HND Business Management: Marketing Process & Planning at Tesco

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Tesco PLC's marketing process and planning. It begins by defining marketing in the 21st century, highlighting the shift from mass marketing to personalized approaches using digital tools like social media and AI. The report details the role of marketing functions within Tesco, including promotion, selling, product management, and distribution, and examines how the marketing department interacts with other departments such as operations, finance, and human resources. Furthermore, it explains the extended marketing mix (People, Process, Physical Evidence) and evaluates how Tesco's marketing mix contributes to its business objectives. The report concludes with recommendations for Tesco, emphasizing the importance of careful research and development in devising marketing strategies, especially in international markets, and acknowledging Tesco's overall success in marketing planning and implementation.

Higher National Diploma in Business
Management
Unit 2 Marketing Process & Planning
The Marketing Concept,
Functions and Mix (Part 1)
Marketing Planning (Part 2)
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Table of Content
Part 1: Briefing Paper
1.0 Introduction p
2.0 An explanation of the concept/definition of marketing in the 21st century
p
3.0 Description of the role of marketing function with examples from the
chosen organisation p
4.0 An analysis of how the marketing function works and interacts with other
departments p
5.0 An explanation of the extended marketing mix and examples from selected
supermarket p
2.0 An evaluation of how the marketing mix adopted by the selected
business (or business unit) contributes to the success of the organisation in
meeting their overall business objectives p
3.0 Recommendations p
9.0 Conclusions p
References p
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1.0 Introduction
Marketing is one of the most important dimension of a business organisation
and so it is important to understand its concepts. For this report selected company,
TESCO PLC as an example to understand practical implementation of the concepts
mentioned above. Having its headquarters in UK, Tesco is a multinational retailer of
general merchandise and is operational in 11 countries across the globe (Domański
and Łabenda, 2020). Established in the year 1919, provide products and services
such as groceries and general use item through its supermarket, hypermarket, etc.
In this report consist of concept of marketing in 21st century, marketing mix, functions
of marketing and its role. In the 2nd part of this project have tried to throw some light
on the concept such as marketing objectives, situational analysis, competitor
analysis, marketing budget, social media marketing, etc.
2.0 An explanation of the concept/definition of marketing in
the 21st century
The earlier times followed the concept of mass marketing campaigns through
television, magazines and newspapers, etc. but with evolution of internet, things
changed. Internet transformed the marketing concept into personalised marketing, or
inbound and outbound marketing. Various concepts such as Social media marketing,
personalised e mail marketing, content marketing, AI, SEO which were nothing more
than a dream have now become a reality in the marketing domain. This made it
possible for the small firms also to market their products with small budgets
efficiently and effectively. (Rauschnabel and et.al, 2022).
In earlier times the the concept of marketing involved caveat emptor, that
means “ buyer beware”. Thus marketing included increasing revenue through
increased sales only but in recent times the concept of caveat venditor has taken
the firm in marketing which means “vendor beware”. This revolutionised the
marketing concept and the organisations now aim at creating a relation with the
consumer. This is done by various means such as feedback and questionnaire,
social media marketing, personalised budget marketing, customised products and
services, after sales services, product sampling, etc.
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Even after the adoption of these brand new technologies, the traditional
approach continues to play its role. The mass media marketing campaign is still the
most extensively used marketing tool to the large budget organisations and probably
more efficient as well.(Shemyatikhina, Shipitsyna, and Usheva, 2020).
3.0 Description of the role of marketing function with
examples from the chosen organisation
Different roles of marketing functions in the context of Tesco Plc such as:
 Promotion: Marketing clearly helps in promoting the product by creating
awareness about the product. It involves introducing the product to the
potential customers. This can be done through e mail marketing, social media
advertising, digital or print advertising, etc. TESCO extensively uses media to
create awareness about its products to the customer.
 Selling: It is one of the most important function of marketing which helps in
making sales of the product.(Kitchen,2020) In fact, it is this function of
marketing which give it its due importance as it helps in generating revenue –
the prime reason as to why an organisation exists. TESCO has always tried to
increase its sales by providing personal touch to the needs of its customers.
Various marketing tactics that TESCO has incorporated like buy one get one
free, discounts and offers, etc. were finally focused at increasing sales.
 Product management: This include development and design of the product.
This also include improvement of the product and service. This is done by
various means such as analysing competitor, taking feedback, conducting
market research and coordinating with other department. TESCO heavily
relies on the feedback from sales department and design their product
accordingly. They also work at proving one stop solution to their customers.
 Distribution: It is one of the key functions of marketing. It is the process by
which a company makes its products available to the customers. This include
everything from its distribution channel to the stores where its products might
be available. TESCO has its supermarket stores, hypermarket stores and
online stores available for the distribution of its product including other brands.
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4.0 An analysis of how the marketing function works and
interacts with other departments
It would be true to say that marketing is a function carried out specifically by a
particular department but the work of “Marketing Thinking” is all permeable that
means it comes from all the departments of an organisation. This is so because the
functions of marketing are to be carried out keeping in mind the needs requirements
and specifications provided by other departments.
 Marketing with Operations and production: The marketing department
should ensure that the production department is carrying out the production
process with due standards set by the marketing department. (Brannen,
Mughan, and Moore, 2020) It should also work in collaboration so as to
ensure that the deadlines are met. Here the two departments might even have
conflicting interests. Marketing department might give targets of production
that are way beyond achieving and on the other side production department
might focus on quality and thus not be able to meet the deadlines.
 Marketing with Finance Department: Every activity that is conducted in the
organisation needs to be carried out under certain budget. Same is the case
with the activities carried out under marketing department. All the research
work, promotion and distribution need to be carried out under certain budget.
Most of the time situation arises wherein the marketing department needs
higher budget but the finance department need to limit the expenses.
 Marketing with Human resource: Marketing department is a specialized
department which need to ensure that it has adequate human resources for
the purpose of carrying out research and development of products, meeting
production target, designing, create and manage ambitious sales team. For all
this purpose the marketing department rely heavily on the Human Resource
department for its supportive functions.
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5.0 An explanation of the extended marketing mix and
examples from selected supermarket
Explanation of the extended marketing mix -
 People – This aspect of marketing mix deal with the people working in the
organisation. It ensures that the employees should represent organisation in
such a way that it is able to deliver the best experience to its customers. This
must add value to the business. 420,000 working in TESCO organisation are
aimed providing world class experience to its customers. They are the reason
why the organisation has been able to grow so well. Tesco spends a huge
amount in the training and development of its employees. It has a huge no of
its employees dedicated as “Customer Assistants”.(Shin, Kim, and Kim, 2020)
 Process – This aims at understanding as to how can a business meet the
expectations of its customers. The organisation considers creating SOP to
deliver a standardised customer experience. TESCO has come up with
specialized stores such as Jack's in order to meet it customer expectations.
 Physical Evidence - It takes into account the physical elements that are
needed to complete and organisation. Even in the case of service there exist
some physical elements that the organisations use in order to delight their
customers and stand out. TESCO does not only satisfy the customer needs
by providing certain goods and services, but it also has its own supermarkets
and hypermarkets set up across countries.
2.0 An evaluation of how the marketing mix adopted by
the selected business (or business unit) contributes to the
success of the organisation in meeting their overall
business objectives
Marketing mix contributes to the success in following way-
 Product – this aspect of the marketing mix deals with the question as to what
products and services should the company be dealing in. It defines as to what
are the key factors that differentiate it from its competitors. It also helps to
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understand as to what products can be correlated with each other. TESCO
caters to a wide variety of brands and products. Due its all around presence it
is able to wipe out other brands and establish itself as a popular and most
preferred brand. Everyday value, Tesco lotus, Tesco value and F&F are some
of Tesco's brands.(Zhang, and Hardaker, 2021)
 Price – This is the price that the customers are generally willing to pay in
order to buy a product. While setting the price of a product, the company
needs to also consider the cost spent on R&D of a product, this is known as
cost based pricing. Whereas when the price is based on consumer's
perception of quality. It is known as value based marketing. TESCO follows a
cost leadership strategy where it tries to reduce the purchase and operational
cost by availing economies of scale. It also uses a club card system that allow
its customers to gather points which can later be converted into money.
 Place – often neglected, it is one of the most important mix that ought to be
considered while designing a marketing plan. This involves analysing the
distribution and transportation channel in order to make its products available
to the customers. This also helps in differentiating premium goods from
regular goods. TESCO has it headquarters in England but runs its stores
across the world, thereby extending its services to a wide range of customers.
Also it has efficiently understood that many of it customers are uncomfortable
with big stores and nor is it feasible to establish so many of them, that is the
reason why they have made use of small stores to make their products
available. They have also embraced the technology in finest ways and are
thus available on online platforms as well.
 Promotion – In order to increase their sales and increase customer base, a
company uses various promotional mix. This might include sales promotion,
personal selling, advertising, public relation, etc. This also incorporate details
from the above mentioned 3 Ps.TESCO uses various means of advertising
and sales promotion very actively and efficiently. It uses TV advertisements,
sponsors and charitable events, offers propagative discounts and a lot more.
Its biggest advantage is its low price and discounts.(Kagendo-Kiarie, 2022)
3.0 Recommendations
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In recent years it has seen a pull out from major market economies such as
USA and Japan. This has resulted in TESCO loosing a major chunk in the world as
these 2 account to about 30% of world domestic product. This happened due its in
efficiency in managing its cost in Japan and bad selection of place and distribution in
USA. It must be understood by the above case that Tesco's research and
development team mus be cautious in devising the marketing mix and consider all
the aspects very wisely.
9.0 Conclusions
Tesco is undoubtedly one of the best and most successful supermarket
chains in the world. It has done considerably well when it comes to devising a
marketing mix for its products. Its marketing plans have mostly been well researched
and efficiently implemented (with exceptions being in USA and Japan). It has risen
from a single stall start up to a multi million PLC with a series of expansion plans. Its
marketing tactics have been simple yet very efficient and have resulted in the rapid
growth of the company.
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References
Rauschnabel, P.A., and et.al, 2022. What is augmented reality marketing? Its
definition, complexity, and future. Journal of Business
Research. 142.pp.1140-1150.
Shemyatikhina, L., Shipitsyna, K. and Usheva, M., 2020. Marketing management of
a nonprofit organization. Ekonomicko-manazerske spektrum. 14(1). pp.19-
29.
Kitchen, P.J., 2020. Marketing communications. In A reader in marketing
communications.(pp. 1-9). Routledge.
Domański, R. and Łabenda, M., 2020. Omnichannel of private label grocery products
in Tesco and Carrefour retail chains on the Polish market. Ekonomski
Vjesnik. 33(1).pp.191-202.
Brannen, M.Y., Mughan, T. and Moore, F., 2020. The creative use of insider
ethnography as a means for organizational self investigation: The “Essence
of Tesco” project. In The Routledge companion to anthropology and
business .(pp. 132-154). Routledge.
Shin, S., Kim, H. and Kim, W., 2020. Transnational corporations’ localization
strategies via retail attributes: Focus on Chinese Market. Journal of Retailing
and Consumer Services. 55. p.102088.
Zhang, L. and Hardaker, S., 2021. Divestment of European grocery retailers from
China. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography. 103(2). pp.152-
167.
Kagendo-Kiarie, R., 2022. Ethical Marketing: Concepts and Reasons. In Products for
Conscious Consumers .(pp. 15-33). Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Table of Content
Part 2: Marketing Plan
1.0 How the strategic marketing plan links with the overall organisational
mission, corporate strategy and objectives p
2.0 Clear and SMART marketing objectives p
3.0 Marketing research to support the new product line launch p
4.0 A situational analysis p-p
4.1 Marketing audit, making use of appropriate analytical tools including
SWOT, Pestle and 5C analysis p
4.2 A competitor analysis including the market segments p
4.3 Sub-segments p
4.4 Articulation of the new product value-proposition in the eyes of the
customer p
4.5 Development of the marketing strategies applied to the extended marketing
mix p
4.6 Setting of an overall marketing budget, including allocation of planned
spend p
4.7 Tactical actions p
4.8 Identifying appropriate control and monitoring measures to ensure
achievement of objectives including metrics to measure success such as
Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
p
5.0 A comprehensive media plan that supports the planned marketing
campaign p-p
5.1 A media budget p
5.2 Recommendations and rationale for selected and integrated multi-media
activities within the set budget that meet the marketing objectives p
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5.3 Appropriate digital, offline and social media channels for communication
p
5.6 Full justification for a multi-media plan based on quantitative and
qualitative criteria p
References p
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1.0 How the strategic marketing plan links with the overall
organisational mission, corporate strategy and objectives
TESCO is aimed at creating value by catering the diverse needs of the
customer and thereby increasing its revenue. It also aims at delivering one stop
solution to its customers by keeping intact faithfulness along run. TESCO also tries
to go beyond its limits and introduce products that are demanded by the customer.
This has made TESCO to introduce potato chips under its own brand name. It has
decided to introduce chips in various flavors such as cream and onion, ready salted,
prawn cocktail, salt and vinegar and chicken. This would help TESCO to attain its
organizational goals and objectives by keeping intact customer needs.
The marketing plan to be adopted by the organisation would focus on economies of
scale and would thus be in compliance with the organizational objective.
2.0 Clear and SMART marketing objectives
 The marketing objectives are aimed at achieving the actionable and practical
targets.
 The marketing campaign is aimed at improving the brand reach by entering
introducing a new product line.
 The marketing plan would also entail to increase the overall brand presence.
 It is also aimed at increasing customer traffic and thus new leads to the
enterprise.
 The marketing plan would also be aimed at diversifying the lead sources.
 By diversifying its business the enterprise is also aimed at exploiting the
opportunity for new prospects.(Muljono, 2018.)
 To achieve the above mentioned objectives its in fact the priority of the
organisation to successfully launch a new product which has improved quality
as compared to its competitors.
3.0 Marketing research to support the new product line
launch
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