’s products are in access.
 People: the human resource department of the company is considering and fulfilling all
the ends of the people working in the company and targeting is providing to the
employees for increasing their skills to deal with the customers.
 Process: process element of the Marketing Mix is as don the well-organized arrangement
of the process involves in the production of the products (Abhijeet Pratap, 2016).
Task 3
P 4 Produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan for H&M.
Executive Summary
As the management of the H&M is considering launching a new product in the market, so the
main purpose of this report is to evaluate the easy by which the company will launch the product.
The product which the company is going to launch is a long designer pocket shirt for women.
This report is based on the evaluation of the issues which the marketing department of H & M
could face. The strategy which the other competitive companies are also adopting has been
evaluated in this report. The data and information for this research are collected by the secondary
sources of the information which include the websites, online case studies, company publication
and online journals
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Missions/Aims/Objectives
In the UK H&M are one of the well-reputed companies in the retail sector and the research and
development strategies adopted by the company is the main factor behind such achievement of
the company. The mission statement of the company is based on the production of the high-
quality products for the customers at very attractive prices. The objectives of the company are
based on enhancement of the market position by expanding the business in other countries where
there is a higher potential for growth.
Marketing Objectives
the new organization and item offering is to have the ability to purchase on the web and
furthermore need permission to purchase limited stock on the web. Everything in H&M stores
will be on the web and ensuing to writing in your Visa number, the things you have picked will
be sent to your home essentially like some other store that has an online website. Sonia Rykeil is
at this moment illustrating a spread line for H&M and there will be extra pieces not sold in stores
that one can find on the web. This will be unprecedented for the clients who might incline toward
not to surge out to H&M to get the latest and see that their size is gone when they can bounce on
the web and find something that no one else has at a direct cost.
Product Objectives
1. Elegant attire the fit the most front line client we have.
2. Four unique pieces of clothing as well as embellishments that a wide scope of clients will
discover of intrigue.
3. Straightforward articles of clothing to reinforce one's closet and restrictive pieces to light up
one's closet.
4. All textures utilized will be natural.
5. These pieces that may be accessible to online H&M clients will make them more select.
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Current Situation Analysis
The current situational analysis when carrying out in the H&M than it could be seen that the
company is growing very attractively and this is the reason that a retail store in Turkey was
opened by the company in the year 2010. Online shopping which the company has introduced for
the customers is another important step regarding the growth of the business. Lanvin is one of
the well-known designers who are selected by the company for certain collaboration, and this
becomes the reason for an increase in the sale of the company.
It has been seen that there are some of the problems and issues which the company is facing such
as the as the prices of the products of the company are low which at certain creating negative
image on the company because the lower quality of the products is perceived by the customers
when they see that the prices of the products are low. Competition is another issue which is
creating some problems for the company (Jenkins, 2015).
Internal and external Analysis
Strengths
1. They are the one of the largest global clothing retailer
2. They have about 2300 stores in approx 45 countries and
around 95000 people employed under them
3. The store offers quality and trendy clothing at affordable
price, we can say designer clothes at department store prices.
4. Their overall delivery time is very low, it takes only 12 weeks
for their products to come from the design stage to the retailer
phase.
5. Guest designers coming in for different lines in the store.
6. They also keep the prices affordable by using few middle-men
and buying large volumes cost consciously
7. They have been associated with celebrities and designers
8.They are present in many complimentary businesses which
offers them better control and flexibility
Weaknesses
1.Buying large volumes could lead to overstocking and later on
lead to lowering of the already affordable prices
2.Also their target customer base is highly affected by the
changing macro -economic conditions
3.They have put in a lot of capital and maintenance fee for all
the different types of machines required to produce clothes for
each target segment
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Opportunities
1.Online shopping is gaining a lot of importance
2.Emerging economies will support H & M’s expansion plans
3.They are well positioned to tap the niche organic apparel
market
Threats
1. Weak competitive situation as the prominence of value
retailers and premium luxury brands increases
2.Their newest business line home-ware has not been able to
click in Europe and hence is leading to lowering sales
3.Unemployment is also continuously pressurizing their target
segment to discretionary spending
H&M STP Analysis
 Segmentation Strategy:
These are approaches to subdivision of a market or population into segments with defined similar
characteristics. Demographics and psychographic segmentation are used for H&M to reach all
their customers. H&M is spread throughout the world. This means that the company targets
many religions, culture and lifestyle. Therefore, their marketing has to be done differently in
different areas.
Segments by class: H&M strategy is offering high fashion at low prices, typically targeting
working class, lower middle class and students.
Segments by class/home: The most popular segment is women aging between 15 and 30 years,
either still living at home, in student dorms, or in their first house in urban regions
Segments by age: The most popular segment is women aging between 15 and 30 years
commonly known as generation Y, ambitious with high buying power.
Segments by family life: Typical college to graduate females life at home single, on their own in
dorms or in their first home, either single or as a young couple without children.
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Influences: Cultural, social, personal and psychological influences result in a lifestyle and
personality. This group is looking for affordable fashion and typically shop at more than one
store. They are fashionable consumers whose shopping as a social activity providing pleasure in
their daily lives. They buy clothes each season, want to follow trends and are very up-to-date.
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, they would fit perfectly in the social part:
belongingness/love
Decision making: A consumer follows the “consumer decision-making process”. Step one on the
process is to recognize a need, step two (if needed) to search for internal or external additional
information about the product or service. Then the consumer evaluates the new information to
make the decision to purchase, or not. In H&M’s case the typical costumers are following
something similar to the decision making progress: “routine response behavior”. Which means
the consumer is frequently buying a low-cost product or service with little search and decision
time. This process can be compared to the impulse shopping many H&M consumers do because
of their ongoing sales and over all low prices
 Targeting Strategy:
The selection of potential customers to whom a business wishes to sell products or services. The
target customers of H&M belong to the group of fashionable and trendy consumers who see
shopping as a social activity provide pleasure in their daily life, who wants to follow the trends
without investing a lot of money. The target market for H&M is for younger people. Even
though H&M offers clothing and accessories for all ages, their target market is women. Women
usually shop more for them, but also buy all their children’s clothing and often their husbands as
well. With their low prices H&M targets woman in the lower middle class and working class,
this is a concentrated targeting strategy. Because their focus is to sell a fashionable product for a
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low price they target married to single woman, mothers and daughters. Many single young
women who always want to stay on top of the fashion trends are constantly upgrading their
closets with H&Ms new affordable items. The consumers are not highly brand loyal; rather they
shop at multiple retailers in search for the perfect fashion pieces. They shop anywhere from four
to six stores on average. Customer attractiveness is high, customer loyalty is low. According to
dancehall dilemma theory, these are targets for conversion, attractive enough to be worth
chasing.
 Positioning Strategy:
Is a marketing strategy that aims to make a brand occupy a distinct position, relative to
competing brands, in the mind of the customers? H&M is a retailer that is looking to provide
consumers with fashionable, high-quality clothing at the best price possible. They offer “fast-
fashion” clothing, in other words from runway to racks in record time, and sell European
influenced clothing in the American market. Additionally, H&M carries clothing in a variety of
categories including women’s casual, men’s business, children’s wear, footwear and accessories.
The company is the second largest clothing retailer in the world, the largest in Europe and
actively engages in E-retailing. H&M is also economically, socially, and environmentally
sustainable
The Marketing Mix
Product
The assessment of the current trend of the use of the clothes by the people it could see that the
scarf and the long pocket shirts with jeans are some of the styles which preferring and using by
eh people. It is a fact that people in modern time are more conscious regarding their style, so the
company needs to improve the products according to the demand of the people.
PRICE
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In respect of the price element, the management of the H&M can implement different strategies
because of the availability of the wide range of the strategies for charging the prices of the
products. Penetrating pricing strategy is one of the pricing strategies which could be used by the
marketing and selling department of the company. Under those pricing strategies, the prices are
maintained by the management two-level to attract the customers if the quality is maintained at a
higher level. The customers are convinced by the company that the products of the company
could meet the demand and needs of the people. Product line pricing, psychological pricing,
pricing based on geographic, price discrimination, premium pricing, price skimming and
economy pricing strategy are some of the examples of other pricing strategies which the
management of the H&M could use.
PLACE
The place element indicates the channels which the company use for the distribution of the
products of the company and it is very important to note that when the company delivers the
products on quick basis than the profitability and the market share of the company could be
increased by the company’s management. According to the Jobber (2007) competitive factors,
product and producer factors could affect the channel selection. Store selling is one of the
distribution channels which the company is using for the enhancement of the sale of the
company's products. Online shopping for the customers also one of the place or distribution
channel selected by the company (Adrienne Torre, 2012).
PROMOTION
Promotion is one of the important elements for gaining the success sin the market because the
customer at the start is not aware of the new product of the company, so the promotion helps the
company to attract the customer by informing them about eh products which the company is
producing and launching in the market.
PEOPLE
The people includes all the customers and the employees who nee greater level of the focus by
the marketing and the operating management of the company. The success and the people are in
direct relation so if the company is satisfying the employees and the customers than the
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enhancement of the market share and the increase in the profitability of the company are not
difficult for the company.
Physical evidence and the process are also very important part of gaining the success I the
market because the showing presence and organizing the process are important for attracting new
customers (Researchomatic, 2013)
Conclusion
In the end, it could be concluding that both the H&M and Zara are two well-known brands in the
retailing sector of the UK. It has been concluding that the customers in the modern time are more
conscious about the use of the fashion and clothes so the both companies could gain more
success of attractive styles and fashion design are develop by the companies.
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Bibliography
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