Marketing Essentials: Roles, Marketing Mix and Plan Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive overview of marketing essentials, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within an organization. It explores the importance of market research, promotion, distribution, and product management. The report delves into the relationship between marketing and other organizational units, such as finance, research, human resources, and customer service. Furthermore, it compares the application of the marketing mix by different organizations, using National Express and Your Destination as examples. Finally, the report culminates in the development of a marketing plan specifically tailored for Your Destination, a transportation company, addressing product, place, price, promotion, people, physical evidence, and process elements.

MARKETING
ESSENTIALS

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1..........................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function..........................................................................3
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................................4
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing related to wider organizational context..............................4
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................................5
P3. Comparing the ways in which different organizations apply marketing mix......................................5
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................................8
P4. Marketing plan for Your Destination.................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................12
INTRODUCTION
Marketing is considered as the set of activity that is being conducted by the organizations
so as to increase the demand of the company’s products or services. In the modern world of
business it has become one of the most important functions within the organization as it is
important for making product a success. There are several things that are essential for making

marketing strategy a success (Wertime and Fenwick, 2011). Marketing has several roles in the
organization starting from taking feedbacks from the customers to delivering the product to the
market as per the requirement of the customers. Your destination is a transportation company
that deals in the business of private personal hires to industrial level transportation facilities. It is
operational in England and has been able to deliver its products in the market from past three
years. This report highlights the ways in which marketing effects the growth of the company. It
also showcases the ways in which companies apply marketing to make product a success. Apart
from these it describes the roles and responsibilities of the marketing as well as its relationship
with other organizational units.
TASK 1
P1 Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function.
There are very different kinds of roles and responsibilities of the marketing within the
organizational units. It is not restricted to advertisement of products and services. In the company
Your destination the roles and responsibilities of the marketing is as follows:
 Market research: Marketing function has a role of doing market research. It refers to as
the evaluation of all the elements that tells about the condition of the market and
suitability of the company. It is done so as to understand the mood of the market. It is the
key responsibility of the marketing unit to perform research. It is help company in
designing products as per the requirement of the market which will ensure its success. It
is done by taking feedback from the clients, potential customers by direct or indirect
interactions. In this the customer’s product is also evaluated.
 Promotion: It is one of the prime roles of the marketing to promote the product and
services they are going to launch. Advertisement is a part of the marketing where the
unique selling point of the product and services is highlighted. It is helpful for creating
the curiosity in the minds of the customer which ultimately results in increasing the pre-
sale of the company (Malhotra, Birks and Wills, 2013). It is done in various ways with
the mediums of mass communication like TV or newspaper. In the modern marketing it
is only done using digital mediums like social media, PPC etc.
 Distribution: It is the responsibility of the company to set an effective distribution
channel so as to make products available to the customers on time. Better distribution
mechanism helps in maintaining demand and supply chain which also results in
increasing the profit margins of the company.
 Management information system: With the help of IT department it is the role of the
marketing department to manage the information that has been gathered by the market
research. Managing information system is important as it helps in taking decisions as per
the demand of the situation. It makes the decision effective and helps in achieving the
goals of the organization. Marketing team needs to manage all these information and
evaluate it from time to time so as to understand the demand and mood of the market.

 Product service management: it is one of the important roles of the marketing function
to manage the products and services that is produced by the company. Management of
products and services is helpful for adding value to them as it understands that it is the
only thing for which customer pays (Bean and Hussey, 2012). Product and service
management starts from the day it is produced to the time it is delivered in the hands of
consumers. Safe distribution is also the part of product and service management.
 Pricing: It is one of the prime responsibilities of the marketing unit. By applying
effective market strategy it can beat its customers. Pricing is always dependent on the
value of the products in the minds of products. Smart pricing helps in increasing the sales
of the product as well as ensuring that maximum benefit is obtained from the product and
services developed.
 Information and communication system: It is the responsibility of the marketing team
to use ICT so as to make the internal and external communication of the company
effective and smooth. It is important for the marketing team to set effective
communication with the customers so as to solve their queries and leading to the sale of
the company’s products. It is also important role of the company to set up internal
communication in a better way so that there is no conflict in the process of product
development.
 Establishing coordination: One of the important responsibility of the marketing team is
to establish the coordination between organizational units. It is helpful for resolving the
internal issues. Establishing coordination in a perfect manner helps to improve the
smoothness of the working process as well as producing products as per the demand of
the market that too on the time.
TASK 2
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing related to wider
organizational context.
Inside an organizational there are several organizational units. Marketing functions has
several roles and responsibility related to wider organizational context. Some of the role and
responsibility of the marketing is as follows:
 Finance department: It is one of the important units of the organization who has a role
of managing the cash flow in various other organizational units as per their activities they
perform (Huotari and Hamari, 2012). It helps to manage the financial condition of the
company which is necessary for evaluating the performance of the firm. In your
destination marketing company works hand in hand with the finance department so
allocate them funds for the development of the new product. They both work
simultaneously to evaluate the profit margin of the company.
 Research department: Marketing department works with the research department so as
to develop products as per the demand of the market. Marketing collects the information

regarding the demand and mood of the market which is used by the research unit to
develop their products accordingly. Any kinds of lagging may result in product failure
which can be dangerous for the image of the company profile.
 Human resource management: One of the most important resources in the company is
its employee and it is the role of HRM to manage it efficiently. Marketing plays the ore
of the helper to the HRM departments so as to let them understand that what kind of
staffs are to be recruited and what sort of trainings needed to provide to the worker for
the new product development (Chan, He and Wang, 2012).
 Customer services: Marketing department works with customer service department so as
to manage the communication with the clients or potential customers. It helps in
resolving the issues and queries of the clients (Weinstein, 2013). Customer service helps
in delivering the advertisement strategy that is adopted by the company for selling its
product. Customer service acts an extended for the marketing unit within an organization.
 Sales and distribution: The role of this department is to make higher sales to the
products as well as setting up proper distribution channels so that demand and supply
chain the market is maintained of the company’s product. Marketing department works
with sales unit so as to increase the pre-sale of the product and services that is related to
the firm. It is the role of the marketing team to set up proper coordination with the
suppliers so that product is reached on the time to the customers.
 Information and communication department: There are many kinds of data that is
collected by the marketing unit. They work with the IT departments so as to manage all
this information that can be used future decision making (McDaniel, HAIR and LAMB,
2011). Apart from this they work with the IT department so as to set up proper internal
and external communication which is helpful for setting up the coordination between
organizational units.
TASK 3
P3. Comparing the ways in which different organizations apply
marketing mix.
There are several ways in which each organization applies marketing mix. Marketing mix
is the set of elements that are used by the organizations to make the marketing more efficient
(Cox and Wray, 2011). It helps company in making a very different image in the minds of the
people about the company’s product. It is important for the firm like Your destination which is
an emerging company to make use of marketing mix in a proper way. For understanding this
comparison between two transportation company has been done so as to understand the ways in
which different organizations apply marketing mix.
Marketing mix of National express
 Products: It is delivering products such as personal as well industrial level hiring of
vehicles. People can hire vehicles for private use.

 Place: It is delivering its services in the whole UK which includes the mega cities such as
London and Manchester to the smaller cities like Glasgow
 Price: It is operating its operations in many price ranges and it depends on the type of
vehicle that is opted by the customer. It is one of the biggest brand name in the
transportation industry hence the prices are on the higher side. It also uses promotional
pricings like off in the occasions such as Christmas or New Year.
 Promotion: It makes use of both traditional mediums such as television and newspaper
as well as modern mediums such as digital marketing tools, emails, online site. Apart
from this company has an excellent app that is used by the company for performing
various activities (Understanding the market mix concept. 2017).
 People: One of the best skilled labors is available with the company. They are known for
their customer services which are necessary for achieving best consumer satisfaction
(Kapferer, 2017.). It has an excellent management team that is highly experienced.
 Physical evidence: It is offering the services that are intangible and are real. It is known
for offering best services as per what they have promised to its consumers.
 Process: It is using the best practices in the industry which has helped company in
reaching to the top of the industry.
Marketing mix of Your Destination
 Products: This Company deals in the business of products such as complete solution to
the transportation problem. It provides personal transportation as well as industrial level
transporting solution. People can hire the vehicles of the company for their personal use.
In the service sector major focused areas are on heterogeneous and perishable services
(Grönroos and Ravald, 2011). A broader range of customization may result in the
degradation of the quality standards of services that is provided by the firm.
 Place: It is operational in London and Essex and delivers its services in any parts of the
city as per the demand of the customers. It is planning to expand its business in the
several other parts of the country like Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow and Aberdeen
etc. In case of services sector the place is determined with the place they have served to
clients. Delivery of services runs parallel with its operation or production. It is important
that the services are delivered on time especially in the transportation industry. It is
important for the mangers of our destination to find the best goods at the right time at the
right place.
 Price: It is known for its low cost services. It has both kinds of vehicles luxury which has
price slightly on the higher side. This company also uses the strategy such as seasonal or
occasional offs so as to attract more customers to wards its services. It is also the fact that
estimating the prices of the services is a difficult task. Variable pricing strategies always
attracts customers. Transportation companies are mainly focusing on the potential buyers
like industrialists that are making fast distributions to their clients. Customers are highly

sensitive to the service pricing as compared to that of products (Cadilhon and Even,
2012). Hence this is decided as per the section of the society company is targeting.
 Promotion: This Company uses the modern mediums for promoting its services like
internet, online tools. Your Destination uses the apps and social media sites to promote its
marketing plan. Apart from this it also uses the traditional mediums such as newspapers
and TV ads so as to promote its services. It is also the fact that quality of the services is
not only based on the performance of the service provider but also depends on the
customer’s service performance rate. It is important for the emerging companies to
promote their products in a better way so that they can also make their name in the
market.
 People: There are many kinds of people that are associated with the company. It has an
excellent work force which helps company in making its business process easier. It has
also helped company in growing at much faster rate and creating brand name in relatively
shorter time. They are highly skilled and use proper communication skill to communicate
with the clients. Since these firms are customer oriented hence the best skills need to be
present with the workers (Babin and Zikmund, 2015). Taking this in mind this recruits
and selects the best talent in the market. They need to be motivated and trained properly.
 Physical evidence: This Company producing products that is intangible as well as it is
real. It provides customers with the products that they promised to them. Its existence
cannot be determined but is applied in company.
 Process: It is applying the best processes in the market. This marketing mix is applied
because it helps in measuring the quality of the services that is being delivered to the
clients. This company makes use of Six Sigma process since the poor process can lead to
poor quality services delivered to the customers. In the service sector if this marketing
mix is ignored then even after applying rest others in a proper way may result in bad
business (Laczniak and Murphy, 2012). This marketing mix takes use of technical and
strategical elements used together.

Figure 1 7P's of marketing
TASK 4
P4. Marketing plan for Your Destination.
It is important for every company to make best marketing plan that will be helpful for the
company to tackle with the existing environment as well as competing with the competitors. It is
having all the strategic as well as the tactical decisions (Meissner, 2012). Apart from this it has
several elements such as the company profile, SWOT of the firm, environment, marketing
budget etc.
Introduction of the company

Your Destination is the transportation company operational in England from past three
years and is one of the fastest emerging companies in the industry. It is operating the business to
serve clients with the services such as personal hire or industrial hiring of vehicles for different
purposes.
Vision and mission
Vision: Its vision is provide best services to the clients by making use of best practices in the
industry and creating the name in the market.
Mission: Its mission states that this company aims to become the best in the market by beating
all its competitors and expanding in the other parts of the company such as Manchester,
Aberdeen, New Castle etc.
SMART OBJECTIVE
Smart objective for Your Destination is as follows:
 Specific: This company want to become market leader in the industry by 2020.
 Measurable: It aims to increase the market share by 4% by the end of 2018.
 Achievable: To increase the revenue by half the present value.
 Realistic: To expand its business in the new cities such as Manchester, Aberdeen, New
Castle etc.
 Timely: This company wants to double the employee strength by 2019.
SWOT analysis
Strengths:
 It provides the best and fastest services among all its competitors (Ratiu and Avram,
2013). It has used the lower pricing strategy that helps in attracting large number of customers
towards its services.
Weakness:
 This company has fewer amounts of stakeholders associated with it. It becomes a
problem at the time of financial crisis. Weaker brand image as the company is new to the market and there are already big
competitors in the market such as National Express.
Opportunities:
 Company has larger scope in other parts of the country. Hence it can expand its business
in other mega cities like new castle and Manchester. Where it can find more number of
potential clients.

 After the Brexit, it is easier for the company to expand its business outside England
especially in other parts of the UK like Scotland and wales.
Threats:
 There are many big competitors in the market like the National Express which is having
larger brand name.
 There is lot of instability in the European market especially the slowdown of English
economy has posed a big problem for this company when the amount of resources that is
present with the company is limited (Kumar, 2012).
PESTLE ANALYSIS
 Political: The political decisions such as Brexit will have lot of impact on the business of
small size companies and the impact depends on the trade negotiations with EU.
 Economical: This company do not have large amount of financial resources. At the same
time the condition of European economy is also not positive and have faced many kinds
of glitches in the past.
 Social: Society is changing and hence wants the services to be delivered on time and
hence this company have to increase its resources so as to provide faster services to its
clients.
 Technological: It is important for the this company to make use of most effective
technology used in the industry especially in the cars and booking system.
 Legal: Laws related to taxation on service providers as well as legalities associated with
pollution creation has made this companies to think on their business decisions.
 Environment: These companies have been pressurized by the governments to take use of
Hybrid cars.
Target market: As the company is planning to expand its business in many parts of the England
with its target market basically from many sections of the society. It is focusing on the students
and youngsters as a prime target market. It is also making vehicles available for the company
based clients as they uses services for transporting various goods in various parts of the England.
Monitoring and control: It is important for the company to set up the system so as to monitor
its marketing activities. For doing so its management can take use of the ICT system which helps
in maintain the records of thee operations (Satit and et. al., 2012). Apart from monitoring it is
important for the company to control all the functions that are going on the marketing (Jones and
Rowley, 2011). This both process is necessary because it helps in finding loop holes in the whole
process and shaping the marketing mechanism as per the demand of the company.
Porter's five forces
 Bargaining power of suppliers: It is on the lower side as there are many service
providers in the industry.

 Bargaining power of buyers: Since there are large number of suppliers hence the
customers have more options to choose hence bargaining power of buyer's is on higher
side.
 Competition: There is throat cutting competition from the companies such as National
Express which have lots of resources and big brand name.
 Threat of new entrants: Since the capital investment that is required for entering into
this industry is not so high so easily new entrants can come to it. But making name in the
service is not easy hence it makes them difficult to sustain. Hence overall it is average.
 Substitute products: Since there is good public transportation that is available inside the
company hence this threat is more dangerous.
Marketing Budget for Your Destination (In million $)
Particulars 1st 2nd 3rd
Direct marketing 14000 13000 19000
Sales 7000 10000 7000
Traditional
advertisement
6000 5000 6000
Social Media
marketing
3000 4000 5000
Total 30000 32000 37000
CONCLUSION
From the above based report it can be concluded that marketing has become one of the
most important part of the operations of the company. It is helpful in making product a success.
There are various elements that are essential for making marketing effective. There are several
roles and responsibilities of the marketing unit. Apart from this it has important relationship with
other organizational units which are helpful in accomplishing the objectives that are set by the
firm. There are 7P that are used as a marketing mix. It is helpful in making the marketing
efficient. Different organizations use this marketing mix in different ways. There is marketing
plan that comprises of the elements like the company, profile, strategic and tactical decisions etc.
It is important for making marketing a success and hence fights with competitors in the cut throat
competition. This has details of the budgets that are allocated for various activities in marketing.

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