Marketing Essentials: Roles and Responsibilities of Marketing Function

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MARKETING ESSENTIALS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction..................................................................................................................................................1
LO 1.............................................................................................................................................................2
P1 Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function................................................2
M1 Analyse the roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of the marketing environment. .4
P2 Explain how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context.......5
M2 Analyze the significance of interrelationship between marketing and other functional units..........6
LO 2.............................................................................................................................................................7
P3 Compare the ways in which different organisations apply the marketing mix to the marketing
planning process to achieve business objectives.....................................................................................7
M3 Evaluate different tactics applied by organisations to demonstrate how business objectives have
been achieved.........................................................................................................................................11
LO3............................................................................................................................................................13
P4, M4 Produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan...........................................................................13
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................18
References..................................................................................................................................................19

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Pestle analysis............................................................................................................................15

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Marketing mix of Coca-Cola and Pepsi........................................................................................7
Table 2: SWOT analysis............................................................................................................................14

Introduction
The marketing approach is now being important to the business as it assure in increasing the sales and
attracting the customers in the most appropriate manner. The trend in marketing is rising consistently as
use of internet has been increased by the large base customers. Due to this, it is important to take into
account the essentials of marketing to increase the competitive edge over the other business. In the
present case, the report will take Coca-Cola case study which is multinational organization serving
beverages across the nation. The study will discuss the roles and responsibilities of marketing manager
in general and in context with the organizational context. The report will be discussing the marketing
mix comparison of two organizations and proper marketing plan will be developed for new product of
Coca-Cola in the study.
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LO 1
P1 Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function.
Introduction
Marketing department is the major contributor of organisational success as it the prime goal of
marketing functions is to attract large number of customers towards the products and services of
organisation. The major activities in which marketing department is involved includes, market research,
market plan, advertisement, distribution process, and building healthy customer relations (Kreuter and
Bernhardt, 2009). In the context of marketing environment, the marketing function plays a vital role in
relation to the customers, organisation, competitors, and other external factors. The ultimate goal of
marketing function is to make strong and positive brand image of Coca-cola to ensure long term
profitability, and sustainable growth.
Marketing concept
Marketing is a strategic process which is carried out to promote the products and services of Coca-cola
among the people to make them aware about it and ensure high level satisfaction of customer wants.
Coca-cola is a large soft drink manufacturing organisation, and therefore, it requires large unit of
marketing team to reach people across the world. The major role of marketing function in the context of
Coca-cola is to identify the market demand with appropriate market analysis and research and develop
strategies and plans to improve the sales of Coca-cola products and services (Doyle, P., 2000). The
marketing mix of 7 Ps also plays a significant part in glorifying the image of Coca-cola across different
countries. such marketing mix help the management of organisation to identify the required demand of
products in the market, place at which it will be marketed and sold out, how promotion will be carried
out, who will be the target customers, appropriate price of the products, people involved in the
marketing process and physical evidence. Hence, it can be said that the overall marketing function of
Coca-cola is carried out to improve the competitive and marketing position of thr organisation.
Roles and responsibilities of marketing function
The overall role of marketing function is to make the organisation growth oriented with high customer
satisfaction and revenue. Hence, there are various independent roles and functions performed by
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marketing functions by creating an overarching brand image of Coca-cola with effective strategies of
reaching out customers, prospects, investors, and community.
Market research
The marketing research indicates the analysis of marketing environment and identification of different
factors that can impact the sales and profitability of the organisation (Cornelissen, 2001). The marketing
function of Coca-cola conducts market research and identifies the product demands, current market
trends, competitors’ actions and policies, and the changing technological advancement. All such analysis
acts as a foundation for the development of effective marketing strategies for the Coca-cola. It supports
the organisation beating market competition effectively.
Market plan development
Development of an effective marketing plan is essential for successful promotional and marketing
initiatives of Coca-cola. The major functions of marketing plan includes product designing, and pricing
strategy, identification of target customers, designing of promotional offers and marketing tactics, and
how the promotional strategies will be carried out to attain the defined marketing goals.
Boost sale
Making people aware about the products and services of Coca-cola with effective promotional activities,
marketing functions support the increased sales and revenue of the organisation (Tappand Hughes,
2004). For example, organisation of promotional events, programmes, etc can help Coca-cola to increase
its sales with increased customer base and satisfaction.
Product designing and development
It is essential to make the product better and attractive among people, which is the responsibility of
marketing management. If the product design of Coca-cola is unattractive and weak, then it cannot
sustain in the market for a long period of time. Also, it is necessary for the marketing function to focus
on continuous development of product along with product design to present the Coca-cola innovative
and attractive in the market.
Packaging and labelling
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The storage and distribution process of products is supported with the packaging of products so that it
can be better handled and conveyed. While labelling on the Coca-cola products is intended to provide all
the relevant information to the customers in relation to the product and the manufacturer. Nowadays,
products that are attractive in packaging and labelling atre more preferred by customers, hence, the
marketing function of Coca-cola is responsible to develop attractive bottles and labels to package their
products.
Customer relations
All the marketing functions of Coca-cola are intended to enhance the customer relations (Harker and
Egan, 2006). Hence, the role of marketing department is to continuously innovate and identify new
promotional ideas, affiliated programs, and customer retention techniques along with the continuous
improvement so that they can better interact with the outside people on the behalf of Coca-cola.
M1 Analyse the roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of the marketing environment
The marketing environment is associated with various factors that can influence the customer relations
of Coca-cola in both positive and negative manner. Therefore, marketing function is required to perform
their effective roles in the marketing environment to ensure positive outcome of marketing, customer
satisfaction, branding, and profitability. For example, different marketing environment factors include
competitors, suppliers, technology, market demands and trends. Coca-cola is facing intense competition
and therefore suffering in the form of low profitability, and low customer sales (Chimhanzi, 2004). In
this context, the role of marketing department is to build an appropriate strategy that can differentiate the
identity and brand of Coca-cola from that of its rivals. It is required to establish positive relations with
suppliers of Coca-cola so that better negotiation can be made with them. Suppliers are the significant
contributor in the supply chain process and hence marketing function is required to establish better
understanding with them to get quality and accountable products.
Market department performs all its functions to determine what customers are expecting of Coca-cola
products and how it can be fulfilled with full satisfaction. Various promotional strategies can support the
marketing function to reduce the switching over of customers to other brands. The organisation can also
be active in technological advancement to gain the high sales opportunities against its rivals. For
example, new machines, and processes installation can reduce the production cost of Coca-cola that
leads to low product pricing even with high profits. However, the production of products is required to
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be matched with the marketing trends (Foxall, 2014). Therefore, Coca-cola has established a unit of
marketing function, the role of which is to continuously measure and identify the patterns of marketing
trends. Such information can help the organisation in making better decisions of attracting buyers and
making the organisation at one of the top position in the market.
P2 Explain how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context.
Marketing department is the mediator between the organisation and the customers as it is the functional
department that represents Coca-cola in front of the customers with effective marketing activities and
events. The marketing management of the organisation determine the ways of associating the customers
with the organisation. Hence, marketing is the major base of developing trust and loyalty among people
towards the Coca-cola products and services. Also, the needs of customers are identified and fulfilled
with the help of marketing research that ultimately ensures their satisfaction and fulfilment of
expectations from the organisation (Doyle, 2000).
The branding of Coca-cola in the market is done with the help of marketing management as they
develop the ways of promoting the product through publicity, media promotions, customer interactions,
feedback collections, free sample distribution, etc. For example, marketing function of Coca-cola
approaches celebrities for the advertisement of its products to influence the customer mindset. The
increasing rivalry in the industry of soft drink manufacturing affects the market share of Coca-cola
adversely (Cant et al., 2009). Therefore, market functions make high efforts to retain the existing
customers with the organisation along with the attractive marketing strategies for the new people.
Marketing function offer its services to the external environmental factors, however, it requires effective
management and cooperation among internal business environment. Hence, marketing function develop
better relations with other management department to get their support and involvement in the
accomplishment of set goals. For example, the interaction of marketing function with production
function support the quality and attractive development of products and its design, which ultimately
leads to enhanced customer attraction and sales. Besides, marketing function support the enhancement
of capabilities and potential of the production and other departmental function in executing their tasks in
a better and appropriate manner (Cornelissen, 2001). The support of finance department to the
marketing function is essential to develop an effective budget for the marketing activities. Human
resource function also supports management function to supply the workforce to initiate the promotional
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activities. Similarly other departmental coordination supports the Coca-cola to attain its organisational
goals and target efficiently and successfully.
M2 Analyze the significance of interrelationship between marketing and other functional units
The interconnection is clearly presented in the marketing and other units of functions. The overall profits
and productivity of the organization is highly raised for meeting the objectives of the business. It is
important for the business to have strong communication among the departments from the initial stage
only so everyone is aware about their responsibilities and roles. It is significant for the units to address
the responses of the competitors to meet the customer wants. For instance: Financial department has the
responsibility to make the budget for doing the marketing for the Coca-Cola. The marketing manager
will conduct the marketing research on the basis of the budget which is assigned to them (Baker, 2016).
The marketing manager according to the research will identify the needs and convey the same to the
production manager so that they can develop the product taking into account the capacity of production.
The marketing manager of Coca-Cola will give share the information with the Coca-Cola in conducting
the research in the market. The proper communication and coordination among the department of Coca-
Cola will support the HR department and marketing department to create the interrelationship.
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LO 2
P3 Compare the ways in which different organisations apply the marketing mix to the marketing
planning process to achieve business objectives
The marketing mix is the business model foundation as it is the combination of several factors that can
be managed by the organization to impact customers for purchasing the products. The marketing mix
means the major four level of decision of marketing considering product, price, place, promotion,
physical evidence, processes and people. The marketing mix gives the marketing manager to get the
success in corporate marketing. It benefits by developing the strengths and reducing the weaknesses,
competitiveness strengthens and firm adaptability raises and allows the internal departments of the firm
to closely work together (Išoraitė, 2016). Due to these benefits, the marketing mix of both the
organizations is compared:-
Table 1: Marketing mix of Coca-Cola and Pepsi
Marketing mix Coca-Cola Pepsi
Product The organization has big
portfolio in the beverage
segment including around 3300
products. The division of
beverages are done into 100%
fruit juices, energy drinks, diet
category, fruit drinks, tea and
coffee. Coca-Cola is the big
brand in juices, retail packaged
and beverages in 2010. In 200
countries, it has its strong
presence and its brand in India is
Limca, Maaza, Thums Up,
Nimbu Fresh, Iced tea, Sprite
and Fanta.
There are basically 2 products
that are food and beverages.
Beverages include soft drinks,
bottled water and sports drink.
Food products include snacks
such as kurkure, Lays, Cheetos,
Uncle Chips and breakfast
include Quaker oats (Marketing
mix of Pepsi, 2019).
The organization has explored
the segment of breakfast and
snacks. The organization has
higher demand for its products
also like Cheetos, Lays and
Kurkure and now Quaker Oats is
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also coming in trend. Hence the
turnover outcomes from food
products are supporting the
organization bottom line.
Price Because of wide products range
availability, the pricing is made
as per the market and geographic
location. The strategy of pricing
is dependent on the prices of the
competitors such as Pepsi who is
direct competitor. The market of
beverage is referred to be
oligopoly market in which few
sellers and buyers are presented,
thus they create into cartel
agreement to have the common
balance in price for the sellers
(Marketing mix of Coca-Cola,
2019).
The pricing of the Pepsi is very
competitive due to high war with
the Coca-Cola. The
manufacturing cost and
transportation cost is very high
and due to this there is high
brand war instead of price war.
Pepsi give high discount on bulk
purchasing and promotional
discounts as well.
For distributors, the discount is
dependent on the payment and
quantity conditions. The more
discount will be offered if higher
quantity is ordered or better
payment conditions are
presented. It motivates the
distributors also.
But Pepsi also low down its price
for bulk purchaser and top
retailers. For instance: Reliance
Fresh, Big Bazaar in India.
Hence, Pepsi has to reduce the
prices that impact the brand
operating margin. The
organization margins are
effective and more by distributor
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