Analysis of Tesco and M&S Marketing Mix and Strategies

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MARKETING ESSENTIALS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 MEMO........................................................................................................................2
P1, M1 Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function..........................................2
P2, M2, D1 Roles and responsibilities of marketing officer in wider business context........4
TASK 2 MARKETING STRATEGIES.................................................................................7
P3, M3, D2 Comparing marketing mix of Tesco and M&S..................................................7
TASK 3 MARKETING PLAN.............................................................................................10
P4, M4 Marketing plan for business....................................................................................10
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................13

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Marketing mix elements..............................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Marketing essential are the necessary elements required for business in order to create.
Promote and deliver products and services to customers. Marketing functions has common
objectives that are linked to each other and work for enhancing productivity and profitability.
The report will cover key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function and marketing
officer in wider business context. In addition, comparison of marketing mix of Tesco and
M&S will be explained in this report to determine marketing strategies using 7ps elements in
order to enhance their profits and market position.
Finally, it will demonstrate an effective marketing plan for business in order to determine the
future needs of business to make changes according the market requirement. Further, key
elements of marketing functions, the interrelationship between marketing and other
functional units of Tesco and strategic marketing plan will be discussed to accomplish
business objectives. The report will also aim to evaluate tactics applied by firm to
demonstrate how Tesco is able to accomplish its objectives.
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TASK 1 MEMO
P1, M1 Key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function
It can be said that marketing functions such as IT department, human resource department,
production department, research and development and consumer service department plays
different roles within Tesco. The major aim of assigning roles and responsibilities to them is
to enhance profitability and productivity of business and promote its mission effectively.
Following are the functions of marketing:
Marketing research: Marketing officer is responsible for conducting effective marketing
research in efficient manner in order to define that you are, what business does, what it stands
for etc. This includes research and survey of nearby markets which is essential for collecting
data and information (Burgess and Munn, 2017). It is important for them to conduct research
on areas where the firm wants to expand their operations. They manage goodwill and image
of brand in order to make functions work properly in the market.
Sale management: The functions of marketing helps to identify the course of sales cycle in
business which focuses on products and services offered by firm. They are also responsible
for increasing revenues and sales through identifying useful products and services. In
addition, they produce materials to launch them in the market. This helps to improve and
develop profits and productivity.
Promotion: Marketing functions of Tesco are responsible for creating materials in order to
describe core elements of business including quality and effective products and services.
They also keep up to date these services to promote them in the market towards
consumers.This enhances chances of increasing sales through acquiring market.
Development process: It can be said that business website is the first place where people
meet organisation products and services and receive information about activities. In this
regards, marketing department keeps the content up to date on website to ensure they are
delivering quality info (Omar, 2017). They also ensure that there is enough information for
people on website which will help to make positive impact on consumers mind. Through this,
organisation is able to promote them in the market effectively.
Communication: IT department, marketing function and manager is responsible for
contributing, managing and maintaining social media platform including business page and
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accounts. There are number of people using social media services through internet such as
Twitter, Facebook etc. It is an effective platform for business to promote their services and
provide relevant information which a consumer needs to purchase items. The manager and
department monitor these activities and manage posts accordingly.
Roles and responsibilities of the marketing functions
The above functions of the marketing cover the responsibilities towards the business and its
functions so that organisation can achieve high growth in the market. The marketing
functions within the organisation are consisting of the strategy management, sales system,
marketing research, finance team, product development and HR department. All the functions
of marketing have different types of roles and responsibilities which are used to promote the
organisation in the market. The main roles and responsibilities related to the marketing
functions are product development, finance management, market research, and
communication distribution, promotion of products, planning and selling of the product in the
market. The functions of marketing are only responsible towards connecting the other
business functions with the marketing functions.
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P2, M2, D1 Roles and responsibilities of marketing officer in wider business context
Roles and responsibilities of marketing officer
There are various roles and responsibilities that are played by the marketing officer of Tesco
through which they will manage the entire marketing functions. The key role played by the
marketing officer in the context of Tesco is related to the development of the marketing
strategy so that products and services of Tesco can be promoted in the market for sale.
Selection of the distribution channel is also decided by the marketing officer so that they can
cover the large geographical area (Van den Bossche and Prévost, 2016). The marketing
officer along with the team is also responsible towards the conducting the market research so
that current market trend and customers expectations can be analysed. Marketing officer also
focus on coordinating with the product development unit so that proper design and structure
of the product must be decided before promoting the product in the market.
Interrelation between marketing department and other departments of Tesco
Marketing and operation management: Operational management of Tesco is responsible
for managing and improving quality of products and services. Marketing plays a major role in
promoting services provided by firm to consumers in order to enhance profits and
productivity. Marketing manager works closely with operation management in order to
identify needs of customers and conduct proper research for the development of products.
They focus on quality to ensure consumers are satisfied with their requirement towards
products. They also set deadlines for operation department to complete work on time. This
will help to ensure future development and growth of business and expand its operations.
Marketing and HR management: HR management woks to manage and improve skills,
knowledge and abilities of employees in order to produce quality goods. Marketing
department helps to ensure proper work within workers so that they can produce new ideas
regarding development of services. HR management recruit and select best employees for the
work of marketing to promote services effectively. HR management also organise training
and development programs for workers to improve their working style and behaviour (Uddin
and Khan, 2018).This will aid in development and growth of Tesco and will able to
accomplish its desired goals and objectives of increasing productivity and profitability.
Marketing and finance department: Marketing department or manager helps financial
department to ensure adequate budget for resources, research, distribution and promotional
activities. It will help business to generate an effective budget for managing services
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including products to promote them in the market effectively. In addition, the firm requires
effective control over budget in order to plan and manage business goals and objectives.
Marketing officer plays a crucial role here in designing budget for planning and making
strategies for the development. Marketing and financial department must work together to
ensure the proper growth in financial activities within Tesco effectively.
Key elements of marketing function
Research: Market research is important for both organisation and marketing department in
order to determine crucial information and data for managing various factors effectively.
Market information not only helps business to manage functions but resources, financial
activities, logistics, raw materials and other prospects of business also accomplished by
proper research.
Strategy: The firm is able to identify and evaluate its strength and weakness in operations
and other functional units through collecting valuable information and data from research.
This will help management to make strategies to improve and develop operations and
enhance its competitive advantage to become successful in the market effectively.
Planning: It is also an important function for the firm. It can be said that planning is required
at every stage of operations and functional units in order to manage them successfully. There
are different activities considered by marketing towards its development such as forecasting
sales, distribution, communication, financial planning and other elements (Merzbacher,
2018). Planning helps in utilising these resources effectively in order to accomplish desired
goals and objectives of business.
Tactics: Tactics can be described as short term plans managed by marketing department to
attract target consumers. This includes strategies such as providing offers on products and
services for a limited time period or schemes to boost sales and marketing plan. These
strategies includes buy 1 get 1 free, discount and free products to attain attention of
consumers in the market efficiently. The strategy is useful to put pressure on other businesses
operating in the same market and also enhance revenues and sales for Tesco.
Thus, it can be said that marketing functions are related to other functional and operational
units of firm. For example, marketing is connected with financial department to manage
business resources and budget. It also requires research, effective planning, strategy
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evaluation, implementation and other plans to provide effectiveness to other departmental
activities within firm.
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TASK 2 MARKETING STRATEGIES
P3, M3, D2 Comparing marketing mix of Tesco and M&S
Marketing mix can be defined as a strategy available for firm in order to allocate right
resources at right time, right place and right prices. This helps business to deliver several
benefits to their consumers in terms of products and services. There are 7ps involved in this
process such as product, price, promotion, place, physical evidence, process and promotion
(Fields, 2016). In this regards, marketing mix strategy of Tesco is compared to strategy used
by Marks & Spencer to analyse its effectiveness. This comparison of marketing mix elements
is described below:
Figure 1 Marketing mix elements
Product: The product strategy for Tesco can be described as providing effective and quality
products and services to customers in the market. The firm is focused on improving and
developing its products as compared to others according to the requirement of consumers.
This will help to increase its profitability and production (The Marketing Mix. 2015). M&S is
also working to enhance effectiveness of their products and making strategies to differentiate
their services from Tesco to accomplish their targets.
Price: It is important for business to make products of superior quality along with managing
their price. Pricing strategy should be made by management to decide price of products and
services offered to consumers. Low price products are often compromised by customers as
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they feel the quality is not good. On the other hand, high prices will create negative impact on
customers as there are many substitutes available in the market. Thus, it requires effective
strategy to set price for products according to the market environment and segmentation. The
market is full of competition that M&S also use pricing strategies similar to Tesco to remain
effective in the market to attract customers.
Place: Place can be described as a platform for consumers to get access towards products
offered by firm. The firm is using physical locations (outlets) and also online system to
provide their services (Meyerson, 2015). It helps to deliver a range of products to consumers.
The place must be convenience in order to enhance loyalty within clients which will help to
accomplish goals and objectives. M&S have operations in various parts of countries and
competing Tesco in terms of outlets. This is helpful for them to provide their services to
consumers.
Promotion: Promotion is a marketing activity which helps business to provide information
about their products and services in the market so that customers can understand their values
and use in their daily lives. Tesco is able to promote their products through various platforms
such as magazines, advertisement, and sales promotion etc. This will help to enhance
customer awareness towards brand will increase sales, revenues and productivity. M&S also
use various methods of promoting their products in order to provide information regarding
their services to customers.
People: Manpower is a major element within firm which helps to produce quality and
effective products for customers. Tesco is a manufacturing company and produce various
kind of products. In this regards, customer satisfaction is important for them to retain
effective position in the market. Employees should be capable of producing quality goods
which requires training and development, skills, knowledge and ability to perform well. This
will help to increase customer loyalty and will provide benefits to firm. Employees are the
key strength of M&S and they are delivering quality products with the help of skills and
knowledge of their workforce (Gummesson, 2015). This will help them to enhance their
profits and production.
Physical evidence: Physical evidence creates a positive impact on customer’s mind that the
firm focuses on hygiene and clean products including its interiors of outlets. This helps to
attract consumer’s attention towards brand and demonstrate information and values. Tesco is
effective towards maintaining their decorum in their operations and business environment
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which is beneficial in terms of production and profits. There are a lot of efforts made by
M&S in order to provide physical evidence in the market so that they can provide detail
information regarding their services. It helps them to interact with both potential and target
clients.
Process: The process of manufacturing products and services must be visible to customers in
the market in order to achieve their satisfaction and loyalty. Tesco is doing the same and able
to manage their operations in different areas of countries. In this regards, management is
responsible for verifying and checking the process of production to enhance customer loyalty.
The firms also allow their clients to check materials used in products. M&S is trying to
improve their process of manufacturing products and services and make it visible for
customers to enhance loyalty. They are also allowing students to visit their production
department so that new strategies can be developed with their ideas.
Thus, it can be said that M&S and Tesco both firms are making marketing strategies using
7ps elements in order to enhance their profits and market position. These elements are
common for both businesses and several strategies are used by them to make differentiation
between them.
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