Marketing Essentials Report: Analyzing Top Shop's Marketing Strategies

This report delves into the core principles of marketing, examining the roles and responsibilities of marketing functions within an organization, with a specific focus on Top Shop. It explores the significance of the interrelationship between marketing and other functional units, providing a critical evaluation of these connections. The report further analyzes the application of the marketing mix by different organizations, with a detailed examination of the tactics employed by Top Shop to achieve its business objectives. A comprehensive marketing plan for Top Shop is presented, supported by evidence and strategic application of the 7Ps of marketing. The report aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of marketing essentials and strategic planning.

MARKETING ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
a.) roles and responsibilities of marketing functions..............................................................1
b.) role and responsibilities of marketing for marketing environment of organisation..........3
c.) explanation on the significance of interrelationship between marketing and other functional
units of organisation...............................................................................................................4
d.) critical evaluation of marketing function with other functional units of organisation......6
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................7
1.) Ways of applying marketing mix by different organisations............................................7
2) Different tactics applied by TOP SHOP to business objectives........................................8
LO3..................................................................................................................................................9
1) Marketing plan of TOP SHOP...........................................................................................9
2) Detail coherent evidence..................................................................................................11
3) Strategic marketing plan applying 7P’s...........................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is the essential term which is used by organisation to sell their overall goods
and services (Campbell, Martin and Fabos, 2018). To get effective growth of the organisation,
marketing is the term which provides effective growth in organisation. This present report is all
about the essentials of marketing in an organisation. In this report, an explanation is to be
provided related to roles and responsibilities of marketing functions for wider organisations.
Explanation is also provided on roles and responsibilities of marketing with context of marketing
with interrelationship between marketing with other functional units of organisation. Key
elements of marketing function are also to be discussed in this report. Further, in this report
explanation is provided on different ways of marketing mix which used as planning in achieve
business objectives with different tactics of marketing used by organisation to achieve business
objectives. Lastly, in this report marketing plan with strategies used to achieve business
objectives is to be discussed in this report.
LO 1
a.) roles and responsibilities of marketing functions
Marketing is the essential term for business because no business will be completely
successful if the marketing of its products and services is not appropriate. In organisation, Top
Shop marketing is also an important in achieving business objectives and future goals from
business market. A universal function of marketing is buying, selling, transporting, storing, and
standardization and grading, financing, risk taking and market information.
1

 Buying:
Buying function is the essential term in function of marketing because customers only buy what
they want. Therefore, functions like determination of needs, selection of quality and variety,
deciding on brand, size and methods of payment is to be considered by marketing managers of
Top Shop in achieving business objectives.
 Selling:
It is considered as the important part of marketing because it includes exchange of goods and
services for Top Shop organisation (Bhatt and GUPTA, 2018). Selling is term which determines
overall profit in organisation therefore, managers will develop effective strategies to influence
customers in purchasing products of organisation.
 Transporting:
2
Illustration 1: universal functions of marketing
(Source: The 8 important functions of marketing, 2018)

It is the elements which are used in marketing for physical means to carry goods and persons
which are from one place to another. According to this point marketing used to facilitates
performance related to buying, assembling, selling, and storage and warehousing.
 Storing:
To develop effective marketing in organisation, storing is the elements which are used for
physical distribution of goods and services in organisation.
 Standardization and grading:
It is also considered as the important element which used to determine product size, colour,
design, weight, safety, quality, and quantity of the product to sell in the market.
 Financing:
It is the element which considered as the lifeblood for every types of businesses. Effective
products and services will not supply easily if there is no effective finance develop in
organisation. It deals with payment method of goods and services.
 Risk taking:
Risk taking is the essential point which is used by organisation to achieve competitive advantage
in business market. Factors of risk taking are fall in price, depression, obsolescence, spoilage of
goods, theft, fire and any other thing which occur loss in organisation.
 Market information:
It is also considered as crucial element of marketing because it helps in collecting and analysing
market information. Information is collected by many sources which is by monitoring products
reviews, by carrying survey etc (Bauer, 2018).
b.) role and responsibilities of marketing for marketing environment of organisation
There are various roles which have to play by marketing in achieving business objectives.
Marketing environment is of two types which is micro- environment and macro-environment. Its
roles are as follows:-
Developing marketing strategies and plans: in the context of marketing environment, it is the
responsibility of marketing manager to create strategies which satisfy customers’ needs and
wants. By analysing marketing environment, managers will able to develop superior quality of
3

products with strategic management so that organisational objectives get achieved with its
changing marketing opportunities.
Marketing information system: it is the responsibility of marketing manager of the Top Shop to
develop effective marketing information system (Hugos, 2018). It helps them to analyse market
and its products with its implementation and controlling responsibilities which overall helps in
achieving business objectives. It overall helps to distribute in proper timely manner.
Monitoring marketing environment: according to this point, marketing managers of the Top
Shop organisation will identify trends of current and future market and will convert them into
opportunities in developing product in accordance with customer satisfaction. In this six major
marketing environmental forces will be analysed by marketing manager which are demographic,
economic, socio-cultural, natural, technological, political and legal forces.
Marketing research: according to this point, analyse marketing environment is the essential point
for organisation so that proper and specific knowledge will get achieved. This specific
knowledge will of products, company's market, and target consumer group and to develop
effective communication efforts. Therefore, effective marketing research will overall helps in
achieving business objectives.
To create customer value, satisfaction and loyalty: it is the most important element of marketing
environment which helps managers in developing wants of the customers from organisation
(Kwiatkowski, 2018). It is the responsibility of managers to develop effective customer
relationship management program by which their wants and exceptions will get analysed. This
will overall result in developing effective customer loyalty.
These are the roles and responsibilities of marketing managers of the Top Shop
organisation in developing valuable products and services. There are other responsibilities such
as to analyse market segmentation, brand equity, dealing with competition etc.
c.) explanation on the significance of interrelationship between marketing and other functional
units of organisation
Marketing is the term which is used in every other functions of organisation for producing
valuable goods and services in organisation. Its role in other functional unit is as follows-
4

Marketing with Production department: marketing department of organisation work
with production department which endures them that adequate research and development of
products is planned. This planning will be in accordance with current and future trend which
overall helps to satisfy customers. It also ensures them that products and services are with proper
design specification and quality and in effective time schedule so that it gets delivered in proper
time.
Marketing with finance department: marketing with finance department ensures about
the adequate budget which helps in meeting needs for research, promotion and distribution
(Martell, 2018). Finance department helps marketing department to ensure about the financial
capabilities of organisation in achieving organisational objectives. To ensure sales and to
building market share, it is important to work closely with finance department.
Marketing with human resource management: marketing department of organisation,
work closely with human resource department which ensures them that appropriate skills and
5
Illustration 2: functional departments of business
(Source: Marketing and Functions, 2018)

staffing are there for workplace of organisation. Effective staffing will help managers to develop
effective research and development for new products and ideas. This will also ensure marketing
department to meet production target and to meet sales volume of organisation.
Marketing with IT department: marketing department of organisation also work
closely with IT department which helps them in promoting products and services of organisation
on websites, internet and extranets. This helps marketing managers to attract customers in
organisation and to develop their loyalty in organisation.
These are the role of marketing with other functional department of organisation. This will
overall helps marketing managers of the Top Shop organisation in achieving their business
objective and to meet future needs from business market.
d.) critical evaluation of marketing function with other functional units of organisation
Role of marketing with other functional units of organisation is to develop effective
policies and strategies for the achievement of organisational objectives. However, there are some
advantages and disadvantages of marketing function which created by managers of Top Shop are
as follows-
Marketing with production department
Role of marketing for production department is to develop valuable products and services of
organisation. However on the critical note, its advantage is that with the help of marketing
department, products and services are developed with the proper quality and according to
customer satisfaction. Marketing also helps on attracting customers from business market and to
develop their loyalty in organisation (Rogers and Davidson, 2015).
However on the critical note, its disadvantage for production department is that they have
to face so much influence of marketing department which overall create mismanagement in
developing goods and services. Sometimes, market research for producing goods and services
will get failed and organisation has to face huge loss in producing goods and services.
Marketing with finance department
Marketing is the essentials term but on the critical note its advantages is that marketing
department will help finance department to develop budget only for the products which ensures
6

profitability and better performance. Effective research and development of marketing also helps
finance department in saving wastage of money in organisation.
However, there are some disadvantages of marketing with finance department. Its
disadvantage is that sometimes for developing budget of products in accordance with marketing
will overall creates mismanagement of budget and it also gets exceed with expected budget. This
management will directly affect performance and profitability.
Marketing with human resource department
For human resource management, marketing is an important term. Its advantages for human
resource department is that with the help of marketing department, human resource team will
able to appoint skilled employee in right time and in right place.
However, on the critical note, sometimes marketing leads with loose of skilled employee
because marketing department will only focus on appointing employee which focus on achieving
needs in accordance with them. But sometime, company loose with employee which has
sufficient skill to developing effective goods and services.
LO 2
1.) Ways of applying marketing mix by different organisations
Marketing mix is the model which is used by different organisations to get the right
response from people regarding products of organisation. Every organisation has its own way in
developing marketing mix model in organisation. There are four combinations used in marketing
mix that is product, price, promotion, and place. Different organisations have their own way of
developing product, price, promotion and place (Pike, 2015).
Product will include brand name which is in accordance with organisation. All
organisations have different strategies for the packaging and positioning its products. Therefore,
marketing mix model is developed in accordance with their needs and wants.
Price will include the list of price, discounts, credit terms and payment method. Every
organisation will determine its price of products in accordance with their demand and supply in
organisation. Premium price is determined by organisations which charge cost higher than their
competitors. To attract buyers by offering low products, penetration strategy is used. To
maximise sales price skimming is used by organisations.
7

Promotion will include advertising, sales, promotion and publicity. Different
organisations have their own way of doing promotion activities of their products and services.
Companies like McDonald's are engaged in doing huge advertising campaign in attracting
customers. Some organisation will develop their promotion activities with the help of social
media marketing and newspapers. Therefore, marketing mix model is used in accordance with
profitability and performance of company.
Organisations will decide their ways of doing business with emphasis of placing each
variables. This will determine in accordance with the positioned or stages in product life cycles
of organisations. For example: products which are marketed with an image of prestige will have
different marketing mix model with the products which has no-frills, and generic items.
This is the way different organisations will develop marketing mix model for the
development of effective marketing strategies of organisations. This is the way by which
organisations analyse their market activities in achieving overall business objectives.
2) Different tactics applied by TOP SHOP to business objectives
The different tactics applied by the TOP SHOP in order to achieve the business
objectives are as follows:
1. Establish Objectives: This is the first in business process is to establish business objectives
which are to be achieved in future. Before setting an objective a company addresses all the issues
that will help or interfere in the progress. A company needs to capture the feedback from the
customers, employees, and shareholders for identifying what are the company’s Strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A company should give top priority to the feedback of the
customers as every companies future depends on the customers satisfaction which is the success
of an organisation.
2. Measure the progress: After establishing the objectives, then the organisation have to
develop the strategies for reaching out these objectives. TOP SHOP while developing a strategies
should measure the performance of implemented strategies and check the performance of the
employees according to the formulated strategies. A company needs to check any deviations of
the strategies and correct these deviations as soon as possible.
8

3. Turn long term-Strategies into short-term: After defining the objectives, an organisation
should divide the entire objectives in small objectives so that it can be easily achieved by the
employees. Here company’s tactics should focus on the retention of the best employees in the
organisation which are capable of achieving these objectives for an organisation. Also company
should distribute these small objective among the employees.
4.Get everyone on board: After identifying the tactical plan for achieving the objectives a
company should use the concept of time span control i.e employees have to complete the tasks
within a given time span.
5 Stick to the results: The last tactic of the TOP SHOP is to stick to the result oriented
management process i.e. management has to develop a process and score cards within a time
span of control in order to ensure that organisation have chosen right tactics and are achieving
desired results.
LO3
1) Marketing plan of TOP SHOP
Executive Summary
TOP SHOP is British fashion retailer store of clothing, shoes, make-up and accessories.
It has more than 500 shops across the world. Now TOP SHOP is launching a new clothing
segments for children (da Silva and Las Casas, 2017). The marketing plan of TOP SHOP is to
launch a new product segment for children.
Marketing Objective:
To start a new clothing segment for children
Company Overview:
Top shop is the multinational fashion retailer for clothing, make-up, shoes and
accessories. Top shop has got around 500 shops across the world out of which 300 are in UK.
Segmenting: A company has to divide the markets in to different groups as it will allow the
company to match their customer needs. A company should segment the market in to
demographic profiles like age and gender.
Targeting: Top shop should target the market with potential growth, available resources, and
market with accessibility and sustainability (Ambat, Flores and Tiong, 2017). The benefit of
targeting for Top shop is that it can focus on the profitable segments.
9

Positioning: A company has to develop a market strategy to position a product in such a way to
attract the customers within the chosen segment.
SWOT
Strength
The brand image of Top Shop is very good
They are selling quality of products and
services
All products are fashionable and also on low
price
Weakness
All the lower priced products will not be able
to grow into market
Few outlets are there in comparison with other
competitor
Dependency on all suppliers as company is not
having any factory
Threats
There is increasing level of competitors like
that of TESCO and H&M are developing into
market
There is frequent change in demand of
customers
Opportunities
They are having wider opportunity of
expanding into other countries and other
segment of market (Elenkov, 2014)
Government will be providing company with
opportunities like that of rules, regulations and
tariff exemption
PESTLE
Political
The political view and opinion regarding the
rules of organisation will be harming or having
impact on international and national business.
Economic
Economic show a company about their
profitable area and market position as well
Society
Top Shop is creating all their product
according to social value which are acceptable
by society
Technological
Adaption of technology will be supporting in
gathering information
Legal
Employment law will be barrier for company
Environmental
This particular environment is not into hand of
company as there are very unpredictable
10

changes which are occurring
Budget
Particular Amount (£)
Sales 100
Promotion 200
Advertisement 200
Distribution 150
Total 650
2) Detail coherent evidence
From the above marketing plan it could be noted that Top Sop is planning to launch their
new segment for kids and children in UK so that they could be able to grow into market. Their
existing customer includes that of men and female only while they are not having their clothing
segment of children (Kuazaqui, 2015). Their target is to attract more customers in form of
children and their parents by giving the good and quality of products that too at lower price than
others. Thus for this marketing plan is formed which is giving coherent evidence that company is
having wider opportunity to grow into market of UK so that they are having increased into their
share of profits. It is also required that firm is doing proper planning and executing this plan in
correct manner as well. Top Shop will be able to gather clear and more information so that their
planning and marketing objective could be achieved and will be done based on budgets prepared.
3) Strategic marketing plan applying 7P’s
Product- The company is about to launch new clothing segment for kids and children including
both boys and girls.
Place- The all sort of distribution will be done based on their suppliers and sold at their outlets.
Price- Pricing policy which they will be following is that of penetration so that they could able to
process and penetrated within the market in proper manner.
Promotion- the promotion and selling will be done based on modern technologies like that of
social media marketing.
11

Physical evidence- Top Shop must be creating their website in creative manner so that they
could be able to attract more level of customers.
Process- The process will be very clear so that it could be reaching out to correct customers from
factory to Top Shop outlet
People- All staff members should be very well trained who are having knowledge for each of the
market segment and how they could be able to proceed in market.
12

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ambat, L.M.C., Flores, D.J.C. and Tiong, R.C.F., 2017, November. A Study on Designing a
Marketing Plan for a Start-Up Business in the Philippines. In Ascendens Asia Journal
of Multidisciplinary Research Conference Proceedings (Vol. 1, No. 2).
Bauer, T., 2018. Ethics, CSR and sustainability in marketing education. In Redefining
Success (Vol. 73, No. 85, pp. 73-85). ROUTLEDGE in association with GSE Research.
Bhatt, R.K. and GUPTA, D., 2018. Essentials of Marketing Management in LIS.
Campbell, R., Martin, C. and Fabos, B., 2018. Media essentials: A brief introduction.
Bedford/St. Martin's.
da Silva, E.C. and Las Casas, A.L., 2017. Sports Marketing Plan: An Alternative Framework for
Sports Club. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 9(4), p.15.
Elenkov, D., 2014, March. Experiential Exercise with Multinational Student Teams: Researching
Together a Multinational Corporation and Developing Jointly a Strategic Marketing
Plan for IT Using Blackboard. In Developments in Business Simulation and
Experiential Learning: Proceedings of the Annual ABSEL conference (Vol. 41).
Hugos, M.H., 2018. Essentials of supply chain management. John Wiley & Sons.
Kuazaqui, E., 2015. Considerations on the Marketing Plan for Brazilian Micro
Enterprises. Revista de Micro e Pequenas Empresas e Empreendedorismo da Fatec-
Osasco, 1(1), pp.3-21.
Kwiatkowski, C., 2018. SERVICE QUALITY MANAGEMENT MODEL AND
RELATIONSHIP MARKETING. ПРОГРАМНИЙ КОМІТЕТ, p.128.
Malhotra, N.K., 2015. Essentials of marketing research: A hands-on orientation. Essex: Pearson.
Martell, D.A., 2018. Marketing Information and New Technology. In Management Information
Systems: The Technology Challenge (pp. 161-181). Routledge.
Pike, S., 2015. Destination marketing: essentials. Routledge.
Rogers, T. and Davidson, R., 2015. Marketing destinations and venues for conferences,
conventions and business events. Routledge.
Online
13

Marketing and Functions. 2018. [ONLINE]. Available through
<http://www.marketingteacher.com/marketing-and-functions/>
The 8 important functions of marketing. 2018. [ONLINE]. Available through
<http://www.bm3school.com/2018/07/8-important-functions-of-marketing.html>
14