Marketing Communication Strategies and Analysis for Sainsbury's

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Sainsbury's marketing communication strategies. It begins with an overview of Sainsbury's, including its history, product offerings, and financial performance. The report then delves into various marketing communication tools employed by Sainsbury's, such as advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and public relations, detailing their characteristics, effectiveness, and benefits. Furthermore, the report examines the application of the Ansoff Matrix, exploring Sainsbury's market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification strategies. The report also touches upon the 7 Ps of marketing and PESTLE analysis, providing a comprehensive understanding of Sainsbury's marketing approach. This analysis provides valuable insights into how Sainsbury's communicates with its target audience and maintains its market position.

Marketing
communication

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK1.............................................................................................................................................1
TASK2.............................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION- ...........................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Marketing communication refers to a method that is used by the companies for conveying
a message to public, in a very creative way for the purpose of creating demand for the product
and service which it wants to offer. The present study is based on Sainsbury , a retail
supermarket in UK (Blakeman, 2018). Apart from this a brief study is done on marketing
communication tools used by Sainsbury to convey message regarding energy drink the mass
public. In addition to this there are various benefits that can be derived from marketing
communication, which is discussed in detail. Furthermore a briefing is done on 7 p's of
marketing and PESTLE analysis in respect of Sainsbury.
TASK1
Overview
Sainsbury is the large chain of supermarkets , that was founded in 1869 by John James
Sainsbury . He has started with retailing of fresh food then expanded its business to groceries and
clothing.Mr. Sainsbury and his wife has started with small shop at 173 Drury Lane in London. It
offers various product related to grocery, stationary , electric items etc. .It deals with 700 product
line mainly food items. Currently 186900 employees are working in the organisation . Sainsbury
mainly focus on maintaining quality of the product .On contrary to the good side of Sainsbury , it
was in controversy due to price fixing , as it was involved in making cartel related to dairy price
fixing with other retailers(Bruhn, and Schnebelen, 2017). In addition to this In 2017 it was found
that it is charging 50 pounds more on Valentines day. But apart from this all it has maintained its
marketing position . Focusing on its revenue and earnings then the total revenue earned by it in
2018 is £28.456 billion and net income earned by Sainsbury is £309 million. Furthermore, it is
listed in London Stock exchange and Financial Times Stock exchange Group 100 index.
Marketing communication Tools
Marketers use various tools for selling and promoting its product and generating
awareness about its brand . Following are the tools of marketing communication-
Advertising
It is the paid form of communication that helps organisation to reach wide audience
within short period of time. It is the most effective tools that organisations use for creating brand
awareness. The main objective of advertising is to provide clear understanding about the brand
1

or the product to the target audience. Advertising tools of Sainsbury includes Television,
Newspaper, Radio that helps end consumer for having loyalty towards the energy drink products
(Fill and Turnbull, 2016).In addition to this the aim of advertising marketers of Sainsbury is to
ensure that the right message should be delivered to right person at the right time.
Nowadays online advertisement is one of the effective tool for advertising as it attract not
only local customers but attracts international customers. Sainsbury use this method for
promoting its energy drink ,which helps it in getting quick feedback from the customers. Along
with the new users online advertisement encourages innovation as a result of which research and
development will also increase. Another kind of advertisement is print advertisement ,
Sainsbury, sometimes used print media for the purpose of providing each detail about the content
of energy drink to the consumer.
Characteristics
 It is a non personal communication for addressing large no. of audience
 Advertising is paid form of method of communication as it has to pay fees media
agencies and spend money on sponsors.
 Its main objective is to improve and maintain brand image, building relationship with
customers , increasing sale and educating customer about the benefit of the product.
 The advertising message can be expressed in oral, written , visual or in audible form.
 Advertisement is an art of representing message in very creative manner that needs skills
and experience(Hänninen and Karjaluoto, 2017) .
 It is the one way communication , means here sponsors or representative convey message
to the audience but message from audience to marketer is not possible .
Effectiveness/ benefits
 Advertising helps in expanding the market of Sainsbury within very less time
 It also helps manufacturer of energy drink to make audience vigil about against making
copy of features or content of the product by any other competitor.
 Advertisement is also an effective to popularize the energy drink that will help in
building up reputation and goodwill of Sainsbury(Karjaluoto, Mustonen and Ulkuniemi,
2015)
Sales promotion
2

This type of marketing communication use coupons, discounts, attractive packages for
loyal customers, for promoting its products . In addition to this Sainsbury can promote its energy
drink through danglers and banners at the right place, which is also a part of sales promotion.
Furthermore sales promotion uses media or non media or both .There are various techniques of
sales promotion which are as follows-
Free gifts- For promoting energy drinks Sainsbury can offer some small gifts with the
main product that will initially increase the demand among the general customer and subsequent
will help in maintaining demand among potential customers (Karjaluoto, Mustonen and
Ulkuniemi, 2015)
. Gift is something like that attract consumer for second purchase and which can help Sainsbury
in promoting its brand.
Bundle sale- Sainsbury can also use bundle sale technique which means offering
multiple products at reasonable rates .Generally bundle of products is sold for less than the price
that an individual pay for products in parts. But it is the strategy of the companies to move price
of the main product (energy drink) on other products in the bundle .
Coupon codes- Nowadays online retail business use coupon codes, that is provided to the
customer for deducting points or the amount of money , mentioned in the coupon code , for the
next purchase . This is done with the view to encourage subsequent sale of the product.
Characteristics-
 It involves all the efforts for promotional activities other than personal, selling
advertising and publicity.
 The main objective of sales promotion is influencing customers for immediate purchasing
 It includes special selling efforts like providing incentives and schemes related to the
main product(Liu, and et.al. 2016) .
Effectiveness/ benefits
 It will create differentiation , as every company needs to survive for long.So brand needs
to be different which should attract the customers. This differentiation can be created by
sales promotion.
3

 It will create communication opportunity for Sainsbury in the most creative way so it
create good image of the product in the minds of consumer.
Personal selling
It is the another important tool of communication where seller takes product to the
customer. Main objective of personal selling is to make face to face interaction with the
customer and getting immediate feedback from the customer. For this purpose Sainsbury can
prepare a team of sales representatives can do door to door sale for getting initial feedback about
the energy drink(Luxton, Reid and Mavondo, 2015) . But Sainsbury can do it only for the
purpose of getting customer reviews in the niche market, as it will be difficult for Sainsbury to
do personal selling in large public.
Personal selling includes the following steps-
 Searching- it will help in finding out contacts of potential customers
 First contact- In the second step marketers needs to make first contact with the client
through telephones and emails .
 Sales call- Seller have to communicate about its product while interecting with the
customer and have to give all the information about uniqueness of the brand.
 Objection handling- the seller should be ready to answer the queries of the customer.
 Closing the sale – The seller should not leave until and unless he has solve all the queries
of the customers(Petersen, Kushwaha and Kumar, 2015) .
Characteristics-
 It is the personal form of promotional tool which establish a contact between buyer and
seller.
 It results in developing relationship between sales person and buyer which is the most
important thing is sales.
 It encourage oral conversation regarding colour, feature , method , shape and design of
the product , between buyer and seller.
Effectiveness/ benefits
 The most important benefit of personal selling is that it is the two way communication
which will help salesman of the Sainsbury to get instant feedback about the energy drink.
4

 It will help marketer of Sainsbury to make direct contact with the audience that is not
possible with other forms of communication(Petersen, Kushwaha and Kumar, 2015) . Building trust among the customer related to a product is essential , that will be only
created by influencing a consumer through personal contact.
Public relation
It is them of marketing communication in which companies deliver its message to public
and media . In this communication with target audience is made for making meaningful
relationship with the public. Apart from this Sainsbury can use this tool for creating and
maintaining positive image of the Energy drink products. There are various tools for public
relation like press releases, public appearances and newsletters etc.
Characteristics-
 PR includes active interaction with the audience and the World .Communication should
be done periodically or monthly , so that continuity of positive brand image can be
maintained in the minds of consumer.
 The core purpose ODF the official public relation is to do quality conversation which
may related to a product or the company
Effectiveness/ benefits
 The benefit of making public relation is that it is very cost effective that does not need
huge expenses. So it will be very economical for Sainsbury to reach larger audience as
compare to advertisement(San-Martín, Jiménez and López-Catalán, 2016). Influencing audience from the objective source rather than advertising build more trust
among the customers of energy drinks of Sainsbury.
Marketing theory – Ansoff model
5

Ansoff matrix,2010
Market penetration strategy – Is the strategy where firms wants to achieve growth with
the existing product in their current market . This strategy is less risky as company has to only
increase its sales of the existing product. Along with this company has to maintain its market
share that should result in growth. In addition to this there are chances of availability of
opportunity in the market, where company can take competitive advantage. Here opportunity
may be in the form of reaching capacity limits by the competitors, where company can increase
those limits by adding new features to the product (San-Martín, Jiménez and López-Catalán,
2016).
Market development strategy- In this strategy companies focuses on targeting new
market segments .The main aim of this strategy is to expand the marketing segments. Here firms
lay emphasis on enlarging niche segmentation by moving towards mass segmentation of
markets , so that they can increase sale its existing product to the large audience with the aim of
earning more profit. In addition to this there is high risk present in entering in new market
because of existing competitors which are already established in that market that may results in
shifting of consumer towards close substitute of the new product introduced by the company.
Product Development strategy- This strategy of marketers focuses on developing new
product and introducing it to the existing market. The main aim of this strategy is to maintain the
existing potential customers who make regular purchase by adding some more features to the
product or by offering a different new product(Petersen, Kushwaha and Kumar, 2015) .Apart
6

from this here new product is obtained through research and development, innovation or by
acquiring patent rights or copyrights.
Diversification- This strategy aims at developing new products and d introducing in the
new market. Sainsbury is using this strategy for diversification in the product line by launching
energy drink . It is the most risky among all the marketing strategy . But firms take risk for
getting higher amount of return. Diversification can be of two type related and unrelated. In
related diversification there is a close relationship between existing firm and the new product
that has been introduced in the market. On the other hand unrelated diversification is introducing
product which is not related to the company(Petersen, Kushwaha and Kumar, 2015).
TASK2
Strategic marketing communication plan
Strategic marketing planning refers to the strategy that a company uses to market and
deliver its products to the targeted segments of customers. A company can use more than one
strategy for marketing the products or services. The company can use various platforms for
marketing the products such as digital platform, print advertisement etc. The strategic marketing
plan is consist of various steps. Company can formulate various types of plans for marketing and
communicating the benefits of a new product to the customers (Bruni, 2017).
Marketing communication plan refers to the plan a company formulates to convey information
regarding the products to the targeted segments. It is one of the important part of overall
marketing plan that also covers strategy that company will adopt etc.
Communication is a process through which company will send information regarding the new
product . Sainsbury will follow various steps for communicating the benefits of Energy Drink to
targeted segment of customers (Fill, 2016). They are as follows-
Context- The process in which company is communicating affects the whole process of
marketing. Sainsbury will firstly decide the context in which it has to communicate about the
new product at the global level. The company will develop the message it has to communicate
keeping in mind the context within which it will communicate.
Sender- The sender is the person that has authority to deliver the message. Sainsbury will
appoint marketing manager for communicate the message at global level. Marketing manager of
the company will have authority and responsibility of developing logo , symbols for marketing
the product. The knowledge, skills of manager will impact the message.
7

Message- It is the main part of communication process. The message will be the features,
benefits of Energy Drink that company will launch. Sainsbury will define the marketing
objectives it wants to communicate at the global level.
Medium- Sainsbury will use various tools and techniques for communicating the
message at the global level. Manager of the company will choose various methods after
analysing their benefits in influencing the customers. The company will use social media
platforms, digital platforms, personal selling etc. for communicating the message.
Receiver- The receiver means the customers to which Sainsbury will communicate the
message.
The success of communication will depends upon the response from customers at the global
level, knowledge of customers regarding company and its products etc.
Feedback- Through feedback from customers at global level, Sainsbury will analyse the
effectiveness of communication process. Sainsbury will take feedback from customers through
telephone, views on website of the company. It will also conduct survey for getting response
regarding Energy Drink at global level.
Marketing communication plan of Sainsbury-
Executive summary-
Sainsbury is founded in 1869 in London, United Kingdom. The founder of the company
is John James Sainsbury. The headquarter of company is located in Holborn, London. The
holding company of Sainsbury is J. Sainsbury plc. The company operates supermarkets, shops,
superstores etc. at various locations in United Kingdom. The Report will describe the vision,
mission of Sainsbury, the objectives of the company behind marketing the new product. The
Report will also describe segmentation, positioning and targeting strategy that company will use
for marketing of new product that is 'Energy Drink' that the company will launch in different
countries of U.K.. The Report will also analyse strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of
the company. Further it will outline 7p's of marketing the product and budget, monitoring and
controlling strategy that company will adopt.
Vision-
The vision of the company is to become a top company in the industry of U.K. To make
efforts so that, it will become a trusted company on which customers can trust upon and the will
8

like to buy products. To provide a long lasting experience to the customers. To work for welfare
of stakeholders of the company(Grönroos, 2017).
Mission-
The mission of Sainsbury is to deliver high quality of products at an affordable cost to the
customers, to exceed the expectations of the customers by providing healthy, tasty and fresh
items.
Core values-
The core values of the company are as follows-
Making efforts for bringing improvement in the operations of Sainsbury(Kitchen, 2015).
Increasing the sales of the products through improved services , promoting the simplicity in the
delivery process of goods.
Sainsbury focuses on utilizing the revenue for improving the production and distribution process
of the company.
Marketing objectives-
It refers to the aims and objectives that a company wants to achieve through marketing of
product or services. There are various objectives that Sainsbury wants to achieve through
marketing and communicating the features and benefits of new product that is 'Energy Drink' in
U.K. as well at global level they are as follows-
 The main objective of Sainsbury behind marketing of the new product is to increase the
sales of Energy Drink by 20% till year 2021. To achieve this objective company will use
various tools of marketing such as advertisement in local as well as in international
newspaper, it will also give ads in television, radio etc. Sainsbury will invest funds for
promoting the new product on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram etc. All
these tools of marketing and communication will help Sainsbury to describe the benefits
of Energy Drink that company will launch. So that, it will influence the customers to buy
the product.
 Another major objective of the company is that through marketing of Energy Drink the
company will easily enter into international markets as well as in the countries of U.K.
Where the demand of organic juice is high(Paley, 2017.).
9

 Marketing of the new product will help Sainsbury to increase its customer base because,
marketing will help the company to target new customers as well as existing customers
will become more loyal towards the products of the company.
Segmentation, targeting and positioning analysis-
Segmentation-
Market segmentation is a process of dividing the whole market into small segments. It is
the method through which Sainsbury will decide that on which market it has to focus to satisfy
the demands of targeted group of segments. It is the first step that comes before targeting a
particular market segment. Sainsbury will use various methods of segmenting the whole
consumer market of U.K. such as geographic segmentation, demographic segmentation etc.
Sainsbury will divide whole consumer market of U.K. On the basis of geographic areas. It will
divide the market in different categories like international level , state, country and cities for
marketing of 'Energy Drink.' So, firstly Sainsbury will launch the new product in 8 cities of U.K.
As the product will show success, company will later on launch it at international level.
Sainsbury will also segment the market on the basis of income, age of the population.
Targeting-
After segmentation, Sainsbury will select a particular market segment because it is not
possible that needs of all the customers can be satisfied at one time. After segmenting the market
Sainsbury will choose that segment which provides more opportunities of success to the
company. On the basis of demographic factor such as age , company will target the population of
15-40 age group for offering new product that is 'Energy Drink'. Sainsbury will target middle and
upper class peoples living in urban areas of U.K.
Positioning-
It refers to the strategy through which company will establish image of brand, company
and its product in the minds of targeted segment of customers. The company will position the
product in the minds of consumers by communicating the features and benefits of the product
like, Energy Drink will help in maintaining health etc. through various tools of marketing such as
social media platforms, ads, radio channel etc.
SWOT ANALYSIS-
It helps a company to examine internal strengths and weaknesses that may impact the operations
of the company.
10

Strengths- One of the major strength of Sainsbury is that the business of company is
diversified and it has a wide range of products in its portfolio. Due to diversified business,
company is having a large market share in U.K. Another strength of the company is that it has a
consistent record of profitability(Luxton, 2015).
Weakness- Sainsbury is spending huge amount of funds on research and development
activity then also it is difficult for the company to compete with other companies. Sainsbury
should invest more amount funds for using advanced technology for production and delivery of
goods and services.
Opportunities- There are various opportunities for the company to offer its existing as
well as new products in global markets with the help of online support and collaboration.
Sainsbury hasan opportunity to diversify its existing range of grocery products etc. Company can
use advanced technology to get better understanding of views of the customers.
Threats- Sainsbury is facing intense competition from various competitors such as Tesco
etc. Lack of skilled workforce in other countries can be a threat to the growth of the Sainsbury
7 P's of Marketing mix-
It refers to all those factors that helps a company in marketing of a product or service in an
effective manner.
11
Figure 1 : The 7P's of marketing mix
Source : (The 7P's of marketing mix, 2018)

Product-
Sainsbury is already having a wide range of products in its portfolio. To improve the profitability
and performance of existing business of the company, it will launch 'Energy Drink' a new
product under existing brand name of company in U.K. And when the product will show the
success in market, company will launch the product at global level. The new product will help
the company to improve the existing range of products. Energy Drink will provide various
benefits to customers such as high quality, juice will contain natural ingredients, having low-fat,
the product will boost the energy level. The product will be available in three different categories
that are can, premium and popular etc.
Price-
Sainsbury will use competitive pricing strategy for marketing of Energy Drink in an effective
manner. The company will set the price of the product after considering some important factors
such as competition in the market, the process that consumers follow while taking buying
decisions, sensitivity of the price of the product etc. The company will offer the product at
similar price as of the competitors such as Tesco. Because, of the distinctive features of Energy
Drink.
Distribution-
The new product of the Sainsbury will be available in more than 600 convenience stores in
various cities of U.K. Sainsbury will also provide facility of home delivery to potential
customers. National and regional distribution centres of the company will help in effective
delivery and distribution of the product. Sainsbury will appoint a specific distributor for
distributing Energy Drink. Distributor will supply to wholesaler, wholesaler to retailer and
retailer will sell the juice to the ultimate customers.
Promotion-
Sainsbury will use various marketing tools and techniques for promoting Energy Drink. It will
give advertisement in local and international newspaper. Company will also promote the product
through social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook etc. Company will offer vouchers,
cards for increasing the sales and revenue.
12

People-
Sainsbury will appoint talented and skilled sales persons for marketing of Energy Drink at
various locations in U.K. Company will provide training to employees so that, they can easily
understand the preferences of targeted customers.
Process-
The company will provide various options to the customers for buying the new product of the
company. Sainsbury has made online process of purchasing Energy Drink very easy through
introduction of click and collect service. It will also i9ncrease the number of delivery slots for
increasing the number of orders from customers.
Physical evidence-
The interior design of stores of Sainsbury will play a major role in increasing the sales of Energy
Drink. The high quality of packaging of juice, quality of trolleys will help the company to
provide better shopping experience to the customers.
Marketing Budget-
Sainsbury will have total budget of £800 for conducting various marketing activities for Energy
Drink.
Program of marketing-
Channels of marketing Marketing activities
Digital form of marketing Social media platforms
Direct marketing Telephone
Commercial marketing Television
Marketing Budget-
Digital marketing £400
Direct marketing £100
Commercial marketing £300
Total £800
13

Monitoring and control-
Sainsbury will use various techniques such as standard costing etc. for monitor and control the
process of production and delivery and delivery of new product. This will help Sainsbury to
analyze the performance of new product and in which areas company need to improve
(Taiminen, 2015).
CONCLUSION-
The above Report has analysed the range of products that Sainsbury is offering to the customers.
The Report has also described features, effectiveness of various tools of marketing with the help
of marketing theory. Further, the Report has described strategic marketing communication plan
that has covered vision, mission, core values of company, marketing objectives of new product,
SWOT analysis, marketing mix of new product, marketing budget and controlling etc.
14

REFERENCES
Blakeman, R., 2018. Integrated marketing communication: creative strategy from idea to
implementation. Rowman & Littlefield.
Bruhn, M. and Schnebelen, S., 2017. Integrated marketing communication–from an instrumental
to a customer-centric perspective. European Journal of Marketing. 51(3). pp.464-489.
Bruni, A., Cassia, F. and Magno, F., 2017. Marketing performance measurement in hotels, travel
agencies and tour operators: a study of current practices. Current issues in tourism. 20(4).
pp.339-345.
Fill, C. and Turnbull, S. L., 2016. Marketing communications: brands, experiences and
participation. Pearson.
Fill, C. and Turnbull, S.L., 2016. Marketing communications: brands, experiences and
participation. Pearson.
Grönroos, C., 2017. Relationship marketing readiness: theoretical background and measurement
directions. Journal of Services Marketing. 31(3).pp.218-225.
Hänninen, N. and Karjaluoto, H., 2017. The effect of marketing communication on business
relationship loyalty. Marketing Intelligence & Planning. 35(4). pp.458-472.
Hastings, G. and Stead, M., 2017. Social marketing. Taylor & Francis.
Karjaluoto, H., Mustonen, N. and Ulkuniemi, P., 2015. The role of digital channels in industrial
marketing communications. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. 30(6). pp.703-
710.
Kitchen, P.J., 2015. Integrated Brand Marketing. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management.pp.1-2.
Liu, S. and et.al. 2016. The standardization-localization dilemma of brand communications for
luxury fashion retailers' internationalization into China. Journal of Business
Research. 69(1). pp.357-364.
Luxton, S., Reid, M. and Mavondo, F., 2015. Integrated marketing communication capability and
brand performance. Journal of Advertising. 44(1). pp.37-46.
Luxton, S., Reid, M. and Mavondo, F., 2015. Integrated marketing communication capability
and brand performance. Journal of Advertising. 44(1). pp.37-46.
Paley, N., 2017. How to Develop a Strategic Marketing Plan: A step-by-step guide. Routledge.
15

Petersen, J. A., Kushwaha, T. and Kumar, V., 2015. Marketing communication strategies and
consumer financial decision making: The role of national culture. Journal of
Marketing. 79(1). pp.44-63.
San-Martín, S., Jiménez, N. H. and López-Catalán, B., 2016. The firms benefits of mobile CRM
from the relationship marketing approach and the TOE model. Spanish journal of
marketing-ESIC. 20(1). pp.18-29.
Shaw, S., 2016. Airline marketing and management. Routledge.
Štefko, R., Kiráľová, A. and Mudrík, M., 2015. Strategic marketing communication in pilgrimage
tourism. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 175.pp.423-430.
Taiminen, H.M. and Karjaluoto, H., 2015. The usage of digital marketing channels in
SMEs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development. 22(4). pp.633-651.
Villarino, J. and Font, X., 2015. Sustainability marketing myopia: The lack of persuasiveness in
sustainability communication. Journal of Vacation Marketing. 21(4). pp.326-335.
Online
Ansoffmatrix.2010[Online].AvailableThrough.<http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/matrix/
ansoff/>
The 7P's of marketing mix.2018.[Online] Available Through :
<https://www.smartinsights.com/marketing-planning/marketing-models/how-to-use-the-
7ps-marketing-mix/>
16