Marketing Strategies and Segmentation Analysis for Marks & Spencer

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the marketing strategies employed by Marks & Spencer (M&S), a prominent British retail brand. It begins with a marketing audit, examining M&S's current performance through the lens of the Ansoff matrix, PESTLE analysis, and SWOT analysis. The report then delves into market segmentation, exploring different segmentation strategies. The analysis further includes an examination of M&S's marketing mix. The report concludes by evaluating the current marketing strategy and suggesting improvements to meet the needs of the targeted segments. This report aims to provide a detailed overview of M&S's marketing activities, offering insights into its strategic approach within the competitive retail landscape.

Introduction to
marketing assessment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..............................................................................................................................3
Marketing audit to analyse current performance of business......................................................3
Research on market segmentation...............................................................................................7
Marketing mix of Marks & Spencer...........................................................................................8
Analyse current marketing strategy and to meet requirement of suggested segment.................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is a management process by which company develop its services and products
through various concept that help them to approach its new ideas towards the customer. It is the
process in which organisation analysis about customer needs and explore new technique to
satisfy the needs of the customer. Marketing department has various roles and responsibilities
that include advertising, selling, promotion and delivering of products to consumer or other
business houses. With this different types of activities they create the demand of their product in
the market. It also help company to sustain for a longer time in the market and to attract more
potential customers for its product and service. Under this assignment the marketing activities of
Marks & Spencer is mention which operate its business in the retail sector (Hamilton, Spencer
and Ring, 2013). The company is situated in Westminster, London as British brand which deal in
clothing and food products. This assignment cover market audit of M&S and it acknowledge the
marketing strategy that is implemented by management. Along with this market segmentation to
target customers are discussed that help to retain business for a longer period.
MAIN BODY
Marketing audit to analyse current performance of business
With the marketing process an individual is attracted towards the product or service that
is offered by the company. To execute marketing in a efficient way, an organization is required
to analysis market. With this a company predict out that by which changes company develop a
loyal customer base for its products. As the opinion, preference and review from a customer help
the organisation to do essential changes in company product or service (Wilson and Beard,
2014). The Marks & Spencer is a huge company in retail market which own more than 1000
stores only in UK market. A part from this M&S is operating its stores globally so company has
to face tough competition from other local competitors also. In such a circumstance it is
important for M&S to do marketing audit it help company to find actual position of organisation
in the market. To do the marketing audit the micro and macro environment with various
marketing strategies of organisation is discussed in a detail manner.
Ansoff matrix

Ansoff matrix is a important planning tool through which senior managers, marketers and
executive develop a marketing strategy to achieve high growth in the futures. For this kind of
analysis there are four different type of strategies are as follow: Market penetration- Through the market penetration, M&S will expand its business in
with the help of its existing products and services in the market. This help company to
increase its market share. For the increase of its market share company decrease the price
of products, increase the promotion and distribution of its products to develop a
competitive edge from its rivals companies. Product development- The product development strategy help a M&S to develop new
and innovative products with in the existing market. It help company to achieve high
growth for the future. The company do this with the help of research and development
department. With this company develop those products which are widely accepted and
adopted by customers (Shen and et. al., 2014). Market development- In the development of M&S management try to explore the un-
explore area of the market. In the developing area or new area company promote its
existing products or services. To match with this goals company target different sectors
or customer segments to retain its presence in the market. With the help of this market
development strategy M&S can hit the untouched market.
 Diversification- It is considered to take heavy risk in the market, through the marketing
strategy company develop try to develop new market with new products. It is similar that
a establish company start their venture again. In this case if M&S fail to launch product
new products then they have to bear high loss in its revenue and market share.
In the present circumstance, market penetration strategy is implemented by management of
M&S. As it help company to sale their existing products in the similar market which help to
increase their market share and revenue as compare to competitors. For the understanding of
market position of M&S, PEST and SWOT are carried as below:
PESTLE analysis of M&S
The pestle analysis is a strategic tool by which company scan the external environment
of the company. With the detail study of environment Marks & Spencer overview about its
products that impact to achieve the company goals. The PEST analysis of M&S is mention
below:

 Political factors- The political factor tell that how a company is interrupted by the
government to operate its business in a particular country. In context of M&S
management favour free trade agreement between two countries, by this company is
able to reduce their conveyance cost that work as a advantage for the company(Divita,
and Yoo, 2013). If the company develop a high cost structure then it work as a
disadvantage because they has to operate its business in a inter-national market. Along
with this M&S does not has clear goals and ineffective scheme to save energy and less
technique to overcome from a hazardous situation. So it essential for company to
execute this in their environment either if they does not follow then they are fined or
close down by UK government instruction. Economical factors- The economic factor include GDP, interest rate and inflation rate
etc. of a particular nation. In the year 2008 when there is a financial crisis people loss
their purchasing power which impact heavily on M&S. As because of this crisis people
does not want to spend money on luxurious items. All the sector in the market start to
fall but major impact has been faced by the retail sector. So the company started to offer
its products with a discounted rate and due to quality products m&s again increase its
customer base. In present scenario UK is a developed which rise up from this financial
crisis and now due to government flexibility interest rate are low to sale, buy or
manufacture a product. This create a win situation for M&S that help to increase their
revenue and sale. Social factors- The social factor represent the custom, norm and characteristics of the
population where Marks & Spencer operate their business activity. This is connected
with different prospect like growth rate and income distribution. The sale of a product
heavily impacted if it is not stand on the society so the marketing department of M&S
offer products as per the belief of the society (Habersang and et. al., 2019). It help
company to sale and earn revenue from that market. Like in UK people prefer western
types of clothing which express them as a fashion personality. Technological factor- All type of business want to achieve a high growth over their
rivals. For this organisation implement new technology to develop a new product for
fulfilling the need of a customer. As old technique increase the manufacturing cost of a
product which impact on price of a product. Due to which individual did not want to

buy the product. To hold the top position in the market M&S update its technology and
machine to improve its products on timely basis (Sinha, 2012). Company has a global
presence in the world at present company operate its 300 stores which are full lined and
310 which are franchised and 360 as retail all over the UK. Along with this company
also sale its products through online store which work as a strength for the company and
also help them to capture a large market area for its business.
SWOT analysis of Marks & Spencer
SWOT tell the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a company. This
analysis work as a strategic tool that is used by company to modify its strength and overcome
from weaknesses. In respective it provide future opportunities and threats which are faced by
company in the future. For this case the SWOT of Marks & Spencer is mention as follow:
Strength Weakness
 Marks and Spencer is a established
company which provide luxury and
quality product to its customers. Due to
its brand value company has large
number of potential customer.
 M&S has a spirit to develop innovative
products to satisfy the need of a
customer. As company has a strong to
research & development team that
develop new products and services.
 There is a large range of products that
are offered by the company to its
different customers. Like food item,
clothes and home based products. So to
provide there are more than 1000
supplier which provide various
resources to meet with demand of
customer.
 The weaknesses that is relate with
M&S is that they does not have a large
variety of products. As because of this
customer thought that its products are
not trendy and out of fashion.
 Customer has to face various issue in
the return policy of a product that are
purchase from the M&S. Either it is
purchase from store or through online.
 Marks & Spencer has established its
brand in the developed countries while
if management focus on Asian and
African countries or in developing
countries. Company does not capture
large market because its product does
not match with customer need.

Opportunities Threats
 People started to buying the products
with their mobile or laptops through the
medium or support of online
technology. So management of
company take initiative to sell its
products with a online platform.
 To develop a strategy or with help of
research team. Company try to develop
ways by which they improve its clothes
sector. So their products will not be
seen as a outdated product.
 Company has to face heavy
competition from different companies.
Like Tesco and Aldi are biggest
competitor of M&S in retail market.
Apart from this they also provide heavy
its products at a discounted price.
 The company is operating its business
in the global market due to which they
have to face various issue like political
and economical changes. This
challenges reduce revenue and profits
of the company.
According to the above SWOT, it is found that Marks & Spencer has a strong presence in
all UK which help organisation to sell its products easily. The multichannel presence of company
deliver its products to customer through online and offline stores. But due to less variety in
clothes section marketing team is not getting more profits from them. To overcome from this
analysis marketing team has to develop strategy that help to monitor its activities with a
benchmark.
Research on market segmentation
Market segmentation- The market segmentation help an organisation to divide its
customer base in various segment. It include age, personality and behaviour of different
individuals and then divide those individuals into a group. There are four types of market
segmentation that are mention as follow:
Demographic segmentation- It is one of the simple way by which a market is divided
and apart from this it is also wide the wide segmentation. The demographic segmentation include
different variable on which base divide a market (Vriens, Alves and Chen, 2017). Like age, sex,
gender, income etc. This help M&S to target their customer with a small number of groups.
Psycho-graphic segmentation- This kind of segmentation include that customers are
divided on the base of their interest and the way in which they spend its lifestyle. This is same as

the behavioural segmentation under this customer are generated and divided on the basis of
value, attitude and its opinion etc.
Behavioural segmentation- Under the behavioural segmentation market is divided into
various sectors like the pattern and behaviour of customer. This segment help company to target
its right customer with right product. Like the young people want to wear fashionable clothes
while old age people prefer comfortable clothes (Laukkanen and et. al., 2013).
Geographic segmentation- This segmentation divide the people on the basis of area, the
customer belong to different areas. So the demand of product is also different the purchasing
power of developed country customer is different from the developing countries customer.
Organisation analysis various area and then provide products to customer according to their
preference and geographical area.
In the case of M&S, marketing team divide its activities into two major segmentation that
is they demographic and psycho-graphic. As it is already mention that demographic
segmentation is the largest way by which a company decide similar factors of different
individuals to make a group. The members of this group share similar types of characteristics and
this help the marketing team of M&S to make a single product by which the demand of whole
group is satisfied in a similar way. It also benefited company to find needs of a niche market and
fill needs of a single group. Example- Marketing team of M&S divide market on customer on the
base of gender. For men produce a comfortable and formal style of clothing while for female
clothing company need a large variety of products with budget factor.
The other segment on which M&S work is the psycho-graphic segmentation as it help
company to develop a similar type of lifestyle. Through this segmentation marketing team found
the way in which they analysis purchase behaviour of consumer (Hall, 2015). Like M&S build
its brand image in market as a luxurious brand specifically in food market through analysing the
purchase behaviour of customer.
Marketing mix of Marks & Spencer
There are four P's that help a company to understand its marketing mix which are
product, price, place and promotion. It is mention as follow:
Product- M&S is a popular retail chain brand in all over the world with a experience of
more than nine decades. This include a large product portfolio which provide different products
to men, women and kids. Company has a large variety of products which include food items and

clothing products. The major benefit that obtained by M&S is that they offer their own brands
with a high quality rather than to sell a international brand.
Price- The marketing team decide the price of a product in which through competitive
pricing strategy. Like in case of clothes section of M&S company has its own brands which are
priced between medium and high with the premium quality products. But M&S implement
competitive price strategy because in each sector there are many companies which give
competition to run their business (Babu, K.V.S.N., 2012).
Place- Marks and Spencer is establish themselves as a international brand which operate
1000 stores in different countries. The major area that is cover by the M&S is the UK market
through a the medium of 850 store. Large geographic area is covered by the M&S which include
UK, Spain, Finland etc. The outside store of the company help M&S to enhance their visibility
outside the UK also.
Promotion- To promote a product in a particular target segment the company implement
a various strategy through digital marketing. Moreover with this M&S use print media, t.v.
Advertisement and mobile ads. Apart from this they use social media campaign also. Like for
M&S promotes its clothing style of segment through fashion blog on different social platforms.
This marketing mix help M&S to expand their business in a international market and to provide
employment in different countries.
Analyse current marketing strategy and to meet requirement of suggested segment
The marketing strategy that is used by M&S is the market penetration strategy. In this
case a they launch its products at a low price this help them to launch it product at a low price.
This provide benefits to Marks & Spencer because by implementing it customer will be more
attracted through low price this will help the company to gain more profits in a smaller period of
time. For example- If the sale of a product is not match with the expectation of M&S team then
they change strategy towards a low price. This result that sale and demand of M&S products will
be increased (Getz, D., 2012).
The major purpose to chose this market penetration strategy is that it help company to set
a effective price in the market. Like for this a company has been maintaining in a competitive
market. While with this the price is also adjusted for a product in the case of UK market there is
a high competition as to move from this company has to fight on a price factor which provide
economic advantage to the country. While the other case for the section of home products that

company buy raw material in bulk. This help them to manufacture finished products and then sell
them to achieve high profits at a low price.
The best part that provide by competition is that it include combat fight on the base of
price against its rivals. Example- the case of international competition that is faced by M&S is
that there is a close fight on price related to discount factor. So in this case competitors steal their
customer and convince them to buy their products. If in this case M&S want to lead in market
the best option is to kick out other competitors by lowering the price of products. The other
option with this strategy company also develop cost effective way to make its products
(Bocken and et. al., 2013). At last management has to focus that they develop ways to decrease
the price of product rather than to decrease the quality of the product. As price is a crucial factor
it impact on the purchase behaviour of a customer that also include with market trends.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that to gain the high revenue and profitability.
Every organisation need to implement the efficient and effective marketing. To perform
appropriate marketing company has to execute and analysis SWOT, Ansoff matrix etc. There are
different ways by which company segment the market and target the market in a proper manner.
With the help of right marketing strategy and segmentation organisation achieve their goals,
target and aims easily as compare to its competitors.

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