Analysis of Marketing Strategies: H&M, Zara, and Marketing Plan

This report provides a comprehensive overview of marketing essentials, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of a marketing department within an organization. It examines the critical functions such as market research, product planning, development, and promotion. The report delves into the interrelationship of the marketing department with other departments like production, sales, research, finance, IT, and HRM. A significant portion of the report compares the marketing mixes of H&M and Zara, analyzing their product offerings, pricing strategies, distribution channels, and promotional activities. Based on this comparison, the report proposes a marketing plan for H&M, including objectives to increase sales and brand visibility through product development, competitive pricing, improved supply chain management, and enhanced promotional strategies. The plan emphasizes digital marketing and the use of loyalty programs to attract and retain customers. The report concludes with a discussion on how these strategies can help H&M gain a competitive advantage in the fashion industry.

MARKETING ESSENTIALS

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Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................1
Roles and responsibilities of marketing department..............................................................................1
Roles and responsibilities of the marketing department in the wider organisational context.................3
Marketing mix of H&M and its competitors..........................................................................................4
Marketing plan......................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................9
References.............................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
One of the most critical aspects in the modern day organisational operations is the marketing
and hence it is essential that company utilises the best of strategies and tactics in their
marketing plan so as to achieve desired objectives. Proper evaluation of the marketing
environment along with identification of the challenges faced by the organisation is very
much critical for the firms in order to develop their marketing plan (Kotler, et al. 2015). Since
heavy competition is present in the fashion industry at the global levels hence understanding
their marketing mix is necessary so as to make better marketing mix strategy. This report will
discuss the role of marketing department within the firm along with its relationship with other
functional units. It also discusses the roles and responsibilities related to marketing
department in the wider organisational context. In the latter section of the report, a
comparison between marketing mixes of H&M with their competitors has been provided. In
the last section of the report marketing plan will be provided.
Roles and responsibilities of marketing department
Marketing department has a critical role in the development and success of the firm and
hence its roles and responsibilities are wide ranging. Roles and responsibilities have to be
according to the marketing department however interrelationship between each unit becomes
critical. For the success of the organisation, it is essential that marketing department works
with all the other departments by hand in hand so that smoothness gets maintained in the
overall business operations (Kerin and Hartley, 2015). Some of the roles and responsibilities
of marketing department are as follows:
 Market Research: For any company, it is essential that they do marketing research
before actually making the marketing plan and designing the marketing campaign. It
is the role and responsibility of the marketing department to make sure that market
research is done appropriately. In the fashion industry, since the demands of the
consumers is changing at much faster rate hence it is critical that marketing
department of this company does continuous market research so as to produce
products that are according to the market demands.
 Product planning: On the basis of the market research that they have done, it is critical
that product planning is done according to the market research that has been done by
the marketing department. Product planning has a major role in the success of the

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organisation and for improving the sales. For achieving the sustainability in the long
term H&M has to make sure that they have done product planning in an appropriate
manner (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012).
 Development process: Marketing department has a role in the development process as
well. Since they have done the marketing research hence they show the path to the
company about the way in which product and services will have to be developed. This
helps in streamlining the process. Since it is critical that firms like H&M has better
development process hence it is essential that marketing department of H&M designs
a development process that addresses all the challenges faced by the H&M.
 Promotions: Marketing department also has the role in doing promotions. This is
necessary for achieving the desired objectives. They have the role in the planning and
development of the promotional strategies. The better the promotional strategy, the
better is their chance to achieve higher sales. H&M needs to make sure that
promotions are being done by the company better than their competitors that too at the
lower cost.
 Relationship development: Marketing department has the role in the development of
relationships with different stakeholders. This is necessary for achieving higher co-
ordination. The better the relationship between different stakeholders better is the
chance that they will be able to achieve marketing as well as organisational success.
Since H&M has large numbers of stakeholders attached with it hence the role of the
marketing department becomes more critical (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010).
 Standardisation and grading: It is critical that in order to achieve success in the
market, an organisation has products that are of higher standards. This standardisation
and grading is done with the help of marketing department. For H&M it is critical to
maintain the standards so as to manage its brand name.
The interrelationship between the different departments in any organisation ensures that there
is smoothness in the overall processes and also ensures that lesser numbers of operational
flows arises. This is also true in terms of the fact that interrelationship allows firms to
streamline their business operations so that they are able to meet the common objectives in an
appropriate manner. Since from the process of market research to the sales need to be done as
per the demand of the market hence at every stage of the marketing process they need to have
effective relationship with all the departments. Marketing department’s relationship with

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other departments ensures that an organisation will be able to make improvements in the
overall marketing campaign at any point of time so as to achieve the desired results.
Roles and responsibilities of the marketing department in the wider organisational
context
As the marketing department has a wide ranging roles and responsibilities hence they need to
have a healthy relation with all the units within the firm.
 Production unit: Marketing department has a close relation with production
department. This is because the product development and product will be done
according to the demands in the market. This is essential for managing the demand
and supply.
 Sales department: Since marketing department needs to ensure that potential
customers are converted into the actual purchasers hence they need to work with the
sales department in a closer relationship assisting each other in the marketing and
sales process.
 Research department: In the modern day organisation innovation plays a critical role
in their success of the firm. These innovations need to be done according to the
demand of the market and strategies that company has made for it for their future
(Boone and Kurtz, 2013). If the marketing research and the product research are done
appropriately then there is a larger chance that company could achieve desired
benefits.
 Finance unit: For an organisation that aims to achieve highest ROI from their
marketing, it is critical that marketing and financial units works together so as to
ensure that overall marketing is done under the financial constraints of the company.
 IT department: Marketing department works hand in hand with IT department
especially in today’s time to ensure that digital marketing is done appropriately and
hence they will be able to reach to maximum possible customers.
 HRM: Since talent management is critical for the success of the firm hence it is
essential that marketing department works with the HRM units so as to ensure that
talents are being hired as per the market demand. If better coordination between the
two units then there is a higher chance that all the operations are done efficiently
(Kotler, 2012).

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Marketing mix of H&M and its competitors
Marketing mix in any organisation plays a critical role in its success. The comparison
between the marketing mixes of different firms is as follows:
Marketing mix H&M Zara
Product They are offering wide
variety of products i.e. all
types of clothes and
accessories. They have
designer clothing and other
accessories as well as they
are trendy which attracts
people. The offer products
for men, women and
children. As compared to
Zara, this firm offers more
products.
This company also offers
different kinds of clothing
and accessories. It launches
more than 10,000 designs in
a year. Zara makes a
partnership with local talents
to add in the trends they are
offering. Zara is known for
its high end fashion (Lou,
2015).
Price The average price of the
H&M products is around
$25. They offer products at
lower price when compared
with other bigger competitors
which helps them to attract
more people towards their
business (Dach and
Allmendinger, 2014).
They offer products slightly
on the higher side where the
average price is set to be
around $45. This is done for
maintaining their premium
image.
Place This company sells its
products through both
exclusive stores and online
mediums. This company
offers its products through
franchising partners. Since
online stores are gaining
people support hence it has
They are using both online
and offline mediums for
selling the products. Since
this company promotes fast
fashion hence their online
stores have new collection in
every 14 days and their
online mediums also offer

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become critical for the H&M
to make sure that they do not
lose their market share. It is
due to this that they are
offering their products
through their online
mediums.
wide range of products that
can be purchased by the
company (Andersson, 2010).
Promotions They are using both online
and offline mediums to make
sure that they are reaching to
maximum possible
consumers. TV
advertisements, youtube
channels, digital marketing
channels, promo codes and
discounts, public relations
and sponsorships are some of
the major channels using
which H&M projects. There
are also using CSR strategies
to improve their image
(Peirson-Smith, 2014).
They are also promoting their
products through online
mediums which have made it
possible for the company to
make sure that they are able
to reach to maximum
possible consumers. For their
promotions they are using
social media as their primary
source and at the same time
they are also using celebrity
endorsements for promoting
their brand.
Marketing plan
It is critical for the company to make a marketing plan for themselves that is better than their
competitors. This is critical for management of resources and designing of marketing mix that
helps them in gaining competitive advantage over the rivals and enhancing their reach to
maximum possible with customers (Shen, 2014). Marketing plan helps in making an
organisation and it successful and it is critical for improving the reach of the company at the
global levels by enhancing the sales of the products by attracting their customers.
Objectives

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 To enhance the sales of the company by 20% by the end of 2020.
 To improve the brand visibility of the company by 30% by the end of 2020.
 To shift towards digital mediums for marketing where 70% of the marketing will be
done by digital mediums by the end of 2020.
Marketing mix
With the comparison done in the above section, there is a need of improvement in the
marketing mix. The new marketing mix for the company includes:
 Product: They need to develop products that are environmentally sustainable. This is
important in terms of the fact that products are capable of giving sustainability to the
firm but will also ensure a better marketing image for the company. They need to
bring more designs as their competitors are highly design conscious (Bastien and
Kapferer, 2013).
 Price: The price of their products needs to be kept at lower side only and for reducing
the cost of manufacturing they need to use more technologies in their operations
(Giertz-Mårtenson, 2012).
 Place: This Company also need to improve their supply chain management so as to
strengthen the physical stores where they can bring new products at regular intervals
which could help them in improving their sales and at the same time their online
stores needs to be strengthened. It is critical that this company makes collaboration
with third party vendors such as Amazon so that their products sale can be enhanced
(Mo, 2015).
 Promotions: Company needs to make online and offline shopping cards for their
purchasers. Their loyalty cards would help them in improving their sales. They also
need to adopt app based platform for their sales as it is necessary for improving the
sales. There must be use of promotional strategies like festive offers as it is the time
when most of the people do make a purchase and hence companies should also
promote them to make a purchase (Lee, et al 2014). Offers such as freebies will help
the company in promoting people to make a purchase from the H&M stores.
STP strategies

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In order to make sure that this firm has a good competitive positioning, and enhance the sales,
it is critical that this firm targets a set of customers that can actual enhance the sales of the
company.
For segmentation and targeting this company is using different kinds of variables (Perrey and
Spillecke, 2011). On the basis of these variables the segmentation and targeting of the
company is as follows:
Type of Segmentation Segmentation Criteria Target Segment
Geographic Region Domestic/International
Density Rural and Urban
Demographic Age 5-50
Gender Male and Female
Life-cycle stage Bachelor and Married
Income People of all income groups
Occupation All the types of occupation
Behavioural Degree of Loyalty Switchers and hardcore
loyals
Benefit sought Time efficient and cost
benefit seekers.
Personality Careless and easy going
User Status Regular and potential
shopper
Psychographic Social Class Middle, working and lower
Life Style Mainstream individuals and
strugglers.
Strategies
In order to make the marketing campaign effective it is critical that H&M makes strategies
that are unique. Some of the strategies that can be used by the company are as follows:
 Cost leadership: It is a strategy that might be used by H&M to make sure that they
have a plan for attracting larger numbers of consumer set and in this regards the major
role is played by the operational cost. This is because if it is on the lower side there is

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higher chance that cost leadership can be practiced. This will provide company with
competitive advantage and will also allow in creating a buzz in the market (Smith,
2011).
 Innovation: Company needs to regularly innovate their products. Innovation needs to
be done in the areas like design, quality and the type of materials being used in their
offerings. Innovation also has to be done as per the requirement of the industry and at
the same time for setting trends in the industry. In the fashion industry, it is the trends
that are promoted by the firm give a competitive advantage to the firm (Youell, 2013).
Budget
Activities 2019 (In Dollars) 2020 (In Dollars)
Direct marketing 17000 15000
Sales marketing 11000 23000
Traditional
advertisement
11000 19000
Social media marketing 23000 34000
Digital marketing 24000 32000
Total 86,000 123,000
Evaluation strategy
H&M needs to design an evaluation strategy that helps in finding out the challenges that
might be faced by the company in its marketing. Evaluation needs to be done so as to find the
ways in which marketing will be done. It is critical that for evaluating the marketing plan a
company needs to have technologies that are capable of monitoring the processes (Kaikobad,
et al 2015). In this regards data technologies such as data analytics can be highly beneficial.
Company also need to incorporate performance management system so as to measure the
performance of each of units on the basis of the metrics.
Conclusion
From the above based report it can be concluded that marketing has a critical role to play in
the success of the organisation especially when it is of the scale of H&M. With the increase

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in competition, this role of marketing has become further significant as they have multiple
roles within the firm. They are offering variety of products at different prices through both
online and offline mediums. However to enhance the sale company needs to do most of their
marketing and sales through digital mediums. They also need to have an evaluation strategy
where more focus needs to be put on the digital mediums.

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