Introduction to Marketing: Marks & Spencer Case Study

Desklib provides solved assignments and past papers to help students succeed.

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING
1

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Marks & Spencer Company introduction....................................................................................4
Marketing audit............................................................................................................................4
Market Segmentation...................................................................................................................7
Market segmentation 1.............................................................................................................8
Market segmentation 2...........................................................................................................10
Market Research........................................................................................................................12
Data Analysis.............................................................................................................................14
Marketing Strategy........................................................................................................................20
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................21
References......................................................................................................................................22
2

Introduction
Marketing is the most essential requirement for an organization as it boosts organizational
growth and development. The effective marketing not only includes the strategies to implement
the organizational growth but it also needs to make the determination about the current stage of
the organization. The report contains information about the marketing approaches and strategies
implemented by the organization Marks & Spencer. This is a multinational retailer situated in the
UK and headquartered in Westminster, London. The report will give precise information about
the marketing audit of the company. The discussion about the current stage of the company will
also be discussed in the report. There will also be a disclosure about the relevant market
segmentation for the targeted market. There will be a discussion about the relevance of market
place and will also describe the buying behavior of the consumer in a significant manner.
Accordingly, the report will give detailed information about marketing and its significance.
3

Marks & Spencer Company introduction
Marks & Spencer (M&S) is one of the most successful and multinational retailers of UK,
headquartered in Westminster, London. The company is specialized in selling the different food,
clothing and home products. The company was established in 1884 by Michael Marks and
Thomas Spencer and they established the business in Leeds. The company majorly focuses on to
supply the food products as they have approx. 1000 stores transversely in the UK but approx.
600 stores only provide the services of food products (McDONALD, 2016). The company had
performed so well in 1998 but some certain issues lead the company towards collapse. The
collapse made the employees worked stronger they worked well and resulted in success for the
company. In the current time of period, the company is providing the goods and services in an
effective manner.
Marketing audit
The marketing audit can be referred to as the determination and analysis of the market growth
and also analyses the aims and objectives of the company. The marketing is the most essential
part of organizational growth and success as this is the concept which gives significant
approaches to manage the internal and external marketing structure. The analysis of the
marketing audit helps to make the determination about the strength and weakness of the
company (Eadie, et al., 2016). The marketing audit of an organization contains three aspects of
the company these are the micro environment, macro environment and marketing strategy.
Micro environment: Micro factors are the factors which internally influences the company
structure. The factors can be states as SWOT that is strength, weakness, opportunities and threat
of the organization (Abou-Warda, 2015). The SWOT analysis of the company Marks & Spencer:
4

SWOT Analysis:
Strength
 This is one of the largest retail
companies in the UK.
 The productivity and services of the
company are also effective.
 The company have their own brand
which competes with approx. 1000
stores in different countries.
Weakness
 The competition is high in the retail
industry which the company is facing.
 This is most necessary for the company
to secure the products from
unfaithfulness and failure.
Opportunity
 The company can develop their website
which will help to reduce the
competition of e-commerce.
 The company establish a new market to
grow the business.
 The company have the opportunity to
expand its business in the global market.
Threat
 Competition is the largest threat in the
current time of period.
 Globalization also becomes a challenge
for the company.
Micro environment: The micro environment refers to the factors which externally affects the
company. These factors are basically known as PESTLE.
PESTLE analysis
o Political factors: The changing policies of the government and the taxes which
implement by the government increases the rates of products in the market.
o Economic factors: The economic factor of the country affects the products and services
of M&S as it increases the prices of the products.
o Social factors: The Company provides the retailer products that is food and clothing and
also have the innovative strategies which attract society towards its productivity.
5

o Technical factors: The current time is full of technology and this is most necessary for
the company M&S to make some technical approaches to attract the people towards the
brand (Mahdavi and Daryaei, 2015).
o Logical factors: This is also necessary for the company to determine the logical factors
of the country as there are some logical policies which are most necessary to be attained
by the company.
o Environmental factors: The current society requires to have some eco-friendly products
this is necessary for the organization to fulfil the requirements of customers.
Marketing strategy of M&S Company: The marketing strategy is most necessary for the
organization as this helps to make the analysis over the current market. The company had
implemented Porter's five forces model.
Porter’s five forces model
o The threat of new entry: The Company can reduce the threat of new entry if they will
provide good and new products which will attract more customers.
o Supplier’s power: The suppliers are having the ability to make bargaining while
providing the resources with this is necessary for the company to make the things
balanced.
o Buyer’s power: The buyer's also attaining the ability to make the bargaining which can
affect the profit of the company as this is necessary for the company to attract the
customers according to the relevant price (Hashem, et. al., 2016).
o The threat of substitution: This is the most common threat in the retail industry this is
necessary for the organization to provide the products with impactful qualities.
o Existing competition: the retail industry is one of the most competitive industry but the
company had implemented some approaches to set an appropriate benchmark.
o
6

Market Segmentation
The marketing segmentation is segregate into the smaller group or the general characteristic of
the business. By using this approach, the company deploys its products or service in the target
market. It helps to achieve better from the existing strategy and develop to the new policy which
enhances the business rate. The structure of market segmentation defined having some segments
such as demographic segmentation, geographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation and
behavioral segmentation.
In the demographic segmentation, the target is according to age, religion, gender, ethnicity,
income etc. In the geographic segmentation is wholly based on the location. It can be segregated
or divide according to the rural, urban or suburban. The psychographic segmentation consists of
interest, values, attitudes and lifestyle of the customer. Behavioral segmentation describes the
purchasing behavior of the customer which includes stores, websites, e-commerce websites etc
(Sheth and Koschmann, 2019).
Marks & Spencer is the leading retail company in the world and its market segmentation is based
on how to compete with e-commerce products and services. As per the target market, there will
establish two marketing segmentation which will be chosen as per the customer behavior and the
demand of the market which will be analyzed further as per the market research and observation
(Mavragani, et. al., 2019).
7

Market segmentation 1
MARKET SEGMENTATION
Geographical
Segmentation
Demographic
Segmentation
Psychographic
Segmentation
Behavioral
Segmentation
Country- United
Kingdom
Age- 25 to 50 Lifestyle- Modern Consumer behavior-
Monthly shopping
habits
Population- Rural and
urban
Gender- Male, Female
and Transgender
Social Class-Middle
and working class
Degree of loyalty-
High
Pricing strategy : low
and medium
AIOs- Activity ,
Interest and Options
The target of Marks & Spencer is to overcome the e-commerce interest among the population.
The stores maintain their loyalty from the last 135 years ago, and it serves worldwide. According
to the first proposal of market segmentation, the Geographical area consist only United
Kingdom area due to the implementation of a new strategy or establishes the target market better
to build the UK itself. And the next criteria, the, i.e. population which need to include rural and
urban area people because rural areas population attracts towards e-commerce mostly company
need to become a strong competitor to them by providing various discount offers or launched the
new stores in the rural areas as well. The company already famous so, it doesn't need to require a
large promotional platform to achieve success, but for implementing the target, it needs to launch
the stores in the rural area of the United Kingdom (Mateev, 2019).
In the demographic segmentation, the mostly age of customer needs to consider is 25 to 50
because these ages people are involved in monthly or weekly shopping. The gender criteria are
not needed to be particular. The pricing strategy is required to consider comparatively low and
medium by which people can easily afford the product at a low rate.
Psychographic Segmentation needs to be considered such things are which are according to the
times and accept the modernity in the product. As a competitor company need to enhance the
8

market in trendy product or to have high market demand among the particular age group the
target market need to involve t small and medium class people because these classes are highly
influenced and attract towards e-commerce sites due to save their time and efforts. The activity,
interest and opinion of employees and customers are highly recognizable because the
consideration requires acceptance and approval from the relevant individual.
Behavioral segmentation considers the shopping behavior of the costumer which need to
influential by this target. If Mark & Spencer offer great discount offer to the new customer to
attracts and build strong connectivity with the customer, so, it requires at least monthly shopping
behavior of the customer and weekly shopping habit influence the new and existing customer
(Burke, 2018).
9

Market segmentation 2
MARKET SEGMENTATION
Geographical
Segmentation
Demographic
Segmentation
Psychographic
Segmentation
Behavioral
Segmentation
Country- Europeans
Country
Age- 18 to 30 Lifestyle- Modern Consumer behavior-
Weekly shopping
habit
Population- Urban Gender- Male, Female
and Transgender
Social Class-High
Class
Degree of loyalty-
High
Pricing strategy :
Medium and High
AIOs- Activity ,
Interest and Options
It is the second market segmentation as per the target market to influence or attract new customer
and proves important among online shopping. The geographical area which needs to be
considered for this market segmentation it needs to implement or acquired European countries
such as the United Kingdom, Finland, Germany and Italy. The recognized population needs to be
considered urban because the marketing approach builds for youngsters who are working and
like to interest in expensive clothes and fashion accessories (Griva, et. al., 2018).
The demographic Segmentation includes the age group – 18 to 30. There is no gender consider,
the target market is for the population and provides theme good quality clothes and fashion
accessories. Discount or cash back offers to attract a new generation so, it also includes in the
target market approach as well if the company provides branded quality clothes and other items,
due to this reason the pricing strategy.
Psychographic Segmentation considers the modern lifestyle because Mark & Spencer is the
leading brand in the brand and its implementation of the trend in a proper manner. The target
market is the high-class people who can easily afford the branded clothes and accessories. People
are now selected and highly appreciable towards the new interest in the new activities performed
by the brand on social media and other platforms by which they can gather recent information
about the strategy of the company.
10

The consumer behavior towards shopping needs to be at least weekly by which it will be easier
to understand the market strategy and market trend. The feedback of the customer is evaluated
when they are approaching continuously. The degree of loyalty needs to be loyal because it will
make it easier for evaluation and analysis.
11

Market Research
Questionnaire
1. Are Marks and Spencer’s products are cheaper than the rest of its competition?
A) Yes
B) No
C) May be
2. Which type of product do people tend to buy more from Mark and Spencer’s?
A) Clothing
B) Food
c) Shoes
D) Bags
3. Should Marks and Spencer provide more attractive offers to reach out to more potential
customer?
A) Yes
B) No
C) Not Sure
4. Should Marks and Spencer increase its online social media presence more in order to promote
its product?
A) Yes
B) No
5. Is Mark and Spencer need to open up more retail stores in rural areas?
12