Contemporary Issues in Marketing: Zara's Marketing Mix Strategies

This report provides an analysis of contemporary issues in marketing, focusing on the application of the marketing mix elements within a real-world business environment, using Zara as a case study. It highlights the nature and importance of marketing, emphasizing its role in creating brand awareness and driving organizational success. The report details the theoretical description of the 4Ps of the marketing mix—product, price, place, and promotion—and how Zara effectively implements these elements to maintain a competitive edge. Specifically, it discusses Zara's unique product strategy of designer clothing ranges, its premium pricing strategy, its global placement strategy through both physical stores and online channels, and its promotional tactics, including social media campaigns. The conclusion emphasizes the influence of the marketing mix on brand perception and organizational performance, underlining the importance of strategic marketing mix application for contemporary firms. Desklib provides more solved assignments for students.

Contemporary
Issues in Marketing
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.......................................................................................................................3
Nature and importance of marketing.............................................................................3
Marketing mix and its impact on success......................................................................4
Theoretical description of 4P’s of marketing mix...........................................................4
Product description........................................................................................................6
Application of marketing mix elements..........................................................................6
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
Marketing is known as the approach to create, sustain and promote the value of
specific products or services so that customers can be convinced to make purchase
decisions (Lahtinen, Dietrich and Rundle-Thiele, 2020). The marketing strategies
particularly marketing mix elements are important aspect to determine the
organisational success. Thus every organisation used to pay great attention to
implementation of these elements. The competitive rivalries and differentiation among
firms is greatly influenced by the way in which marketing mix decisions are taken. These
decisions are often influenced by business environment and organisational resources.
This report will discuss the significance and application of marketing mix in real
business environment using case study of Zara.
MAIN BODY
Nature and importance of marketing
Marketing is a vital element of organisational process and activities. It is important
that an awareness must be created among target audience and market about product
and service providers. Thus organisations use variety of approaches such as promotion,
advertisements, brand creation and several others (Thabit and Raewf, 2018). These
activities which aims at creating unique value for the offered services or products are
known as marketing. Stronger the marketing activities, greater the impact and success
of organisation. Those organisations which are not able to innovate their marketing
tactics fails to attract and retain new customers as well as employees. Thus marketing
is not only related with customer decision making or attraction instead the overall
performance, brand value, interest of investors and growth depends upon marketing. If
a firm is able to successfully market its all dimensions then it becomes very easy for it to
approach customers, to deal with high potential suppliers as well as to grow or expand
business into others regions across the world. The competitive positioning of the
organisations is determined by the way or by the extent up to which their marketing
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campaigns are successful enough to grab the attention of stakeholders. This is the
reason that every organisation makes efforts to get recognise and known by means of
their marketing strategies (Blut, Teller and Floh, 2018).
Marketing mix and its impact on success
Marketing mix consist of factors or focus areas which are in control of organisation
and act as driving force for the customers to make purchasing decisions. Identification
and accurate adjustment of these elements permit organisations to gain profitable
marketing choices at various levels (Al Badi, 2018). These decisions are able to limit as
well as develop the scope of organisations so that it can become more competitive.
These elements are so much crucial that buying decisions or selection criteria of
customers depends upon them. Customers used to compare these elements of different
service providers and on the basis of comparison they used to make decision about
purchasing. The adjustments and changes in marketing mix depends upon
organisational vision, competition as well as business environment factors. If
organisations are able to control these factors accurately then it is possible that most of
the customers can accept the brand and organisation can achieve desired profitability
levels. Hence the performance and success metrics is usually influenced by choices of
these elements. Thus if consumers are not satisfied or convinced with the choices of
marketing elements then it has adverse impact upon firm’s performance and decisions
making of customers.
Theoretical description of 4P’s of marketing mix
The marketing mix elements are not only used by determinants for helping
customers in buying process but are also used by organisations to assess the factors
such as need of customers, perception of brand, competitive positioning as well as their
interaction with the consumers (Purohit, Paul and Mishra, 2021). The 4P’s are
described as follows:
Product: The first marketing mix element refers to services or goods which are offered
by the organisation. While choosing this strategy organisation must consider the need
and expectations of their targeted customers. It is also assured that product must be
competitive enough to create a value or new demand. For successful product strategy
markets must also consider product life cycle so that its success can be assured at
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every phase. Product type also states about its promotional method, competitive
positioning as well as value it will create and the strategy which can be used to enhance
its value. The product type and strategy has strong impact on its perceived value and
thus it permits organisations to price profitably (Stead and Hastings, 2018). For
maintaining desired profits and success organisations can make necessary changes in
packaging, warranties, after sale services and its expansion into new market segments.
Price: Another important marketing consideration in marketing process is pricing
strategy which is the second P of marketing. It is highly required that the perceive or
real value of services or product must be informed to customers otherwise organisations
may have to suffer competitive disadvantages as result of unfair prices. For choosing
appropriate pricing strategy service providers also consider the factors such as
seasonal discounts, supply cost, price of competitors as well as buying capacity of
customers (Donndelinger and Ferguson, 2020). Thus product prices can be increased
or decreased depending upon the business situation and expectations of business. At
this strategy organisation also used to determine that if they are required to offer
discounts or other rewards to their customers or not. Pricing act as important
determinant for changing the perception and decisions of people towards buying
specific products of any organisation.
Place: With third element of marketing mix companies used to attempt decisions such
as how and where the product or services should be sell out so that profits can be
optimised. With place strategy markets make efforts to put products forward towards
customers so that they can quickly make purchases. Placement not only relates to
product selling at stores or online medium but also on competitive platforms where sells
can be increased. The primary purpose of choosing place strategy in marketing mix
components is to ensure that products are available for the customers at any point of
time and distance. Thus decisions related to retailing outlets and wholesaling is also
considered in place strategy of the organisations. The tools such as cost benefit
analysis are also performed by the companies to evaluate the effectiveness or efficiency
of distribution channel like company transport and outsourcing (Bhosale, Raverkar and
Tamondkar, 2020).
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Promotion: The soul of marketing activities lies in the fourth P of marketing which is
promotion. Promotional tactics includes aspect such as practices to promote or
advertise products or services, method to build public relations and to create a
successful brand or service provider. The purpose of implementing promotion strategy
is to inform customers about the emerging needs and the reasons that why they must
offer or pay value for the organisational services or products. The key aim of promotion
strategy is to make the organisation popular and well known so that awareness about
product or services can be created and customers can be persuaded to choose specific
brand. With promotion strategy organisation also identify the customer segment which
must be selected for adopting a specific promotional strategy.
Product description
Zara is one of the most successful and leading brand which has been able to
dominate the fashion retailing sector all over the world (Schaich Graniel and et.al.,
2021). The organisation is successful and well known for fast fashion products including
accessories, shoes, clothing, perfumes, beauty products as well as swimwear. The
clothing range of Zara is available for children, men and women of age group 18-35.
The design centres of organisation are located in European stores. Organisation’s
product line is in great demand for its stylish and chic clothing as well as accessories.
Zara’s sustainable products also make it a successful brand in terms of sustainability
because the organisation is highly active in promoting non-toxic based recyclable
materials.
Application of marketing mix elements
Success of Zara across the world is result of its highly effective and competitive
marketing mix strategies. The 4P strategy adopted by Zara for its worldwide success is
as follows:
Product: The most important strategy used by Zara which make it distinguish from
others is its designer clothing range which is not limited to only seasonal production but
instead is produced and rolled out throughout the year. Also to maintain a unique selling
proposition it is never in rush to introduce product lines. It focuses on producing only
limited editions so that people are always in waiting for grabbing them (Onditi, 2021).
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This product strategy helps in fast selling and thus organisation never experience any
virtual leftover. The feature which makes Zara product exclusive in demand is the higher
exclusivity offered by organisation and thus make products more appealing and popular
among customers. Also for assuring high standards in quality Zara manufactures all tis
products and does not engage in outsourcing. It gives complete control to organisation
for cost cutting as well as production time and process. This production strategy act as
reason for the huge success and demand of Zara products.
Price: Zara always follow premium pricing strategy so that its product is always
classified as unique and valuable. However, comparing to the quality and design
standards of organisation its customers are always willing to pay that high prices happily
and find its pricing affordable against the delivered quality and other competitors in the
industry. The high fashion service provider used to keep premium pricing and thus
ordinary or normal income level customers are never the targeted customer segment for
the organisation (Kovač, Palić and Tolić, 2021). Despite this pricing Zara always aims at
reducing manufacturing cost so that customer money can be valued and they do not
feel competitive disadvantages.
Place: Currently Zara stores are located in most of the countries of world and are not
limited to only its host country. The organisation is still undergoing into global expansion
with thousands of stores around the world. With changing business models organisation
has been also able to successfully shift to online channels. In addition to official
websites Zara products are also available with multiple brand online outlets with which
organisation has been working in partnership (Silva and Duarte, 2021). The online
stores of Zara are successful in attracting young generation which used to spend a
good span of time and efforts in online shopping. The dominating online presence of
Zara makes it highly successful in millennial generation.
Promotion: Another reason for the sustainable and quick growth of Zara is its
influencing marketing strategies. The most important aspect of Zara’s promotional
strategy is that as compare to other service provider’s organisation does not spend
much amount on advertisement purpose (Langaro and Martins, 2020). Instead
organisation follow the firm belief that high quality premium services are themselves
able to do marketing for the organisation and thus it does not need to make additional
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efforts for attracting or retaining customers. On one side when the competitors of Zara
used to have million-dollar budget for advertisement purpose, Zara does not even
promote itself on TV commercial. The key promotional tool used by organisation is
effective social media campaigns which are highly influential and inexpensive. The
social media popularity of the firm is so dominating that when new products are arrived
then in very short span of time they are responded by its followers or target audience
very quickly and with warmth. Zara also uses billboard advertisement which are
expensive as well as appealing enough to demand engagement of young generation
which is target customer of organisation (Lahtinen, Dietrich and Rundle-Thiele, 2020).
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that performance of organisation and the brand perception is
influenced by marketing mix. Contemporary firms must wisely apply their marketing mix.
It has been also analysed that competitive benefits are greatly affected by the ways in
which organisations used to provide services in market. The 4P’s are determined in a
way such that they are able to meet the marketing as well as business objectives of the
organisation. Thus it is important that effectiveness of these elements and associated
outcomes must also be analysed and evaluated by the firm.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Al Badi, K.S., 2018. The impact of marketing mix on the competitive advantage of the
SME sector in the Al Buraimi Governorate in Oman. SAGE Open, 8(3),
p.2158244018800838.
Bhosale, V.S., Raverkar, D.P. and Tamondkar, T., 2020. Importance of digital marketing
in the new age. International Journal of Advance and Innovative Research, 7(1),
pp.79-82.
Blut, M., Teller, C. and Floh, A., 2018. Testing retail marketing-mix effects on patronage:
A meta-analysis. Journal of retailing, 94(2), pp.113-135.
Donndelinger, J.A. and Ferguson, S.M., 2020. Design for the marketing mix: The past,
present, and future of market-driven engineering design. Journal of Mechanical
Design, 142(6).
Kovač, I., Palić, M. and Tolić, M., 2021. The Importance and Significance of the
Marketing Mix Elements in a Fashion Retailing. InterEULawEast: journal for the
international and european law, economics and market integrations, 8(1), pp.15-
38.
Lahtinen, V., Dietrich, T. and Rundle-Thiele, S., 2020. Long live the marketing mix.
Testing the effectiveness of the commercial marketing mix in a social marketing
context. Journal of Social Marketing.
Langaro, D. and Martins, L.B., 2020. The Use of Augmented Reality in the Marketing Mix
of Physical Products: Current Practices and Future Implications. In Managerial
Challenges and Social Impacts of Virtual and Augmented Reality (pp. 55-75).
IGI Global.
Onditi, D., 2021. Evaluation of ZARA and H&M. Marketing Mix, PR, Corporate Finance
Strategy and CSR. GRIN Verlag.
Purohit, S., Paul, J. and Mishra, R., 2021. Rethinking the bottom of the pyramid:
Towards a new marketing mix. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 58,
p.102275.
Schaich Graniel, D., and et.al., 2021. Zara: Facing Fast Fashion Challenges in China. An
International Marketing Case Study.
Silva, A.M.A. and Duarte, V., 2021. Online Shopping Behaviours during quarantine: Zara
case study (Doctoral dissertation).
Stead, M. and Hastings, G., 2018. Advertising in the social marketing mix: getting the
balance right. In Social Marketing (pp. 29-43). Psychology Press.
Thabit, T. and Raewf, M., 2018. The evaluation of marketing mix elements: A case
study. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 4(4).
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