Marketing Management Report: Coles Group Marketing Strategy Analysis

This marketing management report provides an in-depth analysis of Coles Group's marketing strategies. The study begins with an executive summary and table of contents, followed by an introduction that highlights the significance of marketing management and its role in understanding consumer needs and market trends. The report then delves into Coles Group's market orientation, its industry context, and the macro-environmental factors influencing its operations. Key marketing strategies, including marketing research, consumer behavior analysis, and the STP model (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning), are examined in detail. The report also covers product and pricing strategies, brand positioning, integrated marketing channels, and distribution systems. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive marketing approach to achieve competitive advantage and a strong market share. The report references several academic sources to support its findings.

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Marketing Management

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Executive Summary
The present study has been focused on providing a deep insight into marketing
management and exploring various aspects that need to be included in the marketing
strategy of the concerned organization. The study emphasizes the particular set of
products that the company has been developing for the target group of customers and
the methods implemented to market these products and services in a proper manner.

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Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................3
Discussion..........................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................9
References.......................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Marketing management is significant in order to decipher customers’ needs and
market trends in order to improvise its products and services, this also involves
implementing different techniques to satisfy existing customers' hands also reach out to
new potential customers. Proper marketing is also effective for raising awareness
among people to raise their standard of living, scope of employment and
contribution towards the growth of the economy. Herein, the study delineates
orientation of companies towards marketing, planning, target market and analyzing
potential customers. Product and pricing strategies are also discussed apropos to the
selected product of Coles Group, one of the leading Australian retailers with 2500
outlets nationally. The study also demystifies different integrated channels and
promotional strategies embraced by the chosen company.
Discussion
Overview of the company (the type of orientation it has towards marketing)
Coles Group is an Australian retailer that makes people's lives easier by
delivering them quality products. Approx. 21 million customers are associated with the
company and are benefited from different businesses of Coles Group that includes
Coles Supermarket, Coles Online, Coles Express, Coles Liquor, Flybuys,and
financial services. As per estimation, the revenue of the company was 3,938.8 crores
AUD (2018). Coles Group has been successful in fighting hunger by introducing its
new fleet and providing food to charity. Coles is much inclined towards making its brand
name as a differentiator, simplicity as an enabler, focusing on freshness and
better customer offer (Colesgroup.com.au, 2019).For market orientation, the company
believes to be a strong contender through unique selling proposition as compared to
its competitors.
Figure 1; Revenue Graph of Coles Group

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(Source: Colesgroup.com.au, 2019)
Analyze the context and environments in which this organization operates (its
industry and the macro-environmental forces impacting on the industry).
Coles Group predominantly belongs to the retail industry where the company
successfully delivers effective products and services to its customers across Australia
through 2500 retail outlets. However, macro-environmental factors lay a huge impact
on the retail industry of Australia(Chernev, 2018).
● Political factor
Due to the strong political stability of the country, retail organizations are able to
operate itself and can also plan for expansion as Australia shares close association with
the US.
● Economic factor
The economic factor states the inflation and interest rates of the country. Higher
inflation rates erode the purchasing power of the customers, interest rates caters to
impact over the expenditure of consumer goods.
● Social factor
Considering the social factor, it has been observed that Australia is a well-to-do
country with multiracial and multicultural people enabling retail companies to deliver
different types of products and services irrespective of the tastes and preferences of the
native people (Haider et al., 2019).
● Technological factor
Australia is one of the most technically advanced countries that serves as a great
platform for retailers to present something new and appealing to its customers. For
instance, Coles Group adopts smart selling through efficiency and pace of change to
inspire its customers.
Figure 2: Macro factors impacting the retail industry
(Source: Created by Author)
Marketing Strategies and Plans

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From the under laid figure, effective marketing strategies can be understood:
Figure 3: Marketing Strategies
(Source: Created by Author)
Marketing Research and Consumer Behavior
Marketing Research is the process by which the organization tries to link their
products and services with the consumers by procuring information about their
demands and expectations from the product and services (Baker, 2016). Research can
help in determining the areas where improvement can be made by evaluation and
monitoring the marketing performance.
Consumer behavior is the study of the customers or target group of people to
determine the factors that can drive them to purchase the products or services from the
organization to satisfy the needs and demands (Gummesson, 2017).

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Figure 4: Market Research
(Source: Hutchinson et al., 2015)
Marketing Research has been gaining importance in order to gain a competitive
advantage over other organizations in the market of Australia. For instance, Coles
Group has been using the secondary data with the help of their customer loyalty
programs like Fly Buys and Everyday Rewards specifically that helps to provide
advantage to the organization in a significant manner. The concerned company has
been gaining valuable data related to the purchasing habits of the consumers in order to
strengthen the aspect of customer’s loyalty with the help of special offers for them in
both online and in-store.
Identifying Market Segments and Targets (STP model)
In order to determine the methods by which Coles Group has been developing its
marketing approach, the STP model can be implemented in this context.

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Figure 5: STP model
(Source: Homburg et al., 2017)
Segmentation- The Company has been trying to segment the market of
Australia according to the different characteristics. Various types of surveys, feedback
forms and interviews have been developed in order to determine the behaviour of
people and segment the market in an effective manner. Coles has a nearly 2300 outlets
and reaches out to millions of consumers as a part of their segmentation strategy. To
meet the demands of the customers has developed 20 new supermarkets in the rural
part of Australia and also an online website which has helped to raise the customer
satisfaction by 25%.
Target- As a retailing company, the target group of customers for the Coles
group is the families and people who fall under the age group of 28 to 40 years. This
group of people is the most frequent visitors to retail outlets of the company. Loyalty
programs like that of Flybuys has become one of the largest reward programs in
Australia with around 5.5 million active participants.
Positioning- The organization has successfully added 75 products in its product
range that has been helped to gain unique position in the market of Australia.
Brand Positioning and Brand Equity (of the existing or new product)
In order to gain competitive advantage over their chief rivals like Woolworths
Group, the organization has been planning to meet the growing demands of the people
who are considered to be time-poor and can pay more for their convenience.
Product strategy
In order to promote their services of providing food to their time-poor consumers
the organization has been tying up with another multinational brand Uber. The

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companies have been developing the delivery services for the customers so that they
can influence them in the most significant manner (Colesgroup.com.au, 2019)..
Pricing strategies and programs
The plan to deliver the food items to the people at their workplace or homes is
developed at a rate of 5 dollars and the delivery time of foods has been within 30
minutes. Although the perception of the Coles group is not unique but has helped the
company in taking step towards their convenience strategy
Handling marketing communication
Coles Group has a talented and dedicated group of a team who has been
working on the social media to enhance their brand image by encouraging online and
in-store purchasing of their projects and services(Colesgroup.com.au, 2019).
Integrated marketing channels and distribution system
In order to enhance the sales in consumers who seek more convincing, the
company is planning to modify around 200 stores to a prime and convenient format
(Colesgroup.com.au, 2019). Also around 200 low volume supermarkets have been
added to the value format. The range of products has been included with some avocado
and toast, roast beef, lamb shanks, and pork roast.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that the marketing management needs to include
various aspects like primer targeting, positioning and studying the consumer’s behavior
in order to meet the demands of the consumers. The study helps to provide a deep
insight into the marketing strategy that needs to be followed by the Coles Group in order
to gain competitive advantage and a fair share of market in Australia along with
enhanced profit arming and customer base.

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References
Baker, M. J. (2016). What is marketing?. In The Marketing Book (pp. 25-42). Routledge.
Chernev, A., (2018). Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press.
Gummesson, E. (2017). From relationship marketing to total relationship marketing and
beyond. Journal of Services Marketing, 31(1), 16-19.
Haider, A. A., Zafar, A., Khalid, A., Majid, A., Abdullah, M. A., & Sarwar, M. B. (2019).
Marketing Management.
Homburg, C., Jozić, D., & Kuehnl, C. (2017). Customer experience management:
toward implementing an evolving marketing concept. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, 45(3), 377-401.
Hutchinson, K., Donnell, L. V., Gilmore, A., & Reid, A. (2015). Loyalty card adoption in
SME retailers: the impact upon marketing management. European Journal of
Marketing, 49(3/4), 467-490.