The Impact of Social Media Technology on M&S Marketing and Sales

This case study examines the impact of social media technology on the marketing activities of Marks and Spencer (M&S). It addresses the problem of reduced sales due to insufficient customer information and explores how social media marketing techniques can enhance sales. The project aims to increase brand awareness, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction through the strategic use of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The research methodology includes primary data collection via questionnaires distributed to both employees and customers, as well as secondary research to support findings. The project plan incorporates a work breakdown structure and Gantt chart for effective time management and resource allocation. Risks related to quality, time, and cost are identified and mitigation strategies are proposed. The study concludes by offering recommendations based on the research analysis to improve M&S's marketing strategies through social media.

THE IMPACT OF the SOCIAL
MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ON THE
MARETING OF M&s
M&S

Table of Contents
NTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................2
TASK 1..............................................................................................................................................3
P1- AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT..............................................................................3
P2- PREPARATION AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN..........4
P3- TIMEFRAME AND STAGES OF COMPLETION THROUGH GANTT CHART AND WORK
BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE...........................................................................................................8
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................12
P4- QUANTITATIVE AND THE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS TO MEET THE OBJECTIVES
OF THE PROJECT........................................................................................................................12
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................24
P5- RESEARCH ANALYSIS THROUGH EFFECTIVE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES..............................24
P6- APPROPRIATE RECOMMENDATIONS AS A RESULT OF THE RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS......25
P7- REFLECTION OF UNDERTAKING THE RESEARCH IN OWN LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE
SO AS TO MEET THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES.............................................................................26
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................28
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................29
1

NTRODUCTION
The success of any business organization largely depends upon the innovations made in its
business activities. The role of the social media technology in increasing the marketing of the
M&S has been defined in this case study. Social media technology has proved to be the most
reliable sources in increasing the sales of the organization through the marketing activities.
Social media technology as a form of the digital media transformation has been used in the
M&S by the strategic planning, global sales real-time monitoring and the support of the
employees. With the increasing competition in the market in the retail industry, it is essential
for the M&S to improvise its marketing activities so as to become successful and maintain its
brand image.
M&S or also known as the Marks and Spencer is one the popular companies of UK that are
delivering it products, clothes and food other accessories’ to the men, women, children. It is
essential that a project management plan must be built and implemented in the organization
along with the specific time frame and stages. The impact of the social media on the business of
M&S is analyzed by the primary and the secondary research.
2

TASK 1
P1- AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The problem which the M&S organization has been facing in the current is the reduced sales of
the company products because of the lack of information to the customers. M&S sales can be
increased by the effective marketing techniques through the social marketing techniques.
PROJECT DEFINITION AND OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the M&s are being analysed in the project management plan. The different
stages based on the project requirement which is analyzing the impact of the social media on
the marketing activities of M&S are described in this report. The aim of the project is to
increase the sales of the company through the usage of the social media marketing strategies.
The use of the social media platform the Facebook, Twitter, YouTube can help the marketing
team to connect with the customers and share the information of the company products
directly to enhance their marketing activities (Kilgour, et al. 2015).
The important objectives of the M&S which are focused in this report are-
To increase the awareness of the M&S products and services among the customers
through social media technology
To determine if the customers are satisfied with the products and services of the M&S
To determine that the employee satisfaction level due to the introduction of the new
ways of promoting the business by the digital technologies
To determine the effectiveness of the social media platform usage in the M&S by
observing the sales of the company
To determine the usage of the social media platforms by the customers to gather
information about the company products
3

P2- PREPARATION AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT
MANAGEMENT PLAN
PROJECT SCOPE
In the included scope of the project primary and the secondary research will be carried out in
this assignment based upon the different studies of the authors and a questionnaire based
upon the customers and the employee’s opinions.
Any other factors rather than the impact of the social media on the marketing of the M&S will
not be addressed in this report. The factors that are external to the M&S are not included.
PROJECT LIMITATIONS
One of the limitations that can be faced in this project is the unwillingness of the customers to
answer the questionnaire. The unwillingness of the employees to use the social media
technology for marketing activities of M&S. Usage of only Microsoft Excel is the other
limitation.
PROJECT COST
COST FACTORS IN MILLION
FIXED COST $490
MATERIAL COST $31.53
DOMESTIC AUTHORISATION TAX $0.34
TOTAL BUDGET $920.13 PER YEAR
SUCCESS CRITERIA
4

The completion of the different stages of the project within the given time frame is one of the
success criteria. If the project gets completed in the estimated time while the quality is
maintained is other success criteria.
QUALITY CONTROL
This project will be based on the maintenance of the marketing activities of the M&S by
following the rules and regulations and providing the efficient quality of services to the
customers. I will seek the guidance of the senior managers to maintain the quality of work
throughout (Holt, 2016).
COMMUNICATION PLAN
In the communication plan, the employees of the marketing team and the customers will be
given a description of the usage of the questionnaire in the project which will attract them to
involve in the research process. The supervisors will be involved in this research (Castells,
2015).
PROJECT ASSUMPTIONS
It has been assumed that the employees of the M&S are well aware of the social media
technologies. The survey participants will be only the employees and the people above the age
of 18 years. The customers and the employees will answer truthfully and it is also being
assumed that social media will enhance the marketing activities of M&S.
PROJECT RISKS
The quality, time and the cost of the project are the factors in which the risks can occur. The
project will not fall below the set standard otherwise the quality will be decreased so the
supervisors must be involved to avoid the quality risks. The project might exceed the estimated
cost and the time for which I will review the complete plan again, use lower cost products and
will try to stick to the deadlines (Mitra, 2016).
5

RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
ALL the required resource in the project must be managed well and allocated to the employees
of the M&S to as to successfully carry out the research and then implement it (Mitra, A., 2016
et al. 2016).
TIME MANAGEMENT
6

Figure 1: Project Plan Characteristics
[Source: https://www.coleyconsulting.co.uk/projplan.htm]
PROJECT STRATEGY
In the project, I will ensure to communicate with my supervisors at the different stages of the
project. The questionnaire must be well planned with the help of the management team, and
supervisors. The data collected from the questionnaire will be analyzed with the help of the pie
charts and MS-Excel. Finally, the conclusion will be drawn based upon the enhanced marketing
of the M&S by social media usage.
7

P3- TIMEFRAME AND STAGES OF COMPLETION THROUGH GANTT CHART AND
WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
Structural measures of the company and its way of performing business can be done with the
help of the Work breakdown structure. The work breakdown structure and the Gantt chart are
created in this report for a duration of 3 years in which all the task that needs to be performed
for the usage of the social media in the M&S business to improve the marketing activities are
being divided into smaller tasks. These tasks are allocated to the different employees of the
team involved in the project that needs to complete the project within the estimated time.
WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
WB
S Id
Lev
el
Name of Element Work
Descriptio
n
Budg
et £
Resources Deliverable
1 1 PLANNING THE
PROJECT
REQUIREMENTS
Project
manageme
nt plan
developme
nt
Managers,
stakeholders and
employees
Business
plan
2 2 DESIGNING THE
STUCTURE OF THE
PROJECT (Llonch, et al.
2017)
Design the
company’s
ojectives
Managers and
leaders
Project
goals
3 3 GATHERING THE DATA
AND INFROMATION
PRIMARY
AND
70 ONLINE
REOSURCES,CUTSO
Information
8

SECONDAR
Y (Thiry,
2016)
MERS
4 4 DOCUMENTATION OF
THE DATA GATHERED
Chart and
diagrams
in report
50 Ms-word, MS-
PowerPoint
Proper
structure
5 5 EFFECTVE
IMPLEMENTATION(Stel
zner, 2014)
the
planning is
being
implement
ed
260 Facebook, Twitter,
Youtube usage
Digital
transformati
on
6 6 ANALYSING THE
IMPACT ON
MARKETING OF THE
COMPANY (Harrison
and Lock, 2017)
The impact
of the
project is
analysed
110 Employees and
customers
Success or
failure
7 7 INVESTIGATION AND
EVALUATION
Deriving
the
conclusion
from the
data
collected
Employees Defaults in
the project
are
identified
The total estimated cost of the project is $490 million. The stages that need to be carried put in
this project are mentioned in the above work breakdown structure.
9

GANTT CHART
TASKS WEE
K 1
WEE
K 2
WEE
K 3
WEE
K 4
WEE
K 5
WEE
K 6
WEE
K 7
WEE
K 8
WEE
K 9
WEE
K 10
WEE
K 11
WEE
K 12
Project
planning
Project
designing
Secondary
data
collection
Primary
research
Project
scheduling
Budget/cost
estimation
Resource
gathering
Final
approval
Project
implementa
tion
Impact
evaluation
The stages that are decided in the work breakdown structure needs to be completed within the
estimated time duration of 12 weeks (Acharya and Chellappan, 2017). Effective communication
10

must be maintained throughout the project to avoid any kind of confusion which will help in
successfully carrying out the impact of the social media technology on the marketing of the
M&S organization.
11