Marketing Report: Analysis of Marks and Spencer Marketing Strategy

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Marks and Spencer's marketing strategies. It begins with an introduction to marketing management and its application within organizations, specifically focusing on Marks and Spencer, a UK-based international retailer. The main body of the report delves into the branding approaches adopted by Marks and Spencer, including economic, identity, customer-based, personality, relationship, community, and cultural approaches, with a particular emphasis on the customer-based and relationship approaches. The report then explores market positioning, outlining the steps involved in developing and maintaining a strong brand position, such as understanding the target audience, identifying product features, establishing a unique selling proposition, understanding competitors, and promoting the brand effectively. The report also examines the current marketing mix of Marks and Spencer, focusing on the 7Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical Evidence). Finally, the report offers recommendations to improve the marketing strategy of Marks and Spencer, based on the analysis of its branding, positioning, and marketing mix.

Marketing Management

Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Branding approaches...................................................................................................................1
Positioning...................................................................................................................................3
Current marketing mix.................................................................................................................5
Recommendations:......................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Marketing management can be described as organisational discipline, focus of which is on
application of marketing techniques, methods and orientation inside organisation, enterprises as
well as on management of marketing activities, resources of a firm (Arnett, Wittmann and
Hansen, 2021). It is a process of planning as well as executing of pricing, formulation,
distribution of goods and service for purpose of attainment of organisational goals. It is
important application in context to strategies, methods and techniques. This project report
includes analysation of Marks and Spencer which is a UK based organisation dealing in beauty
products, home care products, clothing products as well as food products. It is an international
business which was established in the year 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in the
UK. This organisation has around 959 stores in the UK among which 615 stores are selling food.
This project report includes analysation of branding strategy through offering an insight into how
they are positioning themselves in the marketplace. It also consist different branding approaches
and positioning along with current marketing mix, focusing on the 7Ps. Moreover, it consists of
recommendations for chosen organisation to improve its marketing strategy.
MAIN BODY
Branding approaches
Branding is one of the important components which is spending millions of planning and also
implementing different types of brand activities. It is one of the marketing practices which assists
individuals for purpose of differentiating products and services of the business. It consists of
creating different elements like logo, mission statement as well as design which is essential for
purpose of marketing communication type (Balducci and Marinova, 2018). There are different
types of branding approaches to be adopted by a person for different businesses which add value
to the company in order to target budget, audience, marketing campaign, industry and other
things. Some of these approaches to branding in context to Marks and Spencer are mentioned
below:
The economic approach: It is one of approach which consists concept of traditional marketing
mix parameters and also plays the role of fundamental for purpose of building a brand strategy. It
is a basic, economic and functional marketing type (Şengün, 2018). In this approach, companies
are competing with competitors over prices. On basis of it, a business can select the products
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required by them according to the prices of products. It also allows companies like Marks and
Spencer to balance products from an economic and social point of view.
The identity approach: It is an approach in which desired identity as well as self-image leads to
certain shops. In this, companies need to use brand values creator for purpose storytelling for
purpose of marketing (Chattopadhyay, 2020). It is the decision of the firm with whom they want
to speak a people affected with the people who are the same kind as them.
Customer-based approach: It is also an approach that measures as well as observes customers
in different ways in which a person acts in a specific environment as well as products for
different needs. For this, business needs to be aware of different types of customers in order to
offer different kind of services to the target customer segment. Examples of this approach
include experiments and interviews.
Personality approach: It is also an approach that is placing products in music videos, movies,
as well as sports events that assist to convince customers and fans in order to buy a product
(Shemyatikhina, Shipitsyna and Usheva, 2020). For this, sponsoring is playing an important role
as branding through a personality is effective as it provides a vision to people about themselves
and is also important for purpose of providing support to people.
The relationship approach: It is an approach that is based on a dyadic relationship between
brand and customers which assists in creating a feeling of companionship. There are different
companies that are using bonus cards, customer events and direct emails for purpose of regular
customers. All these activities are carried out by the business for purpose of gathering important
information in context to the behaviour of customers (Dogu and Albayrak, 2018). It allows
companies to focus on the specific interests of customers. On basis of it, customers get a feeling
of respect and it also allows them to communicate to customers which is essential for the
personal connection of different parts of the companies.
Community approach: It is an approach in which people want to be a part of the community as
well as the social environment. It is an approach that is using ethnography as well as different
types of community theories in order to clarify customers.
Cultural approach: It is an approach that can be adopted by the business for different purposes.
It consists of different aspects of cultural consumption. It is one of the approaches which is based
on the birds perspective as it helps them to see things coming in the future and also provides
them with attention to sell how the world is changing.
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Marks and Spencer is one of the organisations which is using customer-based approach and
relationship approach for purpose of marketing their products and services. It is important as it
allows businesses to differentiate its products from those of the company. Marks and spencer is a
strong organisation and old organisation which is focusing on developing good relationships with
customers. Marks and Spencer is an organisation which is focusing on developing a standard
against different measures. It is also focusing on developing aspiration quality that can be
accessible to different people (Gretz, and Malshe, 2019). It is also focusing on values, service,
rust innovation and other things. It is adopting innovation in its organisation in order to attract
more customers towards them and also focus on differentiating its service from others. Along
with this, the focus of the company is also on developing strong values in the marketplace for
which it is adopting the customer-focused approach in the marketplace. It is also focusing on
building positive relationship with customers which assist company for purpose of retaining
customers for long term.
Positioning
Market positioning can be described as ability which create influence consumer perception in the
context to brand and products to competitors. Objectives of market positioning helps to develop
an image of products that allow the consumer to perceive products in a specific manner. There
are different types of positioning like product attributes as well as benefits, product quality,
product price, competitors, product use as well as application. The development of positioning of
products is important in order to differentiate products and services of the company from
competitors (Ihejirika, Goulding and Calvert, 2021). Developing and maintaining a position is
important in order to identify business and also to perceive the brand of customers. There are
different steps to be followed by the business of Marks and Spencer in order to develop the
positioning of products and services. Explanation of these steps in context to the company are
mentioned below:
Understanding target audience: It is one of the first steps of product positioning which is
important for business. It is important for purpose of marketers in order to identify the target
audience and also help them for purpose of understanding the needs as well as preferences of
customers (Shen and et. al., 2020). There are different types of individuals who has different
needs, preferences and interest and no two individual can be same in an context. In order to
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develop unique positioning, managers of Marks and Spencer needs to understand expectation of
target customers in order to fulfil demand of individuals.
Identification of features of products: It is another stage in which the market needs to be aware
about the different benefits and features of products. In order to sell products and services to
customers, it is important for managers of the company to first identify features of products and
services of their products as it helps them to convince to customers for purpose of selling of
products (Kumar and et. al., 2020). Marks and Spencer are offering high-quality products to its
customers in the marketplace which is essential for them in order to identify features of products.
Unique selling propositioning: It is another stage of development positioning of products as
every product should have their own USP in the marketplace like unique feature and other things
which makes them unique. It is important for them as it allow the business to communicate to
target audience about its offering. It is also essential for the business in order to understand what
a product can do with the offering of the firm. USP of Marks and Spencer is that it is one of the
leading organisations which has a number of customers in the marketplace.
Know customers: It is also one of the important stages which assist businesses for purpose of
understanding competitors as well as their offerings and also assists individuals in order to know
how can they make their products better in comparison to their competitors (Lim, 2020).
Business should not underestimate their competitors as these can capture the marketing share of
their business by their tactics. Marks and spencer are making efforts through marketing that
assist the target audience to understand the target audience. It is also important for the marketer
in order to overcome of competitors.
Ways to promote brands: It is another stage for developing the positioning of products of
Marks and Spencer. In this, a business needs to select the theme for purpose of advertisement of
the products and services. In order to make the advertisement more attractive, the business also
needs to use a catchy tagline which is important in order to increase the engagement of
customers. Businesses should also need to use the right information in the advertisement which
is important for the purpose of engaging the audience (Tan and Vicente, 2019). Marks and
Spencer do not use false information in an advertisement in order to confuse people with the
advertisement. It is also essential for the marketer in order to highlight the benefits of products
which is important in order to be aware to customers. All these things help business for purpose
of increasing sales of products in the market.
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Maintain the position of the brand: It is the last stage of positioning of the products that helps
marketers in order to fulfil expectations of users. It is also important for the marketer to ensure a
higher quality of products offered to customers. Marks and Spencer is offering a higher quality
of products to its customers and also does not make any compromise with the quality of products
(Maria and Santhi, 2020). It is offering its products at higher prices and sometimes also offers
discounts to customers but cannot drastically reduce the prices of products. It is important for the
firm in order to maintain the demand for products in the market and also enable firm to maintain
premium image of the company.
Current marketing mix
Marketing mic can be described as set of actions taken by a business in order to build and market
different types of products and services to its customers. It assists to make customers able to
offer right products at right time and also at the right place (Wang, 2019). It is essential for an
organisation as it assist them to understand offering of company and their products and services.
It is also important for them in order to plan products offering of the company and also assist
them to plan, develop and also execute different types of marketing strategies. It is also essential
in order to determine whether the products are suitable for the customer and not.
It is one of the analyses which is used by managers of Marks and Spencer for purpose of
identifying the requirements of customers and also assists businesses for purpose of promoting
products and services. Explanation of marketing mix in context to Marks and Spencer is
mentioned below:
Products: Marks and spencer is one of the organisations which deals with eco-friendly goods
and also fair trade products. It is worked wholeheartedly for purpose of attainment of goals. It is
also focusing on diversification of its products portfolio by offering different products for men,
kids, women and others. For women, they are offering apparel, accessories, footwear, lingerie
and others (Mitchell, 2020). For men, they are offering footwear, nightwear, apparel, formal
wear, accessories and others. It is offering school uniforms for both boys and girls, girl kid
clothing, boy kid clothing and others. It is also offering beauty products for its customers
including toiletries, make-up, skincare, hair care and others. It also offers home care products to
its customers like accessories, cooking, dining, bed and bath, travel bags and luggage. Moreover,
it offers furniture, food, wine, flowers and other things to its customers and all these things allow
businesses to diversify their product portfolio.
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Place: Marks and spencer is one of the organisations which is operating in the international
market. It is offering its products in different countries like Egypt, Qatar, Finland, Spain, Jordon,
Ireland, Morocco, Canada, Kabul, France, China, Belgium, and Austria. It has a number of
outlets in different countries. It also has different offices in different countries like Sri Lanka,
Italy, Indonesia, Turkey, China, Hong Kong and others. It is offering its products not only in its
stores but also over an online platform which allows them to increase sales of the company and
also connect with different customers (Naim and et. al., 2022). It is selling its products through
outlets for purpose of gaining brand visibility as well as for an increasing number of customers.
In the context of place, business is also focusing on offering more and more convenience to its
customers.
Price: Marks and Spencer is one of the premium organisations which is earning huge profit in
the market. In the end of the year 2017, it is one of the organisations which is earning revenue of
10622 million pounds and 115.7 million pounds respectively. It is also an organisation that is
earning an operating income of 690.6 million pounds. Marks and Spencer is one of the
organisations which is owning its own brand for purpose of apparel. It is one of the organisations
which is offering products that perceive value for money that consist diversified range,
convenience as well as high quality of products. It is an organisation that has its own brand for
purpose of apparel for purpose of men, children and women. These products are offering
premium quality products which is important for purpose of keeping prices of products between
medium to high range (Parsons and Lepkowska-White, 2018). It is an organisation that is
operating in a competitive environment and in order to compete in the marketplace, it needs to
offer competitive prices in the market which allow them to capture sufficient market share. It is
also an organisation that is also adopting a dynamic pricing policy during the off-season, festive
seasons and other seasonal times. It is creating two ways benefits for purpose of benefits of the
company.
Promotion: It is one of the important functions for purpose of business as it assists for purpose
of increasing the awareness of products and services. Marks and Spencer is one of the
organisation which is focusing on marketing of company and also aligned itself with different
tools. It is an organisation which is adopting different strategies for purpose of promotion of
different products and service for purpose of increasing awareness. It is adopting different
campaign for purpose of promotion of different products. For this, business is using newspaper,
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radio, television, hoarding and billboards and others. It is also an organisation which is adopting
different strategy in business for purpose of promotion of product outlets like instore stratetgy. It
is also considered as one of most likely promotional medium as it is used by company heavily
through their own websites. There are also different types of product-related information as well
as promotional activities are also adopted by firms on regular basis (Pencarelli and Forlani,
2018). There are also different types of discounts, incentives and offers related news are also
given to customers through the official website of the firm. Marks and Spencer is one of
organisation that is engaging customers through their loyalty program in which businesses add
some points to accounts of customers. These points are to be given to customers on basis of their
shopping of customers and also over rewards points to customers that can be redeemed by them
in the further purchase. It is also an organisation which is taking participates in charitable works.
It is important for the purpose of promoting their brand as it builds a positive image of the
company in minds of its target customers.
People: Marks and Spencer is one of the large organisation which has around 1000 stores in
around 50 countries. It is an organisation which employed 70000 people in their organisation and
also it is giving attention towards employees working for them. It is an organisation that is
following competitive policy for purpose of retaining its employees which creates opportunities
for business. along with this, it is also offering rewards based on the performance of employees
which gives a boost to individual performance (Rundle-Thiele and et. al., 2019). This
organisation also provides special discounts to its employees on purchases made by them of
Marks and Spencer. It is also offering different benefits to its employees like pension benefits.
Share buy, life insurance scheme and health insurance schemes for purpose of its employees.
There are also different types of discounts and other things offered by businesses to their
employees for purpose of the role played by them. Moreover, it is also provide flexible working
hours to its employees which is important for them for purpose of satisfaction of customers,
offering promotion to employees and other things.
Process: Marks and Spencer is offering its products in their stores which are existed in malls as
well as suburban areas. Their stores are organised in effective ways and also are beautiful like
other companies like pantaloons, wills lifestyles and others. It has divided its stores into two
floors among which one is for clothing, flower, gifts as well as other home accessories. Other
sectors are for the clothing of kids, men and women. Generally, the ground floor of their stores is
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for home as well as personal accessories, the second floor is for clothes and things floor is for
food and other products. Customers can proceed with billing from any counter which is essential
for their convenience.
Physical evidence: It is one of a large organisation which has different stores. It is providing
physical evidence of their services through their well accessorize stores which is essential for
them in order to attract a number of customers (Rust, 2020). In order to provide physical
evidence, the business also offers a different range of clothes. Furniture, gifts products to its
customers.
Recommendations:
On basis of above discussion, it can be recommended to marketing managers of Marks and
Spencer that this organisation needs to focus on the promotional strategies of the company. It is
important in order to increase awareness of products and services in the marketplace. There are
different competitors who are operating in the market and focus on effective promotional
strategies. It is important in order to increase the number of target audiences towards their brand.
It is important in order to gain the attention of people which is essential for different reasons. For
this, it is suggested to Marks and Spencer to ensure regular advertisement of offering of firm.
They should also use social media for purpose of promotion of products. It is one of the good
mediums as there are many influencers there who influence people to wear products. These
social media platforms will assist the business to engage customers with their organisation.
It is also recommended to Marks and Spencer to focus on the positioning of the firm. It is an
organisation that is operating for more than a hundred years and due to this, the image of the firm
is not suitable for today’s customers. In the present time, people are attracted to wearing trendy
and fashionable clothes. But due to its previous existance, Marks and spencer does not have this
image as customers think they are selling simple and old fashioned clothes. In order to overcome
of it, business managers of Marks and Spencer needs to make efforts to work over image of firm
in the markrtplace. It allow firm to attract yound customers towards their market and also helps
the firm to increase its sales. New positioning of the firm will also help them to compete with
different competitors in the marketplace. It allows them to compete with competitors and get
success in the marketplace.
It is also recommended to managers of Marks and Spencer to adopt new technologies in the
marketplace for purpose of enhancing of experience of customers. Technology is important for
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any business as it helps them to introduce something new in the marketplace which allows an
organisation to differentiate its offering from others. It is also important for business in order to
gain cost advantage as on basis of it, a firm can improve its efficiency. Technology will attract
customers and also helps the firm to gain the attention of customers towards their business.
Marks and Spencer can adopt technology in business by making their store self automates. It
creates a new experience for customers which allows them to gain the attention of customers. It
is also essential for businesses in order to improve the satisfaction of customers and allow them
to buy products from Marks and Spencer.
It is also recommended to managers of Marks and Spencer to adopt a competitive pricing policy
in their organisation. It is also essential for businesses in order to compete with different
marketing players. It is also important for a business to attract numbers of customers towards a
business and also to increase sales and profitability of the company. On basis of this strategy,
business can remain competitive in the marketplace. It is also recommended to Marks and
Spencer to offer timely discounts and other offers to its customers as it allows them for purpose
of targeting mass customers for the business purpose. It is also one of the essential components
for business which is important for them in order to get the different advantages of the business.
CONCLUSION
From above mentioned project report, it can be concluded that marketing is one of the important
activities for purpose of the business as it allows the business to attract a number of customers
toward products and services offered by the firm. It can be done by promoting products in the
market which increase awareness of products and service in the marketplace. It is one of the
activities which assist businesses to understand the requirements of customers and allow them to
implement in the offering of the company for purpose of maximisation of satisfaction of
customers. It is also one of the important activities as a business needs to make different
marketing strategies for purpose of attaining of goals of the business. There are also different
types of approaches there which are adopted by the firm for purpose of differentiating their
products from those of competitors. Business also develops distinct positioning in the
marketplace which is important for them. For this, they are using unique symbols, taglines and
logos. Firm also creates its marketing mix which consists of information related to products,
place, price and promotions. Technology also plays important role in a business as it allows the
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business to provide more convenience to the customer and also helps business to differentiate
their service to other players in the marketplace.
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