Marketing Principles: Argos, Asda, John Lewis Christmas Strategies

This report provides a comparative analysis of the marketing principles employed by Argos, Asda, and John Lewis, focusing on their Christmas campaigns. It examines key marketing concepts such as sensation transfer, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and competitive advantage. The report delves into how each company utilizes these principles to brand their products and attract customers during the holiday season, considering factors like pricing strategies, charitable initiatives, and environmental sustainability. It highlights the specific marketing tactics each company adopts, including advertising campaigns, promotional offers, and CSR activities, to understand their impact on consumer behavior and overall business performance. The conclusion summarizes the effectiveness of these strategies and emphasizes the importance of adapting marketing approaches to changing consumer preferences, especially in the context of the retail industry.

Marketing Principles for
Business

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………...3
KNOWLEDGE OF MARKETING CONCEPTS………………………………………………...3
SENSATION TRANSFER ………………………………………………………………………4
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY…………………………………………………….5
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE…………………………………………………………………6
CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………………..............8
REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………………9

INTRODUCTION
Marketing principles are the strategies and ideas of marketing that are used to brand and sell
the products of organizations. It includes principles which are used in the promotion of product
with different marketing strategies. (Nosalska and Mazurek, 2019.) It can be used for goods and
services in the organization. In this report, analysis of the marketing theories of Argos, Asda,
and John Lewis. It will also show how these three companies are branding their products at
Christmas, which will include sensation transfer, corporate social responsibility, and competitive
advantage. Argos is the subsidiary company of Sainsbury, sells the retail product in the UK and
some other countries. Asda is also a supermarket retailer in the UK, which is a subsidiary
company of Walmart. John Lewis is a public limited company that operates in retail business in
the UK.
Knowledge of Marketing Concepts
Considering the adverts of Argos, Asda and John Lewis for Christmas, including Sensation
Transfer; Corporate Social Responsibility and the Competitive Advantage
Marketing is a concept which involves activities that are created to fulfil consumer needs
and wants with the help of strategies and planning. As Christmas is about to begin many retail
companies are adopting various marketing plans to brand their products. The strategies are
prepared so that they can meet customers' requirements, help in increasing sales, make the most
of the profit, and beat the competitors. Branding is one of the concepts of marketing, which
focuses on products, and services a company offered to grab the special attention of customers.
An evaluation of the three companies will be done on the basis of their branding strategies in
Christmas including Sensation Transfer, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and
Competitive Advantage.

Sensation Transfer
It is a way of branding the products of a company that focus more on the looks and
packaging of products. The labelling and design of products are done in such a way that they
attract the customers. It is based on the psychological concept of customers when the effect of
product labelling, designing, and packaging is more on customers than the quality of the
products. (Skaczkowski and et.al., 2016.) In the festivals like Christmas sensation transfer of
products is adopted to attract customers. Let's understand how these companies have applied the
sensation transfer strategy.
 Argos - Argos is a retail company with 883 shops, was one of the first companies to
bring their advertisements for Christmas. The Argos applies the marketing method for the
sales of its products by creating a different section on its website named "Christmas gifts
2020". The Christmas gifts items like toys, chocolates, decoration items, Christmas
wrapping paper prices are lowered down, and the company is also offering discounts and
freebies on some products. (Krasyuk and et.al., 2017.) Argos iconic catalogue which was
used in 2019 to attract customers, this year it was renamed as 'The Book of Dreams'. The
company marketing champion in 2020 brings and Tv commercial with the theme that
shows two sisters named Lucy and Daisy, embracing all the toys in the catalogue, that
they want Father Christmas to bring them with magic.
 Asda - Asda has also brought a commercial on an online platform and tv commercial,
which shows a video of a family getting ready for Christmas and gifting each other Asda
food products, decorations, and other items. It is a tv commercial which includes few
seconds on products of Asda like a light-up sloth and Santa. The advert will also appear
in print, youtube, radio, and social media. As looking at the effect of Covid-19 on
customers' purchase, the major focus of Asda is on the price drop. The name of the
campaign is ‘Asda Price Christmas’, as the company relaunched the price of some
products for Christmas to make its customers happy.

 John Lewis - John Lewis's marketing campaign took too much time to come in the
market, as the company was thinking to do charity this year than spending on the advert.
The campaign ‘Give A Little Love’ is part of their marketing. John Lewis this year
adopted the gift of awareness rather than monetary offers to its customers. The company
is hosting a 'Give A Little Love', event which has free registration entry, to collect the
money for charity.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
It means that the corporate world is also accountable and responsible for the social
sustainability and welfare of human beings. It a social contribution of organizations to the
people, economy, and environment. CSR is also related to branding, as it creates goodwill for the
company, which attracts more customers. CSR exercises are not legally bound on companies, it
is like a positive gesture toward the society and environment. While linking it with branding, it
shows customers that the company not only cares for profit but also works for the community
and people. (Cambra‐Fierro and et.al., 2020. )Some CSR adopted by the following companies is
discussed below.
 Argos - Argos always considers being accountable for the environment and society.
They always work to be environmentally friendly during business operations. The
Catalogues of the company are 100% recyclable, carry a bag of the company are eco-
friendly and reduced about 34% in carbon footprint. Argos helps Macmillan Cancer
Support by doing charity. Argos has collaborated with comic relief to make the
Christmas of children and young people in the UK. With the Christmases campaign,
about £4 million of donation has been raised by the company. The money is equally
divided into 12 charities that support the families who are in need.
 Asda - Asda believes in sustainability and makes their product environment friendly
which can be afforded by every sector of society. The company opted for reuseable
bags for customers and runs a go green for school scheme, and also reduced up to
25% on packaging and labeling. (Keogh, 2016.) The company aims to reach 100%

recyclable packing by 2025. For Christmas looking at the pandemic situation, Asda
has lowered the prices of its products to make the customers happy. This year is also
a greener Christmas for Asda, as announced its first sustainable Christmas range,
which saves approx 66 tonnes of plastic that is about 3000 Christmas trees.
 John Lewis - The Company follows the policy of sustainability of the environment.
The company announced to help the struggling families during covid-19 by raising a
fund of £5 million. The company has a deal with two charity FareShare and Home-
Start. It will help about 100,000 families for who 2020 has been the year of
uncertainties. The company is hosting an event ‘Give a Little Love‘which is a
donation event. (Corporate Social Responsibility of John Lewis. 2020.) The amount
collected from this event will be used for charity by the company. Every member
participating in the event will have the opportunity to contribute a donation and bring
a smile to the face of people who are in need at this time of year.
Competitive Advantage
It means that when the competition is more, it makes the company perform better and
high-quality products and services. It helps in increasing productivity with a high standard to
match the market and competitors. It maintains sustainability and transparency among the
customers, which built trust toward the company. (Wu, 2018.) Competitive advantage helps in
making a better marketing plan and strategy. It gives an advantage in the branding of products
and services. The competitive advantage of the following companies’ areas -
 Argos - The Company held the second position in the retail business in the UK,
the biggest competition of Agros is Tesco, which is the leading supermarket
company. Argos bring new offers and discounts for its customers for standing in
the competition with other retail company. Many customers have shifted to local
and cheap products as the buying power of people has declined.

 Asda - The Company has a big name in the retail business all over the world. it is
known for its reputation, innovation, and healthy relationship with customers and
suppliers. The competitive rival of Asda is Tesco and Argos. In the pandemic
situation, the sales of Asda have also fallen as customers' preferences have
changed. During festival like Christmas Company have changes to do create
marketing that bring more customers.
 John Lewis - It has been a tough year for john lewis as the sales of the company
have gone down at a high percentage. During Christmas, the company has first
decided not to spend money on advertisement, as the money can be used for
charity purposes. (Shipper and Hoffman, 2020.) Therefore, the company is
bringing an event that will collect the donation for people. These are different
strategies of branding from competitors. It is the first company in 2020 Christmas
to host such an event.

CONCLUSION
In this report, it is concluded that Marketing is very important in the retail business. The
report shows the comparative analysis between three companies which are Argos, Asda, and
John Lewis, on the basis of the branding concept. The points included in this report are Sensation
Transfer, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and the Competitive Advantage of three
companies. It resulted that all the companies are trying to satisfy the customers' needs and
increase the profit of the company. The pandemic has changed the preference of people, so it is
essential for companies to make moves in marketing to attract customers.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Cambra‐Fierro, J.J., and et.al., 2020. CSR and branding in emerging economies: The effect of
incomes and education. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management.
Keogh, C., 2016. A study critically analysing the CSR activities of UK Supermarkets and how
they compare when evaluated using a framework based on ISO 26000 (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Huddersfield).
Krasyuk, I.A., and et.al., 2017. Marketing management in retail chains. International Journal of
Applied Business and Economic Research. 15(12). p.83.
Nosalska, K. and Mazurek, G., 2019. Marketing principles for Industry 4.0—a conceptual
framework. Engineering Management in Production and Services. 11(3). pp.9-20.
Shipper, F. and Hoffman, R.C., 2020. John Lewis partnership approaching 100 years–what
now?. The CASE Journal.
Skaczkowski, G., and et.al., 2016. The effect of packaging, branding and labeling on the
experience of unhealthy food and drink: A review. Appetite. 99. pp.219-234.
Wu, S.H., 2018. Research on the Competitive Advantage of Branding Strategy and Channel
Development-The Case Analysis of Company A.
Online
Corporate Social Responsibility of John Lewis. 2020. [ONLINE] Available through: <
https://experiences.johnlewis.com/live/givealittlelove?
intcmp=ic_20201211_galllive_hp_xma_t
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