Marketing Essentials: Roles, Mix, and Planning for Burberry

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of marketing essentials, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within an organization. It uses Burberry Plc as a case study to illustrate key concepts. The report explores how marketing relates to other departments such as finance, R&D, production, HRM, selling and distribution, and IT. It delves into the 7Ps marketing mix, comparing how organizations use these elements in the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives. The report also includes a detailed marketing plan, covering strategic objectives and budget considerations. The report covers topics like brand management, promotional activities, market research, market trends, and innovation. It also explores the five marketing concepts: production, product, selling, marketing, and societal marketing concepts. The report provides a thorough understanding of marketing principles and their practical application within a real-world business context.

Marketing essentials

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Explaining the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function...............................1
P2 Explaining how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational
context..........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3 Comparing how organisations use the various elements of the 7Ps marketing mix in the
marketing planning process to achieve business objectives........................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P4 Producing and evaluating a basic marketing plan..................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Marketing refers to the process of promoting and advertising a particular product or service.
This concept includes identification and selection of a product along with determining its price
(Bahadir, Bharadwaj and Srivastava, 2015). The main aim of marketing is to fulfil customer
needs by providing them a product which they require. This report is based on Burberry Plc
which is a UK based clothing company. It is the second largest chain of supermarkets in United
Kingdom which was founded in 1856 by Thomas Burberry. This company deals in clothes,
fashion accessories, sunglasses, cosmetics and many more. Main aim of this report is to build an
understanding about the concepts of marketing and elements. This report includes various roles
and responsibilities of marketing department in an organisation. Along with this, it includes role
of marketing department in other functional units of organisation such as finance, production,
research and development as well. The selected company is analysed in this report by using
marketing mix with its 7 elements. At last, this report also includes a marketing plan which has
components from strategic objectives to marketing budget.
TASK 1
P1 Explaining the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function
Marketing: This is a concept of promoting a product or service so that customers can be
satisfied to buy those products. This process is a business activity through which goods and
services move from its producers to consumers. This process aims to achievement of corporate
goals so that brand equity of a business organisation can be enhanced.
Nature of marketing is that this process is a human activity and cannot be performed by
machines. In Burberry Plc, marketing activities are performed by marketing managers and
executives. This concept follows customer oriented approach in which human needs are satisfied.
In Burberry Plc, all goods are selected to be manufactured which can provide satisfaction to
consumers. This process is an art as well science as it is based on some specific phenomenon but
requires a special expertise of marketing personnel.
There are five concepts of marketing which are production, product, selling, marketing
and societal marketing concept. The first most concept which is production concept states that
customers will always give preference to those products which are highly affordable and
available in market place (5 Marketing Concepts Explained with Examples, 2017). By using this
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concept, the selected business organisation selects only those products to manufacture and sell in
market which are highly affordable and preferable by consumers. The another concept is product
concept which is based on the theory that a consumers favour those goods which have unique
features and has high quality. By following this concept, Burberry Plc develop their marketing
strategies in such a way that they can continuously improve their products and services’ quality
and features.
Selling concept is the another concept which is based on the idea that consumers will not
buy a product if the product not related a large scale company and involves high promotion
effect. Burberry Plc ensures that all of their goods are highly advertised and promoted so that
customers can be attracted towards their stores. Another concept is marketing concept which
states that achieving organisational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target
markets. Burberry Plc is a large scale company which follows customer first approach in which
they make sure that they first identify needs of their customers and then market their products.
Societal marketing concept is the last concept which is based on the fact that pure marketing
concept sometimes overlooks possible conflicts between consumer short run wants and long term
welfare of customers (Blythe and Martin, 2019).
From the above concepts, it has been clear that the key to attain success in field of
marketing is to satisfy consumer. There are various roles and responsibilities, which marketing
function has to fulfil in a business organisation. Various roles and responsibilities of marketing
function in relation to Burberry Plc is mentioned below:
Defining and managing the brand: A brand involves logo, tagline or name by which it is
recognised. It is important for a company to define their brand name as reputation of a company
in their hands only. Burberry has defined and managed their brand as a premium quality brand.
Their products are premium priced and quality of their products is much better from their
competitors. This brand image facilitates the company to target a specific segment.
Monitoring and managing promotional activities: Marketing is a function which
ensures proper promotion and advertisement of goods and services manufactured by the
company. In the selected company that is Burberry Plc, marketing department plays an important
role of managing all the promotional activities. This department make sure that all the products
manufactured by Burberry Plc should be marketed on all the platform so that an efficient brand
awareness can be maintained (Bull and et.al., 2016). Burberry usually targets premium customers
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who are willing to pay more for quality products, in order to position these customers, Burberry
advertise their products with the help of workshops.
Conducting marketing research: Market research is an activity of conducting
investigation about market trends and preferences of the consumer. In this activity, marketing
department is responsible to keep an eye on competitors that how they are performing and what
are their strategies. In context of Burberry, the marketing department of this company make sure
that they analyse all the current trends and choice of their target customers so that they can
produce only those products which can provide highest level of satisfaction. Marketing function
of this department also predict future demand of their products so that adequate supply can be
made.
Tracks all market trends: It is one of the most essential responsibility of marketing
function to track all the trends of market. In case of Burberry Plc, this company is a luxury
clothes manufacturer and it is highly important for this company to take all the recent trends in
the industry of fashion so that they can produce high quality clothes and accessories which are
even in trend and is preferable by their customers. For example, according to the recent trends,
handmade jewellery is most popular and in order to maintain their brand equity, it is important
for marketing department to ensure that they should launch their hand made jewellery section as
well.
Bring innovation: Innovation is the procedure to establishing something new. Innovation
can be made in products, service, systems and even in processes. The selected company is a
luxury brand and it is important for them to continuously bring innovation in their product and
processes so that their brand equity can be maintained and enhanced. For example, Burberry Plc
can bring innovation in their processors by using clothing material with is free from any
chemicals so that they can grow sustainably in market (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2019).
From the above points, it can be said that marketing department plays an important role in
an organisation and it has various responsibilities.
P2 Explaining how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational
context
In present business era, marketing department is considered as one of the most important
division of an organisation as they help company in attaining continuous growth. The
significance of marketing wing is not limited to customers only; they also help other departments
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of the enterprise in different ways. Below is interrelation between marketing and other divisions
of company:
Marketing with finance: One of the main responsibility of marketing wing is to conduct
market research. They are connected to business environment and has vital ground information.
Finance division make calls relating to investment decisions. They decide areas where company
can invest money, for example in which city enterprise can open new manufacturing plant or
outlet. Marketing department can provide information about different sources from where
Burberry can raise money or appropriate location for new store or factory because they have
complete knowledge of current market. Market research help them in collecting and analysing
significance amount of data which can be used by finance department. Marketing division
evaluate decisions taken by competitors and they can communicate the mistakes done by rivals,
relating to investments, in order to save company from any kind of major loss (De Mooij, 2018).
Marketing with R&D: Every organisation wants to research and develop new products
because they understand that innovation is an important factor in driving organisational growth.
Research can be done in different fields and segment which is basically the main issue faced by
R&D division. They cannot understand needs of customers unless marketing department help
them in communicating expectation of buyers. Burberry launches their products in different
segments and marketing team of company assist R&D department in exploring new sections
where enterprise can earn more profits. They are responsible for assuring customer satisfaction
and feedback of buyers help them in understand thinking of consumers.
Marketing with Production department: Marketing function is the most vital department
of every company which has an aim to attain growth in the market. This function is related to
almost every department of a company. Marketing function analysis the demand of the products
and provide that information to production department so that relevant number of goods can be
produced and market demand can be fulfilled. In the case of Burberry, this company is a
premium brand and their every product is a highly priced due to which it is even more of a
responsibility of marketing department to provide relevant information about market’s trends so
that high satisfying products can be produced (Feng, Morgan and Rego, 2015).
Marketing with HRM department: HRM or Human resource management is a function in
an organisation which handles the activities of recruiting, selecting, providing appropriate
training and maintaining healthy relationships in an organisation. Marketing department of
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Burberry plays an important role in HRM function as it provides information about what kind of
employees are required in their department so that HRM function can make sure to fulfil the
exact requirement.
Marketing with Selling and Distribution: Selling and Distribution department of an
organisation conducts activities to sell the products via different modes and distributes their
goods to distributors which further sells their products to end users. In case of Burberry,
company sells their designer fashion clothes and accessories from both online and offline mode.
Marketing has a huge responsibility to fulfil in S&D function. They need to make sure that
promotional activities are so effective so that sales of the company can smoothly done.
Marketing with IT department: IT or information technology is a department which
overlooks all the technical aspects in a company. In case of Burberry, it is more important for IT
company to be more efficient as they sell their products using online mode as well. Marketing
department has two-fold role in IT department. First is marketing department provide them
information about their IT requirements so that they can be fulfilled in time such as requirements
of effective social media marketing. The next fold is that marketing department make sure to
effectively work and conduct all promotional activities so that sales of goods can be effectively
made (Kirova, 2017).
From the above inter relationships, it can be said that marketing plays an important role in
wider organisational context as it has essential role in all the other departments. This inter
relationship between departments is important for effective functioning of an organisation.
TASK 2
P3 Comparing how organisations use the various elements of the 7Ps marketing mix in the
marketing planning process to achieve business objectives
Marketing mix is a concept of analysing an organisation and its brands. This concept has
focus on multiple areas as product, price, place and promotion. This concept usually has only
four elements but as considering the recent trends of service industry, the marketing mix has
been extended to 7Ps which includes product, place, pricing, promotion, people, process and
physical evidence (Larson and Draper, 2015). This marketing mix is applied to two companies
below in order to compare them:
Element of Burberry Gucci
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marketing mix
Product Product element of marketing mix
refers to the product range of an
organisation which is either
produced or retailed by them. In
case of Burberry company, it is a
luxurious brand which has number
of product segments including
beauty, accessories, men, women
and kids. The unique selling point
about the products of Burberry are
that they are premium quality goods
and they are chemical free.
Gucci is an international brand and a
competitor to Burberry due to which
this company has been selected for
the comparison. Gucci is a producer
of high quality clothes and
accessories which sold worldwide
and are loved by the world. The
product segment of this company
includes jewellery, perfume, men,
women and kinds.
The different between Burberry and
Gucci on the basis of product
element is that Burberry is focused
on their clothing product segment.
Whereas, Gucci is more concerned
with their product segment of
perfumes.
Price Price is an element which states a
particular pricing strategy which is
adopted by an organisation. Pricing
strategies can be categorised as
premium priced, price penetration,
competitive pricing etc. In case of
Burberry, the pricing strategy
followed by this company is Mix
pricing strategy. In order to follow
this strategy, Burberry have
combined their product portfolio
with low cost premium products and
high cost premium products. This
In case of Gucci, the has adopted
premium pricing strategy in which
they ensure that the prices of their
products are higher from their
competitors but also ensures that the
quality of their products should be
un beatable. This strategy helps
Gucci to position the market
segment which they have targeted
(Liu and et.al., 2017).
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strategy helps the company to gain
the competitive advantage.
Place Place refers to the placement and
distribution of the hoods
manufactured by a company. In case
of Burberry Plc, they follow
selective distribution strategy where
they effectively select the outlets
where their products should be
distributed. This company has 475
stores in approx. 50 countries and all
of their stores are located in heavily
populated areas.
In case of Gucci, this company has
adopted the strategy of exclusive
distribution in which they distribute
their products to only few retail
outlets but those outlets have been
selected by the R&D team of the
company so that brand equity of
Gucci can be maintained and
managed.
Promotion Promotion is the collection of
various advertising and promotion
strategies which are used by the
companies to advertise their
products in market. Burberry Plc.
market their products on exclusive
magazines, TV, online ads,
billboards etc. This company also
engaged in social media marketing
and is heavily relied on celebrity
endorsements. These celebrities
include kate Moss, Agyness Deyn
etc.
The difference between the
promotion strategy of Burberry and
Gucci is that Gucci always believes
in experimental marketing. This
company has also used controversial
strategies to promote their product
which has high possibilities to get
negative reviews but are best for
overnight success.
Process Process are the processes used by an
organisation in either manufacturing
or marketing a brand. In case of
Burberry, this company uses the
process of manufacture their
Process of Gucci which has helped
them to gain success is their online
delivery system in which they make
sure that their products are in reach
of every individual of the world.
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exclusive clothes which are free
from any chemicals so that they can
be toxic free.
People People here referrers to the
employees of an organisation. In
case of Burberry Plc., sales team of
this company has a strong role to
play in marketing activities in order
to make sure that brand equity of the
company is sustained.
In case of Gucci, they have a
customer service department which
contacts their customers and resolve
every issue they have. These
employees make sure guide their
customers.
Physical evidence Physical evidence refers to some
evidence by which brand is
recognised in its customers. In case
of Burberry, this company has a user
friendly online website by which
users from the entire world
recognise this company.
Physical evidence of Gucci is their
distinct colour packaging which is
identifiable by its customers (Chitty,
D'Alessandro and Gray, 2019).
From the above content, it can be said that even after working in same industry with same
product range, these companies have distinct features which made these organisations different
from each other.
TASK 3
P4 Producing and evaluating a basic marketing plan
A marketing plan is a written document with the objectives of promoting a product in marketing
and the strategies by which these objectives can be fulfilled (Malhotra, 2015). Marketing plan of
Burberry Plc is developed below:
Executive Summary: Burberry Plc is large scale organisation which deals in manufacturing
and marketing of luxurious goods which includes clothes, make up and accessories. In order to
grow and develop, this plan has been developed in which a product of Burberry will be launched.
A new pair of summer shoes is planning to be launched, this product is for women. These
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summer shoes have a USP that they will be not manufactured by any kind of animal skin and
will provide a soothing comfort which will make it appropriate for women in summers.
Vision: Burberry has a vision to make themselves a fully digital company.
Mission: Mission of this company is to focus on integrity and fulfil demand of their
customers.
Strategic objective: To launch and market new summer shoes which will gain profit of
£50000 in 3 months.
Segmentation Targeting Positioning
Segmentation: Segmentation refers to the division of large market into small segment
and group for the convenience of company. Burberry Company has segmented the market into
various forms which is discussed below:
Demographic segmentation: Burberry company has come up with new shoes for the
women who are fitness freak and comes under high to middle income group. Along with that
they are animal lover because their new product is animal friendly.
Geographical segmentation: Within geographical segmentation company has divided the
new shoes into developed country like London.
Targeting: Burberry company has target the market on the basis of gender where it target
to the women. Moreover, it has specifically target to those women who are brand conscious
while making the purchase of shoes.
Positioning: Company spread the awareness of new product with the help of digital
media which include social media along with that it uses word of mouth publicity.
Budget
Particulars Amount
Research and development
Marketing
Operations
Human Resource Management
Administration
5000
4000
8000
3000
4000
Total £25000
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Therefore, it is estimated that Burberry company will experience the estimated
expenditure of £29000 which is incurred on various business activity like manufacturing and
promotion.
SWOT analysis
Strength
 The new product line of Burberry that
is summers shoes will gain the trust
of customer due to the higher
recognition value of brand.
 Use of digital media can assist
company to target the women and
cater the need with the help of
customised promotion technique.
Opportunity
 As the product is based on the
innovative idea and does not hamper
the external society due to which the
company can appeal the attention of
customer through extensive
advertisement.
 It can form strategic alliance with the
other industry that deal in similar type
of product and reduce the competition
rate.
Weakness
 The high pricing or differentiating
pricing strategy can withdraw the
attention of customer towards the
company. As the other substitute of
respective brand sell similar type of
product but at cheaper rates.
 As the animal friendly product is new
in the industry due to which it may
take time for the company to gather
the attention of customer and make
the final purchase.
Threat
 Most of the customers are
comfortable wearing animal products
like leather which is a sign of prestige
that can affect the sales of company.
 Any change in the pricing strategy of
the existing company can affect the
functioning of whole firm including
the new product that is summer shoes
(Mokwa, 2017).
Monetary and control
As the external factor of business keeps on changing due to which Burberry company
needs to invest in the promotion technique to gain the competitive advantage over its competitor.
This helps in the long-term sustainability of the new product line that is summer shoes which is
designed specifically for women.
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