Unit 2 Marketing Essentials Report: Marketing Strategies for Amazon

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of marketing essentials, focusing on the case of Amazon. It begins with an introduction to marketing and its significance, followed by an examination of the roles and responsibilities of marketing functions within a business, including managing brand image, social media, and setting marketing strategies. The report then delves into the interrelation of the marketing department with other functional units like HRM, IT, R&D, and Finance. A detailed discussion of the marketing mix (7Ps) follows, elaborating on product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence within the context of Amazon. Finally, the report culminates in the formulation and evaluation of a basic marketing plan, providing a structured approach to achieving business aims.

Unit 2 Marketing Essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Roles and responsibilities of the marketing functions..........................................................1
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing which are interrelate with other functional units...4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3. Marketing mix to the marketing planning process to attain business aims..........................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P4. Formulation and evaluation of a basic marketing plan.........................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Marketing refers to a process of buying or selling goods and services of a firm that are
produced by it to provide satisfaction to the needs and demands of its target audience so that the
company can earn profit. Marketing essential refers to an inbound digital marketing & sales firm
which makes partnership with businesses who are develop minded (Babin and Zikmund, 2015).
It is beneficial for a company to make the online presence, branding and promoting products and
services to attract customers. This assignment is related to Amazon which is an American
multinational technology firm based in Seattle, Washington. This firm was founded in 1994 by
Jeff Bezos and this organisation concentrates on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming
and artificial intelligence. This report will discuss the key roles and responsibilities of the
marketing function and the interrelation between other functional units of a firm. Further will be
defined about the model of marketing mix and formulation of a marketing plan for a company.
TASK 1
P1. Roles and responsibilities of the marketing functions
In each business organisation, marketing is an important and essential function which
helps with the management of the company and the proper running of the business involved.
This function helps by creating awareness about the products and services the company has to
1

offer to the customers, with the help of promotional and advertising channels like the internet,
radio, newspaper, social media and various other ways. Every firm sets organisational goals and
objectives so that they can earn profit and establish a strong brand image at the marketplace. No
firm can increase sales and enhance productivity without the help of this function. At present
time, there is high competition in the market, so it is required for each and every business that
they should develop and formulate effective and appropriate marketing strategies which can be
beneficial for the company to take competitive advantages from market. In each organisation, the
management of the firm does marketing analysis to identify the needs and demands of the
customers, which allows them to produce goods and services according to them and fulfil their
desires (Baker and Magnini, 2016). In Amazon, the marketing department of the company plays
an essential and effective role and it has several responsibilities regarding the company which are
categorised as the following:
Roles of the Marketing Department
The marketing department plays a crucial role in advertising the business and mission of
the firm. The role of this department is as following:
Collecting and monitoring market information- In Amazon, the marketing department
play an import role to gather information from the market related to the demands of the products.
For this, they organise and conduct marketing research so that they can collect information about
the taste and preferences of the customers so they can offer products according to them (Baker
and Saren, 2016). With the help of feedbacks and review sites, they collect and determine market
information about the consumer's wants.
Manage the brand image- The marketing department helps in managing the brand
image. In Amazon, the marketing department manage the brand image and reputation of the firm
by producing quality products and services as per the needs of the customers. This helps in
managing the brand image of the company to manufacture products by using good quality raw
materials.
Managing social media- Marketing helps with the management of social media that
manipulates the popularity of this tool to promote and provide information about the products
and services. In Amazon, the marketing department plays a crucial role in managing their social
media so that the customer can get correct information. When the firm is mentioned in the media,
2

the marketing department often acts as spokes person for the company or lends help for
executives on how to respond to media queries.
Responsibilities of the Marketing Department
Setting marketing strategy- The members of the marketing department are responsible
for the formulation of marketing strategies. In Amazon, the marketing department is responsible
for developing marketing strategies like promotional strategies, marketing strategies and others.
The strategy may be beneficial to increase the share in a particular market industry. For example,
to enter in a new market or to open a new channel of distribution such as online mode and the
internet. Then, it is the responsibility of the marketing department that they formulate strategies
in this context.
Overseeing outside vendors and agencies- The marketing department is responsible for
choosing and managing the agencies and vendors who provide material for the production of
goods and services (Bastable, 2016). In Amazon, the marketing department is responsible for the
selection of these agencies like print vendors, web providers and others who are helping with the
proper running of the all activities of the marketing.
Product designing and development- Marketing function is responsible for the product
designing and development. In Amazon, the marketing department of the company is responsible
for providing suggestion in context of the design, packaging, material, pricing and others (Blythe
and Martin, 2019). This department is also responsible for the development of the products and
firm by manufacturing good quality products, which is contextual to the current political opinion
regarding plastics and their use.
Producing internal communication- In Amazon, the marketing department of the
company is responsible for maintaining interaction and communication with the internal system
of the firm. With the help of internal communication, they provide information to the employees
about the goals and objectives of marketing regarding products and services in context of earning
profits through them.
3

P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing which interrelate with other functional units
In any of the organisations, departments which have the control over market play vital
roles but they themselves do not conduct all needed activities. In context of Amazon, their
marketing team is required to coordinate with other departments if they want to enhance their
business to a greater platform. It will be crucial for their team to know how to operate greater
platforms if they wish to collaborate with other departments. There is a number of departments
that need to be considered by the marketing team, these including:
 Human resource management: The HRM department of any organisation has to be
attentive to important things such as recruiting, motivating, giving necessary training to
workers and many more. Whilst talking about Amazon, their marketing team is
responsible with fulfilling all necessary roles which are important for the upkeep of the
company. They can help them by advertising in the market about vacancy in the company
and for whom the company is looking for in future. Therefore, the Human Resource
Management and Marketing team’s ability to work together is necessary in
accomplishing work easily.
 Information technology department: It has been found that technologies have been
changing rapidly and it is necessary for organisation to adopt them in quick succession so
that targets can be achieved in short period of time (De Jong, Marston and Roth, 2015).
In context of Amazon, they are required to know what are the essential factors needed in
the inclusion of their personal website, from where they operate business activity. The
marketing department can easily tell what those essential technologies are with the help
of the technology team, which enhances business activities.
 Research and development department: It is being found that business activity
requires changes in every short interval and for that it is necessary that research and
development program should be conducted on regular interval (Hair and et. al., 2015).
When it comes to Amazon, its company is accustomed to tough competition as, in the
modern world, online shopping has been familiarised, so it is necessary for the R&D
department to keep researching new things. It requires proper planning and coordination
which is only possible if there is proper communication between the marketing and R&D
departments. The marketing team can specify what R&D should focus more on, so
4

Amazon can perform better in the marketplace. Also, it will help them with essential
system and services reviews, which need to be emphasised to customer in order for them
to connect with the company.
 Finance department: This department specialises with separating and managing budgets
annually, because they have the responsibility to manage the financial work of the
company. Amazons finance team is required to have conversations with the marketing
team regarding what should be the amount needed to be spent on promotional activities
for the increase of daily sales. Both, finance and marketing departments need to have
proper communication because they are the ones who set the benchmark for the
company’s annual profit and loss.
TASK 2
P3. Marketing mix to the marketing planning process to attain business aims
Marketing mix refers to the process and activity of developing a product and placing it at
a convenient time and price. There is a combination of various factors which can be controlled
by the management department of a firm in order to attract target audiences to buy its products
5

and utilise their services. In Amazon, it is a group of marketing elements that the company
combines and controls as a response to the desires and demands of the target market. There are
7P's of marketing mix, which are as following:
Product- It refers to an item which is developed or manufactured by the company to
convert the raw material in to finished good which have some values (Lane, 2016). It can be
tangible and intelligible as it can be in the form of goods and services. In Amazon, the
management of this firm manufactures various products like apparel, baby products, electrical
items, beauty products, gourmet food, grocery items, home appliances, kitchen products, health
and personal care goods, accessories, sporting goods and several others.
Price- It indicates to the cost of the products or cost of those elements which are used by
the production department to develop a product. In Amazon, it refers to that amount which pays
by the customers and clients for a particular product which have values (Miller and Jentz, 2017).
It is a most essential component of a marketing plan because it helps in monitoring the profit and
profit margin of the company. Setting price of a product has a great impact on the whole
marketing strategy and it also influences the sales and demands of the products. For example, if
the price of the product is high then the demand of it will be low but when the price is low, the
demand will be high.
Place- It refers to the location and place where the product is available for sale. In
Amazon, it indicates to the distribution channels or modes which can be used by the management
department for the distribution and sales of the goods and services. This company operates its
business internationally at different locations and use various channels of distribution like e-
commerce, online delivery and others.
Promotion- It is the most crucial component of marketing which help in increasing the
brand image and reputation of the firm. It is an activity of promoting goods and services or
creating awareness about them. In Amazon, the management of the company uses this
component for proving awareness about its products and services so that they can get
information and attract customers towards them for purchasing.
People- It is another important component of marketing mix which indicates the target
audience and employees of the company. In Amazon, employees are essential in marketing
because they are the ones who help in delivering the services. Customers are also important for
6

this firm because they help in increasing the profit margin or enhancing the economic condition
of the company by purchasing goods and services.
Process- It refers to the activity and act of designing, manufacturing goods and services.
It can be an activity of delivering goods and distaining strategies (Pike, 2015). In Amazon, there
are different processes used by the management for different purposes of marketing.
Physical Evidence- It is another essential component of marketing mix which is
important for the sales of the goods. The packaging of the goods is most important so it is
necessary for the management department of Amazon that they should use good packaging
which attracts numerous customers towards the product, or service.
Marketing mix Amazon Alibaba
Product There are various products
like clothing, grocery item,
accessories, gifts, electronic
devices, musical instruments,
baby products, gourmet food,
beauty products, home
appliances, sporting goods,
health and personal care
products and Amazon web
services etc.
The products of this firm are e-
commerce, cloud computing,
entertainment, mobile
commerce, retail, retail mobile
media, films, TV shows and
others.
Price The management of the
company follow premium
pricing strategies for its goods
and services. An additional
range of its pricing strategies,
the management of this firm
use penetration, promotional,
skimming and various others.
Alibaba follow penetration
pricing, discount and cash
backs pricing strategies. This
strategy is followed by this
company so that it can capture
vast market at international
levels. (Pike, 2016).
Place This company uses online
sales channels, e-commerce,
Alibaba operates its business
in more than 240 nations. It
7

mobile applications and others
for operating. More than 16
nations reach its products and
services to the customers
(Purvis, 2015).
uses both online and online
channels for selling goods to
the clients. It provides its
products in its discount stores,
supercentres, express stores
and others.
Promotion In Amazon, the management
of the company use numerous
marketing campaigns to
promote its brand. For the
promotion and creation of
awareness about the goods and
services, the firm use social
media, internet, web
advertisement, Facebook,
Twitter and others.
In Alibaba, the management of
this company invests millions
of funds on the promotion of
its goods and services. It uses
above the line and below the
line promotions. The
management use a proper mix
of ATL, BTL and digital
channels (SHUKLA, 2016).
People It refers to the employees and
customers of the firm. There
are 2,30.800 people who are
working under this
organisation across the globe.
The firm also operates its
business internationally so
there are numerous clients of
this company.
In Alibaba, the company is
operating its business
internationally so there are
101,958 employees working
under it.
Process In Amazon, the management
of the company use different
processes with different
purposes. For example, for the
promotion process of the
In Alibaba, the shopping can
be done on a wholesale basis,
group shopping and customer
to customer (Simkin and Dibb,
2013).
8

goods, they use various
channels of advertisement. For
marketing analysis, they get
feedbacks and analyse the
review, then they make
improvements in their
products according to the
needs and demands of the
customers.
Physical evidence In Amazon, the biggest
physical presence is its
website. It is another retailer
which provides its services on
its websites and apps which
are very user friendly and built
with great design.
In Alibaba, the management
uses and focuses on smooth,
trustworthy and e-commerce
platforms which are deemed to
be user friendly. This company
has a wide range of products
and services as to get attention
of customers.
TASK 3
P4. Formulation and evaluation of a basic marketing plan
Marketing plan refers to a broad document which outlines the advertising and marketing
efforts form the coming year. It helps in defining activities which are include in accomplishing
particular marketing objective within the set period of time (Zaccagnini and White, 2015). This
plan includes various activities like situational analysis, marketing strategy, sale forecast and
expense budget etc. This plan is beneficial for the company because it helps in setting mission,
vision and business objectives. The new product and service which will be launched by Amazon
is “Amazon Variable” which will help the customers place orders and get all the information
about the products until it will be deliver to them. The marketing plan of new services and
products of Amazon will be defined with the help of the SOSTAC Model.
9

SOSTAC Model
It is a marketing model which is formulated by PR Smith in 1990 as a planning tool. This
model is highly used by various organisations for marketing and business planning. This model
provides a framework for digital marketing strategies and planning which can be implemented
by the firm to make concentration on modifying the individual channels. This model consists of
some steps like situation, objectives, strategy, tactics, actions and control. This model can be
used by Amazon in context of new products or service development.
Situation analysis- It is the first component of this model, and in it the management of the
company finds out the situation of the possible web presence of the current era. Then, they go
into doing an industry analysis and review the organisation performance, services, resources,
strengths and weaknesses. In Amazon, for this the management of the company can use SWOT
analysis.
 SWOT Analysis- It is a strategic tool and technique which can be used by the company
to monitor the strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and threats of the firm (Zgarrick and et.
al. 2016). Strength and weaknesses are the internal factors of the company whereas
opportunity and threat are external factors that can be controlled by the company. The
SWOT analysis of Amazon is as following:
Strengths Weaknesses
 The company has a strong brand image
at the marketplace caused by its good
quality products like toys, electronics,
shoe products, clothing and others.
 This company also has the strongest
brand in the online retail market and it
is partly responsible for the
development of the business.
 The company’s great financial stability
ensures that it can always follow and
fulfil customer wants and demands
product wise.
 Cause of extensive or free delivery
network and price wars affect the profit
of this company in negative ways.
 Tax avoidance controversy and losing
margins in few areas are the biggest
weakness of Amazon. For example, tax
avoidance in Japan, UK and US has
sparked negative publicity for this
company.
 Online companies such as Amazon are
prone to the possibility of malware and
hacking.
10