Marketing Essentials: Marketing Roles, Responsibilities & Plan

This report provides a detailed analysis of marketing essentials, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within an organization. It explores the concept of marketing and its key functions, including market analysis, segmentation, pricing, distribution, and customer service. The report also examines how these marketing functions relate to the wider organizational context, emphasizing the importance of marketing for establishing customer relationships and enhancing brand image. A comparative analysis of the marketing mix applied by Parcelforce and Ben Sherman is presented, highlighting their strategies for achieving business objectives. Finally, the report produces and evaluates a basic marketing plan for Parcelforce Worldwide, considering various major points relevant to its implementation and success.

MARKETING ESSENTIAL

Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................1
Tsask 1:...........................................................................................................................................2
P1.Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function.............................2
P2. Explain how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider
organizational context...............................................................................................................5
Task 2:.............................................................................................................................................7
P3. Compare the ways in which two organizations apply the marketing mix to the
marketing planning process to achieve business objectives...................................................7
Task 3:...........................................................................................................................................10
P4. Produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan for Parcelforce Worldwide.................10
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................14
References.....................................................................................................................................15

Introduction
Marketing is the activity which has potential to make or to destroy the business as it goes directly
into customer’s mind and creates the perceptions about the company’s product or services so
nowadays where customers are as clever as they have so much option and reviews. In the current
study, the report will discuss the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function, the
concept of the marketing function and key marketing functions along with roles and
responsibilities of the key marketing functions. The study will also review the roles and
responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organizational context. At last section, the report
will analyse the marketing mix of the two organisations in comparison with 7’s that stands for
product, price, place, promotion, processes, physical evidence and people. It will also assess the
marketing plan for Parcelforce Worldwide and includes discussion of various major points as
well in the report.
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Task 1:
P1.Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function.
Definition and concept of marketing
Marketing is an action process that includes the promoting and selling the products or services
with extensive market research and advertising (Brassington and Pettitt, 2012). It is a business
process through which products and services move from its concept to the customer.
The marketing concept is defined as a blend of current and future trends and these concepts are
majorly categorized under five headings:
 Production concept: As its name shows this concept is based on the production capacity
and the perception of the consumer regarding availability of the product of the company
with cheaper prices and in sufficient quantity so its consumer rates get increased and that
is why this concept gives more focus on production rate in terms of operational capacity
of any firm (Dibb and Simkin, 2013).
 Product concept: Again as its name suggests this concept is based on the product
approach in terms of innovative features, pricing, value and the quality because the
consumer wants the value of their invested money. So this concept focuses on the
retention of the consumer with the help of better quality and innovative product or service
designs and ideas.
 Marketing concept: This concept deals with the marketing essentials of the
organisations such as target market, brand value and etc and focuses towards the
enhancement of these defined marketing things in order to win over the competitors and
competition.
 Selling concept: This concept focuses more on the promotional aspects of the brand,
products and the organisation. As nowadays the consumers believe on the advertisement
thing and it is really helpful to make awareness about the organisational product or
services in terms of increasing the sales so the selling ideas and designs are the major
components of this concept.
 Societal marketing concept: This is a very new emerging trend and actually works
because its focus is based on the requirements of the target consumer. This works
according to its consumer needs and it is the best way to attract the target consumer over
the competitor.
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The concept of marketing function and key marketing functions
Marketing functions are very important activities or it can be said the roles of the marketing
department which are really essential to give the existence of a single product or service and to
make this available to the market or to its consumers. These functions help to identify the various
sources in terms of product development and then for further promotion with the effective use of
the identified sources (Lovelock, 2011). So it can be said that the mainly these marketing
functions are responsible for the growth of the company as if these are well maintained, these
will work towards the progress. The various marketing functions have their own defined roles
and responsibilities in terms of the organisational growth and after achieving their functional
target all these functions work collectively towards the organisational growth.
The key marketing functions are as follows;
 Market analysis – it is very important and vital function of marketing as it includes the
basic step and that is research. Market research is really most important as without the
extensive market research and analysis no business can run smoothly. It extracts the
valuable and important information for the further proceedings of the other marketing
functions.
 Market segmentation – it is also a very important function of marketing as to promote the
product or service or the brand value it is very essential to know the consumer idea and
the market segmentation helps to give the complete idea of the market.
 Pricing – the pricing strategy is one of the core function of the marketing as it can be
defined as the dominating functions over the other because it deals with the very basic
thing that is money so organisation requires giving much attention while deciding the
pricing strategy for any its product or service (Groucutt and Hopkins, 2015)
 Distribution – it is another important function of marketing which decides the progress of
the company as it depends on the distribution strategies and sources which are selected by
the organisation in order to make available its products or services to its consumers or
market.
 Customer service – yes, it is a marketing function as the after sales service is one of its
components in terms of increasing the brand value and consumer perception about the
organisation.
Roles and responsibilities of the key marketing functions
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 As the Parcelforce is a service based company which mainly deals with the service
aspect, needs to give most of the focus towards the roles and responsibilities of its
marketing functions because this the marketing is the only area for it for the further
improvements and to get a competitive advantage over its competitors.
 Extensive marketing research – Parcelforce use the primary and secondary research in
the very extensive way (Uksumenko, et. al., 2017). As the market research is the very
important way to get valuable information that is beneficial in terms of product or
service planning and it is the basic responsibility and primary role of any marketing
function.
 Framing the marketing strategy – it is the very crucial role of marketing function as at
every single step marketing needs to frame a proper and related strategy which can be
the path provider for the growth thing for the Parcelforce or any organisation. So it is
the major responsibility for the marketing function to deeply analyse and then
developing a proper strategy for the business development (Lovelock, 2011).
 Maintaining customer relations –it is the very important role and responsibility of
marketing function which works before as well as after sales because developing and
maintaining harmonious relations with the customer is proved one of the best ways to
promote growth and it works as a promotional thing for the development of
organisation’s brand image.
These were some major roles and responsibilities of Parcelforce's marketing functions to have
the growth.
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P2. Explain how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organizational
context.
Importance of marketing
 The marketing is the core for the success of any organisation and being the service
organisation it becomes more important to Parcelforce to opt for the right marketing plan
and marketing process to grow (Jobber and Chadwick, 2012).
 Marketing is one of the major factors to establish and strengthen the relationships with
the customer, retailers and various business entities and in the field of business especially
in the service organisation, these relations work as wonder sometimes.
 Marketing is very essential to spreading awareness and enhancing the brand image in a
positive manner. The effective marketing process is really helpful for Parcelforce to
create its brand value as the brand value set the customer perception in a positive way
whether it is B2B or B2C.
Overview of the marketing process
As it is very clear that marketing is a process to move the products and services it includes five
basic steps which include further analysis and concepts.
The main five steps are;
 Mission
 Situation analysis
 Marketing strategy
 Marketing mix
 Implementation and control
Structure and operations of the Parcelforce
Like every organisation, Parcelforce also needs some other operational department to perform
their respective functions in order to run the smooth business. This organisation has various
operational departments such as;
 Finance – it is the department which manages the money or finance of the Parcelforce is
known as its finance department, it includes planning, auditing and accounting activities
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with controlling its finance apart from that it also prepares the financial statement of the
organisation (Kotler and Armstrong, 2013)
 Human Resource – managing the human assets of the company is the main work of the
HR department and it is done through various strategic functions such as recruiting,
selecting, planning, staffing, appraisals, compensation and maintaining industrial
relations under the defined law and regulations.
 Marketing department – marketing department promotes the business and drives sales of
the various services of the Parcelforce. It includes marketing research, analysis and
promotional activities with after sale services with the earlier discussed functions.
 Customer service – customer service department is a very important unit as it helps to
retain the customer base and to make the new customer as its cordial behaviour and
service attract customer towards the organisation and they find solutions for their various
issues.
Interrelation of marketing unit with another functional unit of the organization and its
significance
Marketing functions interrelate with other functions and that is why business run as if in the
marketing department if there is a need to hire a marketing manager, the marketing department
will give its requirements to the HR department and then accordingly the HR prepares all the
related hiring activities (Kotler and Armstrong, 2013). The various promotional activities of the
marketing planning are controlled and measured by the FINANCE department as they need to fix
the finance for all the business activities. The customer service department always helps to
increase the customer base and if any customer has any issue related with the marketing thing or
after sales services to the customer service department provides the correct solution in that case.
For the growth of the company, it is very essential that its entire department has effective
interrelationships as it is a very good way to control the budgetary issues and other obstacles.
The effective interrelation always helps to recognize the problems and gaps and the collective
efforts are taken to overcome the gap or the weakness. So for the effective development and for
the overall growth, the interrelation is a very vital aspect.
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Task 2:
P3. Compare the ways in which two organizations apply the marketing mix to the
marketing planning process to achieve business objectives.
Both the chosen organization works internationally and both have the business objective to be
the most effective and the top brands in their respective area. So the below marketing mix table
shows their efforts and use of this marketing mix to achieve their business objective.
Marketing mix Parcelforce Ben Sharman
Product It is the main aspect of any
business and is a service
organization Parcelforce
works much to improve its
service range as it works as its
product. It works continuous
basis to gain a competitive
advantage over its competitors
by offering and delivering the
new services to its worldwide
customers.
Ben Sherman uses both the
product based approach and
market-based approach to
design and develops its
product range. The company
deals with wide range of
product to satisfy its
worldwide customers and its
product range is really unique
as it works on theme pattern.
Price The Parcelforce being an
international service
organization applies both
kinds of pricing strategy such
as cost-based and market-
based. For the international
pricing, it becomes important
to Parcelforce to vary its
prices according to the
competition and competitors.
BenSharman works mainly on
the medium price range
products and uses product map
to decide the pricing range. Its
product is really good in
quality so the pricing is
decided according to the
quality so the product based
approach is used to determine
the pricing strategy.
Place The place is defined as a
channel which helps to the
organization to reach its
This organization does not
depend only on the physical
market to make available its
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product to the market at right
time. Methods of transporting
and distribution are the
components for this.
Parcelforce owning worldwide
53 depots so the customer can
use its service without any
obstacles. It has post office
branches and direct collection
facilities also apart from that it
has its international partner to
make its service easy and
approachable (McDaniel, et al,
2012).
product but it also uses the
most of the fashion show to
launch its products at
internationally. Its own stores,
departmental stores and
fashion stores are its major
distribution channels apart
from those online ordering
services are also offered by
this brand.
Promotion As it is the activity that makes
awareness about the brand it
becomes important to design
the good promotional things to
maximize the customer base
for the Parcelforce. This
organization focuses on the
previous promotional events
result and then design for new
ones such as an online and
offline advertisement,
international advertisement
and direct mail also.
BenSharman uses both above
the line and below the line
methods to promote its
products such as magazine
advertisement as above the
line and direct mailing for
below the line (Pike, 2015).
Its events and exhibitions are
also very famous promotional
activities apart from that
public relations and its sales
promotion are also the
promotional tactics which are
used by Ben Sharman.
Processes Parcelforce is the big
organization it includes large
customer base and more
Ben Sharman uses the
combination of processes to
satisfy the customer demands.
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customer focused. Its delivery
process is quite efficient and
has big research and
development department. As
the organization is big MNC it
has great IT supports.
The processes support the
business to remain
competitive and extend the
share of market and impacts.
Physical evidence The packaging of the courier
and delivery is the main
physical evidence of the
organization. Moreover, it also
has experienced sales staff in
the organization which
provides efficient services to
the customers (Pereira, et. al.,
2017).
The organization is big in
clothing as it includes a wide
variety of staffs and the
product is also good in quality
and packaging.
People As the big MNC, it includes a
large number of employees,
individuals and management.
The organization include
The organization is having a
large workforce as it is
globally spread. It includes all
the stakeholders that are
necessary to run the business
in the most efficient manner.
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Task 3:
P4. Produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan for Parcelforce Worldwide
Marketing plan
It can be defined as a roadmap to follow to get unlimited consumers and improve the success the
organisation (Mcdonald and Wilson, 2011). In Parcelforce, it requires developing the plan which
helps it to grow at the global level with extraordinary services. A proper and well-designed
Marketing plan includes the target customer, the sources to reach them and the most important
thing the retention aspects of these customers.
Company overview
Parcelforce is a courier and logistics service in the UK which is founded in 1990. This
organisation is working with its worldwide trading name of Royal Mail Group Ltd. And it is
mainly organized within the UK parcels, international and letter division of the group. It is very
efficient service organisation which is working with its 4500 employees.
Vision
“To be the UK’s most trusted worldwide express carrier”. Its efforts towards the satisfaction of
customer needs are very helpful to achieve its vision in terms of growth.
Mission
It has a very clear mission is to be recognized as the best delivery company in the UK. And for
that purpose, various kinds of strategies are framed to achieve this mission and the overall
growth of the organisation.
Marketing objectives
To be brilliant at the basics
To build an effective commercial future
To drive profitable growth
To deliver excellent performance
Situational analysis
It includes SWOT as micro and PEST as macro environmental analysis.
SWOT of Parcelforce;
Strengths
 Good customer base as 30,000 business
customers in the UK and 23 partners
Weakness
 The low commitment of its staff
sometimes emerges as the major
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across the European countries.
 Its financial strength as its turnover is
382 million dollar that provides 7.3%
annual growth in revenue.
 Its productivity rate is also very high as
it puts 200,000 parcels per day so this
simply shows the productivity level that
is really makeable.
 It works internationally and delivers
parcels in over 30 European countries.
 It shows so much efficiency in its
operations as the employed staffs with
the technological advancement takes
improvements towards this.
 Its effective, growth, promotional and
operational strategies are the other
major strengths for the Parcelforce
company.
weakness of this organisation and it is
given the loss in 2002 as a result.
 Accidents at the workplace are the
other major weakness of the
Parcelforce organisation and it happens
worldwide so this hampers the human
as well as the business aspect of the
organization.
Opportunities
 Change in demographic conditions is
the one of the important opportunity as
this can be the first organisation to give
the cards to those who are unable to
speak and understand English.
 Its structure recognition works as the
opportunity as it gives an idea about
training and customer service offerings
which are the major area to grow and to
get success and gain competitive
advantage.
Threats
 An unregulated market is a very
important threat that cannot be ignored
as it creates potential danger for the
organisation.
 Consumer power is nowadays
increasing and their tastes are also
changing so it requires extensive
research and ideas.
 Similar service providers are the major
threats as they offer same survives with
same prices.
 The open market offers few players
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with large market share and this
situation is not in the favour of
Parcelforce.
PEST analysis;
Political The Parcelforce shares a strategic relationship with the government as
the various policies of the government influences its international
business and its opportunities. This organisation operates within the
regulative model.
Economical The European economy is the major factor t influence the business of
the organisation as the variances in the economic condition of the states
always puts great impact over the business.
Social Societal alteration makes the great idea about the new product and
service idea as nowadays society is improving and the various
demographic changes are really gives influence on the business at
national and international level (Mcdonald and Wilson, 2011)
Technological The advancement of technology and its adaptation makes an increase in
revenue at international level for Parcelforce organisation as this
service organisation is very adaptive and their staffs are also proven
effective with new technology.
Various strategies of Parcelforce
Market segmentation;
Parcelforce is a service organisation and works internationally so its market segmentation
includes all kind of the services into account while framing segmentation strategies. The market
segmentation is done here by the service offers. Parcelforce can choose the market segment
according to national level services. It offers B2B, B2C services so segmentation is done
accordingly.
Target market;
It’s an international service organisation so its target market is based on the national and
international level (Goi, 2009). It has undergone various partnerships as to create its target
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market. As B2B its target is defined the various business organisations in terms of delivery
services and as B2C it includes all age group at every level.
Growth strategy;
Parcel2qforce is increasing its capacity and capability with the help of investment and it wants to
develop a broader revenue base and growth in the UK. GLS is positioned to grow in new markets
and to support the expansion. Acquisition of GSO, expanding relationships with retailers and
maintaining services to other business, the consumer is the more impactful strategy.
Marketing plan for the Parcelforce
As according to the main three components or elements of the marketing plan its marketing plan
focuses on its target customer with the help of the various discussed strategies. The second
element to reach at them the other strategy such as partnership at international levels and direct
collection at national level make it sensible and the last element for retention of the customer this
company offers various services and attractive things such as discounts and direct mailing
(Pappas, 2017).
Monitoring and controlling
Monitoring and controlling is very important part of the marketing plan as every single activity
in marketing plan needs to be monitored and controlled by the head of the department.
Evaluation of marketing plan
The sales volume analysis and the market share analysis of the reports show that the marketing
plan works effectively to achieve its vision. The recent report shows that the 7.3% growth is
noticed in sales which are really high as compared to others and its partners also is the result of
its development.
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Conclusion
After discussing all the major elements it becomes clear that marketing works as a heart for any
organization to grow or to develop and it needs many efforts to analyze and to search more
information about the market issues. Marketing elements help organization to identify its
weakness and opportunities so the organization can significantly work on these factors in terms
of overall business expansion. This discussed study also provides the concept of the marketing
mix which is the basic and foremost thing for understanding the marketing in deep. Marketing
mix deals with the entire marketing concept and this study that is why focusing on mainly on the
marketing mix. At the end of the section of the report, the study had highlighted the marketing
plan for the organization that includes all the main points of discussion such as Pest, SWOT,
mission, vision, marketing objectives, various strategies, and marketing.
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References
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Macmillan.
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Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
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