Marketing Essentials: Marketing Mix, Roles, and Interrelation Report

This report delves into the core concepts of marketing, examining the key roles and responsibilities of marketing functions within an organization, with a specific focus on the Lloyds Banking Group. It explores essential elements such as promotion, sales, and customer service, as well as the strategic importance of market research, innovation, and brand equity. The report analyzes the interrelationship between marketing and other functional areas like finance, operations, and human resources. Furthermore, it provides a comparative analysis of how different organizations, including Lloyds Banking Group and Apple, apply the marketing mix elements (product, price, place, and promotion) to achieve their business objectives. The report concludes with reflections on group work and learning outcomes.

Marketing essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function...........................................................1
P2. roles and responsibilities of marketing with respect to the organization ............................2
M1. Analysis of roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of marketing
environment.................................................................................................................................3
M2. analysis of inter-relationship between marketing and other functional areas of the
organization.................................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P3. comparison of different ways in which organisations apply marketing mix elements
towards attainment of business objectives..................................................................................4
M3. Evaluation of different tactics applied by the organisation in order to achieve business
objective......................................................................................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
Reflection of group work and learning outcomes ......................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCE...................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Marketing may be defined as a process by which needs and wants of the customers is
created as well as exchanged and this in turn helps the organisation towards attainment of their
objectives. Marketing essentials include formulation of marketing strategy, marketing mix
elements, segmentation, targeting and positioning. Lloyd's banking group is one of the major
British group and provide banking financial services(Fine, 20170. The group was founded 24
years ago in the year 1995 and has currently employed around 75000 employees. This report will
include the roles and responsibilities of various functions of marketing as well as the ways in
which different organizations apply their marketing mix towards attainment of business
objectives.. further, the report will include contributions and learning during the work.
TASK 1
P1. Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function
Marketing function is one of the vital part of every organisation towards the attainment of
their objectives. They may be referred to as those roles and responsibilities which help the
company in identifying potential services which may be successful and then promoting and
differentiation them in order to achieve the organisational objectives effectively and
efficiently(Armstrong and et.al., 2015).
Key roles of marketing functions are:
Promotion – one of the major role of marketing function is to promote its products or
services so as to take the business to new heights. Promotion is a tool that is used by the Lloyd
banking group in order to persuade the customers to come and avail their services. The basic aim
behind promoting the services by the banking group is to increase their brand awareness , create
interest as well as develop positive perception in the mind of customers. There are 4 kinds of
promotion which helps in boosting up the sales of the banking firm. Promotion include
advertising (through newspaper, radio, television, social media or any online platform), sales
promotion (through coupons, samples, rebates, refunds, gifts, etc), publicity(through events,
press, news, etc) and personal selling(Fine, 2017).
Sales – another important role of marketing function is to find the ways to sell the
product. This role focusses on analysing the needs and wants of the customers and then sell them
the products accordingly. In other words, sales may be defined as bridging the gap between
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needs and wants of the customers and fulfilment of those needs. Further, it aims at satisfying the
needs of current customers as well as attracting new customers. This role is of vital importance
as it contributes towards the growth of the business by developing trust and loyalty in the mind
of customers.
Customer service – it is the most important role of marketing function because any
business can grow and survive in long run if and only if it fulfils it keeps its customers satisfied.
In order to keep the customers satisfied banking group provides excellent customer services so as
to prevent the customers from shifting upon another competitive firm. For example: Lloyd
financial banking group in order to retain and attract new customers redress the problems of each
and every customer by providing excellent customer care services(Hair and et.al.,, 2015.).
Key responsibilities of marketing function
Track trends and monitor competition – major responsibility of marketing is to keep
constant eye on the competitors and have a deep knowledge about each and every initiative or
step taken by them in order to gain the competitive advantage. For example: Lloyd keeps a
constant watch on the prices charged by the other competitive firms for providing the banking
services to its customers and this is used as a basis for fixing the prices of the services provided
by them. This has played a huge role in fighting the competition and maintaining the market
share for the survival and growth of the business.
Innovation – another important responsibility of marketing function is to bring
innovation. Innovation in marketing is very important as it helps in generation of new idea,
opinion or service to market a new product and to bring creativity in that. This is done in order to
foster the sale of the services. It is very essential to brink innovation after fixed during in other to
survive in this fast changing world that comprises globalisation and cut throat competition. If a
company fails to bring timely innovation than it will lag far behind its competitors and wont be
able to survive and maintain its market share for a long duration of time. Hence, for this purpose
Lloyd has invested huge amount in doing innovation in marketing(Kotler and Armstrong,
2015.).
P2. roles and responsibilities of marketing with respect to the organization
Marketing is the most important part of every organisation as they contribute maximum
towards the growth of any organisation. Various roles and responsibilities of marketing are as
follows:
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Conducting market research – another important responsibility of marketing function is
to conduct the market research in order to find which is the most potential customer market
segment in order to position and target them. Market research is carried out thoroughly and
efficiently so as to contribute maximum towards the growth of the company. Further market
research is carried out in order to gain the knowledge about the specific needs and wants of
customers and to have a keen watch on the competitors(Kotler and et.al., 2015.). Keen watch on
competitors is done in order to find out the prices charged by the competitors providing same
services and on that basis fixing up the pricing of the services provided by the Lloyd banking
group.
Formulation of marketing strategy – it is one of the major responsibility of marketing
function as it is not only concerned with formulation of marketing strategy but it also concerned
with linking the strategy with overall organizational objective and strategy. Marketing strategy of
the company differs on the basis of objective of the company such as increase in the market
share, increase in the sales or profitability, expanding its services, etc. managers of the banking
group should be very efficient at the time of formulation of marketing strategy so that the
organisation is able to grab the opportunity before any competing firm grabs it(Stead and
Hastings, 2018). For example: Lloyd banking group has adopted marketing strategy to expand its
service by providing their services online .
Brand equity – marketing helps in creation of the value of the brand in the mind of
customers. It is very essential for increasing the revenue and profitability of the organisation.
Brand equity helps the organisation in achieving the competitive advantage over the other rivalry
firms by providing added value to the services. Brand equity plays a major role in retaining the
customers for a long period of time as well as attracting new customers because potential
customers of Lloyd banking group will definitely prefer those services which comprises of
additional features(Wong and et.al., 2016).
M1. Analysis of roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of marketing environment
Major role and responsibility of marketing is to carry out marketing research in a very
efficient manner. Marketing research should be carried out very thoroughly, otherwise it wont be
able to determine the exact needs and wants of the customers and would fail to contribute
maximum towards the growth of the business organisations. Apart from that, another important
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role is to build the brand equity. This is very essential in order to increase the brand awareness
which in turn will contribute towards expansion in the services provided by the banking group.
M2. analysis of inter-relationship between marketing and other functional areas of the
organization
Firstly marketing and finance department are closely related such as finance department
provides the funds which may be required by the marketing department to carry out its marketing
activities. After that, marketing and operational department are closely related as they tell the
demand for services and based on that services are provided. Lastly, marketing and human
resource department are closely related as they are responsible for managing and creating
efficient marketing team which are responsible for carrying out marketing operations(Flores and
et,al., 2017).
TASK 2
P3. comparison of different ways in which organisations apply marketing mix elements towards
attainment of business objectives
Marketing mix elements Lloyd banking group Apple
Product Lloyd banking group provides
financial services to around
more than 1 million customers.
Further, the company provide
wide range of services such as
current a/c, saving a/c, credit
cards, private bankings,
investments, mortgages,
finance, loans, insurance,
etc(Liu, Chen and
Balachander, 2017.).
Apple is known for innovation. It
keeps on innovating and introducing
new products in the market on timely
basis which amaze the entire world.
Apply provides wide range of
products such as mac, iPhone, iPod,
Apple watch, Apple TV, software
and services. Further, the company is
planning to expand its product line
by introducing new products which
are of non- it department. Currently
company not only provide products
but also provides services.
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Price The company provides
specialized and unique kind of
services and hence for this
purpose company uses value
based pricing strategy for
fixing the prices of services.
Value based pricing means
fixing the prices of the product
on the basis of what the
customers are willing to pay in
order to take the benefits
provided by the businesses.
Apple uses premium pricing strategy
in order to determine the prices of its
products. Premium pricing means
charging very high price for the
products. Products of the company
are not meant for all the sections of
the society. Since the company is
market leader, it fixes the prices of
its products on that basis which in
turn act as a status symbol for the
customers(Muralidharan and Raval,
2017). Another important reason
behind adopting premium pricing
strategy is to cover the cost by
charging high prices because
company incurs huge cost on
innovation so as to delight the
customers.
Place The company operates at a
global level. The main focus of
the company is to expand its
operation and capture the
majority of the market share of
UK and later on the other
markets. Currently the banking
group has started providing its
services in Singapore.
Company has adopted an aggressive
strategy to reach out its customers. In
order to reach the end users company
is working on strengthening its
distribution channel such as
currently company is company up
with apple stores to reach out the
customers. Further, they have
collaborated with trade partners in
order to reach out the customers
efficiently. The biggest point of sale
for Apple products in through online
platform, majority of the sales is
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done through online. Apart from
that, authorised retailers also play a
major role in providing the products
or services of Apple to the end users.
Promotion Lloyd banking group promotes
its services through
undertaking aggressive
campaign such as the most
recent campaign of the banking
group was “ new dawn” which
became very successful and
grabbed the attention of many
people(Siguaw and Simpson,
2015).
In order to promote the products or
services of a company, Apple targets
a specific segment of customers and
that is people of high class society.
In order to promote its products
company uses various forms of
advertising such as TV, online, print
media, hoardings, etc. while
promoting the products through
various means, company comes up
with simple advertisements which
touch the sentiments of the public
and that contain complete set of
relevant information(Siguaw and
Simpson, 2015).
process The company provides ease to
its customers by providing its
services online as well such as
through app as well as banking
group pays lot of emphasis on
maximising customer
satisfaction through solving
their grievance on telephonic
conversation.
The main focus of the company is
efficient development of product and
providing excellent customer
experience. Thus, in order to achieve
this objective company keeps a
constant watch on market
considerations so as to develop the
best product which exactly fits the
demand of the customers. Apart
from that, in order to maximise
customer experience company
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provides excellent customer care
services.
People Lloyd banking group consist of
highly trained professional
which provide unique and
specialised services to the
customers.
People are the most important part of
every organisation. Hence, for this
purpose apple promotes the vision of
the company through its employees.
Apart from that, company provides
strict training to its employees so as
to increase their productivity(Pike,
2015.).
Physical evidence Physical evidence of Lloyd
banking group is wonderful. It
has its presence both online as
well as physical infrastructure.
Digital platform of the bank
has been designed in a very
attractive manner as every
customer has easy access to
detailed information. On the
other hand, physical
infrastructure is also very
brilliant as it gives pleasure to
customers while availing the
services(Siguaw and Simpson,
2015).
Physical evidence of apple is
brilliant. Interior of the stores of the
company is very attractive. Apart
from that, all the staff members of
the stores of the company are
properly dressed in their uniform.
Further, the brochures of the
company are designed in a very
innovative way.
M3. Evaluation of different tactics applied by the organisation in order to achieve business
objective
Different tactics that are applied by the business organisations in order to achieve the
objectives of the business are senior mangers, individuals and teams. In the organisation there are
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different senior managers based on their functions. Each manager is specialised in the area that
has been assigned to him/her. Individuals on the other hand are aligned with the strategic
business objective and pay immense emphasis on that. Finally, main focus on team is on the
achievement of group goals which in turn fosters attainment of team objectives.
TASK 4
Reflection of group work and learning outcomes
The Lloyd's banking group is the biggest banking business of the UK by customer
accounts, operating under multiple brands such as Halifax and bank of Scotland. From the above
group work it said that the marketing share of the Lloyld banking group is good and its business
operations are operates with in the UK. The market expansion of the bank is across the United
Kingdom. It provides the banking and other financial product and services in the UK. For all its
scope, the advancement will sometimes take to be realised across the business of the bank.
According to the innovation strategies it tests the product and services on smaller group of
customers that could one day become something bigger. In the group work we are high lights the
various marketing strategies for improving the business operation of the bank and also helps in
achieving the desired level of financial target of the banking group.
Lloyd keeps a constant watch on the prices charged by the other competitive firms for
providing the banking services to its customers and this is used as a basis for fixing the prices of
the services provided by them. This has played a huge role in fighting the competition and
maintaining the market share for the survival and growth of the bank.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been summarised that key roles of marketing function are
sales, promotion and customer services as well as key responsibilities of marketing function are
to keep a keen watch on competitors and fostering innovation. These roles and responsibilities
should be fulfilled efficiently for smooth running of the business. On the other hand, key roles
and responsibilities of marketing are formulation of marketing strategy, marketing research and
creation of brand equity. Furthermore, marketing mix element of the 2 companies were discussed
which has a detailed comparison on all the marketing mix elements and these are product, price,
place, promotion, process, people and physical evidence.
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REFERENCE
Books and journals
Armstrong, G and et.al., 2015. Marketing: an introduction.
Fine, S.H., 2017. Marketing the public sector: Promoting the causes of public and
nonprofit agencies. Routledge.
Flores, D and et,al., 2017. TEAM MARKETING PLAN.
Hair Jr and et.al.,, 2015. Essentials of business research methods. Routledge.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G., 2015. Principles of Marketing-Global Edition. Pearson.
Kotler, P and et.al., 2015. Marketing. Pearson Higher Education AU.
Liu, Y., Li, K.J., Chen, H. and Balachander, S., 2017. The effects of products’ aesthetic
design on demand and marketing-mix effectiveness: The role of segment prototypicality and
brand consistency. Journal of Marketing. 81(1). pp.83-102.
Muralidharan, K. and Raval, N., 2017. Six Sigma marketing and productivity
improvement. A Quarterly Journal of the National Productivity Council. 58(1). pp.107-114.
Pike, S., 2015. Destination marketing: essentials. Routledge.
Pike, S.D., 2016. Destination marketing organizations–research opportunities in an era
of uncertainty. In Book of Abstracts-6th International Conference on Tourism. International
Association for Tourism Policy (IATOUR).
Siguaw, J.A. and Simpson, P.M., 2015. A marketing plan for marketing instruction: A
satirical look at student comments. In Creating and Delivering Value in Marketing (pp. 129-
133). Springer, Cham.
Stead, M. and Hastings, G., 2018. Advertising in the social marketing mix: getting the
balance right. In Social Marketing (pp. 29-43). Psychology Press.
Wong, H and et.al., 2016. Marketing Plan Report.
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