Comprehensive Report: Marketing Roles, Mix, and Plan Analysis for H&M

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of marketing essentials, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of the marketing function and how it interrelates with other functional units within an organization. It uses H&M as a case study to explain key marketing concepts such as identifying customer needs, anticipating future demands, and ensuring customer satisfaction. The report also examines the macro and micro environments affecting marketing strategies, including PESTEL and SWOT analyses. Furthermore, it compares the marketing mix (7Ps) of H&M and Zara, evaluating different tactics used to achieve business objectives. The report concludes with the development and evaluation of a basic marketing plan for H&M, incorporating strategic use of the 7Ps to meet overall marketing goals. Desklib provides access to this and many other solved assignments for students.

Marketing Essentials
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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
LO 1 Explain the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional units of an
organisation................................................................................................................................4
P1 Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function...............................4
P2 Explain how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to H&M...............................4
M1 Analyse the roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of marketing
environment............................................................................................................................5
M2 Analyse the significance of interrelationships between marketing and other functional
units........................................................................................................................................7
D1 Critically analyse and evaluate the key elements of the marketing function and how
they interrelate with other functional units............................................................................8
LO2 Compare ways in which organisations use elements of the marketing mix (7Ps) to
achieve overall business objectives............................................................................................9
P3 Compare the ways in which H&M and ZARA apply the marketing mix to the
marketing planning process to achieve business objectives..................................................9
M3 Evaluate different tactics applied by H&M and ZARA to demonstrate how business
objectives can be achieved...................................................................................................11
LO3 Develop and evaluate a basic marketing plan..................................................................13
P4 Produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan for H&M.................................................13
M4 Produce a detailed, coherent evidence-based marketing plan for H&M.......................17
D2 Design a strategic marketing plan that tactically applies the use of the 7Ps to achieve
overall marketing objectives for H&M................................................................................18
Conclusion................................................................................................................................19
References................................................................................................................................20
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Introduction
In the management report provided below, the author has explained the importance of the
marketing function of the organisation in order to identify the impact that marketing has on
the business practices of a company. The author of the same concern has taken the use of
newsletters, reports and marketing plan such that the essentials of marketing can be
understood. It has been identified that the marketing is a process which enables the
movement of goods and services from the concept to the customers. In simple words, the
marketing function is used to convey the offerings of the company to the customer. In this
report, the author has taken the example of H&M UK in order to identify various essentials of
marketing function of an organisation.
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Task 1
LO 1 Explain the role of marketing and how it
interrelates with other functional units of an
organisation
Image source: Clean Technica (2018)
P1 Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the
marketing function.
P2 Explain how roles and responsibilities of marketing
relate to H&M
It has been identified that the marketing is dynamic in nature and its
concepts change every day with developments and trends in the
market. It is thus important for the organisation like H&M to
identify and understand the roles of marketing. These are explained
below as follows:
 Identify the needs of customers: this is one of the most
important roles of marketing function of the organisation as
it is the duty of marketing to analyse what the customers
want in products and services of the company. in the same
context, it is the duty of H&M to provide optimum quality of
services to customers to ensure their trust and loyalty in
company (Moorman & Day, 2016).
 Anticipate: this is another important objective of the
company and in this the organisation analyses what the
consumers want today and what they would require in future.
The H&M conducts research on a weekly basis in order to
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identify the needs and trends of the market. This help in
satisfaction of the needs of the consumers.
 Satisfy: after anticipating the needs of the consumers,
another step for the company is to develop the goods and
services in the same manner in order to satisfy the needs of
consumers and compel them to come back and stay loyal to
the company (Moorman & Day, 2016).
Responsibilities
The marketing department of a company has various responsibilities
too which have been explained below as follows:
 Communication: The marketing department of company
must have effective communication in order to plan the
campaigns and promote the goods and services of company
in an effective manner.
 Strategy: the marketing department of H&M plans strategies
such that the company may be able to penetrate potential
markets and reach a wider base of consumers (Writz et. al.,
2014).
 Sales support: the sales department and the marketing
department of H&M has identified to be in collaboration in
order to maintain good sales and thus increasing the profits
of the company.
 Events: The marketing department of the company should
organise various events such as fashion shows, exhibitions,
etc. in order to promote the goods and services of the
company. H&M also organises and sponsors various events
in order to ensure effective promotion of the products (Writz
et. al., 2014).
M1 Analyse the roles and responsibilities of marketing in
the context of marketing environment
It has to be kept in mind by the marketing department of the
company that there are various forces that may have an impact on
the marketing strategy which makes it essential for the company to
undertake a critical study of the marketing environment of the
company. It has been identified that there are two main
environments of the marketing which have a huge impact on the
marketing strategies of the company which have been explained
below as follows:
 Macro Environment: The macro environment of the
company can be stated as the external environment which is
out of control of the business. There are various external
forces of the external environment which can be studied by
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taking the PESTEL analysis into consideration. The PESTEL
analysis is the tool which helps the business to identify the
forces of external environment which have been explained
below as follows (Arrigo, 2018):
Image source: Change Factory (2018)
o Political: This shows that how the rules and
regulations of government affect the business
practices.
o Economic: In the economic factor, the organisation
studies how the company is growing and the
development status of company.
o Social: Here the company studies social factors such
as attitude of people, preferences of consumers,
social issues etc.
o Technological: In this constraint, the company
studies its technological levels and identifies the
development in the same respect. The H&M is
technologically updated.
o Environmental: Here the company studies that if the
company is following the environmental standards
and is not harming environment in any sense (Arrigo,
2018).
o Legal: this is important and company is required to
comply with these in order to avoid any kind of
government intervention.
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 Micro-environment: the microenvironment of the business
can be defined as the environment which is under the control
of the business. The main benefit of this environment is that
the company has total control over it and the negative side of
the same is that the company is required to comply with
them at the earliest in order to reduce the negative impacts of
the external environment. H&M uses the tool of SWOT
analysis in order to study the internal environment of the
company. this is explained below as follows (Zhang et. al,
2015):
o Strengths: this is used to identify the strengths of the
company
o Weaknesses: this tool is used by the company to
analyse the weaknesses of the company
o Opportunities: this helps to identify various
opportunities available to company.
o Threats: this help in identifying various threats and
dangers to operations of the company (Zhang et. al,
2015).
M2 Analyse the significance of interrelationships between
marketing and other functional units
It has been identified that the marketing department of the company
is closely attached to various other departments too which would be
studied in this segment of the assignment. In H&M there is a close
link between other functional departments such as the sales
department is dependent on the marketing department for their
feedback. This helps in improving the sales. The finance department
is also linked to the marketing department of the company to
identify if their finance plans are according to markets trends and if
they are feasible or not. The marketing also helps the HR
department in order to gather human resources through effective
advertisements. The marketing department also works with R&D
department in order to understand the wants and needs of the
consumers and develop product accordingly.
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D1 Critically analyse and evaluate the key elements of the
marketing function and how they interrelate with other
functional units
It has been identified in the case of H&M that al the departments of
the company are in close relation to each other. The marketing
department of the company has been identified to support various
another department of the company which is one of the major
factors behind the success of the strategies of the company.
marketing department of the company provided various sales
forecasts, helps in finance of strategies, provides human resource
and also helps in development of the product according to the
market trends and wants and needs of the consumers.
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Task 2
Introduction
In the management report provided below, the author has explained the marketing, mix of
the company and has briefly presented the marketing Mix of H&M in comparison to the
marketing mix of Zara in order to identify the strategies that these companies use in order to
succeed in the marketplace.
LO2 Compare ways in which organisations use elements of the marketing
mix (7Ps) to achieve overall business objectives
P3 Compare the ways in which H&M and ZARA apply the marketing mix to the
marketing planning process to achieve business objectives.
The marketing mix can be described as the tool which helps in analysing the marketing
strategy that is used by the company in order to achieve its goals and objectives. In this
segment of the report, the author has taken use of this tool in order to identify the difference
between marketing strategies of H&M and Zara. This is provided below as follows (Lovelock
& Patterson, 2015):
Elements Description H&M Zara
Product In this, the company develops
the product by using tools of
product mix according to the
needs of the consumers
Clothing, for men,
women and kids
along with various
housing decorations.
Clothing for men,
women and kids.
Place Here the company analyses
various markets to sell their
products and services
The target market of
company is US and
UK.
The target market of
company is UK.
Price The pricing of the goods and
services is done here for
which various trends and
strategies are analysed by the
marketing department of the
company.
The price of
products and
services is set
keeping the trends of
the industry.
The company sets
price according to
the consumer
behaviour and for
the middle-class
segment (Chow et.
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al, 2017).
Promotion Here the company makes use
of the promotion mix of the
company in order to promote
the good and services of the
company.
The company
undertakes
promotion by
sponsorship,
advertisements,
banners, events etc.
The company
promotes activities
by sampling,
advertisement,
events, publications
etc.
People Here the main focus of the
company is to maintain good
relations with the employees
and customers in order to
maximise their satisfaction
and increase the performance
of the company
The company
develops strategies
for the benefit of the
employees.
Zara, on the other
hand, are more
customers oriented
(Ki et. al., 2016).
Process Here the process of company
is analysed in reference to the
process of the company’s
competitors.
The process of
company is kept
smooth and simple
and company uses
techniques in
accordance with the
trends of market.
Company uses
SWOT and PESTEL
analysis for the
same.
ZARA, on the other
hand, makes use of a
mix of advanced and
traditional practices
(Grant et. al., 2015).
Physical
evidence
In the physical evidence, the
company makes sure that the
goods and services of the
company are available in
ample amount especially in
the target market of the
company
The company makes
it physical evidence
in the market by
opening stores and
increasing product
diversification.
ZARA, on the other
hand, makes its
physical evidence in
the market by
distribution of
products in retail
outlets and by using
extensive level of
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product distribution
channels.
M3 Evaluate different tactics applied by H&M and ZARA to demonstrate how
business objectives can be achieved
The companies work and operate for achieving the designed objectives and vision be it H&M
or MZARA or any other organisation. For achieving these objectives, various factors are to
be considered such as external factors, strengths, and weaknesses and tactics are prepared by
the organisation accordingly so that objectives could be achieved. Similarly, H&M and
ZARA being two different brands have different objectives and designs different tactics out
of them some are beneficial and some turns as restriction.
The effectiveness of tactics applied by both the organisations is as follows:
Company Positive Impact Negative impact
ZARA The shift made by ZARA from
4p’s to 7p’s enables the company
to build up recognition in the
market by setting up more outlets.
Moreover, with the extended Ps,
the interest of workers has been
catered effectively to build good
reputation and achieve the
objective of employee orientation.
The company for the advertisement
purpose uses print media, TV ads,
and social media tools so that the
objective of high market share
could be achieved (Mbaskool,
2017).
Huge investment is made by
ZARA to adopt the extended Ps
that results in fewer funds
available to undertake
opportunities rise in the market.
The tactic used by ZARA for
promotion though internet market
does not provides customers to
present their needs and demands
that restrict the organisation to not
meet the objective of high sales
and customer-oriented production
(Mbaskool, 2017).
H&M H&M applied the tactic of internet
marketing so that the promotion
H&M does not shift to adoption
of 7Ps model of marketing that
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could be done in an
environmentally friendly manner.
This helps H&M in achieving the
objective of environment-friendly
performance.
The objective of high customer
support has been achieved by
H&M by developing good public
relations through the usage of
internet and customer support at
outlets of H&M present in large
number over the world.
made the company unable to cater
the needs of the employees. This
lead to the failure of achieving the
objective of employee
satisfaction.
Conclusion
From the above report, it has been understood that for achieving the objectives of the
business and to maintain a competitive strength the business must follow 7Ps model of
marketing. This marketing model along with the interest of customers fulfils the interest of
workers and simplifies the process that is must for coping with the growing competition in
the business.
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