Importance of Marketing in Strategic Planning: A Case Study of Unilever

Sales and Marketing

Table of Contents
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................3
Main body .......................................................................................................................................3
Discuss the key principle of marketing used by the chosen organisation..............................3
Discuss the importance marketing plays in the strategic planning creating an appraisal of
rationale of the current marketing decisions..........................................................................5
Assess the concepts of segmentation, targeting and positioning to a product or service. .....7
Discuss how organisation use a number of techniques to improve their communication
process to enhance sale...........................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References ....................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
Marketing is defined as process undertaken by the business organisation in order to
promote their product and services among the target customers and enhance their performance as
well as productivity. It includes satisfying the needs and wants of the customers through offering
them quality goods and services. Whereas sales is defined as the process of selling goods and
services to the customers with the main main of maximising their profit. For this report Unilever
is taken as the base company. Unilever is one of the top consumer goods company offering
quality services in more than 190 countries, company is the biggest producer of soap around the
globe. Unilever was founded in 1929 having more than 400 brands. This report highlights the
importance of marketing principles and detailed application of marketing mix in the business
organisation (Agu, 2020). Importance of marketing in effective strategic planning of the
organisation is also highlighted in this report. In addition to this detailed analysis of
segmentation, targeting and positioning of a particular product and services.
Main body
Discuss the key principle of marketing used by the chosen organisation
Marketing is defined as the process of making consumers aware of the company's product
and services suing various marketing tools and techniques. It helps business organisation to
enhance their profitability and productivity, through marketing consumers aware of their their
products (Ben-Shaul and Reichel, 2018). In case of Unilever, the company is activity engaged in
their marketing activity. Being the leading consumers goods company around the globe company
is actively making consumers aware of the their products and services using various mediums. In
context to Unilever, the key principle of marketing is discussed below:
Marketing mix: It is defined as the combination of the actions used by the company in order to
effectively promote their product and services in the marketplace also to make consumer aware
of their brand effectively. It allows company to focus on various areas which helps them to
enhance their overall performance. In context to Unilever, marketing mix is highlighted below:
Product: The product refers to the physical community offered to the consumers by the
organisation in order satisfy their needs. It can be tangible or intangible enabling company to
gain competitive advantage in the marketplace (Heggde and Shainesh, 2018). In context to
Unilever, company has more than 400 brands in order to effectively meets the needs of their

customers. It's products are mainly divided into three categories such as foods, home care
products and personal care products. With large number of brands makes the company to be the
leading producer in the marketplace. Some of the most famous brand of the Unilever includes
Dove, Lipton, Vaseline, magnum, Persil, comfort and so on are some of the names recognised
globally (Ifediba, 2019).
Price: It is the value of the products set by the market and needs to be offered by the
consumers in return of the product and services. It determined the value of a particular products
and services in the marketplace. In context to Unilever, company uses penetration pricing
strategy in order to attract large number of customers and gain competitive advantage in the
marketplace. It is analysed that FMCG market faces lots of competition around the globe,
following competitive pricing allows the company to determine their price as per competitors
effectively. Unilever attract different types of customers so its pricing is also set as per customers
needs and preference also.
Place: It is one of the most essential part of the marketing mix, it involves placement or
distribution of the product and services in a place that is easily reachable to the target customers.
In context to Unilever, company is currently functioning in more than 190 countries also having
large distribution network including retail and direct outlets. Company has large number of
distributors also millions of retailers around the globe which allows company to effectively
reduce their cost, it helps company to capture large numbers customers enhancing their overall
profitability and productivity.
Promotion: It is defined as the technique used by the company to make consumer aware
of their brand as well as product and services. There are number of promotional techniques
available such as advertising, direct sale, personal selling and so on which helps company to
promote their product and services. In case of Unilever, company uses digital marketing
integrated with e-commerce in order to attract large number of customers and enhance their
sales. Company also uses digital campaigns and celebrities in order to promote their product and
services (Klein, 2021). In addition to this various other promotional tools such as print media,
hoardings, discounts and free samples are also used by the company. Effective use of various
promotional tools helps company to enhance their brand image around the globe.
People: They are considered to be the most essential factor of any business organisation
which lead them towards growth or either failure, so it becomes essential for the company to