Marketing Fundamentals: Customer Value and Stakeholder Analysis

This report delves into the core principles of marketing, examining the marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place) and its application within the context of Harrods, a departmental store. It explores the marketing process, including situation analysis (SWOT and PESTLE), strategy development, and implementation. The report emphasizes the role of marketing in creating customer value by informing, educating, and differentiating products, while also highlighting the significance of stakeholder engagement (investors, employees, business partners, and customers) in shaping marketing activities and achieving organizational goals. Furthermore, the report touches upon marketing communication tools employed to build consumer awareness and drive sales. The analysis underscores the importance of understanding customer needs, building relationships, and adapting marketing strategies to achieve competitive advantage and brand value.

MARKETING
FUNDAMENTALS

INTRODUCTION
Everyone needs marketing, even professionals and we all need to understand and know
who is our target market, and how can we develop our marketing mix to for consumer needs and
wants. Marketing fundamental is to understand marketing mix and 4 P's of marketing .
Marketing revolves around four things product, price, promotion and place(Visser, Sikkenga and
Berry, 2018).Harrods is a departmental store located on Brompton road in knightsbridge,
London, England. Team is focussed in order to provide the existing as well as future customers
with the changing selling campaigns. The study will evaluate the importance or role of marketing
in generating customer value. It will also determine the stakeholders and their effect on the
marketing activities within the administration. Further it will also explain various communication
tool to order to create consumer awareness.
TASK 1 A
Procedure of marketing including the role of marketing mix
Marketing procedure is the way through which the value is created in order to meet the
customers requirements and it is the continuous process. In this process position is analysed in
order to find out the opportunities and strategy is developed, plan of action is taken and executed
as well as monitoring the outcomes the following are the process of marketing(McLean, 2018)
Mission
In the first step the Harrods company will decide the mission that what the company
wants to achieve like to become the market leader or to capture the market
Situation analysis
In this step the situation is analysed by the Harrods company in order to find out the
basis in order to fulfil the customer needs. SWOT analysis is done to find out the company's
capabilities and environmental analysis PESTLE is also done in order to find out the marketing
options as well as to understand environment in which organization operates(Chaffey and Ellis-
Chadwick, 2019)
Marketing strategy
1

After analysing the situation or marketing options the Harrods will create the strategic
plan in order to follow the options. After that best option is selected and accordingly plan is
made.
Determining marketing mix
In this step of marketing the decisions will be taken by Harrods taken in order to control
parameters related to marketing which includes the decisions like product development,
distribution, pricing and promotion of the product.
Budget
In this step the Harrods company will make the budget plan which will include the
promotional costs, employee staff costs, advertising costs as well as other expenses is estimated
for the business growth(Kleinaltenkamp and et.al., 2015)
STP(Segmenting, targeting and Positioning))
After setting the budget the Harrods company will segment the market as per the product
needs and similar characteristics in order to select correct target market. after that the company
will target the customers according to the segmented market and then the company will do the
positioning of the product.
Implementation
In last step of marketing, the plan will be implemented by Harrods company and
outcomes are monitored in order to modify marketing mix as per the change in the market. the
planned strategy is transformed into action(Liu and et.al., 2017)
Role of marketing mix
The marketing mix plays valuable role for marketing the brand and it begins with the
product itself and other three factors are also equally important in order make the strategy win.
Understanding these elements will help Harrods company to achieve the sales and profit. The
role of marketing mix are discussed as follows(ELEMENTS OF MARKETING MIX IN
MARKETING STRATEGY, 2017)
Product:- It is the core element of the company's market strategy. The success of the Harrods
product not only depends on the market strategy but on its brand image as well. In today's
2

rapidly growing market the focus is more on the Quality product. So, product plays a very
important role in order to achieve the competitive advantage and for increasing the brand image.
Place:- Another factor of marketing mix it is the place regarding the product. if the company
wants to sell its product it need to fix the place as per the customer segment like demographic,
geographic etc. the place must be easily accessible for the target customers otherwise it will be
inaccessible for the customers to reach.
Price:- Another essential element is the price of the product. Setting the price strategy is an
effective part of the company's market strategy. If there is no effective strategy for price then the
customer base will get reduced. So setting price strategy will not only help Harrods company to
attract the audience but also increases the brand image.
Promotion:- After setting the price, promotion of the product is the another essential part of the
marketing mix. The Harrods company need to market the product in order to let customers know
about the product's features and its quality. With the quality product and best pricing strategy it
is very important to promote the brand in order to reach the targetted audience. Promotion will
help the company to achieve competitive advantage as compared to the competitors as well as to
reach higher sales that will result to increased brand value in the market.
2. Role of marketing in creating value for customers
The role of marketing plays an essential role for creating, communicating as well as for
delivering value for the customers and at the same time in improving the relationships among
customers. Marketing is the process for promoting the products in such a way that it should
create the positive image and value in the mind of the customers regarding the products for the
long time. Customer value is very important aspect for acquisition and for building the customer
relationships. Prospective customer not just look for the product but want that product which
satisfies their needs. As the customer value changes as per the situation understanding the needs
helps to align the customer value(Bahadir, Bharadwaj and Srivastava, 2015)Marketing creates
the value for the customers in the following ways:-
Marketing helps the customers by informing as well as educating customers that is it
identifies the customer needs and tells in what way the need can be met by using the products.
Marketing provides the information about the new product features for the customers and
3

manages customers expectations as it not only provides useful information regarding the
products but at the same time it understands the customer expectations. it also provides the
customer's selection facility that means different companies produce same kind of products so
the marketing helps the customers to select the product as per the needs and wants of the
customer. Effective marketing helps to retain the customers by providing new opportunities and
at the same time generates value with the help of developing the connections among the
products, people, companies as well as customers which results to customer loyalty towards the
products. Marketing exist in order to understand, reach as well as delivers value to the customers
that is why customers are considered as basis for marketing, marketing helps to create the value
for the long time by building relationships(Baker, 2016)
Marketing helps to differentiate the products from other products and that helps to
provide a distinct value for the customers and it also satisfies the customers by availing the
products to appropriate people. It helps to retain the customers a reason to consistently come
back to use the products by providing unique features. Marketing also informs the design for the
product n order to make sure that the needs of the customers are met and customer perceived the
value for the product(Secundo and et.al., 2019) It is also responsible in order to communicate
with the customers regarding the product by explaining who are providing them and the reason
why the product is desirable. It also listens to the customers and at the same time it
communicates back to the customers. With the help of marketing lifestyle of the customers
improves and customers get to use the products what they want because customers have different
choices regarding the product. With the help of marketing brand image creates in the minds of
the customers that increases the customer relation that aligns with the values.
4

Illustration 1: Role of marketing
(Source: the Role of Customers in Marketing, 2019)
3. Stakeholder engagement and their impact on the marketing activities of an organisation
Stakeholders involvement is very essential part for the CSR (corporate social
responsibility) and it refers to the process through which the company involves the people that
may affect the decisions and can also influence the decisions implemented. Involving
stakeholders plays a very important part for the success of the organisation. in order to succeed
the company should have the clear vision from the strong marketing plan and an effective
marketing plan can only be successful by involving stakeholders. The organisation works with
the consulting team and with different stakeholders(Midin, Joseph and Mohamed, 2017).
Stakeholders opinions as well as vision is incredibly valuable for the early stages like in
the process of designing and development. Consultation from stakeholders provides vision
regarding the operating environment, market trends, customer needs and wants as well as growth
opportunities and also gives the vision regarding the companies future. Effective involvement
assist in order to translate the needs of the stakeholders into the company's goals. Without any
internal alignment the company will not be able to develop the effective strategy. Engaging the
5

stakeholders helps to establish good communication among the company as well as various
stakeholders which results to strong relationship and at the same time satisfies the needs and
responsibilities. That enables the company by various benefits like it became renowned
regarding the good quality of products that customers wanted to purchase(Liu and et.al., 2017)
Stakeholders differs as per the organisation.
Involving stakeholders improves understanding of the objectives and gives the
opportunities to gather the ideas as well as inputs from the people having different perspectives
in order to incorporate solutions. It can include the customers, suppliers, government agencies as
well as employees and shareholders and how it impacts on the marketing activities:-
Investors:- investors refers to the financial partners who invest in the company and investors
want that the company in which the money is invested is stable, solid as well as increasingly
recognisable that will positively impact on the marketing activities and will help in creating
values for stakeholders, that will result to better financial returns as well as healthy
company(Bahadir, Bharadwaj and Srivastava, 2015).
Employees:- Another important part of the company are the employees working in the
organisation. In order to manage the marketing activities. Employees who are working in
different department like sales, production as well as marketing need to manage the relationships
among them that will result to high productivity and increase efficiency for the organisation.
Actively involving employees in decision that can result to retention of the employees for the
long time.
Business partners:- business partners involves logistics and supply management and this
involves the close relationship among suppliers as well as business buyers all work together in
order to deliver great value to customers. It is very important part of logistics as well as for
distribution that company focus to minimise cost that results to strengthen the customer value
and builds the relationships and at the same time improves the environment(Secundo and et.al.,
2019).
Customers:- the customers is the core part of every business that influence many companies.
Because satisfying the needs of the customers as well as long time relationships results to the
success and profitability of the business.
6

TASK 1B
Marketing communication
Marketing refers to strategy for creating knowingness under different situations by
advertising the product's features, values and advantage to a specific segment in respect to
customers in a target market. Different measure are being used by Harrods a departmental store
located in London, for maximizing profits for their products and services through creating
consumer awareness from marketing through marketing tools which are much more technical
than sales. As the important priority in today's life is to spread consumer awareness as this
awareness will make the society free from all the problems and will make society more advanced
.Therefore, Harrods by using Communications as tool for consumer awareness, maintains the
relationship with the consumers for the long-term and by satisfying their needs (Luxton, Reid
and Mavondo, 2015)
 Social Media Platform: In order to increase awareness regarding the product social
media is the important medium. Harrods company can use the websites and information
media online such as YouTube and other online networking sites like Instagram and
Facebook are the ways through which the awareness regarding the products is increased
and improved for the customers as well as for the society that helps in contributing and
formulating the vision with respect to customers and society and provides the skills in
order to examine and to know them for taking suitable action for these issues.
 Blogging: It is another communication tool that is used to spread the awareness regarding
the product online in order to build as well as to maintain the brand value and identity.
Regular Blogging about relevant issues such as products and services will help in
increase the visibility of Harrods. Once someone relates to a blog Harrods has will write
it can go viral which will result in increasing its audience and potential
consumers(Secundo, G. and et.al., 2019)By creating awareness of the needs and problems
that consumers are facing and by providing them the best solution for that problem and
to prove that customers must select to acquire that solution and to link with the brand in
the mind of the customers and in this way knowingness about the product can be created.
 E-mails: E-mail marketing is the most cost- effective marketing mediums for consumer
awareness which can be used by Harrods. It provides business with the opportunity to
target customers in the place they visit every day- their inbox. If an effective strategy is
7

put in place, successful e- mail marketing leads to brand awareness and customer loyalty.
When a user subscribes to an E-mail list he/ she has shown a desire to engage with the
brand. Providing value with your email content is another key aspect of increasing the
brand awareness among consumers(Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2019).
 Product Review Websites: By creating a compelling website the Harrods company can
spread more awareness regarding the product to more customers on online and on this
online websites it will explain in detail regarding the product's advantage to the
customers. Consumers are generally aware about these websites and its moderate as well
as varied usage. But gender and individual difference elements have impact for utilising
this kind of websites(Baker, 2016)
CONCLUSION
This report highlights the various aspects of marketing fundamentals and evaluations research. It
also includes the role of marketing mix through various concepts, theories, techniques, models,
etc. and also its importance in order to generate customer value As through commercialising the
brand perceptibility will be increased along with improved brand awareness and recognition,
which helps in creating loyalty, value, belongingness among customers regarding the product.
Further, it also stated the effect of stakeholders engagement both positively and negatively on
marketing activities is also being mentioned. Moreover, this report also focuses on various
communication tools such as social media platform, blogging, etc. and their uses and benefits for
increasing consumer awareness.
8

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Visser, M., Sikkenga, B. and Berry, M., 2018. Digital Marketing Fundamentals: From Strategy
to ROI. Noordhoff Uitgevers.
McLean, G., 2018. Digital Marketing Fundamentals.
Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2019. Digital marketing. Pearson UK.
Kleinaltenkamp, M and et.al., 2015. Fundamentals of Business-to-business Marketing. Springer.
Liu, Y. and et.al., 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.
Bahadir, S.C., Bharadwaj, S.G. and Srivastava, R.K., 2015. Marketing mix and brand sales in
global markets: Examining the contingent role of country-market characteristics. Journal of
International Business Studies.46(5).pp.596-619.
Baker, M.J., 2016. What is marketing?. In The Marketing Book(pp. 25-42). Routledge.
Secundo, G. and et.al., 2019. Creativity and stakeholders' engagement in open innovation:
Design for knowledge translation in technology-intensive enterprises. Journal of Business
Research.
Midin, M., Joseph, C. and Mohamed, N., 2017. Promoting societal governance: Stakeholders'
engagement disclosure on Malaysian local authorities' websites. Journal of cleaner
production.142. pp.1672-1683.
Luxton, S., Reid, M. and Mavondo, F., 2015. Integrated marketing communication capability
and brand performance. Journal of Advertising.44(1). pp.37-46.
Online
ELEMENTS OF MARKETING MIX IN MARKETING STRATEGY.2017.[online]. Available
through<https://medium.com/@abhijeetpratap/role-of-the-four-elements-of-marketing-mix-
in-marketing-strategy-634aa338be95>
The Role of Customers in Marketing. 2019. [Online]. Available through
<https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-introbusiness/chapter/the-role-of-customers-in-
marketing/>
9

10