Roles and Responsibilities of Marketing Function

This report discusses the key roles and responsibilities of marketing function in an organization. It covers topics such as marketing information system, marketing planning, financing, promotion, pricing, distribution, selling, and product/service management. The chosen organization for this report is ALDI, a leading discount supermarket chain operating globally.

MARKETING ESSENTIAL

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.......................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function.............................................................................3
TASK 2.......................................................................................................................................................5
P2 How marketing roles and responsibilities is related with various organizational department.................5
TASK 3.......................................................................................................................................................6
P3 Marketing Mix of two organization........................................................................................................6
TASK 4.......................................................................................................................................................9
P4 Marketing Plan for the chosen organization...........................................................................................9
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................11
REFERNCES...........................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing refers to the social process by which organizations and individual obtain what
they want and need through creating and exchanging value with others. It is everything that a
looks for in order to acquire buyers and maintain long lasting relationship with them (Dibb and
Simkin, 2014). It is considered as one of the premier component of business management as it
used to create, keep and satisfy customer requirement profitably. According to American
Marketing Association “Marketing can be defined as set of activities, processes and institution
for communicating, creating, exchanging and delivering offering that have value for target
audience for partners, customers, clients and society at large.
The chosen organization for this report is ALDI which is a leading discount supermarket
chain operating in more than 20 countries globally. This report talks about ALDI’s marketing
roles and responsibilities, components of marketing mix and evaluation main elements of
marketing plan.
TASK 1
P1 Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function
Marketing refers to the process through which companies create customer interest in
product or services. It means meeting the needs and wants of target audience in an effective and
efficient manner. It provide high competitive edge to businesses so as to gain and retain loyal
customer. The concept of marketing associated with satisfying customer needs profitably. It
include selling, distributing, research and public relation. There are various roles and
responsibilities of marketing that are discussed below:
1. Marketing Information System: Market information system the first to the process gathering
and analyzing market information. Under this, and if it is made by company in order to identify
and understand the needs and wants of customer thoroughly. Companies usually search about
what exactly consumer want, in what quantity and at what price. The chosen organization has
effectively used to this method in knowing likes and dislikes of target user. For example: ALDI
collect information that most of the consumer prefer to purchase goods or services at lower cost.
In addition to that this tool also provide information related with what kind of advertisement
must be liked by consumer, how do they want the product and where they want it.
All the relevant information concerned with potential buyers is collected and analyzed properly.
On the basis of this analysis an effort is made by the company find out as to which particular
product has the best opportunities in the market.
2. Marketing planning: In order to achieve business objective with regard to its marketing
objective, marketer usually chalks out marketing plan. It specifically signify what exactly
company wants and at what percentage. For example: ALDI wants to increase the market share
grocery product by 40%. So in order to achieve this particular objective the marketer needs to
prepare market plan accordingly. This will also state the role of employees towards achieving
that objective.
3. Financing: It is considered as one of the most crucial marketing function as the entire group
and success of organization depend upon this market function (Draelos, 2011). It takes money to
make money. The main responsibility of marketer is to identify various sources through which
company can get adequate funding. This marketing function deals with finding the money for

business through loans, investments or utilizing personal capital in order to advertise
good/services among customers. ALDI is managing their funding through shares, investment and
loans.
Figure 1 Functions of Marketing
(Source: Marketing Function, 2018)
4. Promotion channel: Promotion means updating or informing the buyers about company's
product and encouraging them to buy their product. It includes advertising, sales promotion,
publicity and personal selling. Every decision taken by the marketer in this context affects the
overall sales. For example: ALDI is usually doing promotion through coupons only.
5. Pricing: Setting correct price for product or service comes out as a great challenge for them. If
product price is too high then company might lose customers. But if in case prices are low
company might be robbing themselves with profits. Therefore it is very important set right price
for the product or services that creates value for customer. ALDI is having its own unique
pricing strategy that gives them high competitive edge over their rivals. They usually sells goods
comparatively at lower rate than other retail stores ( Hauer, 2013).
6. Distribution: This function is related with how company plans to distribute their product
among consumers. Business owners must have an idea about channel management so that they
can distribute their product carefully all across the world. ALDI is mainly distributing their
product through their stores or outlets. In addition to that, they also sell product through their

online application.
7. Selling: Selling and marketing are complementary function. Marketing creates awareness and
builds preference for a product that helps sales representative of the company to sell more of a
particular product. Marketing function provide support to sales team by generating sales leads
and ask the sales team to take follow up (Jones and Rowley, 2017). ALDI purchases products in
bulk quantity from manufacturers and then directly sold to customer.
8. Product/service management: Marketing function gives valuable input to product and
service development. Information related with customer needs and wants helps the company to
determine the additional features needs to be incorporated in existing or new product. It also help
in identifying opportunities concerned with extending product range or launching existing
product into new market.
TASK 2
P2 How marketing roles and responsibilities is related with various organizational department
Marketing is a social process that satisfy customer needs and wants in an effective
manner. It mainly deals with advertisement, promotion and selling and distribution of product. In
addition to that marketing function also assist other organizational department such as research
department, human resource in order to accomplish business objectives in cost effective and
timely manner.
Following are the role of marketing various organizational department:
Research and Development Department: R&D department plays crucial role in any
organization as it transform future capabilities into new product or services. The main role of this
department is to collect information related with customer choice and wants that keeps on
changing frequently. Therefore it is important for every business enterprise keep them self-
updated with current likes and dislikes of target audience. ALDI figures out that people
immediately shift to other competitor who are offering similar product but at low price.
Therefore, ALDI came up with its own unique pricing strategy that automatically attracts the
customer.
Human resource department: A business needs to attract profitable buyers in order to attain
decent sales number and for obtaining this decent sales number it is important to have talent and
skilled personnel who with their capabilities generate maximum sales lead generation. Therefore
it is prime responsibility of every company to hire talented candidates. Marketing helps the HR
department in finding those talented employees. Market change and so do the expectation of
employees. Just like brands have to change to stay competitive employer brand also needs to
change employee expectation. The company need to remain on top in almost every extent such
as salary data, providing healthy working environment etc. As ALDI is having sheer store layout
reduces the level of numbers of employees. Show the company laid stress on hiring only talented
skilled competent and knowledgeable worker.
Production and Operation Department: The main responsibility of operational manager is to
maintain minimum stock level. As ALDI buys product in bulk quantities directly from supplier
and then store it in their warehouses. Here marketing function assist operational manager in
determining future demand of that particular product so that they can purchase accordingly

(Mihart and Frank, 2017). Basically with the help of marketing, ALDI can easily figure out
demand of any product which help them when buying bulk quantity product from supplier.
Finance Department: Financial position of the company in market helps them in deciding their
budget. If a firm is having sound financial position in market they can easily get funds from
various sources when needed. Sound financial position also help in building goodwill of the firm
in market (Nguyen and Simkin, 2013).
Customer Service Department: Customers are considered as the king of market. Therefore it is
primarily important for any company to satisfy their needs and want in an effective and efficient
manner. ALDI's sheer layout makes easier for customer to find required product as soon as
possible. Moreover they take frequent feedback and suggestions from customer which help them
in improving their services and satisfying customer requirement in more appropriate manner.
TASK 3
P3 Marketing Mix of two organization
Marketing Mix refers to the set of tactics that company uses in order to promote its
product or brand in the market. It is generally made up of 7P’s including price, promotion, place,
physical evidence, people, process and product. Following are the brief description of 7P’s of
ALDI’s and LIDL’s marketing mix.
7P’s of Marketing Mix ALDI LIDL
Product ALDI claims to give
affordable food product of
high quality at lesser rate as
compared to other retail
brands. The products sold by
them are directly sourced
from manufacturer and then
they brand product as their
own so as to have control
over production and cost.
Other than food products,
ALDI also offers fresh
vegetables-fruits, stationary,
clothes, beauty product,
household goods etc. They
does not change their good
product but they do
experimenting with non-food
items.
The goods sold in LIDL is
almost similar to products
sold in other supermarket.
The main difference would be
the brand name of particular
product. They sell their
products at cheaper rate. The
main competitor of LIDL is
ALDI.
Price The company is having
strong customer base because
of offering cheap price and
quality products to its target
customers. Currently the
Company is gaining high
competitive edge in the
market because of its clever
pricing strategies. They
entered in market on the basis

company is using unit pricing
strategy for groceries so that
they can easily compare the
price of their products with
competitors. Moreover in
order to gain high
competitive edge.
of most value driven
supermarket. The firm is
offering incredibly cheap
pricing product which
immediately seize the
attention of customers.
Promotion Their promotional activities
are comprehensive as they
spend negligible amount for
doing promotion of their
products. In-fact ALD is not
having marketing department
in its Germany store. All they
offers is “super-buys” offers
and that too is also available
till inventory lasts. However,
in UK, US and Australia
market they make extensive
use of digital, print and
electronic media to advertise
its products.
Currently, LIDL is not having
any promotional or loyalty
program in the market of UK
as they believes that their low
pricing strategy is enough for
attracting customers. So they
hardly spent any amount on
doing promotion of their
product. But they do have
some store promotion such as
buy one get one but they are
offering any further discount
on product’s prices as it
already exist at low prices.
Physical evidence ALDI gained popularity for
its simplest business
processes, global pricing and
standardization. They provide
products at 30% cheaper rates
and its keep everyday low
prices strategy is same all
across the world. Also it is
also store that maintain same
prices for grocery product
throughout the year.
Most of the LIDL stores are
laid out in traditional and
linear manner. This help
buyers in finding their
product quickly and easily.
Also they often exhibit their
brand color yellow and blue
throughout their surrounding
or store which make easier
for customer to identify the
store even from far as well.
Process Its sheer layout process
makes easier for customer to
find products on their own
which indirectly leads to
minimize the number of
workers that ALDI needs to
assist the buyers. They keep
limited number of high
quality product so as to
prevent consumers from
getting confused and this also
help in reducing selection
time. Along with that ALDI’s
The primary process of LIDL
is to purchase product in bulk
quantity directly from
supplier and that too at low-
cost. They do not involve
consumer in any of their work
process or procedure.

products have usually large
barcodes for quick-
identification that saves the
time and energy of both
customer and employee.
Place ALDI is currently operating
in 18 countries and having
more than 8000 stores all
across the world. According
to one of UK report, a new
store of ALDI opens every
week in Britain. Their store is
very simple which makes
easier for buyers to select
product within short span of
time. ALDI procure product
in bulk quantities directly
from suppliers and then store
them in local warehouses
ensuring its quality remain
same all the time. Moreover
they also ensure minimum
waste disposal and used
environment friendly
equipment in its stores. In
addition to that, the company
is also having its online
presence which allow buyers
to check product detail and to
locate nearest available store.
The organization is having
plethora of outlets all across
Europe and UK. They operate
in different supermarket
segment depending upon the
country ranging from high to
low valued products. They
have large number of
distribution center across UK
and Europe that maintain
constant level of inventory.
According to their business
model, their aim is to sell
large number of goods in
short span of time and for this
it is primarily important to
maintain adequate stock
level. This means their stores
are reasonably close to its
distribution centres.
People The company is having low
customer services because
their employees do not buyer
in selecting their product.
They very thoughtfully put its
store layout where everything
is divided into proper section
which ultimately reduces the
number of worker required in
handling each section. They
are paying higher to
employees as compared to its
other competitors and also
provide on the job training to
them so that they work more
effectively and efficiently.
They are paying attractive
salary to its workers but they
do select or hire only hard
working and talented
employees. The amount of
products or items scan is
often used as their
performance measurement
indicator. They keep high
training standards for
employees which inspire
them to work more
effectively.

TASK 4
P4 Marketing Plan for the chosen organization
Marketing Plan can be define as a blueprint that outlines all essential marketing and
advertising activities of a company for an upcoming year. Its formulation starts with identifying
the target customers and this can be done by market research. It mainly includes company’s
overview, STP approach, formulation of budget, sales forecast and monitoring and controlling.
Company Overview: ALDI is a common brand of two discounted supermarket chain, operating
in more than 20 countries with over 10,000 stores. It’s headquarter is in Germany. The company
was started in the 1913 with a food store in the town called Essen in Germany. They mainly
deals in providing large number of products to customers at discounted rate and also maintaining
quality as well. The company started gaining popularity in the year 1956 by selling high quality
product at discounted price over competitors.
Parent Company ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG
Category Retail Industry
Sector Retail and Lifestyle
Tagline Spend less, live a lot
USP Sells products at affordable prices maintaining top
quality products.
Company’s Vision and Mission Statement:
Vision: “To provide our buyers with the products that they purchase regularly and ensure high
standards quality of those products”.
Mission: “To meet customer requirement by offering them high quality product at discounted
price”.
STP Approach:
Segmentation People looking out to purchase grocery products at competitive
prices.
Targeting Household
Positioning ALDI offers most of the products with its own private labels. The
company is strongly placed in Germany and now targeting to wide
its scope by firmly placing themselves in international market.
SWOT Analysis:
Strength Weakness

 Claims to offer high quality product
 Offers at discounted rate
 Strong market presence in Germany
with over 2900 store outlets.
 Operating cost is low
 Gained popularity for its unique store
layout.
 Still relatively small as compared to
other international brand.
 Their global impact is still less
because of already existing
competitors in market.
 Sometimes customer think that they
are selling poor quality product at
discounted rate.
Opportunities
 Needs to invest more money in
advertising and promotional activities.
 Expanding business operation in
growing countries like Asia and Africa
etc.
Threats
 Strong competition
 Its private label brand tossed away by
already established big brands.
 Not suitable for those who are looking
for “complete shopping experience”.
Marketing Budget:
Marketing Plan:
Product ALDI is offering large number of products at
affordable price simultaneously maintaining
product quality as well. They buy product in
bulk quantities from selected manufacturers
and store it in warehouse. They usually sell
product with their own brand name.
Price They have strong consumer base because of
its price and quality that it offers for its own
private labeled product which aren’t available
with rivals. They gain high competitive
advantage for its unit pricing strategy.
Promotion They are spending very less amount on
promoting and advertising their product as
they believe that their store layout and unit
pricing strategy is enough to seize the
attention of customer. But in UK, Australia
and US market they do using display, print
and electronic media for advertising their
product.
Place ALDI is currently operating in 20 countries
with more than 8000 stores. Its store layout
makes much easier for customer to find
product as soon as possible. Moreover they
also tries to maintain a regional appearance
and thus names its stores accordingly. For
instance: In Switzerland the name of their
outlet is ALDI SUISSSE.

Monitoring and Controlling: At this stage, company needs to analyses whether all the planned
activities are carrying out in its systematic manner or not (Papasolomou and Melanthiou, 2012).
If they found any deviation, they need to take proper action for rectifying it so that it cannot
affect other activities.
CONCLUSION
According to the given report it can be concluded that the heart of every organization lies
in its marketing process. They market their product so as to aware customer about them and
stimulate them to buy the product. Roles and responsibilities of marketing covers pricing,
financing, marketing information system, distribution and many more that direct affect firm’s
profitability and growth. In addition to that marketing also provide assistance to other
organizational department as well. Lastly marketing mix and marketing plan has also discussed
in this report that outlines marketing activities for upcoming year.

REFERNCES
Books and Journal