Marketing Essentials: Analysis of Tesco and Marketing Plan Development

This report provides a comprehensive overview of marketing essentials, exploring the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within an organization. It defines marketing, examines its current and future trends, and outlines the five core elements of the marketing process. The report analyzes the importance of the interrelationship between marketing and other functional units, emphasizing the need for collaboration to achieve business objectives. A significant portion of the report focuses on a case study of Tesco, a leading UK supermarket chain. It compares the application of the marketing mix in Tesco and ASDA, two major players in the retail sector. The report also develops a basic marketing plan for Tesco, utilizing the 7 P's of the marketing mix to achieve specific objectives. The report concludes with a summary of findings and recommendations for effective marketing strategies.

MARKETING ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function..................................................................3
Importance of Interrelationship between marketing and other functional units..........................5
Concept of marketing, its trend in present and future and overview of five elements of
marketing process........................................................................................................................6
Roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of marketing environment.....................7
Main elements of function of marketing and how it interrelates with different functional units
of a company................................................................................................................................8
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................9
Comparison of application of marketing mix in different organisation during marketing
planning process..........................................................................................................................9
Application of different tactics by organisation to achieve their objectives.............................12
Basic marketing plan of Tesco..................................................................................................12
Coherent Marketing plan by applying 7 P’s to achieve objectives...........................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Marketing plays a very important role in the success of any organisation. This function is
helpful in studying factors of the market such as customer demand, tastes and preferences at the
marketplace and competitors strategy in the market. Through marketing only better relationships
can be built with the customers and accordingly appropriate marketing strategy can be
formulated.
In modern times, marketing is widely used by organisation to create and maintain better
relationship with the customers, so that future business revenue, profits, growth and survival can
be ensured (Gross and Laamanen, 2018). So, the businesses must know the essentials of
marketing before entering into the market.
Also, marketing function can’t be performed in an isolation, instead there is a need of help from
all the other departments of the company to work together to get better results in the market.
The present report is based on the marketing analysis of Tesco which is a UK based supermarket
giant and considered as a leader in the industry. The marketing manager’s roles and
responsibilities and its role in achieving company’s objectives will be discussed. Further
comparison between marketing mix application in Tesco and ASDA will be done. And at last
marketing plan will be developed for Tesco to deal with the competition.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function
Definition of marketing as per CIM: Marketing can be defined as a process of
management concerned with the identification, anticipation and satisfaction of customer
requirements in order to reap more benefits in terms of higher profitability.
Marketing is about to promote the products and services offer by the business entity. The
marketing team at the Tesco Company follow the respective roles and responsibilities as a part of
the operational objectives of the department.
Improve sales of company

Enhancing sales of the Tesco Company is among the prominent role that the marketing
department play at the organisation. This is the key objective of the marketing department where
company promote its products and services with the aim of enhancing the sales of the company.
This is a prominent element that allows the business entity to boost up the overall sales of the
business entity (Muhammedrisaevna, Bayazovna and Kakhramonovn, 2020). This can be
projected that the boosting up the sales of company is the prominent functional and operational
responsibilities associated with the marketing team.
In behind every single campaign company lunches boosting up the sales of company is the key
objectives. The marketing campaign of the company focuses in such way that company not only
sustain its existing customers of company but also to attract new potential customers in the
respective retail sector.
Improve brand value of company
Improving the brand value of company is the key objective behind the marketing
campaign launches by the company. The aim of the marketing campaign is to cherish the brand
value of the Tesco Company. It can project that the cherishing the brand value of company is the
prominent objective behind the marketing or promotion campaign launches by the company.
Marketing support the company to boost up its existing brand value that supports the Tesco
Company to achieve all its various business objectives. Brand value support the company to
meet up all different objectives behind the business operations entertained by the company.
Enhance growth of company
The objective behind the marketing or promotion campaign of the company is to boost up
the existing growth rate of the company. This is targeted that the business entity should promote
its products in front of the potential customers in such way that company ended being profitable
to enhance the existing growth rate of the company (Zéman and Bogdan, 2019).
The growth of the organisation is associated with the profit margins of the business entity. This
is targeted by the company to boost up the overall growth potential of the organisation not only
at the domestic market but also in the international market as well.

Attract new customers
Attracting new customer is always a key requirement of the business entity. This is the
key objective behind the marketing or promotion campaign launches by the company to attract
the new potential customers belong to the retail sector. Tesco company deal in the market where
the huge customer base is already available.
This is important that the company should continuous focus over attracting to the new potential
customers along with sustaining the existing customers of the organization. This makes the
organisation to meet up all its business objectives.
Taking competitive advantage in market
Retail sector is among the immensely competitive market sector of the business
environment. The level of competition is huge in the sector as it belong to the product segment
that contain basic nature require for living. This is important for the company to promote the
products of the Tesco Company in such way that company take up the competitive advantage in
the respective target market. This is considered as the key objective company sustain behind the
marketing campaign launches by the company (Bala and Verma, 2018).
Taking competitive advantage is very important as the retail sector is immensely competitive that
allow the company to continuous attract to new customers in respect to sustain in the market.
This can be considered as the key objective company usage when it comes to promote and
market the products of the company.
Achieve product success
There are many instances when the Tesco Company launches a new product. At such a
time it is important for the company to continuous promote the respective product so that more
customer engagement in respect to the launched product could have been gained by the
company. In process to achieve the success for the product launch marketing or promotion
campaign is very essential. The promotion allow the company to create tend against the launch
of the new product. This is very important as it can only achieve success in the market with
support of effective promotion campaign of company.

The above projected points demonstrate about the different roles and responsibilities
marketing campaign of company meet up in the market.
Importance of Interrelationship between marketing and other functional units
The interrelationship between other business functions and marketing function can be described
as marketing is a major function in itself performed by every organisation while the other
functions are equally important and have a considerable contribution towards carrying out
marketing function effectively (Lambert and Enz, 2017).
In other words, marketing functions can’t be performed in an isolation, instead it must be backed
up by the other functions of the organisation in order to carry out marketing function effectively.
Like if there is a need to perform the task of creating and implementing the marketing plan in the
company, then it must be supported by sales department, financial department, production
department and human resource department. Moreover, when Tesco’s marketing team wants to
provide a discount offer such as buy 3 get one free or other quantity discount offers then they are
required to communicate with production and finance department first.
Actually marketing function is a separate function in itself but the linkage with other departments
is necessary for enhancing profitability of a concern. The marketing function is highly concerned
with the increment in profitability by enhancing the sales of a company and the same can be
ensured through the simultaneous participation of all the functional units of the Tesco.
The financial department approves the marketing budget of the marketing department and after
that only, marketing plan can be implemented. Production department coordinates with the
logistics department in order to fulfill match the supply with the demand of the products (Mu and
et.al., 2018). Even HR policies are framed in accordance with the sales, market trends and target
customers.
In this way, all the functional unit coordinate with each other towards successful
accomplishment of marketing function.
Concept of marketing, its trend in present and future and overview of five elements of marketing
process
The concept of marketing can be understood from five different aspects that is, from production
point of view, product, selling, marketing and societal marketing point of views. The concept of

marketing in the present time is largely carried out through artificial intelligence, personalization
and programmatic advertising, while the future trends in marketing would be based on voice
marketing, virtual reality and blockchain.
All these current and future market trends are in some or the other way helpful in overcoming the
challenges of traditional marketing such as improvement in customer experience (Vishnoi and
et.al., 2018).
The five elements of marketing explaining the concept of marketing in different ways are
as follows:
Production concept: This concept of marketing stresses over consumer’s perception which states
that consumers are motivated towards making purchase of products which are easily available in
quantities they wish to buy at an affordable price. Thus, businesses must strive hard on
enhancing their production rate.
Product concept: The concept revolves around the product itself which says that consumers
desire to buy those products which ensures more value for their money, innovative and of high
quality (Ruiz and Holmlund, 2017). So, by producing quality, innovative and valuable products,
company can retain customers.
Selling concept: This concept states that customers buy those products which are highly
promoted in the market and thus focuses on using promotional techniques.
Marketing concept: The concept states that before producing any product or services it is
necessary to identify the target customer and then valuable products should be delivered, so that
brand value can be created in the market. Once the brand value is created and enhanced, then the
customers would definitely choose the company’s brand over the competitors.
Societal marketing concept: The concept describes marketing as an act of emphasizing on
customer’s requirements and needs, this is done to encourage customers to choose
company’s brand over other competitors in the market (COKER, FLIGHT and BAIMA, 2017).
Roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of marketing environment
Marketing management is concerned about the process which involves planning and execution of
marketing plan which involves pricing and promotional strategies, selling and distribution
strategies for persuading target audience towards the company’s brand. The roles of marketing
are described below:

Marketing strategies: Marketing is mainly concern about the development of plans and
strategies for companies. Marketing managers are required to identify the needs of the target
audience and deliver products and services accordingly. The marketing strategies are useful in
exploiting market opportunities towards the accomplishment of business objectives.
Marketing information system: The MIS provides with the information related to factors like
product planning and execution and framing and controlling marketing strategies (Waheed and
et.al., 2017). For instance, MIS provides information regarding the pricing of competitors on a
real time basis which helps in setting prices effectively.
Marketing environment monitoring: The function of marketing is plays a very crucial role in
determining the developments in the business environment related to marketing and then
products and services are developed accordingly. The developments may be related to traits of
target audience, socio – economic changes and political and legal changes.
Marketing research: It is the main role of every marketing managers. The research is done to
obtain knowledge about product, consumers and price; so that company’s products and services
can be promoted accordingly in the market (Di Gregorio and et.al., 2019).
Market segmentation: The current globalized market is highly volatile which requires
businesses to perform accurate segmentation and the same is ensured by marketing. The
marketing team is responsible for determining the segment whose need the company will met
and then accordingly the products and services are promoted.
Brand equity: The consumers are very much motivated to buy products of those brands which
provides high value to their money and marketing is the force through which the company’s
reputation and brand value can be created among the target audience (Zainuddin, Dent and Tam,
2017). This is very helpful in enhancing Tesco’s sales volume.
Main elements of function of marketing and how it interrelates with different functional units of
a company
Marketing function comprises of various other functions like distribution system, advertising,
finance, etc., which comes under the marketing process. The marketing function has the
following key elements:

Research: Market research is a very important part of marketing and has a crucial role in every
business unit. In the absence of appropriate marketing research, business success becomes
impossible. Through research only, valuable information can be gathered for getting competitive
advantage. Not only for marketing but other prospects of business like logistics, raw materials,
and finance can be achieved with the help of research only (Kaleka and Morgan, 2019).
Therefore, it is a key element of marketing function.
Strategy: Once the information is gathered through research, it is evaluated to identify
weaknesses and strengths of the organisation and the processed data is then utilized towards
framing strategies to make business equally competitive in the marketplace. The strategies are
helpful in providing guidance for competing and succeeding in the market. It is framed on the
basis of the outcomes derived from the research.
Planning: After conducting research and strategy formulation, the next element of marketing
function is planning process. Under planning activities, marketing department performs financial
planning, sales forecasting, communication and distribution of a business unit (Liczmanska-
Kopcewicz, 2018). The planning department create a timeline for planning appropriate strategies
in order to transform organisational goals into success.
Tactics: Another key role performed under the marketing is tactics which involves creation short
term plans which are executed with the purpose of attracting the target audience. Under this,
limited time period offers are extended which results in boosting promotion of a product or
service like buy 1 get 1 free. It helps in cornering market share from the competitors and
boosting the sales accordingly.
This is the explanation of main elements of marketing function. Now next is the description of
how such key elements of marketing interrelates with the other functional units of the business
which is as follows:
The various functions performed under marketing is very much linked with other different
functional units of the company. Such interrelation can be described with the help of an example
of how finance department is connected with the marketing department (Keegan and Rowley,
2017). It is the finance department only, which provides economic resources to the marketing
department of a company for carrying out research, performing planning and it implementation

and formation of marketing strategies in the organisation. Without communicating and
coordinating with the financial team, marketing function cannot be carried out.
Similarly, in every business unit, there is a close link between marketing function and other
functional department of the business. For creating a marketing plan, there is an accurate
description from production department required by marketing team pertaining to the products
and services of the company.
Moreover, there is requirement of human resource which is fulfilled by human resource
department, financial department help through providing economic resources and logistics
support from distribution network.
So, the marketing function and its different needs can only be fulfilled when there is a support
from other departments of the organisation as well. For instance, there must be alignment
between the HR policies and marketing department, so that the sales can be increased to the
desired level (Gross and Laamanen, 2018).
Production department too need to communicate products and services related information for
creating marketing plan accurately, because in the absence of knowledge regarding the
production capacity and raw materials inventory, then the marketing plan will cause losses.
In this way, elements of marketing function interrelates with other functional department
of the organisation.
TASK 2
Comparison of application of marketing mix in different organisation during marketing planning
process
The marketing planning process involves application of marketing mix, so that the organisational
objectives and goals can be achieved. There are different methods of applying marketing mix in
the organisation and based on demographics of the market, company’s products and services,
size of the market and company. For understanding the product marketing mix is the best tool
(Lambert and Enz, 2017).

Commonly there are 4 P’s of marketing mix which includes product, price, place and promotion,
but the concept is later extended to 7 P’s by including people, process and physical evidence
with above elements.
Here is a comparative marketing mix of Tesco and its biggest competitor ASDA.
Elements of
marketing mix
Tesco ASDA
Product It has diversified product range
including clothing, food, financial
services and electronics (Vishnoi
and et.al., 2018). Approximately
40000 product lines has been
exhibited into its retail stores.
It also have diversified product
variety including grocery, fresh
food, clothing, entertainments,
health and beauty products and
leisure goods in its stores. Financial
service is also a part of its
diversified product line which
includes credit card, travel
insurance and many more.
Price It has a policy to maintain lowest
possible prices for its products
without compromising with
product’s quality.
The cost advantage enjoyed by
company was due to economies of
scale which allows it to cover all its
cost even at a lower price.
It has a club card system where
points are collected by customers
and later gets converted to money.
This is another price promotional
tool which provides its loyal
customers with some extra
discounts.
It has a lost cost operations
allowing it to set lower prices and
the company is committed towards
providing higher value for
customer’s money through their
quality products (Mu and et.al.,
2018).
They provide price guarantee where
they assure that they will give the
difference amount if they are not
10% cheaper than Tesco and
Sainsbury. It has got crowned for
being cheapest in the supermarket
industry of UK.
Therefore, ASDA is using a mix of

Therefore, Tesco is using
penetrating pricing strategy for its
products and services.
value-based and penetrating pricing
strategies for its products and
services.
Place It is based in UK but its stores are
widely spread across the world. It
has both offline and online channel
for distributing its products and
services (Waheed and et.al., 2017).
There are six different categories of
stores in its offline mode depending
upon the type of customers and
providing easier accessibility.
Thus, Tesco has adopted Intensive
distribution strategy to distribute and
sale their products.
It is also have both online and
offline mode of distribution. It has
approximately 600 stores across
UK in different formats.
Also, ASDA being a close
competitor of Tesco has adopted
intensive distribution strategy to
distribute and sale their products.
Promotion It has a competitive advantage of
lower price in the market which
results in the building of its brand
image.
The various promotional tools used
by the company are offering
promotional discounts, television
advertisements, sponsoring
charitable events and point of sale
promotions.
All over the year there are some
kind of attractive offers available in
their stores. Through its club card
facility they provide extra discounts
to their regular customers.
Newspaper, television and other
media outlets are part of its
promotional tools. Sales promotion
techniques used by company are
buy 1 get 1 free, price reduction
and many more (Kaleka and
Morgan, 2019). Sponsorships and
charitable funding are also part of
its promotion strategies.
Physical Tesco’s stores are necessarily It has fantastic looking and easy to