Marketing Principles Report: EE Limited Marketing Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of marketing principles, focusing on their application within the telecommunications industry, specifically using EE Limited as a case study. The report begins with an introduction to marketing and its core principles, emphasizing the importance of marketing mix elements in influencing customer behavior and achieving competitive advantage. Task 1 delves into the marketing process, outlining steps such as situational analysis, strategy development, marketing mix implementation, and control mechanisms. It contrasts product-oriented and market-oriented approaches, highlighting the customer-centric benefits of the latter. Task 2 examines internal and external factors affecting business operations, including micro factors like customers, employees, and competitors, and macro factors such as political, social, technological, and economic influences. It explores market segmentation, targeting strategies (differentiated, concentration, and undifferentiated), and the impact of consumer buying behavior on marketing activities. Task 3 discusses strategies for achieving competitive advantage through cost leadership, product differentiation, and customer focus, including the importance of distribution channels. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations for EE Limited's marketing practices.

MARKETING
PRINCIPLES

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................3
1.1...........................................................................................................................................3
1.2 ..........................................................................................................................................4
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................5
2.1...........................................................................................................................................5
2.2...........................................................................................................................................6
2.3...........................................................................................................................................7
2.4...........................................................................................................................................8
2.5...........................................................................................................................................8
TASK 3 ...........................................................................................................................................9
3.1...........................................................................................................................................9
3.2...........................................................................................................................................9
3.3.........................................................................................................................................10
3.4.........................................................................................................................................10
3.5.........................................................................................................................................11
TASK 4 .........................................................................................................................................11
4.1.........................................................................................................................................11
4.2.........................................................................................................................................12
4.3.........................................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is a process which is used by the organization in their business environment.
Through this activity, the manager will be able to deliver goods and services to their targeted
customers. The principles of marketing are related to elements of marketing mix. These variables
aid the firm to identify the potential customers and influence them so that sales can be increased.
Along with this, the company will be able to generate more revenue and can sustain their
competitive advantage in the market as compare to other rivals. The below mentioned report is
based on EE Limited which perform its operations in the telecommunication industry. They are
improving their marketing strategies to create a strong base of the loyal customers. The below
mentioned report is based on the marketing principles which explains the marketing process and
its benefits for the firm (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Along with this, it also explains
different factors which affect the business operations of the company. Further, promotional
activities are also used by the industry to achieve all the objectives.
TASK 1
1.1
Market is a collective process that is used by organizations to satisfy the need of their
customers. Through this, the customers will be able to get quality services from the industry
which will lead towards the success. Some of the steps which are involved in the marketing
process of EE Limited are as follows:
Situational analysis: This is the first step of marketing process in which the
organizations identify their opportunities and strengths (Rudd and Mills, 2011). Along with this,
they will be able to identify internal and external factors that may affect performance of EE
Limited. Further they identify the target customers for their company’s products.
Marketing strategy: Here, in this step marketing manager will perform some strategies so
that customers needs and wants can be fulfilled. Some of the strategies are segmentation,
targeting, positioning of the services so that customers can satisfy their demand. Through this,
EE Limited will be able to achieve their goals (Principles of Marketing. 2017).

Marketing mix: At this stage, the marketing manager identifies all elements of the
marketing mix. These variables are place, price, product and promotion. Through these, the
customers will be able to get quality services and valuable products at the flexible price.
Implementation and control: This is the last stage of the marketing process. In this, the
manager continuously monitors the behaviour of customers towards company’s products and
services (Dann, 2010). In this, the marketing mix can be changed to fulfil the need of the
consumers.
(The marketing process, 2017)
1.2
Business organization develops products and services on the basis of product oriented
and market oriented approach. In market oriented approach, EE Limited manufacture products
on the basis of expectations of people (Henley and Raffin, 2010). Through this, the
telecommunication industry will be able to attract number of customers towards company’s
products. They can also sustain their competitive advantage in the market as compare to other
rivals. Generally, industries follow this kind of approach so that they can get success in the
market. Some of the benefits of this approach are as follows:
Illustration 1: The Marketing process,
2017

 This is customer centric approach because EE Limited focuses on needs and demands of
people.
 Manager conducts survey in the market to identify need of the customers and offer
products according to their expectations. So, they give more preference to wants of the
consumers.
 Through this, the firm can convert regular customers into loyal one by providing them
with the valuable services.
 They can improve their brand image in the market as compare to other market players.
Some of the limitations of this approach are:
 When manager conducts any research in the market then firm bear more expenses and it
is impossible for small business organizations. So, this is cost ineffective method.
 This is not easy to handle different needs of customers.
TASK 2
2.1
Every organization performs their operations in the business environment. There are
some internal and external factors that may affect performance of industry as well as its decision
making process (Lefebvre, 2012). These factors are:
Micro factors: These are also known as internal factors which may influence business
operations. EE Limited can control these factors and can achieve all the objectives. Some of
these factors are:
 Customer: This is an important factor that helps the firm in increasing their profits in the
market. In this dynamic world, customers needs get changed as per their lifestyle and
choice. This will affect decision making process of the marketing manager.
 Employees: Workers play a significant role in business organization. So, it is the
responsibility of manager of EE Limited to provide training to all employees so that they
will be able to enhance their knowledge and skills.
 Competitors: Competitors are the rival firms of EE Limited such as O2 and Vodafone.
Industries have to perform better strategies then their competitors so that they can sustain
their competitive advantage in the market (Dollatabady, Amiri and Bidmeshk, 2012).

Macro factors: These are uncontrollable factors so organization has to manage their
operations according to these factors. Some of these factors are:
 Political and legal: These all are related to legislative laws and policies that are made by
the government of country. In order to improve their performance, all firms have to
follow these rules and regulations.
 Social: These are related to needs and demands of the customers so that EE Limited will
be able to increase their profits. These can affect decision making process of the
organization.
 Technological: These factors are related to technological advancements and through this
the firm will be able to provide innovative products to the customers.
 Economical: These are based on exchange rate, disposable income of the people. EE
limited should follow price strategies provide products to all at the flexible prices.
2.2
Segmentation is a process that is followed by the marketing manager in the business
organization (Arham, 2010). Through this approach, manager divide the market on the basis of
some variables such as demographic, consumer behaviour, psychographic and geographical.
Types of segmentation:
Geographic location: In this type approach, the firm divide the market on the basis of the
location, population, size and so on. There are different pricing and promotional strategies for the
people on the basis of their area.
Demographic: Marketing manager divide the market on the basis of age, gender, income
and background of the people (Izvercianu, Seran and Buciuman, 2012). Through this, EE
Limited will be able to fulfil the need of the people.
Behavioural: EE Limited can segment the market on the basis of the purchasing
behaviour of the customers. Pricing strategies can be followed by the enterprise so that everyone
will be able to buy the products.
Psychographic: The firm can segment the market on the basis of attitude, thoughts,
lifestyle, class of the customers.
EE Limited can segment the market on the basis of the demographic and behavioural
variables.

(Segmentation, 2017)
2.3
Target strategy is used by EE Limited and this is based on the segmentation. Through this
strategy the firm will be able to attract new customers and retain existing customers towards their
services (Hassan and Craft, 2012). Some of the targeting strategies that are followed by
telecommunication industry:
Differentiated: In this strategy, marketing manager of EE Limited focuses on their
targeting customers by using the variables of marketing mix. Through this, satisfaction among all
the customers can be increased along with the loyalty.
Concentration: In this kind of approach firm focuses on the single market and provide
products according to their demand. Organizations produce many products and sell them at
flexible prices. Through this, they will be able to increase their profits.
Undifferentiated: In this type of strategy, organization offer their products to whole
market rather than segmenting the market (Henley and Raffin, 2010).
EE Limited can follow differentiated strategy in their business organization (Foster,
West and Francescucci, 2011). Through this, the firm will be able to fulfil the demands of their
targeting customers.
2.4
Customers has the power to affect the marketing activities of the business organizations
in different buying situations. EE Limited is depends upon the needs of the people so for this
they conduct a survey in the market. On the basis of that survey they will be able to identify the
Illustration 2: Segmentation, 2017

demands of the people. Some of the buying behaviour of the people that affect marketing
activities:
Complex buying behaviour: In this kind of situation, customers are highly involved and
they take time before purchase any product. For example, when customer is going to buy a smart
phone then it will take some time (Market Segmentation. 2017.).
Habitual buying behaviour: In this kind of buying behaviour, customers are not highly
involved. They buy such products that are necessary for their daily life.
Variety seeking behaviour: Customers have variety of options available in the market and
they may choose according to their capacity.
Dissonance buying behaviour: customers are highly involved in this type of buying
behaviour because they have less options that are available in the market.
Some factors are their in the market that may affect the buying behaviour of the
customers like cultural, social, psychological and personal. Through this, consumers will not be
able to buy products of EE Limited and marketing activities are get affected.
2.5
EE Limited can use different strategies of marketing so that their brand image can be
improved in the market. Product positioning is a strategy that is used by the business
organization so that they can change the mindset of the people towards companies services. As
segmentation and positioning both are related to each other so it is the responsibility of the
manager to position the products according to the demand of the customers (Quinn and Dibb,
2010). Through this, they will be able to create a strong base of customers as compare to the
other competitors. Positioning is related to the promotional activities in which the
telecommunication industry provide advertisements on television, newspaper, social sites and so
on. Along with this, they can also conduct the marketing campaign in order to attract number of
customers towards their services. These kinds of activities has to be performed for all customers
so that they will be able to know about the quality, cost, features of the services that EE Limited
is offered to their customers.

TASK 3
3.1
EE Limited should develop some strategies so that they can improve their business
operations in the market as compare to other market players. Business organization can sustain
its competitive advantage in the market by focusing on the cost, products and targeted customers.
Leadership can be achieved in the market through flexible cost because price sensitive people
will not be able to buy luxury products (Armstrong and et. al., 2014). For this, manager has to
perform some pricing strategies like skimming and penetration so that they can attract number
of customers. Along with this, EE Limited have to provide some unique products with extra
features to the customers. Through this they will be able to increase the brand loyal people
within the firm that will lead towards the success. Furthermore, manager has to focus on the
people who are looking for low cost and products with the unique features. On the other hand,
they can also focus on the stages of the product development so that potential customers can be
retained in the indutry. If the telecommunication industry perform all these strategies then they
will be able to sustain their competitive advantage in the market.
3.2
The telecommunication industry can provide their products and services to the customers
through different channels. These distribution channel play an important role in increasing the
customer convenience so that brand loyal people can be increased in the firm. There are some
channel that can be used by EE Limited in order to improve the convenience of customers and
these are:
Direct channel: This is the distribution channel that directly sale their products to the
customers. People can buy services from their website and through this they can also save their
time (Donovan and Henley, 2010). Through this EE Limited will be able to create a strong base
of customers and can also increase the level of satisfaction among all consumers. If service users
directly buy the commodities from the online store than they will get those products at low cost.
Direct sales force: In this the firm appoint some sales person who will directly sell their
products to the customers. This is also know as personal selling.

Intermediaries: Intermediary play a important role in between the manager and
customers. These people sell the products to the customers through retail stores so that in every
corner of the city people can buy companies products.
3.3
Price is related to the money that customers have to pay on the behalf of the products that
they purchased. Manager of EE limited has to follow some pricing strategies so that they can
attract number of customers towards their services. Some of the strategies are:
Penetration pricing: In this strategy, business organization offer low prices of their
products than their rivals when they entered into the market. Through this they can attract
number of customers towards their services.
Price skimming: The organization that have competitive advantage in the market, they
can use this strategy by providing the products at high price. They can add some features into the
commodities than other competitors.
Economy pricing: The organization follow this strategy in order to attract number of
customers who are price sensitive (Nowak and et. al., 2015).
EE Limited can follow penetration and skimming pricing strategy so that they can attract
number of customers and they can generate more revenues than any other market player.
Through these strategies, they will be able to achieve their objectives and can also get success in
the market.
3.4
Promotional activities are performed by the business organization in order to attract
number of customers. Through these, EE Limited can sustain its competitive advantage in the
market as compare to other market players (French, 2010). The telecommunication industry will
be able to achieve their objectives. Some of the promotional activities that are followed by the
company and these are advertisement, social media, poster, newspaper, brochures, public relation
and direct selling. The manager can give the advertisement on the social sites such as facebook,
twitter, linkedIn and so on. One of the important activity is public relations that should be
followed by the entity. Public relations should be improved with the different stakeholders than
only sales can be increased and through this the brand image of the firm can be improved. By
using these promotional programs, the company will be able to attract people from all over the
world. So, there global image can also be improved.

3.5
Marketing mix is a tool that is used by the telecommunication industry so that they can
influence the customers towards the companies products. Some of the elements of the marketing
mix are price, product, place and promotion (Henley, Raffin and Caemmerer, 2011). Along with
this, there are some extended variables such as people, place and physical evidence. Through
these overall performance of EE Limited can be improved in the market. These elements are:
People: All employees and leaders are the people who perform well in the business
organization. They have power to influence the business operations in some conditions so that
they can achieve their objectives. It is the responsibility of the employees to provide quality
services to the customers.
Process: It is related to the distribution channel that is used by EE Limited in order to
deliver the products to the customers (Marketing principles. 2016). Along with this, excellent
services should be given to the customers so that they feel satisfied with the companies services.
Physical evidence: In the industries there should be evidence that the products are
delivered to the customers. Along with this, infrastructure of the firm should be good because
through this the firm will be able to get the attention of the customers.
TASK 4
4.1
Marketing mix is a vital tool that is used by the organizations so that they can improve
their performance (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). There are some elements in the marketing
mix and these are price, place, promotion, product, people, process and physical evidence. When
the manager of EE Limited segment the market on the basis of demographic and behavioural
variables than they have to follow different strategies. Demographic segment is based on the age,
gender, income etc. and according to these variables marketing mix are also get changed. The
manager has to focus on pricing strategies and products development because these should be
matched with the customers need. Behavioural segment is based on the purchasing behaviour of
the customers so manager has to manage elements of marketing mix. EE Limited have to follow
different pricing strategies in order to attract number of people.

4.2
Business organization provide products and services to the consumers according to their
need. EE Limited should offer the commodities to their customers as per the market demand.
Two types of businesses are there:
Business to business: In this,transaction is placed between the two business organization
or one firm buy products from the another firm. For example, wholesaler buy commodities from
EE Limited and retailer buy goods from the wholesaler (Nowak and et.al., 2015).
Business to consumers: In this type of business, end users directly purchase the products
and services from the business organization. For example, customers can buy the products such
as mobile phones, data plan etc. from the online store of EE Limited. Through this the firm will
be able to increase the satisfaction level of the customers.
4.3
International marketing is refer to the global marketing that offer their products and
services throughout the world. On the other hand, domestic marketing provide their products
within the single country (Parker and et.al., 2011). When the business organization perform their
operations throughout the world then they have to deal with this many factors such as political
and legal. They have to follow all the rules and regulations that are made by the state government
of the country.
When companies perform their activities at global level then they have to conduct
promotional activities internally and other companies who are reliance on domestic market they
have to perform these promotional activities within the country. International market is more
risky than domestic marketing.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned report it has been concluded that marketing is a core concept
of the business organization. Through this they will be able to attract potential customers so that
sales can be increased in the firm. Some of the promotional activities are performed by the
industries so that people will be able to know about the companies products. EE Limited can
focus on the elements of marketing mix and through this profits can be increased of the
enterprise. They can also sustain their competitive advantage in the market as compare to other
competitors.