Asda Supermarket: Marketing and Management Strategies Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Asda's marketing and management strategies, focusing on its expansion into Malaysia. It begins with a company background and introduces the international marketing mix, emphasizing the importance of product, price, place, and promotion. The SOSTAC model is used to structure the analysis, including situational analysis using SWOT and PESTLE frameworks. The report outlines Asda's objectives, strategies, including cost leadership and differentiation, and tactics related to product, price, and place. It also discusses the actions taken and control measures implemented. The report concludes with a discussion on Asda's overall marketing approach and its adaptation to the Malaysian market, highlighting key elements of its success and areas for improvement. The report is a case study that applies marketing principles to a real-world business context.

Running head: MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
Table of Contents
1.0 Company background..............................................................................................2
2.0 Task 1 – Introduction...............................................................................................2
3.0 SOSTAC..............................................................................................................3
4.0 Situational Analysis (S)........................................................................................4
5.0 Objectives (O)......................................................................................................6
6.0 Strategy (S)...........................................................................................................7
7.0 Tactics (T)............................................................................................................7
8.0 Actions (A)...........................................................................................................9
9.0 Control (C)...........................................................................................................9
10.0 Task 2.....................................................................................................................9
11.0 Task 3...................................................................................................................11
References....................................................................................................................14

2MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
1.0 Company background
Asda Stores Ltd. that is currently trading under the name of Asda in the supermarket
industry in the United Kingdom. The headquarters of the organization are located in Leeds,
West Yorkshire. The organization was established in the year 1949 after the merger of the
Asquith family owned supermarket with Associated Diaries organization of Yorkshire. The
organization had expanded its operations in the southern parts of England within the years
1970s to 1980s. The expansion had been able to provide major levels of revenues and
profitability to the organization (Asda.com 2019). The presence of the organization has also
increased in a huge manner due to the fast international expansion based activities that have
been performed by Asda in the retail industry of the United Kingdom. Asda has become the
second biggest supermarket after overtaking Sainsbury’s in the year 2019. The total market
share that has been gained by Asda in the retail industry is 15.5%. Asda operates more than
600 stores in different parts of the world. Currently Asda is wholly owned by Walmart and it
maintains its operations in different parts of the world (Asda.com 2019).
2.0 Task 1 – Introduction
International marketing mix based strategy mainly involves the proper use of various
marketing instruments in order to achieve the positive financial results by the organization.
The organizations that operate on a global or international basis needs to develop the
international marketing mix based operations in order to maintain its operations and revenues
in an effective manner. The major aspects that are a part of the international marketing mix
framework are, product, price, place and promotion (Barros, Hernangómez and Martin-Cruz
2016). The development of an international marketing mix is able to play a major role in the
ways by which the organization is able to attract the customers towards products and services
that are offered to them.

3MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
International marketing can be defined as the process that is related to the proper
application of the principles of marketing in order to satisfy different demands and needs of
various individuals who reside across national borders. The process of international
marketing is based on the ways by which marketing related activities can be implemented by
the organizations when they operate in different nations (Daspit et al. 2017).
The country that has been chosen for the expansion of Asda Supermarket is Malaysia.
The major reason behind the expansion of the operations of Asda in the country is based on
the ways by which presence of the organization can be increased on a global basis. The
increase in international presence will also help in increasing the customer base and revenues
of Asda in the retail industry (Demir, Wennberg and McKelvie 2017).
3.0 SOSTAC
SOSTAC can be defined as the marketing model that had been developed by PR
Smith in the year 1990. The model was further formalized in the book that had been written
by PR Smith named Strategic Marketing Communications. The fundamental facets of the
SOSTAC model include, situation, objectives, strategy, tactics, action and control (Durand,
Grant and Madsen 2017).

4MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
Figure 1 – SOSTAC model
Source - (Dyer et al. 2015)
4.0 Situational Analysis (S)
Situational analysis can be defined as the collection of the methods that are used by
managers in order to analyse the internal as well as external environment that helps the
marketers to understand the capabilities of the organization, business environment and the
customers (Dyer et al. 2015).
Analysis of the Micro-environment using SWOT framework
Strengths
Talent management has proved to be
a major strength of Asda.
The product mix is able to fulfil
needs of different types of
consumers
Asda has a wide level of geographic
presence in different countries of the
world (Engert, Rauter and
Weaknesses
The loyalty among the suppliers of
Asda is low.
The turnover of employees in Asda
is high.
The costs based on the development
of the supply chain of Asda are high.
The margins received by Asda on
the products are low (Ethiraj,

5MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
Baumgartner 2016).
The revenue models that have been
developed by Asda are dynamic in
nature.
Gambardella and Helfat 2018).
Opportunities
The cost based on launch of new
products can be reduced.
The company can aim at increasing
the customer base related to different
products that are offered in the lower
segments.
The trends that are present in the
industry can be taken into
consideration for development of
Asda (Frynas and Mellahi 2015).
Threats
The changes in the political
environment have an impact on the
operations of Asda.
The growth based on technological
expertise of competitors can also be
a major threat.
The lack of skilled human resources
can pose a threat to the operations of
Asda (Hill, Jones and Schilling
2014).
Analysis of the Macro-environment using PESTLE framework
Political factors The political environment of
Malaysia is stable in nature.
The government provides support to
the entry of international
organizations (Hitt and Duane
Ireland 2017).
Economic factors Malaysia is third most rich country
in the world with a GDP of around
11000 Dollars per person in the year
2014.
The economy has been affected in a
negative manner by the global price
fluctuations of oils (Hubbard, Rice
and Galvin 2014).
Social factors The increased economic growth has
led to the development of
urbanization in different parts of the
country.
The choice and preferences of
customers are affected positively due
to urbanization (Karadag 2015).
Technological factors The manufacturing capabilities
offered by the country are highly
effective in nature.
The infrastructure that has been
developed in the retail industry is
highly effective for global
organizations (Hubbard, Rice and
Galvin 2014).

6MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
Legal factors The laws in Malaysia are quite
similar to that in Great Britain.
The legal frameworks of the
organizations are able to attract the
global organizations (Kasemsap
2014).
Environmental factors The environmental condition of
Malaysia is not effective.
The manufacturing processes in
different industries have a negative
impact on the environment (Meyer,
Neck and Meeks 2017).
5.0 Objectives (O)
The mission statement of Asda is stated as,
“To be Britain's best-value retailer exceeding customer needs always”.
The objectives that have set by Asda with respect to the mission statement and values
are as follows,
Providing value to the customers.
Expanding the “discount” based sector of the organization.
To increase awareness based on the brand of Asda in Malaysia.
To increase the revenues of Asda in the retail industry.
To provide products to customers at best prices (Morschett, Schramm-Klein
and Zentes 2015).
The objectives that are developed by Asda will be able to improve the revenue levels
of the organization and also improve the position in the retail industry. The major aim of
expansion of Asda in Malaysia is based on the ways by which the organization can increase
its international presence in an effective way. The brand value of the organization will also be
increased in an effective manner with the help of expansion in a new country. The company

7MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
will also be able to increase the number of stores that are already operating in different
countries (Michael, Storey and Thomas 2017).
6.0 Strategy (S)
The Generic strategy that has been implemented by Asda in order to maintain its
operations in the retail industry is a mix of the cost leadership strategy and broad
differentiation strategy. The cost leadership strategy has been followed by Asda with the help
of reduction of costs based on production in the industry. Cost leadership is able to play a
major role in the ways by which the organization is able to attract more customers towards
the products and services that are offered to the consumers (Sakas, Vlachos and Nasiopoulos
2014). The differentiation strategy on the other hand is implemented with respect to the ways
by which high levels of brand loyalty have been developed by the organization with the help
of different types of products and services that are offered to them. The quality of products of
Asda is able to play a major role in the ways by which high levels of brand loyalty can be
developed. The international expansion of Asda will be facilitated with the help of high
quality products that are offered to the customers at low prices (Simon, Fischbach and
Schoder 2014).
7.0 Tactics (T)
Product - Product life cycle can be defined as the process that is related to the ways
by which the products are able to progress through different stages that range from
introduction to the levels of growth, maturity as well as decline. The sequence is mainly
based on the ways by which changes can be implemented in the marketing based situation
which is able to affect the marketing mix and marketing strategy (Steinbach et al. 2017).

8MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
The product portfolio of Asda is based on different types of items that include, drinks,
frozen food chilled food, snacks, bakery products, pet products, health and beauty based
products, outdoor, entertainment and home products, kids’ products.
The Boston Matrix can be defined as a model that is able to help an organization to
analyse the portfolio of the brands and businesses. Boston Matrix has been able to gain high
levels of popularity in the industry based on the ways by which marketing strategies are
developed and implemented in the organizations (Trigeorgis and Reuer 2017).
Figure 2 – Boston Matrix
Source – (Wheelen et al. 2017)
The Boston Matrix can be used by Asda in order to analyse the segment of matrix in
which the operations will belong after the expansion operations are completed. The products
that belong to the cash cow segment of the matrix that has high market share and low growth.

9MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
This will help the organization to increase the growth levels of the products in order to
increase its share in the market (Trigeorgis and Reuer 2017).
Price - The five common types of pricing strategies that can be applied in the
organizational operations are, premium pricing strategy, penetrating pricing strategy,
economy pricing strategy, price skimming, psychological pricing strategy, bundle pricing
strategy. The organization has been able to maintain its operations in the industry with the
help of appropriate pricing of the products that are offered to the consumers in different parts
of the world (Simon, Fischbach and Schoder 2014).
Asda will use the penetrating pricing strategy in Malaysia in order to attract more
consumers towards the products that are offered to the consumers.
Place – The distribution channel is based on the chain of the businesses or the
intermediaries in order to offer the services or goods to the consumers. The distribution
channels that can be used by organizations include, retailers, wholesalers, distributors and the
internet.
The distribution strategy that will be used by Asda is the format based on retail stores
that will be developed in different parts of the country (Meyer, Neck and Meeks 2017).
8.0 Actions (A)
The actions that are implemented by organizations are mainly based on the ways by
which different organizations develop plans in order to manage the future operations in the
industry. The actions that are implemented by Asda in order to enhance the levels of
international presence are based on the development of new product lines with in order to
maintain the operations in a profitable manner (Hubbard, Rice and Galvin 2014).

10MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
9.0 Control (C)
The control based aspect is mainly related to the ways by which the feedback of
customers can be gained by the organization after implementation of the strategic plans. The
control process that has been developed and implemented by Asda is mainly based on the
reviews of staff and the ways by which sales targets are met by the organization as well
(Karadag 2015).
10.0 Task 2
SOSTAC in the UK – SOSTAC can be defined as the model that is used by the
organizations in the UK in order to implement situational analysis, objectives of the
organization, development of the strategy that needs to be implemented, the tactics that can
be used, actions or strategies that can be implemented, control based on the processes after
implementation of the strategy (Meyer, Neck and Meeks 2017).
Product life cycle can be implemented by Asda in the UK in order to understand the
stage of its operations in the retail industry of the country. Asda is currently operating in the
maturity stage of the product life cycle in its home country UK.
The supermarket has provided major concentration to the development of an effective
product portfolio that is based on the analysis of the needs and demands of consumers who
are a part of the industry (Barros, Hernangómez and Martin-Cruz 2016).
With respect to the Boston Matrix framework the products offered by the organization
can be divided into the different segments. The products are able to cater to the different
types of needs of various customers who are a part of the retail industry of the UK. The
organization is able to maintain its operations in UK in a profitable manner with the support
that is provided by the different types of products (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014).

11MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT OF ASDA
The pricing strategy that is used by Asda in the UK is competitive pricing. The
competitive pricing strategy has been implemented by the organization in the retail industry
so that it is able to maintain its position in the industry. The competition that is provided to
the organization is based on the operations of different organizations like, Tesco, Sainsbury’s
(Hubbard, Rice and Galvin 2014).
The distribution strategy that is used by Asda in order to maintain its operations in the
industry includes, the retail stores, the e-commerce websites. The digital distribution of Asda
has been able to increase its presence in the country and has also played a major role in the
ways by which the organization can reach the customers with the help of its wide variety of
products (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014).
The strategies that have been implemented by Asda in the 3 Ps have been able to
provide major levels of support to the organization based on the ways by which the
organization aims at developing high levels of revenues in the retail industry. The strategies
based on 3 Ps have proved to highly effective for the ways by which Asda has developed its
operations and the effective customer base as well. The product portfolio developed by the
organization has catered to the demands and needs of various groups of customers (Simon,
Fischbach and Schoder 2014). On the other hand, the pricing strategies have also proved to
be highly useful for maintenance of the operations of Asda. Distribution has played a key role
in the ways by which Asda has increased the levels of reach of the products that are offered to
the customers all over the United Kingdom. The organization has been successful in the ways
by which the demands and needs of the consumers have been satisfied with the help of
different types of products and services that are provided (Morschett, Schramm-Klein and
Zentes 2015).