Marketing Skills: Role, Interrelation with Other Business Functions

This report elucidates the significance of marketing in contemporary business, highlighting its role in creating awareness and facilitating informed consumer decisions. It explores the interplay between marketing and other functional units within an organization, emphasizing the differences between B2C and B2B marketing contexts. A case study focusing on an academic institution experiencing declining student enrollment is presented, employing SWOT analysis and the 7Ps of marketing to formulate strategies for enhancing the institution's performance. The report details the structure and operations of a marketing department, including strategic planning, market analysis, and marketing mix strategies. It also discusses the influence of external environmental factors on marketing activities and the development of a marketing plan with segmentation, targeting, and evaluation techniques to achieve overall marketing objectives.

Skills Required in Marketing Process
Name of the Author:
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
LO1 – Explanation of the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional units of
an organization.................................................................................................................................3
Explanation about the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function and its activities
in a marketing environment [P1, M1]..........................................................................................3
Concepts and definitions related to marketing.........................................................................3
Developing of the concepts of marketing along with trends of present time and future.........4
Influence of external environment on activities of marketing.................................................5
Critical Analysis of the role of Marketing in a business and their interrelationship with other
functional units of an organization in the wider organizational contexts [P2, M2, D1]..............6
Structure and Operations of a Marketing department..............................................................6
Marketing process overview including strategic planning, analysis, and marketing mix........6
Various roles of marketing within B2C and B2B business contexts.......................................7
Various roles of Business units and the interrelationship marketing and these functional
units..........................................................................................................................................7
LO2 – Comparison of the ways in which organizations use elements of the marketing mix (7Ps)
to achieve overall business objectives.............................................................................................8
LO3 – Developing and evaluating a basic marketing plan..............................................................8
Producing a basic marketing plan for the organisation [P4]........................................................8
Structure and developments related to marketing plans along with Segmentation of market
and selecting the target market.................................................................................................8
Value and Importance of plans related to marketing and Links between the objectives, plans
and strategies associated with marketing along with a detailed, coherent evidence-based
marketing plan for an organization [M4].....................................................................................9
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Evaluation and monitoring of marketing plans using proper techniques for evaluation and
control.....................................................................................................................................10
Design of a strategic marketing plan to achieve overall marketing objectives by setting the
necessary goals and objectives of marketing that tactically applies the use of the 7Ps [D2]....10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
Reference List................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
One of the most important aspects which is required to succeed in any business is marketing. The
best thing about marketing is that it creates awareness among the people regarding any specific
product or service which can be beneficial to them. This further helps them to make decisions
regarding the products or services which are to be purchased and hence is also beneficial for the
organisations that are using the marketing Technology. The following report has explained the
importance of marketing and the various ways in which it can benefit the consumer as well as the
organisations. The roles of marketing in business to business and business to customer contacts
have also been highlighted significantly and the importance behind an efficient marketing has
been understood by considering various examples. In this particular report, a case study related
to an academic institution has been considered which is facing depletion in the number of
students pursuing education and taking admission in the Institution. Various to like SWOT
analysis and 7Ps of marketing skills and domains have been considered to conduct the study so
that proper strategy can be formulated in order to enhance the performance of the educational
institution in terms of popularity as well as profit.
LO1 – Explanation of the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other
functional units of an organization
Explanation about the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function and
its activities in a marketing environment [P1, M1]
Concepts and definitions related to marketing
The activity which is related to create awareness among people regarding any particular object
like Business entity including any item or services is known as marketing. According to
Raghavan and Ganesh, (2015), there are two different types of marketing namely traditional
marketing and modern marketing. Following are the details regarding various natures of
marketing.
Traditional marketing: The traditional concept of marketing can be described as instead of
business activities in which the products or services are directly acquired from the producers of
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those products or services and are delivered to the required customers are the uses of those items
and services (Babin and Zikmund, 2015).
Modern marketing: The concept of achieving goals related to corporate business why meeting
the customers’ expectations and even exceeding them by producing a competitive environment
in the market is known as modern marketing. This concept according to Whitaker et al. (2016)
has emerged from the significant increase in the competition of every domain.
The marketing nature or characteristics are generally described by considering some specific
factors that influence the overall marketing. Following are the characteristics or basic nature of
marketing that gives shape to business activities and helps the required personal to achieve their
goals and objectives related to business.
Human activity: This is the primary nature of any marketing because the activities are carried
out by efforts of human beings so that the needs and requirements of humans will be satisfied.
Consumer oriented: The marketing activities are consumer oriented because the needs and
demands of consumers are primarily considered while carrying out marketing or business related
activities. As per Oplatka and Gurion, (2017), the products or services which are to be introduced
in the market should be in accordance to the demands and needs specified why any customer or a
group of customers.
Process of exchange: The term marketing as per many experts including Werner and Tang,
(2017) is a process of exchange as the goods or services involved in the marketing or business
activity are provided to a customer in exchange of the necessary value. This value might be in
the form of monetary assets or in the form of any other products or services in exchange.
Developing of the concepts of marketing along with trends of present time and future
According to the scenario presented in the report, it is obvious that the small college is suffering
from lack of students and hence is not able to deliver its objectives and goals properly to the
students as well as for the employees. Therefore, there is a need of proper marketing concepts to
be implemented in accordance to the Trends of present time as well as the future needs so that
the present as well as the future of the institution could be secured. As mentioned by Roux and
de Jager, (2016), the modern marketing concepts focuses on the specific Expectations by
customers, it can be applied in developing strategies to get approved the quality of education
provided in the college so that more students could be attracted towards it.
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The main elements of marketing which are to be considered in order to attract students and
parents towards this college are quality of academic services and knowledge produced. As per
Brewer and Henderson, (2016), education through smart classes and audio visual presentation
are gaining popularity among many schools and colleges and hence this concept can be applied
for improvising the type of delivery of education system and syllabus. Moreover, a proper record
of any school or college can be established by introducing extracurricular activities to promote
overall development of any student (Wilkins and Huisman, 2015). Therefore, the management
needs to plan the daily schedule of the college accordingly so that overall development on
physical and mental parameters of the student can be promoted and a successful career can be
assured from the college in a specific domain. In order to achieve this goal, introduction of co-
curricular and extracurricular activities along with sports related events and activities will be
promoted in the college.
Influence of external environment on activities of marketing
There are many internal as well as external environmental forces that impact the activities of a
marketing approach chosen by an organisation. However, Muduli et al. (2018) have mentioned
that the following three external environment factors are most likely to impact the Marketing
System of a college or institution.
Market competition: This means that the currently existing competition in the market determine
the amount of investment and effort which needs to be put in by an organisation while marketing
about it products and services. Therefore, the college must analyze the market carefully so that
the necessary services which could be introduced to stay ahead in the competition can be
analyzed.
Natural forces: The availability of resources and materials in order to meet the Expectations of
customers comprise of natural forces. As per Firdaus and Ahmad, (2017), necessary resources
for delivering education through smart classes and properly adjusting the extracurricular and co
curricular activities within the college schedule must be available to the college at reasonable
costs so that the procurement of those materials could be done easily.
Technological variation: The advancements that has happened over a specific period of time in
terms of technological means must be considered while carrying out the marketing activities. The
college has to be aware of the latest technologies which are available in the market so that the
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activities could be completed within time and less efforts delivering better value of the
investments and efforts.
Critical Analysis of the role of Marketing in a business and their interrelationship
with other functional units of an organization in the wider organizational contexts
[P2, M2, D1]
Structure and Operations of a Marketing department
There are multiple roles played by the marketing unit of any organisation. These roles are
specifically played by different departments and sub departments of any marketing wing of an
organisation which are properly arranged in a specific structure. In case of a college or other
similar educational institution, the marketing structure comprises of Traditional and digital
marketing where the public and offline advertising are done in the former one whereas social
media and Search Engine Optimization based marketing are done in the latter one.
Figure 1: Structure of Marketing Department
(Source: Baker and Saren, 2016)
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Marketing
Traditional
Marketing
Offline
Advertisements Public Relations
Digital
Marketing
Search Engine
Optimization Social Media

Marketing process overview including strategic planning, analysis, and marketing mix
The three major processes included in the overall marketing process of this college are strategic
planning, followed by analysis and necessary mix in the marketing. In the initial process which is
strategic planning, a brief plan requires to be made to find out the reason why students are not
referring to take admission in this college. As opined by Baker and Saren, (2016), the
requirements and consideration of students and their parents could be highlighted to understand
the Expectations they possess from any college. Following the outcomes of strategic planning,
necessary analysis must be done to find out the ways in which those Expectations could be met.
This can be done by introducing unique techniques of teaching like why showing audio video
presentations to the students and clearing their concepts by experts of educational domain. The
third step which is marketing mix according to Truong et al. (2016) is generally a mix of
strategies where different resources are utilized according to the current necessity of the
situation. This step needs to be considered by the marketing management department by going
through the various options of digital and digital marketing available with them and their
requirements as per the scenario. The college management must maintain good public relations
with the customers along with proper use of social media best platforms.
Various roles of marketing within B2C and B2B business contexts
The roles of marketing in B2C and B2B business contacts are different from each other as the
former one deals with marketing of materials in the form of goods or services in exchange of
some similar business items or in exchange of monetary value. On the other hand, Gerard et al.
(2014) have explained that the latter one deals with delivery of products and services in
exchange of monetary value strictly. The business to business marketing might also involved
song joint venture ideas that are mostly oriented towards mutual benefits of the two or more than
two companies whereas the business to customer marketing strictly deals with the production of
materials to get the monetary value of the same in terms of revenue and profit.
Various roles of Business units and the interrelationship marketing and these functional
units
As described in the earlier section the overall marketing department consists of some subunits
which is majorly categorized under ‘Traditional marketing department’ and ‘Digital marketing
department’. As explained by Asgary, (2016), all the units involved in marketing are interrelated
and have to function in proper coordination to deliver the maximum desirable output. The Public
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Relations departments have to make sure that social media marketing gets enough responses and
the people who are communicating with the college after going through social media
advertisement must be able to communicate properly with the public relations department. In
addition to this, the offline advertisements must involve link and website of the college and other
associated important links so that it becomes convenient for the students and potential customers
to get necessary information. Jayaram et al. (2015) have mentioned that it can be done by proper
Search Engine Optimization methods so that more people can visit the websites.
LO2 – Comparison of the ways in which organizations use elements of the
marketing mix (7Ps) to achieve overall business objectives
Refer to PowerPoint presentation
LO3 – Developing and evaluating a basic marketing plan
Producing a basic marketing plan for the organisation [P4]
The marketing plan for the college must include different activities which are generally preferred
by the students and their parents in order to develop an overall personality of the students. As
described by Anis and Islam, (2015), apart from academic syllabus, the management must also
focus on including courses like cooking, art and craft, sports related activities and coaching,
swimming, and other such things. Therefore, the following marketing plan has been decided at
the initial stage show that the basic requirements of marketing could be managed easily.
Structure and developments related to marketing plans along with Segmentation of market
and selecting the target market
Proper market analysis: The current market of education which includes schools and colleges
will be analyzed in the initial step where the services provided by top colleges will be studied
including the faculty members present in those colleges along with their qualifications. As
opined by Lemoine et al. (2017), experienced faculty member need to be hired to provide better
quality education where students can gain better experience and have better chances of
consolidating their careers.
Cost effectiveness: The cost to be invested in overall marketing and carrying out the activities of
colleges will be analyzed and a proper cost will be decided so that the balance between profit
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earned by college and expenses done by it on providing education could be maintained.
According to Ernest et al. (2015), high qualified professor and faculty members need to be paid
at higher cost for hiring. Moreover, the better infrastructure and providing education for smart
classes also require bigger cost investment.
Proper marketing through advertising: The websites and online link of the college will be
shared with the people through better Search Engine Optimization and social media based
application. Deem et al. (2015) have mentioned that initial phase of advertisement can include
promoting the college services and educational based delivery on any social media or news
website where the contents could be mentioned along with a link of the official website of the
college.
Proper segmentation of the market: The courses that have been planned to be offered include
mostly engineering courses in the college and hence the high schools that provide Science related
education will be that target market. In addition to this, the websites that are more linked with
science related content will be chosen for primary advertisement including the YouTube videos
that provide scientific knowledge especially documentaries.
Establishing better public relations with schools: The public relations department will
establish better relations with the High Schools present at various locations where the students
will be told about this particular college and the various facilities provided by it to help them
develop successfully on an all round basis. In order to do this, some monetary investments
related marketing need to be done as it is a B2B process.
Value and Importance of plans related to marketing and Links between the
objectives, plans and strategies associated with marketing along with a detailed,
coherent evidence-based marketing plan for an organization [M4]
The detailed and coherent evidence-based marketing plan for this particular college will be an
extension of the basic plan that has been discussed above. After proper analyzing of the market,
it is required that the necessary steps are taken to execute the plans (Biswas and Hazra, 2016).
After all the marketing analysis will be done as per mentioned above, the acquisition and
procurement department of the college will acquire necessary resources so that the infrastructure
for delivering education through smart classes and audio visual representation. In addition to
this, video editors and animation experts will be contacted to design and formulate animated
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videos so that the knowledge about various topics could be delivered to the students via visual
representations. The cost invested in all the above mentioned entities will be calculated
accurately and will be allocated in different phases so that a gradual increase in the revenue
could be done and necessary funds could be utilized for developing the education system further.
The necessary infrastructure required to build sports facilities and coach the students to make
them learn those sports activities will also be built along with hiring of trained professionals who
can go to the students to become proficient in sports activities. A school that provides overall
development of a student's personality as per many experts including Cahill and Jackson, (2015)
consist of classes of personality development, art and craft, and even music and dance so that the
actual talent of any student could be identified and efforts should be provided further to polish
those talent and make the students succeed in a specific domain.
Evaluation and monitoring of marketing plans using proper techniques for evaluation and
control
Three major analysis tools and techniques will be used in order to monitor the progress of the
marketing plan implemented on the college namely ‘Sales Analysis’, ‘Market Share Analysis’,
‘Efficiency Ratio and Cost Profitability Analysis’. The first analysis which is the sales analysis
will be done to determine the amount of sales that took place over a specific period of time. This
will include the number of students that have applied for admission and have finally taken
admission in the college successfully. The second one that is market share analysis will be used
to find the overall market share possessed by the company initially and the same after a few
months followed by tracking the progress and calculating the efficiency ratio and cost
profitability analysis which will further give an idea about the amount of resources and monetary
value to be invested in the next phase of development of strategies.
Design of a strategic marketing plan to achieve overall marketing objectives by
setting the necessary goals and objectives of marketing that tactically applies the use
of the 7Ps [D2]
The final strategic marketing plan will include all the aspects of 7Ps marketing mix tool where
the products and services like quality education will be delivered through smart classes and audio
video best presentations. Moreover, the price of Service Delivery which is the cost to be paid as
college fee will be kept in a balanced way to attract more customers and students. Followed by
this, the place of education will initially be the college campus where proper education will be
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delivered and the success of marketing strategy and profit will decide the possibility of an
operating a new campus under the same college name. The promotion has been considered very
important by expert like Jacobs, (2016), social media, offline marketing, and Search Engine
Optimization have been implemented properly to promote the services. This has been followed
by the remaining three factors which are People, Process, and Physical evidence where the
infrastructure will be built according to the requirements of people and will include processes for
better delivery of syllabus in presence of physical assets like better infrastructure for sports
facilities and smart education classes.
Conclusion
The above report has given a clear overview about the importance of marketing in business
domain and has stated about the various facts and prospects which are to be considered before
initiating any business or applying the marketing strategies in any business. The necessary
marketing technique which are important to be implemented in order to enhance the sale of any
particular business have been explained in the report along with the ways to implement them to
get maximum benefit. The case study of an educational institution which is suffering from low
quantity of students has been taken and proper marketing skills have been applied considering
various aspects to enhance the quality of education so that new students can be attracted.
Moreover, the improved quality of education provided in the schools have been advertised and
marketed with proper strategies so that it could be described to the students and their parents
encouraging them to get admission in this institution. Proper SWOT analysis has been done in
order to find the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with any marketing
skill along with necessary recommendations that can boost up the marketing quality and final
outcome. A presentation has also been included describing the 7Ps of marketing that can give
any business person a significant advantage over the competitors in similar market.
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