LSC UoS BA Business: Aldi's 'Expressing Ourselves' Marketing Plan

This report analyzes Aldi's 'Expressing Ourselves' marketing campaign, providing a comprehensive overview of its marketing strategy. It begins with an introduction to marketing management and its importance in a competitive market, specifically focusing on the retail sector. The report includes a marketing audit, utilizing a TOWS matrix to assess Aldi's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It then outlines SMART marketing objectives, aiming to increase digital presence, consumer base, and market share. The report details the marketing mix plan, covering product, price, place, and promotion strategies. Finally, it examines customer service management within the campaign. The report is a comprehensive assessment of the marketing campaign, offering insights into Aldi's approach to market analysis, objective setting, and strategic implementation.

MARKETING
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Marketing audit...........................................................................................................................3
Marketing objectives...................................................................................................................5
Marketing mix plan.....................................................................................................................6
Customer service.........................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Marketing management is defined as the process of planning, organizing and controlling
all the activities which are undertaken by the company for the purpose of market its product and
services into the market (Hirst and Beresford, 2019). In this highly competitive market it is very
crucial for the companies to have effective marketing strategy as if the marketing will not be
good then the consumers will not like the product to a great extent. Also, marketing mix includes
the decision relating to the different policies, strategies and procedures used by the company for
facing the competition. The current report is based in marketing campaign of ALDI that is
‘Expressing ourselves’.
ALDI is a chain of supermarket headquartered in Germany has around 10000 stores in
more than 20 countries. Hence, the competition in retail sector is very high and the company is
planning for a marketing campaign. Thus, the current report will outline the different measures
and decision taken for the campaign. This will start by doing a marketing audit for the campaign
and then in accordance with the market condition the marketing objectives will be determined.
Further the marketing mix for the campaign will be made and then in the end the management of
the customer service will be analysed.
Marketing audit
The marketing audit is referred to as the process through which the company reviews all
the changes taking place within the business environment. This is very necessary because of the
reason that the business exist in environment which is very dynamic and ever changing and it is
very essential for the company to adapt these changes. This is very crucial because of the fact
that if these changes will not be managed in effective manner then the company might lose its
competitive position within the market.
Hence, it is very essential for ALDI to review all its policies and strategies are matching
the current and latest trends within the environment or not. If not then it is very important for
ALDI to adapt to all these changes in effective and efficient manner. Also, the marketing audit is
essential as it also help the company yin analysing the strategies and polices being used by the
other competitors (Grewal, 2018). This will give an idea to ALDI that what the competitors are
using to promote their business. Then ALDI can make its marketing strategies in accordance
with the strategies of the other competitors.

The marketing audit is very important for the business as this will help the company in
getting knowledge of the latest trends and changes which are going within the highly dynamic
environment. Also, this will help the company in getting the knowledge that what is currently
going on in the market and what are the latest trend and requirement of the consumers
(Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrott, 2017). Hence, this marketing audit will assist ALDI in
making all the changes in its strategies and product and services in accordance with the latest
changes going on within the market. There are many different tools and techniques which can be
used for conducting marketing audit like PESTLE analysis, SWOT analysis, TOWS analysis and
many other different tools of marketing audit. For conducting the marketing audit of ALDI help
of TOWS matrix was used which is discussed as follows-
TOWS matrix Threats
The major threat is the high
competition which is present
in the global market.
Government policies and
taxation.
Opportunities
Invest more in the digital
marketing techniques.
Expand in developing
economies like Africa and
Asia.
Weaknesses
Low presence in global
business world.
It is regarded to have cheap
and low quality products
With the increase in high
competition the company
needs to remove its weakness
of having low presence within
the global market. This is
majorly because of the fact
that the high competition can
be faced only with help of
global presence which is low
for ALDI.
Also, the government policies
and taxation also leads to low
presences in global business
world. The major reason
underlying this fact is that is
The opportunity of investing
in more digital technology is
restricted by low presence in
global business market. This is
majorly because of the reason
that due to low presence the
company will not be able to
cover more area with the use
of digital technology for
marketing.
Another opportunity of
expanding in developing
economies like Asia and
Africa cannot be grabbed as
the goods and services of

that the government policies
will restrict the company to
expand on the global basis.
company are regarded as
cheap and of low quality.
Thus, this fact does not
promote the goods and
services in another country.
Strengths
Offer a wide range of product
and services.
Keeps the operating cost low
which provides better margin.
The threat of high competition
can be removed with help of
strength of offering of wide
variety of goods and services.
This is majorly because of the
reason that wide offering of
product range will attract more
of the consumers.
Another threat that is
government policies and
taxation can be improved with
strength of low operating cost
as this will increase the
margin for the company and
this can be paid off as the
taxes and other government
charges.
The major opportunity of
investing in digital technology
is possible because of the
strength of low operating cost
and high margin can be used
to invest in digital technology.
Also, another opportunity of
expanding in the developing
economies will be that it
offers a wide range of product
and services and this will help
to capture a large market share
within the economy (Voigt,
Buliga and Michl, 2017).
Marketing objectives
The objective is defined as the aim for which the company is working. This is the
ultimate reason for which the company is existing and is operating. Mainly the objective of the
company is to earn more and more profits so that it can be reinvested in the business and it can
help the business to grow. The ultimate aim of the business is divided into small objectives
which are made for every department of the business. For this the main objective for ALDI is
made for marketing department. This is necessary for the ALDI because this marketing objective
provide a direction to the company and the employees which assist them in doing their work.

The objectives are set in advance and then the working process is directed towards the attainment
of those objectives.
Hence, these objectives can be treated as direction or a path to the employees that in
which direction they have to work in order to attain the objectives (Ramanathan and et.al., 2017).
The marketing objectives are very necessary because if the marketing of company will not be
good then the company will not be able to sustain the competition. These objectives are
mandatory to be attained because marketing is an essential department of the company and if this
will not be working in the intended manner then the company may face some issue.
Also, the objectives need to be SMART that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic
and Time bounded. This is necessary for ALDI to make the marketing objectives keeping the
SMART criteria as its base. This is basically because of the reason that if the objective will not
be SMART then it is of no use. It is so because the SMART criteria include all the possible
aspect which needs to be necessary for the success of the company. The specific includes the
goals must have a clear and specific end point. The measurable criterion states that the objective
must have the ability to be tracked and this will help the company to keep the track of progress.
The attainable criteria states that the goal must be ambitious and future oriented. The realistic or
relevant criteria states that the objective must be realistic and not be based on assumptions. The
last criterion is time bounded and this is necessary because if the objective will not be attained on
time then it will not be useful.
The major three marketing objectives of ALDI for the campaign of Expressing ourselves
is as follows-
 To increase the digital presence with help of the social media marketing by 15 % till mid of
2020.
 To increase the base of consumer with help of campaign Expressing Ourselves by 25 % till
end of 2020.
 To enhance the market share and decrease the competition by 20 % till September 2020.
Marketing mix plan
The marketing mix is defined as the combination of different strategies which are used by
the company in order to manage the marketing and promotion of the company (Armstrong and
et.al., 2018). This is important for the success of the company because of the reason that this
marketing mix helps the company in order to get the knowledge and to take decision relating to

the different aspect of marketing like price, place, promotion and many other different decisions.
Hence, it is very necessary for the company to take proper decision because if the marketing mix
will not be effective then the company will not be able to survive in the highly competitive
market (Jones and Comfort, 2019). Thus, for this the most important thing is to manage the
marketing mix in an effective manner. The marketing mix of ALDI for its marketing campaign
‘Expressing Ourselves’ is as follows-
Product- this is referred to as the goods or the services in which the company deals or for
which the company is existing and operating. It is very important for the company to have
effective and efficient use of product because if this will not be good then consumers will not
like it. The marketing campaign includes all the goods and services in which ALDI is dealing
like food products, clothes, stationery, household goods and services, tools and electronic goods,
beauty products and many other goods and services which are offered by a retail store. Also,
ALDI deals in mobile and network operator, gas, stations, petrol retailer in some countries.
Price- this is referred to as the amount of money which is charged by the company in
exchange of the services and goods which the company is providing to the consumers. It is very
necessary for the company to charge some price form the consumers as there is huge cost being
levied in manufacturing the goods and services for the consumers. Hence, this cost is charged by
the consumers only. There are many different way of pricing the goods and services. The pricing
method being used by ALDI is market penetration pricing. This is being used because of the
reason that this pricing strategy will help the company in penetrate in the market with low price.
Further as the company will gain a high market share then the prices of the products will be
increased to earn a good amount of profit.
Place- this is referred to as the place form where the goods and services of the company
are made available for the consumer to use it. The company is having more than 10000 stores in
over 20 countries all over the globe. Also, for the channel of distribution the company uses the
chain of distribution which includes intermediary and retailers. Also, the company has its
physical stores where the consumers can directly go and purchase their things required. Also, the
company is available online through their website and consumers can go there and also purchase
their essential elements (Kipnis and et.al., 2019).
Promotion- this is referred to as marketing of the goods and services within the market so
that consumers get knowledge of the good and services being offered by ALDI. For the purpose

of promotion of goods and services ALDI is investing huge amount of money in the promotion
of the goods and services of company. The main promotional activity of ALDI is digital
marketing that is social media marketing (Stone and et.al., 2019). This technique is being used
by the company in order to promote the goods and services among the consumers. This is used as
this model helps the company in covering the large market share and will promote the goods and
services in more effective and efficient manner.
People- these are the person who are involved in the business of ALDI and are
responsible for making the business successful .this people involves all the employees working
in the company. ALDI is having a workforce of around 1, 00,000 employees all over the stores
of ALDI. The element of people is very necessary in the company because if this will not be
good then the working of the company will not take place in effective manner. This is essential
because of the fact that every work within the company is undertaken with the help of the human
resource only. Thus, for this it is essential for ALDI that it takes initiative to keep the employees
and all the people related to the company to be safe and secure. This is necessary because if they
will be safe then only the company will run in a good and successful manner.
Hence, in the end it can be stated that for the company to be successful the most
important thing is the proper decision relating to the marketing mix. This proper decision needs
to be taken as this will help the company in taking and securing a competitive position within the
market.
Customer service
The customer service is defined as the services which are being provided by the company
to the consumers. For the company to be successful it is necessary that it provides for the
different types of services to the consumers. These services are necessarily to be provided to the
consumers as this will provide a competitive advantage to the company over the other
competitors. This is basically because of the reason that when the consumers will get extra
services then they will like the goods and services of the company and this will provide a
competitive advantage to the company.
The effective consumer service provides many different types of advantage to the
company and the major one is the increase in the goodwill of the company (Benson, Beresford
and Hirst, 2019). This is an advantage because of the reason that if the consumer will get the
good services then they will like the product and will increase the goodwill of company. The

consumer service also includes the providing of guidance and information to the consumer
relating to the use of goods and services. This consumer services is treated as a representative of
the company at time when the consumer comes to the place to purchase the goods and services
(Filimonau and Gherbin, 2017).
The consumer service is important for the company because of the major reason that this
will increase the income for the company. This is majorly because of the reason that when the
consumer will be satisfied with the services of the company then they will buy the goods ands
services in more. Thus, this will increase the sales of the company and as a result of this the
income of the company will increase. Another major importance for the company is that this will
increase the loyalty of consumer towards the goods and services of the company. This is majorly
because of the reason that when consumer will get extra services then the consumer will continue
to purchase the goods and services of the company.
Thus, this will result in the increase in the loyalty of the consumers towards the company.
In addition to this another major importance of customer services is that the employees will also
work in more effective and dedicated manner. This is majorly because of the fact that when the
number of consumer will be increasing then the sales will be increased and the employees might
get salary hike and bonus. Hence, because of this reason the employees also work in more
effective and efficient manner.
Recommendation for improving customer services of ALDI
The first and foremost step is to increase the market research of the company. This is
majorly because of the reason that there are many different and frequent changes taking place in
the trends of consumers and for providing effective services it is necessary for ALDI to keep a
record of all these changes. Hence, it is necessary for ALDI to make use of effective market
research methods.
Another strategy for ALDI is to establish a well trained consumer complaint handling
department in each store of ALDI. This is necessary because of the reason that many a time
consumer has many problems with the goods and services of the company and if there will be a
good and effective complaint handling department then it will beneficial (Liu, Wu and Luo,
2017). The major reason underlying this is that the consumer handling department will assist the
consumer in dealing with their problem in effective and clear manner and after that providing for
a good and effective solution to the consumers.

CONCLUSION
From the above study it is summarised that it is very essential for the company to have
effective marketing management. This is necessary because currently the competition is very
high and to survive it, it is necessary that the marketing of the company is very effective and up
to date. The current report started by discussing about marketing audit which is necessary to be
conducted by company as this help in analysing the current changes and then adapting them into
the business. This was done with help of TOWS matrix which revealed the link between the
strength and weakness with the threats and opportunities.
Further the discussion took place over marketing objectives and three different types of
marketing objective of the company was highlighted which was based on SMART objectives.
After that the discussion took place over the marketing mix and the different element of this mix
was discussed. This was like the people, price, place, promotion and many others. In the end of
the report the discussion was directed towards the importance of consumer service for the
company and how company can improve it.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Armstrong, G.Mand et.al., 2018. Marketing: an introduction. Pearson UK.
Benson, M., Beresford, P. and Hirst, C., 2019. Value Creation or Destruction: The Role of
Private label in UK Grocery Category Management Decisions.
Filimonau, V. and Gherbin, A., 2017. An exploratory study of food waste management practices
in the UK grocery retail sector. Journal of Cleaner Production. 167. pp.1184-1194.
Grewal, D., 2018. Retail marketing management: The 5 Es of retailing. SAGE Publications
Limited.
Hirst, C. and Beresford, P., 2019. How Consumers Utilise Cultural and Culinary Capital
Resources to Reconcile Discordant Food Retailer Brand Images.
Jones, P. and Comfort, D., 2019. Stories and Retailer Brands: A Study of the UK’s Leading
Retailers. Indonesian Journal of Contemporary Management Research. 1(2).
Kipnis, Eand et.al., 2019. Beyond the Logic of ‘Open Doors’: Advancing Marketing for Social
Inclusion from a Consumer Empowerment Perspective (No. 1010). EasyChair.
Liu, J., Wu, Y. and Luo, J., 2017. Optimisation of intermodal transport chain of supermarkets on
Isle of Wight, UK.
Ramanathan, U. and et.al., 2017. Impact of customer loyalty and service operations on customer
behaviour and firm performance: empirical evidence from UK retail sector. Production
Planning & Control. 28(6-8).pp.478-488.
Ramanathan, U., Subramanian, N. and Parrott, G., 2017. Role of social media in retail network
operations and marketing to enhance customer satisfaction. International Journal of
Operations & Production Management.
Stone, Mand et.al., 2019. SCHEMA: Information on marketing and customer engagement
performance–reality versus dreams. The Bottom Line. 32(1).pp.98-116.
Voigt, K.I., Buliga, O. and Michl, K., 2017. Striving for Customer Benefit: The Case of Aldi.
In Business Model Pioneers. (pp. 11-24). Springer, Cham.
Online
SWOT analysis of Aldi.2019. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.marketing91.com/swot-
analysis-of-aldi/>.