Marketing Report: A Deep Dive into Primark's Marketing Strategies

This report offers a comprehensive analysis of Primark's marketing strategies, examining its core functions, roles within the wider organization, and the application of the marketing mix in its planning process. The report delves into Primark's approach to customer satisfaction, product development, market research, and communication strategies. It further explores the interrelationship between marketing and other management functions such as operations, finance, and human resources. The report also includes a detailed marketing plan, outlining market position, objectives, and strategies for a specified period. The report concludes with an overview of how Primark utilizes various marketing functions to meet customer needs and achieve its business goals, providing a thorough understanding of Primark's marketing essentials.

MARKETING
ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Functions of marketing..........................................................................................................1
P2 Roles of marketing related to wider organisation..................................................................3
M1...............................................................................................................................................3
M2 ..............................................................................................................................................4
TASK 2 .........................................................................................................................................5
P3 Applying Marketing mix in planning process.......................................................................5
TASK 3 ..........................................................................................................................................6
P4 Marketing plan.......................................................................................................................6
M4...............................................................................................................................................7
D2 ...............................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is a process by which products and services are sold to the customers to fulfil
their needs. It is also considered to be a study of management which helps in exchanging
relationships. The present report is based on the company Primark. It is a UK based company
basically deals in the retail market. It offers a variety of products includes children's clothing,
women's and men's wear, home accessories, beauty products etc. (Al-Ekam and et. al., 2012).
The products are sold at very low cost by the company that helps to contribute to the
contemporary fashion trend. As a result, forces customers to purchase more products sometimes
even the same product on use when the previous one worn out.
TASK 1
P1 Functions of marketing.
Marketing is an exchange of products and services. Primark uses various marketing
functions to bring the goods and services to the place of consumption that helps in fulfilling the
requirements of the customers (Alrubaiee and Al-Nazer, 2010). The following activities are
taken in respect of it are as follows-
Collecting and evaluating informations- It is an important function of marketing that is
used by the company to understands the needs and requirements of the customers of Primark. All
the informations which are related to them are gathered and analysed to fulfil their desires that
will help in achieving the overall objective of the organisation.
Planning of market- In respect of the level of manufacturing and promotion efforts the
organisation has to draw a plan to achieve the organisational objective related to marketing
(Alrubaiee and Al-Nazer, 2010). It means to decide who will do, how, what and when.
Designing and development of product- Designing a product play an important role in
selling of goods and services. The commodities provided by the company Primark is developed
more innovatively and attractively to sell more than the other company's product whose designs
are not so appealable.
Grading and standardisation- It describes the standards of a particular product of
Primark with regard to size, design, quality, raw material etc. By determining this it ascertains
that the product given will have some kind of specialisation. Mainly samples are used to made
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sale possible. Most of the traders just see the sample and place an order of purchase for the
product.
Labelling and packaging- Its main objective is to avoid damage, smashing products
during movement and storage. It provides facilities like handling, conveying, lifting of the goods
etc. All the products have a label that consist of all the information concerning the product and
the producer. Labelling and packaging of products of Primark are able to maintain their
performance.
Branding- Primark wants his special and different identity in the market that helps in
differentiating his product from the goods of other competitors. It means choosing a distinctive
name for the product is known as branding. The main objective of it, is to present that his
commodities are different from the others.
Customer support service- Customer is considered as the market king. It is an important
function of the Primark to offer all the possible services to them. There are many facilities that
are provided to them such as after-sale-service, handling their complaints , credit facilities,
technological services etc. that helps in satisfying their needs which is considered to be the top-
most priority.
Pricing- To determine price of a product, is the most important role of the Primark. Cost,
profit rate, competing products price, government policies etc. are those elements that affect the
price. It should be deciding in such a manner that it should not be so high and also earn more
profit at the same time for the organisation.
Promotion- It helps to encourage the customer for buying the product of the company.
Advertisement, personal selling, publicity and sales promotions these are the four ways of
promoting a product.
Physically distribution- In this functions decisions are taken regarding carrying goods
from the place of manufacturing to the place of consumption. To fulfil this task decisions are to
be taken by Primark about transportation, stock, warehouse and processing of order that helps in
developing time and place value by taking products at the correct place.
Transportation- Manufacturing, sell and consumption of goods are three actions which
are not required to be done at one place. This facility is needed for providing the produced goods
in the hands of the customers.
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Warehousing- It is very important to store the goods at a place during time-intervals
between the purchase and manufacturing of product or its sale. Go downs are used for the
storage of the goods.
P2 Roles of marketing related to wider organisation.
The department of marketing of Primark has the responsibility regarding revenue
generation, increasing market share and contributing to profitability of the company (Berkowitz,
2016). The marketing department of this company is very big that has a number of employees to
take the responsibility of advertising, promotion or publications. It plays an important role in the
organisation, they are as follows-
Making strategy- For implementing marketing strategy, the senior member of the
department takes responsibility to achieve the objectives of the Primark. Before planning in
detail an agreement on strategy is taken place between the board and the management by the
marketing departments.
Market research- It is an essential responsibility which helps the Primark in recognising
market opportunities and obtain a better interpretation of needs of the customers. It also assists to
know the supremacy and shortcomings of an organisation which supports in taking actions to
prevent business with present customer and win from competitors. Research can be done by
studying reports of industries, marketing data on websites or by contacting customers to satisfy
their needs.
Product development- To produce a new product and improving existing good, it work
with the product development team that helps in evaluating sale of present product and recognise
gaps in range of the product where there is availability of opportunities for the Primark. The
employees of marketing department facilitate development team with data on requirement and
preferences that assist them in identifying the characteristics or improvements to implement in
new commodity.
Communication- It helps the organisation in developing communication material to
encourage customers to buy and sale products. It depends upon their budgets to plan advertising
efforts, in developing e-mail marketing plans for the company such as brochures of company,
product data sheets and customers newsletters etc.
M1
Functions of marketing in marketing environment-
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Developing strategies- The marketing manager of company needs to recognise the
desires and requirements of the customers by adding utility to the products and communicating
superior merits. Strategic planning is a process of expanding and managing balance between
goals, skills, resources and in opportunities of changing market of an Primark. It takes place at
corporate, business units, divisions and product levels of an organisation.
Information system of marketing- This is needed by the marketing manager to analyse
market and product, planning and its execution and for controlling responsibilities. It helps in
providing required information and in its distribution in a timely manner.
Observing marketing environment- Managers need to recognise tendency and
transform them into opportunities that help in monitoring economic, socio-culture, natural,
demographic, technological and political forces by changing global frameworks.
Marketing research- Primark specific knowledge is required by the managers to
monitor the marketing environment. Specific knowledge is related to their goods, market, target
customer group etc. helps marketing managers in recruiting professionals and carry out research.
Creating customer satisfaction- Customers are considered as utility maximizers. They
buy goods from the company and feels like offer highest customer value. The programmes of
quality management has given utmost importance. This will helps in building customer loyalty.
M2
The marketing function are carried out by a special department that helps in making
marketing strategies of an organisation (Blythe, 2012). For developing an effective plan of
marketing, Primark will require close relationship with other functions of management. The
interrelationship between marketing and other management functions are as follows-
Operation management- The department of marketing of the enterprise requires to work
with the production department to make sure that a plan has been designed regarding appropriate
research and development to fulfil the needs of the customers. It also ensures that the products
manufactured are of improved quality that help in satisfying customers.
It will set time limit for the production department according to their capability.
Marketers will want to get products to make certain competitive advantages while production
will wish to develop product to make sure that the goods do not require any kind of repair or
replace items that are defective which will help in meeting healthy requirements.
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Finance- The department of finance includes brief of the whole Primark to ensure that
business works according to its financial capabilities. They wish all the divisions to function
within their allotted budget. It also want to spread more profitable opportunities of marketing as
like other sections. It includes an appropriate budget to meets the requirements for promotion,
research and distribution.
Human resource- The marketing department require to work with human resource
management to make sure that suitable skills are required to conduct research and developing
product, to achieve targets of production and create a determined and capable sales team. It have
demands regarding recruitment and training in the Primark to maintain balance between
obligations to marketing with other sections.
TASK 2
P3 Applying Marketing mix in planning process
A marketing planning is a process which shows how Primark expect to present goods to
the public taking into account the audience targeted, benefits of product and methods of
marketing (Desai, 2013). It is a combination of four P's means product, price, place and
promotion. Combining marketing mix and marketing planning will help to achieve the
organisational goal.
Determine the Unique selling proposition- It helps in defining the benefits of the
products that is for the customer. USP supports in describing the product like why a customer
should buy it and what benefits customer will gain from it.
Defining targeted audience- It will narrow down the product by recognising who will be
purchasing and helps in forming the marketing driving around that detail. Also to support in
representing the expected customer on paper or in mind.
Describing the product in detail- It helps the company in determining the particular
benefits and qualities of the product that requires time. It helps in analysing the unique
characteristics of the goods which has to offer.
Price strategy- Marketing research is used to collect information that helps to specify the
similar product which are present in market for selling. It helps to state the profit and sales
objectives of the company by using pricing strategy.
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Recognising place to market product- It assists the organisation in recognising the
place where goods are marketed. It helps in looking at the kind of venue whether the goods will
be merchandised in grocery stores, departmental stores and boutique shops.
Determine promotional technique- It supports in defining techniques to promote a
product such as advertisement, promotional events, sales events, person-to-person selling etc. It
helps in creating promotional strategy that define the quality of product effectively.
TASK 3
P4 Marketing plan.
It refers to a market document prepared to determine the present market position of
Primark and its strategies for the specific time described in the plan. Market plans basically
includes a period of one to five years. The objective of it, is to describe what measures are taken
to achieve the goals (Durmaz, 2011). It should be based on the organisational needs at some
point required in future. There are some important things to be considered for making a plan they
are as follows-
Market research- It helps in gathering and organising data about the current market
position of the organisation to determine dynamics of market, existing customers and the present
sales volume of company as a whole.
Competition- Organisational competition is determine by the help of market planning. It
should be defined in detail to supports the organisation to stick out from its competitors and
make a plan that will supports in becoming a market leader.
Strategies- It assists in expanding the strategies for the marketing and promotion of the
product such as advertisement, training programmes, websites etc. used by the organisation.
Budget- Strategies recognising in the market plan should be in limit within the budget.
The managers require to revise that what they wish to achieve with the market plan.
Goals of marketing- It should include measurable marketing goals.
Monitoring results- It should help in analysing the present position of an organisation
that requires to fulfil the strategies that are working or not. By researching market and defining
the unique positions of the organisation to promote and sale its goods and services.
Determination of marketing goal helps the organisation to better understand whether efforts are
originating result by evaluation or review.
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M4
Evidence-based marketing refers to a combination of methods of marketing with
intensive techniques (Hsu,2011). Statistical evidence, research, studies etc. are the factors on
which a successful evidence-based marketing is situated.
The steps which are followed by the Primark to implement evidence-based marketing are
as follows-
Situational analysis- Managers of the company are required to concentrate on the
information in this stage. Identifying the best practices to improve targeting will help in
analysing market by minimising the cost per lead. This data also supports in generating rate of
interest. It also focuses on managing data which includes unique id numbers, data auditing and
database design. By management of information reporting and analytics both can be done
immediately and easily.
Market intelligence- It helps to identify their competitors in the market. By using this
they will get to know that what is required by the customers today and what helps in satisfying
them will lead to add interest.
Assessment- The information collected in above two stages will helps in making an
assessment which is required to be complete to implement a plan that will assist in achieving
success.
Research and reality check- It is used in determining space in assessment that helps in
implementing research to fill that gap. The realities include the viability of obtaining the
necessary levels of performance which ensure the acceptance of the product by the market.
Test- It is a building block of every new campaign. It is a good opinion to test the
important variables in the market equation that is used to focus on the strategies regarding
market, market segmentation and product that should be required to be creative.
Expansion- It permits the marketers to take advantage of learning from the current
market and also to evaluate and develop on the successful test. It involve proposals, media,
pricing, segments etc.
Evidence based marketer never examine everything which is required by them in the
beginning stages and they never try. Expansion means to taking the advantage of winning
creative, offer, media variables and helps in expanding them at the time of testing the variables
of next level will lead to achieve the market success.
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Refinement- This is the last stage of plan where the samples get validation. It refers to
place where business starts and an iterative process. The benefits that are arises from developing
a plan on evidence beyond particular direction and based on reality and results. It is used to put
together all the pieces of puzzle to construct a clear picture of future success.
D2
The seven P's of marketing mix used by the Primark to revise the competitive strategies
that helps the company to review and determine the key problems that influence the product
marketing and services (Jones and Rowley,2011). The seven p's of marketing mix stands for
product, price, place, promotion, people, physical evidence and process.
Product- It refers to a thing that used to fulfil the requirements and needs of the
customers. It may be tangible or intangible. Tangible refers to those goods which can be seen or
touched whereas intangible means services, experiences etc. In this the management requires to
make decisions regarding design and range of the product,, branding, packaging, labelling,
complementary services, guarantees and warranties, returns and management of product through
product life cycle that will supports in satisfying customer needs to achieve the overall objective
of an organisation.
Price- It means an amount which is to be paid by the customers for the product. This is
the only variable which is used to generate revenue for a business. It also involve inspection of
customer perceived value. The marketing manager needs to take decisions regarding pricing
strategy, price tactics, price setting, rebates, discounts, payment methods etc. in it to win from
the competitors in the market.
Promotion- It means to marketing communications which are consist of advertisements,
direct marketing and sales promotions etc. Promotional mix, message strategy, distribution
channels etc. are the factors which are require to be consider while making decisions.
Place- It is considered as a direct or indirect channels of distribution to market, territorial
coverage, location of market, geographical distribution, retail market, stocks etc. It refers to a
physical location where a business can be run or the channels of distribution can be used to
approach the markets.
People- It is very essential for the marketing of any goods or services. All companies are
depending upon the people who carry them from front line staff to directors. Having right people
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in an organisation is important because they are a part of a business which is offering as the
goods or services.
Process- It means a set of activities that help in delivery of product. The delivery of
service is done with the customer that how it is provided, is a part of what he is paying for. The
managers needs to take decisions for the process design, blueprints, analysing fail-points,
monitoring service performance, evaluation of allocation and requirements of resources etc.
Physical evidence- It is an environment where service occurs and a place providing a
facility of the interaction between customer and service personnel. The decisions that are
required to be taken by the managers includes facilities e.g. furniture, access, spatial layout,
interior design, ambience etc. in it.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that marketing is described as the activity and
process of developing, interfacing, delivering and exchanging goods that are beneficial for the
customers, partners and society. It is used to engage, to retain and to satisfy the customer. Its
original meaning is to buy or sale goods or services. The main objective of marketing is to fulfil
the organisational goal. An organisation should emphasis on the requirements of the customers
and satisfy their needs more effectively. It includes product, price, place and promotion.
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Online
Branding and Marketing Essentials. 2017. Available through:
<https://www.ama.org/resources/MarketingToolkit/BrandingAndMarketingEssentials/
Pages/default.aspx>. [Accessed on 6th June 2017].
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Introduction to Marketing Essentials. 2017. Available through:
<https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-marketing-essentials-iimbx-mk101x>.
[Accessed on 6th June 2017].
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