Critically Analyzing Aldi's Marketing Planning Process and Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Aldi's marketing strategies and planning process. It begins with an introduction to marketing and its importance, focusing on Aldi's context as a global supermarket chain. The main body critically analyzes the significance of an effective marketing planning process, detailing steps such as determining action plans, analyzing the business situation, conducting research, developing marketing strategies, and evaluating the planning process. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding the target clients and the use of effective marketing tools. It also discusses the benefits of a systematic marketing planning process, including its role in effective marketing activities, accountability, gaining a competitive advantage, redesigning old ideas, coordinating communication, and enhancing profitability. The report applies the Ansoff Matrix to Aldi's strategic planning, suggesting market development as a key strategy. Furthermore, it evaluates the needs and techniques for controlling marketing activities within the product area, highlighting the importance of evaluation and monitoring. The report also examines the skills required for a marketing manager, including their role in effective marketing team management. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and emphasizes the importance of strategic marketing for Aldi's success.

Marketing

Table of Contents
.........................................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Critically analyse the importance of an effective marketing planning process in relation to
Aldi’s context..............................................................................................................................3
Critically evaluate needs and techniques for controlling marketing activities within the
product area.................................................................................................................................7
Examine and critically assess the skills needed in the role of a marketing manager and analyse
their role in the effective management of the marketing team....................................................9
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................12
REFFERENCES............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is an activity or an action of business to promote its products and creates
awareness among customers which persuade them to purchase the products. It is concerned with
identifying the needs of the customer and providing products accordingly while maximising the
profitability and productivity of the organisation. Marketing is the most effective way through
which company can adopt to various tools and techniques in promoting their products as well as
enhances their brand image in the market. It results in managing and maintaining relationship
with customers which results in mutual benefits for all the stakeholders and the business
(Abushadi and et. al., 2015).
The following report is based on ALDI which is a family owned supermarket chains and
has around 10,000 stores in 20 countries. It was founded on 10 July 1946 by Karl and Theo
Albrecht, headquartered in Germany. Its products include food and beverage, household and
other sanitary products which are of high quality to meet the requirements of the existing market.
This report throw highlights on effectiveness of marketing planning process which assist
organisation in achieving business objectives. It also determines various techniques for
controlling the marketing activities as well as the strategies to enhance their sales globally. At
last it focuses on skills required by the marketing managers and analyses the role in the effective
management of marketing team (Akbar and et. al., 2017).
MAIN BODY
Critically analyse the importance of an effective marketing planning process in relation to Aldi’s
context
Marketing Planning Process is a systematic approach which provides proper guideline to
the manager at ALDI related to effective marketing and selling of its products within specific
period of time. It determines the manager to choose the best promotional strategies and enhance
productivity and profitability within the company. This help the respective organisation in
achieving its goals in an appropriate manner.
Marketing Planning Process-
In order to effectively conduct marketing and selling activities, it is necessary for the
marketing manger at ALDI to frame effective marketing planning process regarding attaining
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goals and objectives in a proper manner. These steps needs to be followed by the respective
company are discussed as follows-
 Determines Action Plans-Effective marketing of products assist ALDI to achieve its
organisational goals in a better way. It is necessary for the marketing manager at ALDI
to understand the vision and mission of the organisation and develops an effective
understanding of goals and objective of organisation. Before marketing of its products it
is necessary for the company to decide and set goals which the organisation wants to
achieve (Allen, 2016).
 Analyse the business situation- Marketing manager should analyse the business
situation by conducting SWOT analysis which helps the manager at ALDI to identify
weakness and strengths and the opportunities which the company has in order to achieve
its goals and objectives. Apart from this threats associated with the respective
organisation can be minimised by taking appropriate actions. Therefore analysing the
business situation helps the manager to covert its weaker areas into strengths and
conducts effective marketing of activities.
 Conducts Research and understand the target clients- After analysing the business
situation it is necessary for the manager at ALDI to conducts research of the outside
environment as helps the manager to identify and grab the available opportunities and
determines the risk associated with marketing and selling of ALDI products. It also helps
in understanding the demands of the customers and provide them goods according to
their wants and desires. This leads ALDI to gain customer trust and loyalty towards their
products and able to capture larger share of the market as compared to its competitors
such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons which are successfully competing in
the market (Arendt and Allain, 2019).
 Developing Marketing Strategies - It is necessary for the marketing manager at ALDI
to effectively market its products and provides differentiated products so as to gain
competitive advantage. It is necessary for the respective company to frame effective
marketing mix, strategies so that ALDI products can be effectively positioned in the
market and attracts larger customer base. It is the responsibility of the manager to frame
effective marketing tactics and adopts to latest online marketing strategy in order to
increase customer awareness towards company;'s products and leads to maximisation of
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sales and profitability of the respective organisation. Use of effective marketing tools
and techniques are selected by the manager so as to create awareness and enhance their
brand image in the market. This also allows the company to maintain its sustainability in
the competitive market place (Brychkov and Domegan, 2017).
 Employing, executing and Evaluating the Planning process- When the marketing
strategies and tactics have been planned by the manager at ALDI it is necessary to frame
budget and allocate the resources for conducting the marketing activities effectively.
Moreover it is the responsibility of the manager to to monitor and overview the whole
marketing process and make necessary changes if any deviations are found.
Importance of Effective Marketing Planning Process
Their are various importance of marketing products of respective company by following
a systematic approach of Marketing Planning Process. It is described as follows-
 Assist in effective marketing activities and operations- Effective marketing planning
process allows the managers at ALDI to analyse business situations effectively and audits
the business environmental factors so that risk factor associated with marketing products
can be realised and effective actions can be taken. It also helps the manager at ALDI to
find and grab all the available opportunities such as increasing trend of online marketing
strategy will assist the mangers to effectively market its products through online media
and creates high awareness among customers. This leads in minimisation of risk and
helps in the growth and success of business (Eletxigerra Barrutia and Echebarria, 2018).
 Assist Accountability- Marketing Planning Process assist the managers to set specific
goals and objectives and communicate to the employees within the respective
organisation so that employees works towards realising those objectives as well as there
progress could be measured towards them. Therefore it hold all the employees at ALDI
accountable towards their work by efficiently utilising the resources towards the
attainment of organisational goals and objectives.
 Helps to gain competitive Advantage- By analysing the business situation and external
factors it assist manager at ALDI to reframe their strategies and policies so that marketing
activities can be conducted efficiently towards promoting and selling of its products and
assist company to gain competitive advantage and enhance its profitability level. By
analysing the business environmental factors, ALDI has adopted online marketing
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strategy such as promoting products on various online portals and social media platforms
and gaining the trust and loyalty of the customers which assist the company to compete
effectively in the market place.
 Helps to redesign old ideas and assumptions- As with the ongoing changing market
trends it is necessary for the marketing manager at ALDI to frame proper strategies and
policies according to the existing market needs. Hence with the proper plan of marketing
it assist the managers to redesign its old ideas and suggestions and develops new ideas
according to the customer behaviour and market trends. This enables the sustainability of
ALDI in the competitive market place (Hisrich and Ramadani, 2017).
 Assist in coordination and Communication between departments- Effective
marketing planning process assists the company towards proper promotion and selling of
products so as to enhance profitability and brand image of the company. This requires
manager at ALDI to frame effective strategies and tactics and allocates resources within
different departments of the organisations so that activities related to marketing can be
properly coordinated. Therefore this assist in coordination and communication between
different departments as marketing function has inter-relationship with finance, human
resource and production departments and they work in a coordinated manner towards the
attainment of the organisational goals in a proper manner.
 Enhances Profitability and Productivity of organisation- Marketing process framed in
effective manner assist the respective organisation towards attaining Profitability and
Productivity of the organisation. It helps in the effective formation of marketing mix and
helps in framing appropriate budget so that funds can be effectively allocated within all
the departments of the respective organisation and manager adopts effective tools and
techniques so as to promote is products in a effective manner. This way it leads to
enhanced customer awareness which aims at maximising the profitability and
productivity of the organisation (Holbrook, 2018).
These are the various importance of the effective marketing process in context to ALDI
organisation which can enhance its brand image as well as gains competitive advantage towards
maximising profitability and productivity of the organisation.
Application of Ansoff Matrix
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It is a strategic planning tool which provides framework to help the executives at ALDI
to devise and implement proper strategies for their growth. Four growth strategies within the
model is described as-
 Market Penetration- Under this strategy firms seeks to achieve growth by providing
existing products in their current market segments. Their main focus here is to increase
their market share.
 Market Development- Under this strategy, respective company can provide its existing
products into the new market segments. This helps in creating awareness about its
products to the new customers and therefore aims at maximising its profits.
 Product Development- In this strategy respective firm can develop the new product at
stores such as can provide innovative household product so as to provide differentiated
products over their competitors and can meet the requirement of the existing market
segments. This will enhance brand image of the company and will maintain its
sustainability in the competitive business environment.
 Diversification- Under this strategy respective company can diversify into a new
business for developing new products for the new target segments. This is the riskiest
strategy as to which there is risk whether the new product will get success in the market
or not.
From all the above strategies, ALDI should opt for market development strategy so as to
provide existing products to the new customers thereby opening stores in various other countries
so as to create awareness about their offerings and leads to attain maximum profitability for the
company.
Critically evaluate needs and techniques for controlling marketing activities within the product
area
It is very much essential for Aldi to properly evaluate the needs and importance for controlling
marketing activities, as with the help of this organisation will be able to make better plans for the
future course of action. If proper marketing techniques are used than organisation will be able to
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establish and introduce its business in various parts of the world. As these techniques will guide
the management in taking appropriate decisions for expanding its business in the effective and
efficient manner. Proper set of techniques will help the organisation in attracting more and more
customer's. As there needs and preferences will be taken into consideration. If this is done in the
systematic manner than sale of the organisation will be automatically increased. Proper
marketing techniques will also help organisation in making necessary changes in its business
strategies. The strategies can be related to the market development or increase of sale at the
global level.
Need for controlling marketing activities- Proper control over marketing activities is
essential for Aldi as with the help of these activities and plans long and short term goals of the
organisation can be achieved in the effective manner. Controlling of such activities generally
involves measuring, evaluating and monitoring the strategies in the systematic and coordinated
manner. It is also concerned with setting appropriate standards for the future. For controlling the
marketing activities at the international level Aldi will be required to follow proper procedure
which will involve various steps for improving the market conditions in the long run. This will
involve deciding the marketing objectives which are to be achieved, setting appropriate standards
and comparing the actual performance of the organisation with the planned performance. It will
also guide the management of the organisation in taking corrective actions for achieving
desirable position in the market. There are various approaches for controlling the market
activities which can be be taken into consideration by the management of Aldi. These
approaches involve taking feedback form the potential customer's, identifying the exact location
of buyers in the market and increasing the promotional activities (Hugos, 2018).
Techniques for marketing control- Proper marketing activities will help the organisation in
increasing its market share and profitability in the international market. There are various
techniques which can be used by Aldi for increasing its performance at the global level. There
are some major techniques are discussed as follows-
Marketing audit- This method is generally used to evaluate current marketing policies
of the organisation. With the help of this technique Aldi will be able to know the various
measures for growing and enhancing the business in the international market. This method is
generally related with long term plans for the business and various challenges which will be
faced by the organisation at the global level. This technique will be helpful for Aldi in knowing
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whether the current marketing policy and program is accurate for establishing the market or not.
This will assist the managers within the respective company to a have a proper control on the
marketing activities as well as control and eliminates the unnecessary business practices that
hinders the growth and development of the respective organisation.
Market share analysis- This technique is basically used to know the exact market share
of the organisation in the particular market. This technique helps in knowing the trends of the
market in the systematic manner. With the help of this technique Aldi will be able to know the
plans and strategies of competitors in global market. After knowing this plans and actions can be
made for increasing the market share in the systematic manner. Market share of Aldi in
international market largely depends upon the needs and preferences of its potential customer's.
If this technique is properly used by the management of Aldi than long and short term longs will
be achieved in the effective and efficient manner (Kassambara, 2018).
Market research of competitors and customer's- In this technique the ideas and views
of customer's are taken into consideration by the management of the organisation. Under this
technique competitors plans and strategies is also analysed and evaluated for improving the
competition level in the best possible manner. This technique is generally carried out on the basis
of market segmentation. This means in this market is divided into potential customer's and
competitors of the organisation. This technique will be best suitable for Aldi in expanding its
business at the global level. As with the help of this technique organisation will be able to
identify the preferences of its potential customer's and marketing strategies of the competitors.
Goals and objectives of the organisation will also be achieved by the organisation in the limited
time period.
Business strategies required for increasing sale internationally- There are various business
strategies which can be used by Aldi for growing and expanding its business in various parts of
the world. Some among the major strategies are discussed below-
Quality products- Organisation can focus on improving the quality of its products in the
best possible manner. The major motive of the organisation must be on enhancing the quality of
its products, so that more and more customer's are attracted towards the products of Aldi. Since
the organisation is planning to expand its business at the global level, so it is essential for
organisation to maintain its brand image in the international market. This can be only done by
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providing high quality products to the potential buyers (Kozlenkova, Samaha and Palmatier,
2014).
Effective use of resources- It is also essential for Aldi to make better plans regarding the
use of available resources in the international market. If the organisation is successful in doing
this than competitive advantage can be easily achieved within limited period of time. This will
directly lead to reducing the wastage of organisation in the international market.
Aldi can focus on increasing and maintaining the quality of its products in the international
market. As this will directly help the organisation in increasing the sale and profitability in the
effective and efficient manner. It will also guide the organisation in making necessary changes in
the working structure.
These are the effective strategies and the tools and techniques which the marketing manager of
ALDI can adopt according to their business situation and leads towards the growth and success
of business organisation.
Application of 7 P's marketing model-
Product- The products of Aldi are provided to customer's at affordable and reasonable
prices. The quality of products is also taken into consideration by the management of
organisation, so that large number of customer's are attracted towards the company's product.
Price – Price of the products Aldi is generally decided according to the paying capacity
of its customer's. The price of new products is also set low so that its market share and
profitability is increased.
Place – The organisation has large number of stores across the globe. The products are
generally produced in bulk quantity and than are stored in warehouse. Its products are also
available online so that customer's can buy the product according to their convenience.
Promotion- New techniques are used for promoting the products and for increasing the
sale and profitability. Products are promoted on various websites and social networking sites.
People- The customer's service of Aldi is not appropriate. This means its customer
service is not good as compared to the competitors. Employees of the organisation does not help
its customer's in selecting product. Proper assistance is not given to them. Organisation also
aims at offering various training programmes for this employee's.
Process- Aldi aims at providing good quality product but at nominal price so that its
customer's do not get confused related to the selection of product. Organisation aims at using
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large barcodes so that product can be identified without wasting unnecessary time and its billing
process is also very fast.
Physical evidence- The organisation is known for its simple business process. The price
of its product are low in the international and domestic market.
Examine and critically assess the skills needed in the role of a marketing manager and analyse
their role in the effective management of the marketing team
Marketing Manager is an employee within the organisation who is responsible for
carrying out the market activities such as branding, sales promotion, conducting market research
and manages effective customer relationship. Manager is responsible for creating brand
awareness and maintains profitability of the business. Hence for conducting the marketing
activities efficiently it is necessary for the manager to pose necessary skills and performs the
business functions effectively. Skills needed in the role of Marketing Manager are described as
follows-
 Good Team work skills- Marketing manager at ALDI should have effective team
management skills so as to make the employees work collaboratively which leads the
development of more ideas and thoughts and benefits the respective organisation. This
skills will allows the manager to maintain group harmony and therefore conducts its
marketing related roles and responsibilities in a proper manner.
 Communication and interaction skills- Marketing Manager role is to interact with
internal employees as well as the outside clients so as to analyse the customer behaviour
and effectively conducts the market activities. Therefore marketing manager at ALDI
should have proper communication skills so that it can effectively interact with the clients
and the consumer and effectively conducts the marketing activities. This is the most vital
skill required as the major role of marketing manager is to provides guidelines to its
employees and provides them guidance regarding its roles and responsibilities in an
appropriate manner (Lane, 2016).
 Organisational and Planning Skills- Marketing manager needs to frame effective
strategies, policies, plans and tactics so as to perform marketing related activities in a
proper manner. Manager at ALDI should have appropriate planning skills so that it can
effectively plan policies according to the situation. This is the most required skills in the
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marketing managers as they are responsible for planning effective budget and strategies
to increase brand awareness so that there is effective management of marketing team.
 Analytical Skills- This skill is concerned with the ability to collect, interpret and analyse
the information to make proper decisions regarding the betterment of the respective
company. This allows the manager to solve company's problem and attains maximum
success and growth. As with the increasing technology factor there is large amount of
data regarding consumer and supplier behaviour, therefore marketing manager at ALDI
should pose necessary analytical skills in order to interpret the data and derive effective
information so that appropriate decisions can be taken benefiting the respective
organisation and the clients.
 Technological Skills- As with the advancements in the technological factor, it is
necessary for the marketing manager to pose technological skills as customers interacts
with the manger online as well as customers want user friendly apps so as to depict every
information of ALDI, this also helps in maintaining effective relationship with the
respective organisation. Therefore marketing should frame effective online strategies and
works according to ongoing trends in the market. Moreover in order to sustain against its
competitors esco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons which have a larger share in the
market have developed online marketing strategy so as to have proper interaction with
customers and provides them products according to their needs and desires and meet up
their satisfaction level.
 Process Design Skills- It is the vital skill required by the marketing managers at ALDI to
effectively design the marketing process and frames suitable strategies and policies and
conducts effective marketing mix of the product so as the make the product available at a
lower cost and benefits the customers. Therefore marketing manager should find effective
process and techniques to make the products available to the ultimate customers and
should design effective process regarding production, marketing and selling of products
to the ultimate customers (MacKenzie and Podsakoff, 2012).
These are the effective skills needs by the marketing managers at ALDI so that it can perform its
roles and responsibilities in a proper manner towards the success and growth of the organisation.
Moreover it helps the manager to design effective strategies and plans so as to work according to
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