Marketing Essentials: Role of Marketing, 7Ps & Marketing Plan

This report provides an overview of marketing essentials, focusing on the role of marketing within an organization and its interrelation with other functional units. It explains the various roles and responsibilities of marketing, including buying, selling, transportation, storage, standardization, financing, risk-taking, and market information. The report also compares different marketing concepts such as production, product, marketing, societal marketing, and selling. Furthermore, it analyzes the key elements of marketing, including research, strategy, planning, and tactics, and their interrelation within organizations like Walls Luxury Essentials Limited. The report also examines how organizations utilize the elements of the marketing mix (7Ps) – product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence – to achieve their overall business objectives, emphasizing customer satisfaction and strategic implementation.

Marketing Essentials
1

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
LO1 Explain the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional units of an
organisation......................................................................................................................................4
LO2 Compare ways in which organisations use elements of the marketing mix (7Ps) to achieve
overall business objectives..............................................................................................................9
LO3 Develop and evaluate a basic marketing plan.......................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
Reference List................................................................................................................................16
2

Introduction
In case of modern business organizations, marketing acts as one of the most important tools.
Marketing helps to understand demands of customers. It also includes a better understanding of
the marketplace. Marketing helps to build a good and profitable relation with customers.
Marketing helps organizations to develop strategies, which in turn helps the organizations to
provide full customer satisfaction. Business organizations throughout the world know the
importance of customer and thus the organizations are taking initiatives to incorporate several
innovative approaches to develop marketing strategy within organizations. In the present
marketing scenario, a very high awareness has been noticed regarding essentials of marketing
worldwide.
3

LO1 Explain the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional units of an
organisation
Roles and responsibilities of marketing function:
Marketing function helps business organizations to identify potential product for market and also
helps organizations for the purpose of promotion. Marketing function includes marketing
research, process of development, product plan, promotion of company and its product, sales and
the main thing among all is customer service (Hayhurst and Wills, 2018). Marketing function
holds certain responsibilities within a business organization, which in turn the company to grow.
Marketing function plays a very important role in a business organization and a close link can be
established between marketing functions and various organizational functions within a business
organization.
The above diagram represents the universal marketing functions. Marketing functions consists of
the following:
4
Figure 1: Universal functions of marketing
(Source: Coursehero.com, 2018)

Buying and assembling:
Buying process involves what to buy and what not to, which quality of product has to be selected
and from whom to buy. Purchasing agents are highly concerned about quality and price of
products and services. On the other hand, assembling means to buy necessary components and
combine or rather them together to create a product (Wagner and Eggert, 2016).
Selling:
Selling is considered to be one of the most important factors of marketing. It includes the transfer
of ownership of materials. Profit of any business organization depends on selling.
Transportation:
Transportation is the process by which goods are transferred from one place to another. It is very
important from buying supplies till delivery of product to the end users rather customers.
Marketing relies on this transport facility mainly on trucks, waterways, railroads, air transport
and pipelines.
Storage:
Storing means to hold or retain goods in a proper way. Storing helps to protect goods from
external effects and prevents it from deteriorating. Goods are generally stored in warehouses.
Standardization and grading:
Standardization means establishing certain specification or rather standardization of products.
This may include weight or size of products, Appearance, texture and material of product is also
taken under consideration. On the other hand, grading means classification of products after
standardization. Branded products will be labelled as A, B or C accordingly.
Financing:
In case of marketing, financing is very essential, which helps in analyzing working capital of any
organization. Financing includes the use of capital in order to meet the financial requirements
regarding various activities within an organization.
5

Risk taking:
Risk can be categorised as time risk, risk of place and financial risk, which may occur in near
future due to certain adverse situations. Due to changes in market condition, human factors or
natural environmental causes, risk may arise in an organization. Thus, in order to prevent the
risks, organizations need to take sudden initiatives and measures.
Market Information:
Proper market information helps in reducing risk of an organization (Kaufmann, 2014). Business
organization collects and analyzes data from several internal and external sources. Retailers need
to get information about trends that customers are following and customers need to know the
market condition, products and services offered by organizations. Thus, market information is
highly crucial in marketing functions.
Concepts of marketing:
6
Figure 2: Different concepts of marketing
(Source: )

The above diagram represents different marketing concepts. Regarding marketing management
philosophy, the following marketing concepts are needed:
Production concept: The production concept philosophy is applied only when the demand in
market is more than supply of products. Manufacturers or rather companies who believe in this
philosophy, make huge effort in reducing the cost of production, which in turn will help them to
enhance their distribution channel. IN order to reduce cost of products, these companies involve
into large scale production (Kotler, 2015).
Product concept: The opinion of those companies who believe in the product concept is that, if
the quality of goods and services are high standard, then customers will be easily attracted
towards that company. Though this belief is from the perspective of companies, but this may be
partially true. Buying goods does not only quality dependent. Good quality high standard and
high prices may upset customers in some cases. Thus, quality concept does not lead to successful
market always.
Marketing concept: The companies who believe in the marketing concept believe that success
can only be achieved by gaining customer satisfaction. It is a modern concept. If products and
services can be provided according to demands of customers, then the business organizations
will surely succeed. By implementing this concept, profit will be high for companies.
Societal marketing concept: Companies who follow this societal concept, not only focuses on
customer satisfaction but also on social welfare. The companies who follow this concept believe
that customer satisfaction would not help; welfare of entire society has to be kept in mind. It is
the latest marketing concept. Several companies worldwide have already started to apply this
concept in their organization so that their products should be eco-friendly and should not cause
any harm for the society (Charter, 2017).
Selling concept: Companies who follow this concept believes that goods and products are not
only bought, it has to be sold in a proper way. These companies believe that selling should be
done on the basis of what they have. This is a poor concept; if for one time customers got
manipulated and buy products, it is not sure that the same thing will happen for the next time.
Moreover, by applying this concept, customers may damage reputation of the business
7

organizations. Thus this process is not suitable to bring long term success and profit for any
organization.
Key elements of marketing and interrelation with other functional units of organizations:
Marketing functions includes several functions such as finance, advertisement, distribution
system, etc. The key elements are research, strategy, planning and tactics. In business
organizations, market research plays a very important role. Without proper research it would
have been nearly impossible for business organizations to expand business further. Through
research, business organizations will be able to get market information, supply chain and
logistics and other relevant data and information. Thus, researching is one of the most important
elements of marketing. Strategy is the other important key to be taken under consideration.
Business organizations have to build and implement certain strategies in order to understand
strengths and weaknesses within the business activities of the organization. Moreover, strategies
will provide business organizations with valuable ideas, which in turn will help business
organizations to compete in the market and achieve success in near future. The next key function
is planning. After successful completion of research process and generating strategies for the
organization, proper planning is done regarding all business activities of the organization.
Planning includes distribution planning, financial planning and many other factors. Timeframes
are also planned to execute the strategies implemented by business organizations. Tactics is the
fourth prime role of marketing. Tactics includes offers that are provided to customers such as
buy one get one free, or providing customers with coupon and discounts and various lucky draw
prizes. These are some tactics to attract customers and have a boost in sales.
All the key elements of marketing function discussed above, are interrelated within an
organization. Similarly, these functions are interrelated within Walls Luxury Essentials Limited.
The marketing functions are linked with all other functional units of Walls Luxury Essentials
Limited. Marketing department of this organization is interconnected with the finance
department. Marketing functions are research, planning, evaluating the marketing strategies and
implementing some tactics. The marketing and finance department cannot work properly within
the organization without proper communication among employees. In this case, the marketing
department requires help from the human resource department. Marketing department needs
economic help from the finance department of the business organization. For successful
8

marketing, Walls Luxury Essentials Limited need to have efficient employees and for this
purpose they need help of human resource department to hire efficient people as employees of
the organization and after recruitment process, proper training ahs to be provided to those
employees and in this case, help from training and development department is required. The
human resource policies have to be aligned with all marketing functions of the business
organization, which will help the company to establish their foundation in the market and
achieve success in the long run. Thus, it can be concluded that marketing functions are
interlinked with all other functional units of Walls Luxury Essentials Limited and all other
business organizations.
LO2 Compare ways in which organisations use elements of the marketing mix (7Ps) to
achieve overall business objectives
7Ps Marketing mix to achieve overall business objectives by business organizations:
The 7P consists of tradition 4P elements such as product, price, place and promotion and
additional new elements include people, process and physical evidence (Khan, 2014). The
marketing mix which helps business organizations to achieve overall business objectives are
mentioned as follows:
Product: Product is something which is to be provided to end users and achieve customer
satisfaction. The design, quality, method of packaging is included in this marketing mix. The
prime objective of manufacturing product is to provide customer satisfaction.
Price: Pricing is one of the most important strategies to be implemented by all business
organizations. After manufacturing products, prices have to be set according to the product and
its availability. Pricing is one of the most important factors in marketing. Price can be
determined according to quality and quantity of products and services offered by business
organizations.
Place: Before starting a business, the business organization must have a detailed knowledge
about their target audiences and accordingly the store should be opened in a location nearby to
the target audiences such that the products and services of the company can be easily accessed by
customers. Moreover, place should be selected in such a way that the business organizations can
9

fetch their raw materials easily, that is the supply chain and logistics must also get easy access to
the store easily.
Promotion: In case of marketing, promotion plays a very crucial role. A huge competition exists
in this market, and if organizations have to win over all competitive advantages, the business
organizations have to undertake several new innovative methods for promotion of their products
and services. Promotion can be made through TV commercials, emails and via social media,
which is the most effective way to promote a business. Apart from advertising and sales
promotion, a business organization can also undertake personal selling directly to customers.
People: People are referred to all the people associated with business organizations. Each and
every employee, working for the business organization need to have proper training so that they
can provide proper customer satisfaction through their work. People are the very important
element in marketing mix. If an employee does not behave properly with customers, then it
would bring a negative feedback for the entire organization. Thus, business organizations invest
a lot to provide proper training to all the people connected to the organization.
Process: Process defines the business activities of business organizations. The entire process
starts from manufacturing of products till its delivery. It ensures service delivery level to
customers. Process demonstrates the way in which services are delivered to the customers.
Physical evidence: Physical evidence is the final element of all the three additional in marketing
mix. Physical evidence depicts the physical environment, where services and products of
business organizations are assembled. Physical evidence includes all such representations, which
includes business cards, report formats, brochures and letter heads. It is very important for any
business organization to look after the factor that the physical environment is consistent as
compared to all other factors of marketing mix. Physical environment of a business organization
has to be felt right by customers. Advancement in digital technologies has highly influenced this
factor of marketing mix of business organizations. Websites, social media and blogs have
become important parts of physical evidence nowadays. Business organizations need to pay
special attention to this factor in order to achieve in near future.
10

Use of 7Ps marketing mix by the organization to achieve overall business objectives by Walls
Luxury Essentials Limited:
The 7Ps marketing mix and the way in which organizations make use of the 7Ps marketing mix
within the business activities of their organizations in order to achieve overall objectives of the
organization has been discussed. Now, the way in which Walls Luxury Essentials Limited make
use of 7Ps within the business organization in order to achieve overall objectives of the
organization is discussed hereafter.
Product: Walls Luxury Essentials Limited provides a huge range and variety of apparels for
ladies, made of silk, fibre, cotton. Moreover, they also provide customers with a wide range of
jewellery, shoes, handbags, skincare products and eyewear.
Price: The company has set pricing strategy according to the products. The business organization
have set price of each products in such a way, that it is affordable by everyone. Moreover, Walls
Luxury Essentials Limited provides customers with monthly offers on certain products.
Discounts are offered in some cases, which help the business organization to attract more
customers.
Place: Walls Luxury Essentials Limited was founded in the year 1997. The company is situated
in London, UK. The store is situated in a location, which can be easily accessed by customers.
Moreover supply chain and logistics can also access the store easily.
Promotion: Walls Luxury Essentials Limited is more of a business to customer based company.
The business organization believes in personal selling, much more than that of online advertising
and sales promotion. They consider personal selling to be the most effective way to sell a
product and provide customer satisfaction by responding to their queries and questions related to
products and other services immediately.
People: All people including the management team, employees and other low level staffs
associated with Walls Luxury Essentials Limited. These people are the most essential part of the
business organization. Each employees and staffs connected with this business organization
needs proper training and development so that they can provide complete customer satisfaction
through their work.
11

Process: Process demonstrates the services and quality of products that Walls Luxury Essentials
Limited provides both to the customers and to its employees. The business organization is highly
responsible to take care of the customers as well as the employees and staffs who works for the
business organization. Walls Luxury Essentials Limited delivers products and services to the
customers with a smile and try to meet all demands of the customers in order to maintain healthy
customer relationship and to provide the best buying experience for customers.
Physical Evidence: Physical evidence of Walls Luxury Essentials Limited represents all the
representations such as business card of the Business Company, brochures and report formats. It
is very important for Walls Luxury Essentials Limited to take special care in the matter that the
physical environment of the business organization is consistent as compared to other factors of
marketing mix. Implementation of digital technology within the business activities of Walls
Luxury Essentials Limited has highly influenced the organization. Website of the company and
updates on social media helps customers to get information about the company and its products.
Thus, the business organizations need to pay special attention to improve this factor, which in
turn which help the business organization to succeed in the long run.
LO3 Develop and evaluate a basic marketing plan
Basic marketing plan for Walls Luxury Essentials Limited:
Basically, marketing means planning and executing the concept of price, place and promotion of
goods and services which will be provided by any business organization in order to satisfy the
demands of customers and fulfil the objectives of the business organization. Each and every
business organization needs to have a market plan so that the business activities of the
organization can be carried out in the most effective manner. Thus, marketing is the most
important tool that should be used by business organizations to promote awareness and attract
customers towards the organization (McDonald and Wilson, 2016). If a proper marketing plan
can be sketched and things can be carried out according to the marketing plan, then it will help
business organizations to have an increase in sale and provides opportunities to win over
competitive advantages. By preparing a marketing plan, business organizations would not only
market and promote the brand but also focus on present and future needs of customers. Thus,
before starting a business, generating a market plan is very essential. It includes proper research,
12

creating timeframes and allocating budget to proceed with each business activities of the
organization.
A basic marketing plan for Walls Luxury essentials Limited has been developed and evaluated
hereafter. A marketing plan is basically a document which details everything that the business
organization needs to know in order to build and promote the business successfully.
Know the business:
The first step that should be taken under consideration by Walls Luxury Essentials Limited is
that they have to know the business. In this section, the organization needs to generate a general
overview of their present business operations, regarding the internal and external environment of
the business organization. Then, the business organization need to understand whether they will
start their business as a single unit or they are going to start it as a joint venture by collaborating
with some other companies or not. Then the thing that should be considered is that whether the
business organization is going to conduct their business online or via offline store or both online
and offline. Then, they have to make a plan about the type of products and services that the
business organization will provide to the customers. In this section, it is recommended that the
business organization can carry out SWOT analysis which will provide them with an idea about
the strengths and weaknesses as an organization and the opportunities that they may get and the
strengths that the business organization may have to face while conducting the business.
Determining target markets:
Determining target market is one of the most effective ways to create effective business strategy.
The business organization has to list out everything about the target customers. The organization
need to identify the target audiences. Information about customers includes demographics such
as age and gender and all other relevant information in order to know more about the decisions
and behaviour of the customers and analyze the target market. Other questions may include
buying habits of customers, leisure time activities of customers, in what way offline or online,
does customers like to do shopping. Knowing all these factors, will help the business
organization to know about customers’ choice and work accordingly so that the business
organization can meet all demands if target audiences and can provide complete customer
13

satisfaction. Moreover, if business companies have a detail idea about their customers, it will
help the organizations to identify suitable marketing strategies.
Analyzing competitors:
Walls Luxury Essentials Limited is highly responsible to understand its competitors from the
same industry. They have to conduct research in order to know about the existence of any other
retail sector in the same geographic location, where the store is present and if present, then this
business organization have to undertake certain innovative strategies which will help it to win
over all competitive advantages
Setting goals:
Before starting up the business, Walls Luxury Essentials Limited needs to set up certain goals
and objectives according to which they will proceed with the business operations in order to
accomplish the goals. However, goals are needed to be changed according to market condition
and current situation and trends.
Outlining strategies:
After setting up goals, the business organization needs to outline strategies by taking each goal
separately under consideration. Taking each separately, the business organization has to allocate
different action beneath each of the goals.
Setting up of budget:
Setting up a budget is one of the most important things, which should be considered, while
building a market plan. After completing all the stages, Walls Luxury Essentials Limited need to
set up budgets for each of the steps and they have to work accordingly so that they can create an
effective marketing plan to run the business.
14

Conclusion
This report demonstrates marketing essentials within business organization. The learner has
applied for the role of marketing manager in Wall Luxury Essentials Limited. As a part of the
interview process, concept of marketing and role of marketing within the organization has been
discussed. The way in which marketing interrelates with other functions within the business
organization is also discussed. The 7Ps marketing mix has been described in this report and how
the business organization make use of the 7Ps within the business activities of the organization
has also been discussed in this report. This assessment also evaluates and develops basic
marketing plan for Wall Luxury Essentials Limited.
15

Reference List
Charter, M. ed., 2017. Greener marketing: A responsible approach to business. Routledge.
Coursehero.com. (2018). 8 Identify the universal functions of marketing Marketing is responsible
for. [online] Available at: https://www.coursehero.com/file/p32vpnks/8-Identify-the-universal-
functions-of-marketing-Marketing-is-responsible-for/ [Accessed 25 Apr. 2018].
Hayhurst, R. and Wills, G., 2018. Organizational design for marketing futures. Routledge.
Kaufmann, H.R. ed., 2014. Handbook of Research on Consumerism in Business and Marketing:
Concepts and Practices: Concepts and Practices. IGI Global.
Khan, M.T., 2014. The concept of'marketing mix'and its elements (a conceptual review
paper). International journal of information, business and management, 6(2), p.95.
Kotler, P., 2015. Framework for marketing management. Pearson Education India.
McDonald, M. and Wilson, H., 2016. Marketing Plans: How to prepare them, how to profit from
them. John Wiley & Sons.
Wagner, S.M. and Eggert, A., 2016. Co-management of purchasing and marketing: Why, when
and how?. Industrial Marketing Management, 52, pp.27-36.
16