Marketing Plan Analysis: Vodafone's Strategies and Objectives

This report provides a comprehensive overview of marketing essentials, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within an organization, with specific examples related to Vodafone, a transnational telecommunications company. The report explores the significance of marketing and its interrelation with other functional areas, such as human resources, finance, and research and development. It also details the application of the marketing mix (7Ps) in the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives, including product, promotion, price, place, people, process, and physical evidence. Furthermore, the report includes a basic marketing plan tailored for Vodafone, considering market analysis, competitive strategies, and customer satisfaction. The analysis covers key aspects such as market research, advertising, promotion, pricing strategies, and the importance of digital marketing and social media management. The report emphasizes the importance of a well-coordinated approach to marketing, and the integration of marketing efforts with other departments to achieve overall business success.

MARKETING
ESSENTIAL

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1 .....................................................................................................................................1
P1 key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function.......................................................1
P2 Roles and responsibility of marketing in wider context........................................................3
PART 2............................................................................................................................................4
P3 Application of marketing mix in marketing planning process to achieve business
objectives.....................................................................................................................................4
P4 Basic marketing plan for Vodafone.......................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
.......................................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
In order to perform various functions effectively, an organisation divide all of the tasks to
different department so they can focus on their core objectives. Marketing is considered as one of
the most important activity which is related to finding needs of society and than deliver them
products and service accordingly. Vodafone is transnational telecommunication company who is
operating in more than 26 countries, they are also present in 50 other nations in form of
partnership (Al-Ekam and et .al., 2012). This assignment will discuss about roles and
responsibilities of marketing function, it will also include its significance and interrelation with
other functional wings. Ways of implementation of marketing mix in planning will become part
of this file.
PART 1
P1 key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function
With time, the way of doing business is also changing. Earlier technology was not
considered as an important part of the business but now it play crucial role in success of an
organisation. Trend of marketing is also changing with era, earlier companies were focusing of
manufacturing of goods, they did not give much significance to quality but after sometime they
understand that instead just delivering the product, they have to provide good quality so
customers can feel that they are getting appropriate value against the money they are paying.
Gradually enterprises move toward customer satisfaction by introducing new programmes like
after sales service. In present situation, two types of marketing trends are very popular, fist is
growth without harming environment and society and second is loyalty. Organisations want to
make and sell commodities which do not harm atmosphere, people like to buy goods from a
company give importance to natural resources (Batt, 2013). Firms are also trying to increasing
their number of permanent customers, they are focusing on gaining trust of their consumers so
they can get a stability in business operation when things go south.
Marketing process starts with research where managers try to find basic need of society
so they can develop a product which fulfils the demand of consumers. After this, they make
plans where they concentrate on organisational goals and other strategies. Once this work is
done, they move towards execution of planning. Monitoring is the most significant part after
1

implementation, it helps in testing strategies. Poor measure are taken once organisation get
complete report about how much they achieved and what were their flaws.
Once of the most important role that managers have to play in marketing function is
conducting researches so they can determine demand of a product and make future strategies
accordingly. Priorities of customers changes in regular interval of time so if they do not analyse
market on continuous basis than organisation will launch outdated or inappropriate services and
products. Vodafone is operating a very competitive environment, marketing department is
responsible for analysing strategies of other players of the industry. If an organisation have
detailed knowledge about their competitors than this factor will provide them some extra edge
over other players of this sector (Desai, 2013).
Advertising and promotion – This is a significant function done by marketing team, they
are responsible for promoting a service or product which company is launching so people can get
some awareness about the commodity. Television and internet advertising have capacity to
convince potential customer, they play significant role in success of a product.
Growth of business – Marketing wing is responsible for bringing business in the firm.
They have an important role in increasing sales of an organisation, they can also take part in
process of reduction of cost.
Create management information system – Marketing department is responsible for
gathering various kind of information that is present in market. They keep them in a database so
at the time of formation of different strategies they can use them. It will also provide great
assistance to other department.
Synchronise objectives – Cited organisation is running their business in more than 150
countries. It is very difficult for them to make a proper connection goals of various department. It
is the role of marketing division to understand culture and income of a society so they can
represent their company accordingly (Desselle, Zgarrick and Alston, 2016).
Monitoring and management of social media – Internet is considered as one of the prime
source for advertising a service or product but at the same time it can do bad promotion of a
company which can make a negative impact on their brand image. Marketing division play
crucial role in monitoring social media so they can bring time wrong information about
enterprise. They also promote good work done by their organisation so firm can increase their
goodwill and improve their image among public.
2

P2 Roles and responsibility of marketing in wider context
An organisation has different department like finance, research and development.
Information technology, human resources etc. These division are dependent on each other so
they if they have good relationship between them than they can deliver surprising results in short
period of time. Strong relation between marketing and human resources department is very
important because if HR wing will choose appropriate candidates in marketing team than they
can deliver results according to expectation of company. If they select people who have good
analytical and communication skill than organisation can achieve their objectives in a effective
way. Finance division has high dependence of marketing team because they give them
significant information which they can use in making important decision like where to invest,
how much they should spend, what will be the best source for lending money etc (Hauer, 2011).
They also deliver them data about other competitor companies so finance wing can understand
their strategies and make plans accordingly.
Technology is changing rapidly, every organisation is facing a fear than if they invest huge
amount in some plan in current time than it may get outdated in next couple of years. Employees
who are working in marketing department are responsibility for conducting a proper market
research so they can analyse life of a service or product and help research and development
division in making correct choice. They play significant role in giving them necessary
information and data by analysing daily routine of a people so they can fill the void space by
their services. Sometimes R&D wing put their efforts in wrong direction, marketing team is
3

responsible for warning them about their mistake because they have better ground knowledge
and they understand mind of customers (Hsu, 2011). On the other hand, research and
development division can give information about special features of service or product so
marketing team can perform various function like advertising and promotion accordingly.
If finance department will not allot proper money to marketing wing than they can not
perform their activities effectively. Lack of necessary money can make a negative impact on
market research and other tasks performed by marketing division. Normally laymen can get
confuse between sales and marketing, they consider it same thing but there is big difference
between their job and responsibility. Sales division is responsible for convincing potential buyers
to buy service or product of the company, they earn incentive on either in terms of number of
sale or amount. On the other hand marketing wing focuses on other activities like after sale
service or studying purchasing experience of customers. Both divisions are dependent on each
other because if marketing team will not provide them vital information like where they should
find consumers etc. than sales department may fail to perform their duty effectively and if selling
wing will not deliver primary data & ground details than marketing division will face problem in
making a effective policy (Kennedy and Parsons, 2014). Vodafone provide telecoms services,
their IT department need assistance from marketing unit so they can find the areas where they
need to improve their connections and get a basic understanding of demand of customers. This
will also help complete organisation in making attractive plans so potential consumers can
choose cited company over other enterprises.
If all the division of cited firm focus on synchronisation of objectives than they can create
strong relation between each other and deliver better results. Marketing team plays signifiant role
in improving the brand image of company and bring more business in organisation but at he
same time they need assistance of other departments. If all of them work as a single unit than
they may get surprising results in short period of time.
PART 2
P3 Application of marketing mix in marketing planning process to achieve business objectives
An effective planning can assist cited company in attaining their goals in short period of
time. It can reduce cost of business operation and enhance current sale so firm can earn more
4

revenue in short period of time. Below are the 7ps of marketing that Vodafone can use in
formation of effective plans:
Product – Cited organisation is known for their telecom services, they key services are
2G, 3G, 4G and 5G. Currently they are working on 5G network will is not available in most of
the countries where they are operating. In some nations they are purchasing spectrum of 4G
because these region are do not have current technology. In domestic market i.e. United kingdom
they should focus on 4G and 5G networks because people need upgrading (LEHTINEN and
MÄKINEN, 2012). Their other competitors are also investing huge amount in these networks. If
they spend money in current scenario than they can earn high revenue in upcoming time because
they will get dominance in industry. They should concentrate of quality of networks as it is
considered as the most important factor that attract attention of customers. They should make
their service a brand which is known for best network at affordable price.
Promotion – Vodafone has to give more importance to this element as because in telecom
industry aggressive marketing decide success or failure of a network. They should focus on
television and internet advertising so they can deliver their message to more people. They have
telecast their recharge and other plans so customers can know about its benefits and choose
among cut throat competition. They can organise various kind of events and fairs to at different
location so they can make personal contact with their service users. Public relation is a
significant area, if buyers feel that company is providing them something special than they will
never think of switching to cited enterprise's opponents (Lipsman and et .al., 2012). Personal
promotion is another effective way of convincing customers, it can assist in increasing the
number of loyal and permanent consumers. Various kind of promotions play important role in
increasing the value of a brand.
Price – Competition in this sector is very high, other companies of this industry is are
reducing price of their recharge plan so they can steal customers from cited organisation. They
should focus on setting competitive prices so service users of all income group can afford their
facilities. Nowadays customers are ready to pay more amount but they want better service. Cited
enterprise should keep this in their mind and decide their pricing policy accordingly. Consumer
need various kind of payment methods, company can start their own application or website
where customers can do recharge and get inform about different plans. Vodafone can initiate
5

new scheme where they can get mobile balance and data on credit. This can charge some extra
amount for this facility.
Place – Cited enterprise should open their stores in more places so employees of
customers service department can solve queries of customer in an effective manner. It will also
help them in convincing potential customers who are looking for buying a new SIM card or
number portability. Personal meeting is more important than conversation on telephone.
People – If marketing department will provide necessary detail about the kind of
employees they want in their division than they will recruit candidates who have good analytical
as well as communication skill (Maghaireh, 2016). Cited organisation should give them proper
training so they do their job without committing mistakes. They should generate a culture where
people with good suggestion should be rewarded.
Process – Most of the manger believe that process is more important than result.
Vodafone should work on their customer satisfaction and IT division so they can solve problems
of customers and deliver them better service. They should also invest huge amount in research
and development process because in this era a new technology becomes old in only couple of
years. In some countries they are buying 4G spectrum which may get outdated in short period of
time.
Physical evidence – Cited organisation can sell their SIM cards online, this will help
them in targeting more potential customers. They can also focus on designing of packages of
SIM card and other products, it will give them some extra edge over their competitors.
P4 Basic marketing plan for Vodafone
Executive – This marketing plan will give a direction to the organisation so company can
achieve organisational objective in predetermined period of time.
Company overview – Vodafone is one of the most successful company of telecom sector. They
are running their business in more than 150 countries, in some nation they are conducting their
business in partnership with other enterprises (Mihart, 2012).
Current market situation
Internal analysis – Cited company's vision to become leader in commination sector. Their
mission is to enrich life of their customers by using power of mobile communication. They have
around 111,556 employees in their organisation who are working in different part of this world.
6

External analysis – PESTLE of Vodafone
Political – Political incident like Brexit made a negative impact on their business because
demand in the market is going down continuously. They were also planning to invest huge sum
in some countries who are now facing problems relating to political stability. On the other hand
some nations are ready to provide them subsidiary because they understand that Vodafone has
capacity to invest huge amount in telecom infrastructure. These kind of situation should be
considered at the time of planning marketing activity.
Economic – Economies challenges in Europe is a big concern for cited firm. Instead of
focusing on this region they should concentrate on economies who have high growth rate like
India, China. Income of people in these nations is increasing so they can afford services of this
organisation. Their GDP is also increasing with at high rate, this factor should be given more
impact at the time of formation of marketing plans (Mittal, 2014).
Social – Most of the countries are facing problems relating to unemployment, if cited
organisation will provide generate more jobs than their goodwill in society will increase. They
should also think about different religion and culture at the of launching of various recharge
plans.
Technology – They are working in sector which has direct connection with technology so
instead of focusing on technological development of other companies they should concentrate on
7

on their research and development department. They can decrease the expenditure which they are
doing on old technology so they can investment more money in current one.
Legal – They should prepare themselves for various kind of legal fights because it can
cost them heavy amount. Generally this industry face issues relating to wrong or bad promotion
of rival company. If they ave any innovative idea than they should register it on priority basis so
they can get its long term advantages.
Environmental – Ethics can be considered as the most important part of the factor. They
are considered as one of the favourite brand of customer so they have some social responsibility
towards them. Some people in different countries argue than mobile network tower are harmful
for human being, they can work on an innovative plans so they can find the solution of this
problem. Until than, they can stop installing these tower near schools and hospitals.
SWOT analysis of Vodafone
Strength – They are among table leaders in telecom sector. Their advertising strategies is
considered as of the best in their operating industry (Moini, 2012).
Weakness – They do not have reach in rural areas of most of the countries whee they are
running their business. Their position in developing economies is getting more and more weak
Opportunities – They can invest huge amount in emerging marketing like Brazil, China,
India. They can expand their reach by entering in rural market.
Threats – New players in thing industry are offering very low price. They have exploited
most of the market so they will not have much to achieve in upcoming time.
Objectives – Currently they have two main objectives, first is to get their dominance of 5G
network in developed market and second is to improve their position in developing economies
like India by focusing on 3G and 4G network.
Strategy – They have to invest more amount in the nation where they hold top position. They
have to focus on aggressive marketing and advertising so customer can get proper knowledge
about their products. In developing nations like, India they should acquire or merger their
company so they can reach the top spot and increase database of their customers.
Segmentation, targeting and positioning
Segmentation – Upper class people and above, lifestyle.
Target – Students as well as corporate sector.
Positioning – Cheerful and inviting.
8

Tactics and action – They are focusing on quality network and charge more money for better
service (Nguyen and Simkin, 2012). They have taken important decision that they will merge
with a company in Idea so they can expand their network and services.
Budget – Cost of merger and buying of new spectrum will cost billions for cited organisation.
They also have to spend money of promotion of their new services.
Control – They have to keep an eye on every small tactics and evaluate their perform on
quarterly basis.
Conclusion – At the end, it can concluded that they are still focusing on their mission ad vision
that is to become leader of their industry. They are adopt strategies of new product development
and amalgamation so they can reach their long term targets.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that marketing is one of the most important
function performed in an organisation because it provide great assistance to all other
departments. Effective marketing plans and mix can help a company in attaining their set targets
in predetermined time.
9

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Al-Ekam, J. M. E and et .al., 2012. Determining the antecedents of actual purchase of local
product brand in Yemen. American Journal of Economics, special issue. pp.97-100.
Batt, P. J., 2013, December. Quality management essentials and the importance of smallholder
farmers collaborating. In II Southeast Asia Symposium on Quality Management in
Postharvest Systems 1088 (pp. 47-52).
Desai, S. S., 2013. An Analysis of the Competitive Marketing Strategies of the Hospitality
Industry in UAE. IUP Journal of Management Research, 12(1). p.22.
Desselle, S., Zgarrick, D and Alston, G., 2016. Pharmacy Management: Essentials for all
practice settings. McGraw Hill Professional.
Hauer, C., 2011. Marketing in the digital age. Editors' Bulletin. 7(3). pp.77-79.
Hsu, W., 2011. The vocabulary thresholds of business textbooks and business research articles
for EFL learners. English for Specific Purposes. 30(4). pp.247-257.
Kennedy, A. M and Parsons, A., 2014. Social engineering and social marketing: why is one
“good” and the other “bad”?. Journal of Social Marketing. 4(3). pp.198-209.
LEHTINEN, U and MÄKINEN, P., 2012. Development possibilities of the major marketing
approaches. LTA. 3(4/12). pp.11-29.
Lipsman, A and et .al., 2012. The power of “Like”. Journal of Advertising research. 52(1).
pp.40-52.
Maghaireh, H., 2016. Head, Heart and Hands: Three Essentials for Success in Dental Practice.
Smile Dental Journal. 11(4). pp.6-7.
Mihart, C., 2012. Impact of integrated marketing communication on consumer behaviour: effects
on consumer decision–making process. International Journal of Marketing Studies. 4(2).
p.121.
Mittal, A., 2014. Role of Marketing Mix for Indian Marketers. Global Journal of Finance and
Management. 6(3). pp.191-196.
Moini, J., 2012.Focus on Pharmacology: Essentials for Health Professionals. Pearson Higher Ed.
Nguyen, B and Simkin, L., 2012. Fairness quality: The role of fairness in a social and ethically
oriented marketing landscape. The Marketing Review.12(4). pp.333-344.
10