Strategic Marketing Planning Report: Next Plc Company

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the strategic marketing plan of Next Plc, a multinational retail company. It begins with an overview of the company, its mission, vision, and strategic objectives, followed by an examination of relevant marketing theories. The main body delves into the application of the marketing mix (7Ps), segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) strategies employed by Next Plc. The report discusses how the company utilizes product, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, people, and process to achieve its marketing objectives, including increasing sales, expanding market share, and enhancing online and physical store presence. Furthermore, the report highlights how Next Plc segments its market demographically, geographically, psychographically, and behaviorally, and how it targets specific consumer groups. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, emphasizing the importance of strategic marketing in achieving business goals. References to relevant academic sources are included, demonstrating the report's adherence to academic standards. This analysis provides valuable insights into Next Plc's marketing approach and strategic decision-making.

Strategic Marketing
Planning

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Overview of the company...........................................................................................................3
Marketing theories......................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is considered as the essential activity which every business undertakes in order
to communicate and promote the offering the large audience. Their main motive is to enhance
the digits of sales and contribute in maximum revenue generation. Strategic marketing planning
is a process which involves setting objectives and goals, analysing the external and internal
factors of business, product planning and implementing the plan and tracking its progress
(Zulfiqar and Ahmed, 2019). The organisation chosen for this report is Next Plc, a British
company dealing in clothing, home products and footwear. It is headquartered in Enderby,
England. This report shall cover the strategic objectives of the company and different theories of
marketing.
MAIN BODY
Overview of the company
Next Plc is a multinational company headquartered in UK. It deals in the footwear,
clothing and home products. It has around 700 stores out of which 500 stores are established in
UK and 200 are across Middle East, Asia and Europe. The company is listed in London Stock
Exchange and is the largest retailer in clothing sector in terms of sales in UK.
The mission statement of Next Plc is to be the natural choice of retailer in UK for the
fashion. They are aimed to be the natural choice for men and women who expect distinction,
style and quality from the clothing.
The vision statement of the company next Plc is to offer excellent quality and beautifully
designed clothing and the home ware products to its customers which can meet the expectations
of the consumers.
The business strategic objectives of Next Plc is to deliver the sustainable and longer term
returns to the shareholders by combination of the growth in the Earning per share and the
payment of the cash dividends.
The main objective of Next Plc is to meet the expectations of the consumers by providing
the exciting, excellent quality and beautifully designed clothing, home ware and accessories to
the customers. They are aimed to create such environment which can help in inspiring, attracting
and retaining the right employees at work at every level (Tomczak, Reinecke and Kuss, 2017).

Marketing theories
Marketing plays an important role in meeting the objectives of the company as it plays a
vital role in promoting and communicating the offering to the large audience. The marketing
objectives of the company next Plc are-
 To increase the sales and market share of organisation in next 2 years by using innovative
strategies of marketing.
 To increase its online and physical store presence and brand affiliation in next six
months. To increase the number of customers for international online sales in next one year
(Hanlon, 2018).
The theory of marketing mix
It is a suitable marketing theory which helps the organisation to chose and decide the
appropriate strategy for marketing its products and services. It helps in budget and resource
allocation of the company and allows the organisation to choose the best and effective marketing
tactics in order to fulfil its promotional needs (Sharp, 2017). In context to Next Plc, the 7Ps of
marketing mix is discussed below- Product- It is the offering of the company which company wants to sell in the market.
The Next Plc offers wide range of goods which includes women, men and children wear,
women shoes and accessories and home wares. The organisation design its products and
sell at affordable price. Price- It involves the value for which the product or service is being offered to the
general public. In context to Next Plc, it uses the combination of price skimming and
penetration pricing. The market skimming price involves setting the high price for the
limited product to raise revenue and penetration pricing involves setting low price for
new product to attract new customers. This combination helps in attracting diversified
customers. Place- It signifies the place where the company allows the access to its product or
distribute the offering to customers. Next Plc have the omni channel which allows the
customers to make the purchase using the tablets, smartphones and catalogues. The
organisation have around 700 stores across the world. It also offers its products online.

 Promotion- It refers to the promotional tactics which the business uses to promote its
offering. Next uses wide range of promotional channels in order to promote its products.
It uses direct marketing like emails and catalogues, sales promotion like discounts and
offers, public relations and advertisements through TV, fashion magazines and other print
material. It uses digital marketing tactics like social media and websites to promote its
offerings. Physical evidence- It basically involves the proof of the brand and its existence in the
market. The Next Plc have an exciting and creative design and the management at the
stores which makes the atmosphere comfortable and relaxed. Moreover, the company
offers vibrant ouch to its packaging which is regularly changed in terms of patterns and
colours. People- It includes the human resource which are involved in the business. The Next Plc
have skilled and organised human resource who are involved in building the strong
customer relationships. The company regularly trains the employees and motivate them
to give their best. Process- It includes the series of action which are undertaken by company top deliver the
offering to the public. The organisation Next Plc has the systematic process in order to
make sure that the company experiences consistent growth. They are keen to maintain
high quality and standard of their products in order to meet customer expectations
(Hansen and Juslin, 2018).
Segmentation, targeting and positioning
This strategy helps the organisation to decide firstly what types of customers exist,
secondly, to decide what customers are to be served by the company and thirdly how company
will communicate its products to the chosen segment of market.
Segmentation
It is the process which involves grouping the customers in similar segment which have
similar characteristics. There are different types of market segments which are illustrated below-
 Demographic- In this the customers are segmented on the basis of age, gender, etc. The
Next Plc segments the customers on the basis of age and mix it with the gender.
 Geographic- In this, the market is segmented on the basis of geographical location. Next
Plc segments the market on the basis of location as it serves it global world.

 Psycho graphic- This involves segmenting the market on the basis of income level,
lifestyle, etc. The company Next Plc segment customer on the basis of Income level of
consumers. Behaviour- In this, the market is segmented on the basis of consumer taste and
preference, and behaviour of the consumers (JerÄ inoviÄ, 2019).
Targeting
It involves the process of the attracting the customer which is being segmented by the
company and target them to make the purchase (Eriksson,Robertson and Näppä, 2020). The Next
Plc has the target market on the basis of age group which are around 20-30. they also target
middle to high income people and has the presence in UK, Middle east, Asia and Europe.
Positioning
It is a process of creating the brand image in the minds of the customers. Next Plc uses
the positioning map in order to position itself in the market. This map helps the organisation to
identify as to where it is position in the present and where it wants to see itself in the future
(Schlegelmilch and Winer, 2020). At present, The company Next Plc has positioned itself with
the affordable pricing with the high modern trends of fashion
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the report that Next Plc is a multinational company which deals in
clothing sector. It has its vision to meet the expectations of the customers by offering them with
high quality products. The company have the marketing objective to increase its customer
presence and sales in the near future. For this, it has to come up with marketing strategies in
order to make such tactics. Marketing mix is a tool used to create the marketing strategies which
can help in choosing the best promotional tactics. At last, it is summarised that the model of
segmentation, targeting and positioning helps the organisation to target the customer by
segmenting it into the group which have similar characteristics.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Eriksson, T., Robertson, J. and Näppä, A., 2020. Functional top management teams and
marketing organization: exploring strategic decision-making. Journal of Strategic
Marketing, pp.1-18.
Hanlon, A., 2018. Digital marketing: Strategic planning & integration. Sage.
Hansen, E. and Juslin, H., 2018. Strategic marketing in the global forest industries.
JerÄ inoviÄ, S., 2019. Facilitating the Development of Innovative Competencies and Strategic
Marketing Sustainability Commitment. Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and
Management. 1(1). pp.100-106.
Schlegelmilch, B.B. and Winer, R.S. eds., 2020. The Routledge Companion to Strategic
Marketing. Routledge.
Sharp, B., 2017. Marketing: theory, evidence, practice. Oxford University Press,.
Tomczak, T., Reinecke, S. and Kuss, A., 2017. Strategic marketing: Market-oriented corporate
and business unit planning. Springer.
Zulfiqar, S. and Ahmed, S.F., 2019. Investigating the Impact of External Environment on
Strategic Marketing Planning: A Case Study for NETSOL Technologies
Inc. NOLEGEIN-Journal of Leadership & Strategic Management, pp.19-32.