Asda Marketing Strategy: A Consultancy Report for BABS Students

This marketing consultancy report analyzes Asda's marketing management strategies using various models and theories. It includes a SWOT analysis to identify the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, providing a basis for strategic marketing development. The report also employs the STP model to guide segmentation and positioning strategies for new products. Furthermore, the marketing mix is examined, and recommendations are provided to enhance Asda's overall marketing effectiveness. The analysis covers Asda's product range, pricing strategies, promotional activities, and distribution channels, offering insights into how the company can optimize its marketing efforts to achieve its objectives, including brand promotion and market expansion. Desklib is a platform where students can find a wide array of solved assignments and study resources.

Marketing
Consultancy
(Asda)

Executive Summary
This report will be about the marketing management and the models and theories which will be
used by the company in making the analysis of the business environment. The report will include
SWOT analysis which will help in the identification of threats, weakness, strengths of the
company as these factors are important for the business. Also, this is an important tool because
with this the company would be able to develop its strategy for the marketing. The other will be
the STP model which will provide the basis as how the company have to make the segmentation
and what strategy they have to use for the positioning of new products. Furthermore, the report
will include the marketing mix with the recommendations.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................5
SWOT analysis............................................................................................................................5
Segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP)..........................................................................7
Marketing mix.............................................................................................................................8
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing management is the strategy which helps in making the planning related with
that of marketing for achieving the objectives of company. The objectives of the company
involves brand promotion, advertisement and to launch the products in that markets which have
not been explored(King, 2019). Mainly, marketing management means the development of ideas
which is related with marketing which acts as an important framework for the activities of
marketing. For every business it is important to develop and make the planning of marketing
because it is an important factor of engaging the customers towards the company because they
are the important assets for the business. When any of the business launches their new products
for them it will be important to do the marketing because if that would not be done, then
customers will not know about the new launches in the market. Asda is a supermarket chain of
British which was founded in the year 1949 and has its headquarter in Leeds, England. The
products which are provided by this retail is groceries, general merchandise and the financial
services. This report will cover SWOT, STP, marketing mix and the recommendations on the
issues which have been identified while using the model.
MAIN BODY
SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is a method which is helpful in the identification of internal factors which
exist in the company. This analysis provides the information about the company which includes
the strengths and weakness which helps them in making planning according to it. Asda also uses
such type of tool which tells them as to what changes they have to make so that they can make
their marketing planning and strategy in a better way(Giovanardi, Kavaratzis and Lichrou, 2018).
SWOT analysis of Asda have been explained below-
Strengths Weakness
 The strength of Asda is that they are
having huge variety of products which
 Asda is having weak presence in the
international markets and this is the

are according to the needs and demands
of the consumers. They not just provide
the groceries and the general
merchandise but they also work for
providing financial services to
people(Nunan, Malhotra and Birks,
2020).
 The distribution and the chain of
networks of the company is very huge
which includes the 25 distribution
centres and in the centres those
products are kept which needs cooling
and other storage facility which are
distributed in not just UK but across it.
 They are the one who believes that
keeping a strong touch with the
customers will help in building the
goodwill of the brand. Asda always
keeps the personal touch with their
customers by using the different social
media networks and if any issues are
faced by the customers then they are
the one who are always ready to
address the difficulty.
major weakness which is why the
company is not able to build its image
compared with that of its competitors.
It is very important for the company to
expand their business in the other
country market also to grow their
brand.
 The company is unable to make its
entry in the other market because they
thinks that the local vendors can give
them the tough competition(Zhang,
Cheung and Law, 2018). They do not
think themselves to be capable of
making the existence of their company
in the other market and because of this
they do not make any expansion.
 It has been in many controversies
which includes the fixation of the prices
in dairy products which was from the
year 2002 to 2003 and which has
resulted in costing the consumers
around $270 million. They were also
pointed for deceptive campaigns which
was for horse meat scandal.
Opportunities Threats
 They can make the expansion of their
company in other markets which means
in other country(Eldegwy, Elsharnouby
and Kortam, 2018). By looking at the
strategy of their competitors they can
 The major threat for the company is the
price war which exist with the local
vendors and the other competitors
which exist in the market. It becomes
important for Asda to keep their prices

also make the expansion of their
company which will be their best
opportunity.
 They also have the opportunity to
expand their business with the use of
online channels also. If they are unable
to start their business new in other
country then they can do it with
providing the products at homes
providing them the facility of online
delivery(Batzer and Laumer, 2019).
But they can do this by increasing their
distribution channels which has to be
present in other countries.
 They also have the chance of taking or
merging their company with the other
small companies. In this way they can
increase the size of their company and
by this they can also enter in the other
countries also.
of products in a medium range so that it
does not seem to be higher.
 The other is the policies of the
government which keeps on changing
by them. This becomes really difficult
for the company(Kalandides, 2020).
 Lastly, is the decrease of prices by the
competitors which can give the
pressure to Asda to focus on their price
cut.
Segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP)
The segmentation, targeting and positioning is the best tool which provides guidance to the
business as what market they have to chose and whom they have to target. This is because with
this the company is able to make the positioning of its products in the right market and at right
time(Sokol, 2020). The STP have been explained below in context with Asda-
 Segmentation- Segmentation is the strategy which is used by the companies to make the
division of large market into smaller ones. This is done on the basis of those which is
having similar characteristics or may be related features. The segmentation of Asda will

be done on the basis of buying behaviour of the consumers because this matters a lot for
making the purchase of the products and as Asda is providing the products on the basis of
those products which are used by the consumers on a daily basis. So this factor becomes
the most important one and they will make the division on the basis of gender, age,
income and many other factors(Ahmad, Bakar and Ahmad, 2018). With this technique
they can make the diversification of the market into more specific one and with this they
will also get the information of the consumers which they want to target. When they will
receive the information on the basis of buying behaviour and other things with the help of
surveys then they would be in the position of making the division of market on the basis
of heterogeneous group. They can further do the division on the basis of geographic or
demographic which is on the basis of income, age and other factors.
 Targeting- Targeting means to focus on that segment of the market which the company
can provide the goods and services on the basis of their wants and needs. So, after the
process of segmentation the company has to do the targeting of the customers which they
will recognise in this step(Adhikari ed., 2018). The targeting of the segment of customers
is chosen on the basis of attractiveness and which has more potential for growth than the
other segment. But Asda has to chose that group of customers which can match with the
characteristics of the customers and also the resources of the companies are matching
with that of the consumers. They have to make the evaluation on the basis of the profits
which will be higher then the cost, that the group or the segments which have been
chosen can be accessible for the company in a very easy way. The targeting will provide
the potential to the company as they will be able to identify the changing needs of the
consumers and they will make the changes on the basis of that only.
 Positioning- Market positioning is the tactic which is used by the company for placing
the product in the mind of consumers. But that image of the company product must be in
good image because this will help them in higher sales. Asda has built its reputation in
the market and because of which the positioning of the product and the image of the
company is on higher value (Wilkie, 2019). It is very important for the business to keep
their positioning of their company name in good way because this will help them in
increasing its sales and also profits.

Marketing mix
Marketing mix is a tool which can be used by the businesses for making the promotion of
their products and services. For the launch of every new product or service, business has to use
some of the tactics which can be helpful to them in the success of their products and also the
goodwill of company will be enhanced(Watts, Burton and Freeman, 2021). Thus, with the use of
these tools companies can accomplish the objectives which includes gaining higher profits,
maximizing goodwill and other things(BABU, 2019). The tool of marketing mix is helpful for
adding the higher value to their products by using different advertising and promotional methods.
Asda is a leading retailer in UK which provides different things including those which are
required by the consumers in their daily life. For launching any new products they have to use
some methods so that the product launch can become successful. They also take the help of
marketing mix which has been discussed below in context with Asda- Product- Product refers to the tangible things which can be purchased by the consumers
and Asda provides different range of products and services to the consumers. In products
they provide grocery, clothing, fresh food, home, entertainment goods and many other.
The services and products which are provided by the company is different and unique
than that of its competitors. Not just the products are being offered by the company they
also provide other services including EE network which is mobile based services,
financial services and these are the product strategy of Asda which will be helpful for
them in the success of company (Kemper, Ballantine and Hall, 2020). They are also
taking the help of latest trends which are present in the market and in that trends there are
unique services. They are working on packaging of their products so that it can be
feasible for the transportation activity.
Product life cycle:
Product life cycle is the process which starts from the time when it is introduced in the market to
the time when it is removed from the market. Stages of product life cycle have been discussed
below-
 Introduction- The initial step includes the introduction of new products in the market by
conducting different promotional activities in the market. Asda also uses different

strategies for introducing its new products in which they have used organic drink which is
helpful for good health and body.
 Growth- In this stage, when the product becomes successful it starts leading towards the
growth stage for which the companies have to increase their production. Asda with the
introduction of organic drink which became successful has to make the increase in its
production.
 Maturity- This stage is the stage of earning profits in which the production of the
company and the marketing activities gets declined because the purchasing gets
increased. Decline- When any of the new product is launched in the market then other companies
also starts doing its production and for Asda with the launch of organic drink now there
are other companies who have launched their similar products (Vrontis and et. al., 2021). Price- It refers to the pricing of the products which are being kept by the companies on
the basis of market demands and the pricing of the competitors. Every companies uses
their different pricing strategies so that their products can be purchased by the consumers.
Similarly, Asda also uses the pricing strategy so that their products can be priced on the
basis of conducting market research. Asda uses different pricing strategy which includes
the “Penetration pricing” in which the price of the products are kept at lowest which can
afforded by every consumer and they can spend their livelihood according to defined
standards. They believe in selling the products at lower prices but with that they does not
makes any compromise in the quality in which the products are provided to people. They
spend huge price on the marketing activities but they does not believe in selling the
products at higher prices(Pulker, Scott and Pollard, 2018). They also uses the strategy of
“Product line pricing” in which different products are priced at different prices as it all
depends on the perception of people which means the premium products are priced at
higher and the other at less than the premium. Place- Place refers to the location in which the products will be made available to the
consumers and what will be the distribution channels of the company. Asda has now
become the biggest retailer but at the earlier stage company used to sell its products in
stores but with the success they have started delivering their products like that of
Walmart. They makes the use of “Intensive distribution” strategy in which the products

are distributed in every stores which involves the intensive distribution to every retail
stores so that consumers can purchase their product from any nearby store. They also
takes the help of “Direct distribution” strategy in which the products are sold directly to
the consumers from its store. They also take the help of modern technologies for making
the distribution of their products including the e-commerce website for providing the
online delivery to people.
 Promotion- The main focus of the company is always on providing discounts and offers
to the consumers because they believe that by providing such benefits the purchase of
products will get increased. Asda conducts high level of promotional activities so that the
consumers can know about the products which they are providing and the new launches
which they have made in their products(Caliskan and Esmer, 2020). They take help of
making “Advertising” which is one of the best method of promotional mix which helps in
building of brand and goodwill. It is very important for Asda to make the promotion of its
products which will help in providing the information to people. They also makes “Public
relations” in which they try to make connections with people providing them the useful
information about the company and about the products.
Recommendations
For more success it is important for the company to make some changes in its working
style and the objectives as this will help them in gaining competitive advantage in the market.
They have built there image in the market because of the products that they are offering and the
services they are providing according to the demands of the consumers(Farinloye, Adeola and
Mogaji, 2020). But for increasing the brand name in other markets, they have to open the doors
of expansion. Other companies have make the expansion but due to the threat which they face of
local vendors operating in the other markets for that they have to build different strategies which
will work out to be the best. They have to make their focus on the other markets including that
towards local vendors as what products they are selling and what are the strategies which they
are using for selling their products. In this way, they can make the expansion of their company in
the other countries and in other markets(Endara, Ali and Ab Yajid, 2019). The other issue is that
of existing competition in the market because the products which are being offered by Asda is
also offered by other companies which makes the competition higher. So for this, Asda has to
bring new products and services in the market which will help them to showcase their

uniqueness in the market and on the other hand consumers will also like to use the products of
those company which provides them the variety in products and services. The other issue which
the company is facing includes the controversies including the fixation in the prices and other
things which has hampered the image of Asda. People would not like to make the purchase from
that company whose name has come in the market in a negative way(Killick and Griffiths,
2020). Even if the marketing and promotional activities of the company are at higher scale but
they have to make the consideration on any of the negative things which they are doing. They are
named for not treating their suppliers in a best way and according to the suppliers they are
making deductions in an incorrect way from the invoice which makes the bad image of company.
Thus, such issues and factors need to be considered by Asda so that they will not face any barrier
in the development of their brand image.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that there are different methods and strategies
which can be used by companies for starting their new product line and services. It wholly
depends on the ways which is used by them and what strategies they are using. On the other
hand, SWOT analysis is the useful method which helps in making the analysis on the internal
enthronement of the company so that company can make required changes in their activities.
Managing marketing is the most important things because with this way company can achieve
success and would be able to earn huge profits.

REFERENCES
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