Unit 2 Marketing Essentials

Unit 2 Marketing Essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................3
LO 1......................................................................................................................................................3
Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function.........................................................................3
Interrelationship between marketing and other functional units........................................................6
LO2.......................................................................................................................................................7
Comparative assessment of marketing mix factors............................................................................7
LO3.....................................................................................................................................................13
P4. Marketing plan..........................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is defined as promoting company’s products and services in front of the
potential customers associated with the market. This report is based on the case study of the
Marks and Spencer Company in respect to the marketing operations of the organisation. The
organisation was established in the year 1884 by the founders Michael Marks and Thomas
Spencer. Headquarter of the company is located in United Kingdom. Compaq has been
engaged selling in high quality clothing, food products and home products. The organization
has been engaging in catering its operations at approximately 14000 business locations at a
global level. This report would address the marketing operations of the organisation.
Henceforth, report will emphasis on the marketing process of the company. The purpose and
function of the marketing operation will demonstrate in this project. Inter relationship of the
marketing department with other functional department would be projected in this report. The
comparative analysis of the Marks and Spencer Company with other competitors based on
the elements of marketing mix. Furthermore, this report will demonstrate about the precise
marketing plan.
LO 1
Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function
Marketing function plays a major role in the success of the organisations. Marks and
Spencer identify the following roles and responsibilities of the marketing function:
Listening to the needs of the customers
This proves to be very significant in establishing the marketing strategy as it is must
for the company to get closer to the clients and listen to them in person or through online

sources to analyse their needs and demands. This is the task of the marketing department to
plan the required means for getting the feedbacks of the customers. The marketing
department of Marks and Spencer using two approaches which are through internal channels
and form outside the company. In the internal channels, they focus on creating the surveys or
capturing the information of the sales team and the customer support team which helps to
redirect the strategies whereas from the channels outside the company the marketing
department perform searches and implement certain actions in the social networks in
understanding the needs of the users for converting them into customers (Jacobs and
Karpova, 2020).
Track trends and monitor competition
This is the responsibility of the marketing department to collect the information which
can help the company to be aware about its own position in the market and the competitors
which are trying to lead the company by any means. They watch the competition and also
analyses the things they do better along with evaluating the risks which can be faced. This
also aware M&S about its competitors like Tesco, Aldi, Asda and many more in UK.
Improving the processes of sales and the customers
This is must for the marketing department to be aware about the feelings of the
customers. For this the employees of this department in M&S must try to come in direct
contact with the customers so that they can know about what actually the customers need and
their expectations from the company (Aschemann-Witzel, De Hooge and Normann, 2016).
Marketing department is the one which comes in contact with the clients and customers so
they can give the information about their needs to the company and they can be able to
produce the products accordingly which can satisfy them. This increases the customers as
well as sales of the companies like Marks and Spencer.
Managing the marketing budgets and calculating the ROI on the actions of the
company
The marketing function requires a sufficient amount of capital for carrying out
marketing activities. So, it is the major responsibility of the marketing department of the
Marks and Spencer is to manage the budget and must try to perform all the activities in the
budget of the company as it can affect the overall operations of the company. The marketing
department of M&S must be able to plan its budget for the activities to be performed in the