Marketing Essentials Report: An Analysis of ASOS Company Marketing

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Added on 2023/01/19

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This report provides a comprehensive analysis of ASOS, a fashion and cosmetic retail brand, focusing on its marketing strategies and their interrelation with other functional areas. The report begins by defining the role of marketing and its responsibilities, including pricing, product management, financing, distribution channel management, promotion, marketing information systems, and customer support. It then delves into the marketing environment, encompassing both micro and macro factors, and explores the interdependencies between marketing and other departments such as human resources and production. The report also examines the various elements of marketing, such as distribution channels, branding, and customer service, and their impact on sales. Furthermore, it compares ASOS with Christian Dior, analyzing their marketing mixes based on the seven Ps: product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence. The report concludes with a discussion of ASOS's marketing plan, providing insights into how the company aims to achieve its business objectives. This report is designed to provide a detailed understanding of the marketing principles and their practical application within the context of a real-world company, ASOS.

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INTRODUCTION
Marketing refer to the actions undertaken by company with the purpose to build potential
network and essential relationship with customer. The role of marketing is to identify customer's
requirement and accessing them with the product that satisfy their need and leads to long term
profitability as well as productivity. It is one of the most crucial part of businesses that help to
maintain the long term relation with existing as well as potential customer through electronic
media by satisfying the need of customer. Thus, it involve various processes like create product,
communicate its value as well as deliver the right product to right customer that help to gain long
term sustainable development. For, the better understanding of report ASOS company has been
selected which is fashion and cosmetic retail brand and its headquarter is in England. It operates
through their website where it offers fashionable clothes as well as accessories in order to cover
huge market successfully. This report cover following topics like role of marketing and its
interrelation with other functional area of an organisation. It compares different organisation on
the basis of marketing mix that include seven P's. Furthermore, marketing plan for the ASOS
company is effectively covered in this report.
TASK 1
P1:
Marketing function includes the role and responsibility where preference is given to the
need of consumer by gathering the data and analysing marketing information for long term
business success. Such function is used to promote the brand and generate awareness amongst
the customer by intimating the USP that is unique selling proposition of brand and differentiating
it with other substitute. The prime aim of marketing function is to transfer the services as well as
good from the producer to the ultimate consumer in order to maximize the satisfaction and fulfil
the changing need as per changing preferences or trend (Kayabasi and Mtetwa, 2016).
Roles and responsibility of marketing function
 Pricing of product: Pricing is a crucial component that help to generate the demand of
item by setting right price of the product on the basis of brand value and by evaluating
competitor's pricing strategy. The marketing department set the price that need to justify
the product which mean it should not be either over or under charged (Meyerson, 2015).

 Product or service management: Products or services help to generate revenue for the
company so the role of marketing manager of ASOS Company is to manage the whole
product line of luxury items successfully after anticipating the market. The main reason
to do so is that if a customer will find any problem in any single item of the company,
then this will create dissonance for whole product line. For this the marketing department
need to create a value for the customers which can increase their level of satisfaction.
This can be done by modifying the goods and services and with attractive packing,
detailed labelling etc. (Brady, 2014).
 Financing : Financing function is a significant marketing function where company look
for the various sources to fulfil the demand of fund required for various purpose like
expansion or stretching of product line. In terms of ASOS which has stretched its
operation worldwide can seek the financial help from most suitable source that can assist
company to perform all its operation effectively (Nirschl and Steinberg, 2018).
Marketing of the company helps in promotion the activities of the company with the help
of which they can attract the investors and other who can provide them the credit.
Herein, ASOS has huge distribution channel that can connect and fulfil the demand of
each and every customer of the company. This increases the requirement of funds thus
they need to focus on the credit facility to their distributors and acquiring loans from the
banks and other institution.
 Distribution channel management Distribution channel which is the part of marketing
function which is responsible to transport as well as store the final product in order to
safely deliver it to the ultimate user. Marketing department act as an intermediary who
connect the producer with consumer to enhance the sales of company. For instance,
ASOS Company has various distribution channel such as direct or indirect channel in
order to transport the good within stipulated time period (Okumus and Cetin, 2018).
Along with that, the company has warehouse which is used to store the inventory that can
come into use in order to meet rise in demand by maintaining the quality of product.
Further, due to the convenience of digital media ASOS Company has online presence
which is used to engage the traffic generated from various sources. Like, via website the
marketing department of company the promotes their goods by showcasing the online

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catalogue and fulfil the order of customer as well as it include the contact detail of
customer service that is used to handle the problem of people effectively.
 Promotion : Promotion is an essential part of an organization where the customer are
made familiar with the offering of company with the help of advertisement done through
various platform. In relation with the ASOS, marketing department promote its offering
through digital media where it post the customized advertisement and compel the
customer to make purchases (Perry and Pyatt, 2015). Along with this, marketing team of
the company promotes through social media has enhanced the sales of company by
spreading awareness about their products.
 Marketing Information System: Due to innovation and dynamic environment, the
attitude or preference of an individual changes on constant basis. So, it become essential
for the company to analyse the marketing information and make essential decision. In
ASOS, such information or data plays a vital role and is utilised in favour of company as
on the basis of these information they make the business plan (Blakemen, 2014).
 Customer Support Service: The role of marketing manager is not only confined till
making the final purchases but it also include after sales services or handle the problem
of client significantly in order to give them long lasting experience. This generate the
loyalty as well as trust of customer for the specific brand. In relation to this the marketing
department of company has provided a helpline number through which they tackle the
queries of people and concentrate on the feedback or customer complaint. This is an
important function which gives priority to both pre as well as post sales (Pike, 2015).
M1:
Marketing environment consist of micro as well as macro environment that include
internal and external factors which can affect the long term functioning of business. So
marketing department analyse these factors which are dynamic in nature and make all possible
precaution to fulfil the need of customer successfully. Herein, ASOS operates both in developing
and developed market so they can easily figure out the impact of external marketing environment
such as population size and trend or preferences of customer. It assist the company to expand
their business and up-gradation their technology by bringing innovation to operate in the specific
market successfully.

P2:
An organisation consist of different departments that perform their own role and
responsibility which are associated with the organisation. These function are interrelated to each
other and together perform their duties to fulfil the long term objective successfully (Jacoby,
2014).
Marketing and human resource: Human resource department is one of the finest
departments of ASOS that remain concern to manage the manpower successfully. It involve
functions like recruitment, selection, appraisal and development of an employee so that they will
put all their effort for the betterment or to attain long term success. Further, marketing
department include the sales representative who are the face of company as they directly remain
in contact with final consumer. Thus, to perform suitable responsibility, marketing department
depend upon HR who take the initiative and offer training and development session to the sales
executive which develop their interpersonal skill and persuade the customer to make the
purchases. This helps to maximize the profitability and gain long term achievement (Podnar,
2014).
Marketing and production department: Production or manufacturing department of
respected company is responsible for the production of final good or services by offering the
significant value to the customer. It involve making the optimum utilization of resources and
coordinating the effort in order to enhance the production activity. Moreover, marketing
department analyses the prevailing demand, communicate the information to production
department and with the help of production department bring modification in product to fulfil the
desire of customer and enhance the sales of company. Thus, both of them closely function where
the personnel of marketing department interact with customer and work with production
department to generate the sales for existing and potential customer (Pooler,2018).
M2:
Marketing is the core function of the organisation that is interrelated or perform its
function parallels with other functions like finance, HR, sales, research and development. Such
interdependency act as a framework that helps in the smooth functioning of business. As within
ASOS, the role of research and development department is to constantly determine the changing
trend or the behaviour of customer. On the basis of which information is shared among different

departments like marketing department which benefit the company by making effective decision
and come up with latest design or innovation. Similarly, other department like sales is
interrelated with HR department as they run training programme that groom the skill or
personality of employees that benefit the company by increasing the footfall of retail store
(Rowley, 2016).
D1:
Marketing is itself a very broad term that consist of various elements like distribution
channelling, branding, packaging, customer service etc. All these elements has their own
contribution either to increase or decrease the sales of company. So the role of marketing
manager of ASOS is to give close attention on all of these elements which work together for the
betterment of an organization. For instance, if the attributes of product does not justify high
prices then definitely the customer will look for the other substitute or better deal (Allen, 2016).
Similarly, promotion needs to be appealing that can cater the attention of consumer because this
help them the company to maximize its sales. Further, the content needs to be effectively
designed as it help to maintain the interest of customer. So this function is interrelated with other
functions like operation department as they precisely intimate them regarding the design as well
as attribute of product (Scarborough, 2016). This help them to develop the product as per the
customer’s requirement. Thus, ASOS needs to look for the welfare of society, employee as well
as environment in order to perform all their function suitably.
TASK 2
P3 :
Marketing mix is the set of tactics as well as actions which are taken by business in order
to promote the brand and expand its reach for the effective functioning of business. It include
seven P's of marketing which are determined by each and every organization in order to present
the right product for the right customer to gain long term success. Thus, for which they require
marketing mix to present the product in market and differentiate it among the rivalries (Hiam,
2014).
Basis ASOS PLC Christian Dior
Product ASOS is the premium brand that It is again a luxury brand that deals

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offer luxury clothes, accessories,
cosmetics for the people of different
age group such as women, men as
well as kids. Respective company
constantly launches latest additional
and captures huge customer base
who specifically wait for the fresh
arrival due to their advance quality
and fashionable design
(Schader,2014).
in apparel, cosmetics and
accessories for the people of high
income group. Along with that, the
company offer designer jewellery to
maintain its position and attract the
customer.
Price Being a prestigious brand, ASOS
company does not compete on the
basis of price or conduct price wars,
it just make effort to come up with
innovative design and strategy in
order to remain competitive and
design the price accordingly.
Dior company charges high prices
for its premium product along with
that these product are segmented to
the consumer who are not price
conscious and build long term
relationship with them to enhance
the sales of prestigious item such as
leather shoes or fancy watches
(Baker and Saren, 2016).
Place ASOS company operates in many
countries which are highly
populated and generate huge
revenue by meeting the need of
audience. The company is a e-
commerce company it deals
customer with the help of their
websites as they do not have
physical store.
Christian Dior function in
approximately two hundred location
which is much more than ASOS
company. This depict that the
company with the help of retail store
and digital media can engage the
customer by serving them the best as
well as durable product.
Promotion ASOS promote its brand through The company promote its brand with

directly sending mails to the
customers along with that they
promote their products through
various fashion blogs.
the help of selected media like
Vogue magazine or sponsor shows
with the help of celebrity
endorsement. Along with that the
company uses social media to
prepare customised advertisement
and promote its brand successfully.
Process ASOS offer a differentiated process
which helps them to make their
customers understand their products
easily as they offer all the details of
their products on their website
(Baker and Magnini, 2016).
Christian Dior offer premium quality
services and standardise process of
sales which help the firm to
efficiently emphasize on the
shopping experience of an
individual.
People ASOS company has provided
employment to approximately
10,000 employee to whom training
is provided on the regular basis.
Thus, there suggestion are
acknowledged by the company to
enhance the sales effectively.
The company concentrate to
enhance the skill and knowledge of
their employee so that they gain
deep knowledge of their product and
add value to the lives of customer.
Physical evidence The company concentrate on the
packaging of the products and the
invoice which they provide to their
customers. Along with that the logo
of company is clearly visible.
The company concentrate on the
ambiance so that the employee gets
desirable experience and can get the
item required item easily. Along
with that the logo of company is
clearly visible (Stern and Porr,
2017).

M3 :
Marketing mix is an essential tactic which is used to ascertain the objective of business
by promoting the brand successfully. On the basis of 7 P's the company generate the value and
can compare among the competitor in order to determine the actual position. On the basis of
comparison among ASOS and Christian Dior company. ASOS is dependent upon digital media
whereas as it is a e-Commerce company. Thus, such tactics is applied by the company in order to
cover the huge market successfully.
TASK 3
P4:
Marketing plan:
It is the documentation of business plan that carries the list of actions which need to be
undertaken for specific duration. It basically include the activities like preparation of objective
that need to carried out for specific duration in order to perform the marketing activity
successfully.
Executive Summary:
ASOS company is a luxury brand that deals in various premium product like apparel,
accessories, sunglasses, cosmetics, shoes. The headquarter of company is in United Kingdom
and serve to both national and international market with the help of their website. They have
their fulfillment centers in UK, US and EU. On the basis of identification of the market situation
the company has decided to launched new product in the market that is ASOS's sports shoes. The
main reason to launch new category in footwear section is that most of the people are health
freak and remain conscious to join some sort of fitness club.
Vision and Mission:
The vision of company is to create demand for the fashionable and the trendy clothing
with a unique business model. Whereas, the mission of the company is to maintain the quality of
the entire product range and strong promotion of the brand through various channels.
1) SWOT Analysis:
Strength
 ASOS can take the advantage of its
economies of scale and extend its
Threat
 As the existing competitors of ASOS
company is already into the sports

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product line by launching latest
collection of sports shoes.
 The company has well established
brand image and goodwill due to
which it will become easier for the
company to promote new product and
enhance its sales (Brychkov and
Domegan, 2017).
shoes business due to which it may take
time for the company to establish its
image.
 While launching new product the
company need to analyse the sources of
raw material and formulate effective
supplier supply relation otherwise
absence of this can hamper the
sustainability of company.
Weakness
 The production department needs to
remain particular regarding
manufacturing of shoes as any mistake
or discomfort can cause dissonance of
customer for whole brand.
 As the operations of company takes
place through digital media due to
which most of the people prefer to buy
sports shorts or footwear via physical
store.
Opportunity
 The company can promote its new
product with the help of digital
technology from where it can
communicate the value to the customer.
 There are certain mode of
communication like email that can
enhances the connectivity between
company and customer.
2) Objective:
The objective of ASOS's sports shoes is to capture the market of 10% within one year by
enhancing the footfall of each and every store of the company.
3) Strategy:
 STP Approach:
It is an essential marketing tool which consist of Segmentation, targeting as well as
positioning of ASOS company that is defined below:

Segmentation: ASOS has segmented to the people of various category like male and
female on the basis of demographic segmentation. Under which the company target to the high
income group people.
Targeting: The company has targetted the adult and youth who have interest in sports
and give priority to the brand.
Positioning: ASOS's sport shoes can position itself as highly comfortable sports shoes
through social media and celebrity endorsement (Groucutt and Hopkins, 2015).
4) Action Plan : To implement the plan in the organization they have to undertake various steps
which will help them to achieve the desired goals.
 Budget: This will help the company to estimate their expenses and the revenues for a
specific period of time. The budget for ASOS is given below:
Marketing budget
Particulars 1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year
Initial money 5000 6000 6500 8000 9000
Investment 10000 12000 13500 14000 14000
Total 15000 18000 19500 21000 23000
Marketing outlay
Promotion 2500 3000 3200 3250 3400
Sales publicity 4000 4800 4200 5000 4900
Direct selling 2400 3100 2850 2400 3000
Total 8900 10900 1050 10650 11400
Thus, on the basis of above budget plan it has been estimated that on the basis of initial
year like first year ASOS needs to invest 15000 which will be allocated on various marketing
activity in order to gain profitability (Babin and Zikmund, 2015).

 Marketing mix of ASOS company:
Marketing mix is combination of the factors which can be controlled through an
organisation to influence customers to buy goods.
Product- It is an item that is produced to fulfil wants and preferences of certain group of
the people. The product that ASOS offered will be sports shoes. It is available for the sports
person and for other people also that can save their foot from any harm.
Price- Cost of goods is mainly amount that consumer pay for enjoy it. It is most
necessary factors of marketing plan as it identified profit of company. In relation launching new
product, ASOS will use premium pricing strategy because this company has a huge brand name
at market place and people buy its products by its name (Gillespie and Riddle, 2015).
Place- It is related with distributing the product. There is a need to ASOS company to
position as well as distribute goods in place which is accessible to the potential consumers. In
this, ASOS can make contact with its existing distributors and provide its sports shoes at large
scale (Tyson, 2014).
Promotion- This component of marketing mix helps in enhance brand recognition as well
as sales. For promotion about launching sports shoes, ASOS will use the different social media
tools such as Facebook, Instagram etc.
5) Forecasting : It is important for an organisation to forecast some factors which will help them
in effective implementation without extension of cost and time. The cost need to be forecasted
ion the basis of raw material used which is estimated to be 1200 while the profits will be of 300
as the cost includes all material cost and other costs of advertisement, distribution etc. The sales
in units is estimated to be of 600 units within a period of 6 months. This will help them to
increase their market share by 3% (Bryson and Daniels, 2015).
6) Monitoring and Controlling:
The manager of the company is responsible to analyses the external condition based on
which the organization activity takes place. Along with that the planned budget need to be
allocate effectively and corrective measure to be taken in order to reduce the chances of
deviation (Wilson, 2014).
M4:
Marketing plan is an essential evidence on the basis of which the company introduces the
new product in the market. It is basically prepared for specific duration that consist of objective,

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vision and budget of new product. Thus, help the firm to ascertain all the factors or elements on
the basis of which the business can land up in making effective decision.
D2:
Strategic plan refers to the set of priorities, resources, operation as well as business
operation that help the employee as well as stakeholder to achieve the goal. Marketing mix is an
essential part strategic planning as here ASOS company can make the decision related to the
product, price, place, promotion, process, physical evidence and people. Thus, business has to
function in dynamic environment so preparation of marketing mix determines the guideline for
the proper functioning of business.
SWOT Analysis of the marketing plan
On the basis of this marketing plan it is identified that what all strategies can be
implemented by the organization which will help them to achieve their objective. The positive
factors of the plan is that it clearly defines the strategies and tactics which can adopted by the
ASOS for launching the new product. Also it provides the budget to the company which will
help them to manage their cost and expenses. Along with this various monitoring and controlling
techniques are define in the plan which will help them to manage their operations. The negative
impact of the marketing plan is that it consider all the strategies which may not be required and it
then increase the time of implementing the plan. The strategies which are identified may changes
with change in situation so it leads to wastage of the resources of the company.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that marketing plays a valuable role in order
to enhance the overall productivity of an organization. There are various marketing function that
consist of unique elements which help the organization to perform all its roles and responsibility
effectively. Along with that there are certain function such as marketing, human resource,
operation and so on which are interrelated to one other. Such function operate together in order
to fulfill the objective of an organization. Moreover, marketing mix is an essential tactic which
play vital role in order to enhance the long term profitability of company and gain long term
success effectively. Further, marketing plan is designed when the company decide to launch new