Principles and Practice of Marketing: M&S SOSTAC Model Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Marks & Spencer's marketing strategies, focusing on the application of the SOSTAC model to its current operations and international expansion plans, particularly in Latvia. The report begins with an introduction to marketing principles and the SOSTAC model, followed by a detailed application of the SOSTAC framework to M&S's current marketing strategy. It includes a situational analysis using PESTLE factors, an examination of objectives, strategy (including STP), tactics, actions, and control mechanisms. The report further evaluates the effectiveness of the current SOSTAC strategy, and discusses the implementation of the strategy in the international market, specifically Latvia. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations for M&S's marketing approach.

Principles and Practice
Marketing

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
SOSTAC model to the current marketing strategy of the organisation.......................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
Evaluation of effectiveness of current SOSTAC strategy...........................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
Implementation of current strategy in international market........................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Principles and practice of marketing are two major terms that are focused by business
entities conduct promotional activities within the market. In order to aware customers regarding
products and services that are offered by the company it is very important to take these
components in to consideration in order to form effective strategies. There are four main
principles of marketing (Armstrong and et.al., 2014). These are product, price, place and
promotion. The organisation which is selected for this report is Marks and Spencer which is one
of the largest retailers in the world. It is mainly established in UK and now planning to expand
business and open stores in Latvia.
This report covers various topics such as implementation of SOSTAC model and
evaluation of the effectiveness of this model. Apart from this, assessment of current strategy of
the organisation is also discussed under this assignment.
TASK 1
SOSTAC model to the current marketing strategy of the organisation
SOSTAC model: This model was developed by PR Smith in year 1990. It is a
combination of six different elements. These are situational analysis, objectives, strategy, tactics,
actions and control. It contains general marketing strategy which can be applied in commercial
situations. With the help of it organisations get ready for marketing campaigns in which
marketers try to aware clients regarding the products that are manufactured, distributed or
produced by company. It helps managers and other top executives to formulate better decisions
and plan to strengthen position of enterprise in the market (SOSTAC model, 2019). As Marks
and Spencer is willing to expand its business in Latvia so for this purpose it is very important for
the company to focus on all the components of SOSTAC model. It can help to analyse that the
project will attain success in future or not. For Marks and Spencer all of them are as follows:
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Illustration 1: SOSTAC model, 2019
(Source: SOSTAC model, 2019)
Situational analysis: Under this stage current situation of the organisation is analysed by
assessing macro environment. It relates to different trends such as inflation, employment,
spending etc. In order to conduct a situational analysis marketers of Marks and Spencer are
required to analyse macro environment. With the help of it impact of them on the business
activities can be assessed. For this purpose PESTLE analysis can be used as it provides detailed
information regarding external factors of the environment where a business is going to be
launched. All the components of it are as follows:
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Illustration 2: PESTLE analysis, 2018
(Source: PESTLE analysis, 2018)
 Political: Various factors such as taxation policies, political situations etc. are considered
as the part of these forces. In Latvia political parties help large organisations to establish
their business in order to develop the economy. It is a good opportunity for marks and
Spencer to establish its business successfully in the country and capture larger market
share.
 Economic: Situations of economy, inflation, deflation and foreign exchange rates are the
part of these factors which are required to be focused by business entities in order to
execute business in appropriate manner (PESTLE analysis, 2018). Latvia is a developing
country and legal authorities charge less tax from such companies which are contributing
higher amount for the growth of economy. As Marks and Spencer is a large sector
organisation and have a good market image and there is a high possibility of that it can
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generate good profits within the nation. With the help of it long term sustainability can be
generated by Marks and Spencer.
 Social: Demographics, consumer attitudes, culture, opinion, buying behaviour are the
part of such elements which are required to be focused by a company which is planning
to introduce a new store of it in a new location. As Marks and Spencer is planning to
expand its business in Latvia so it is vital for managers and marketers of formulate
strategies according to demographics of the country in order to attract large number of
customers (Boehm and et.al., 2014).
 Technological: Current and future innovation technologies are the part of these factors
which should be focused by business entities in order to capture larger market share. As
Latvia is a developing country so the legal authorities focus in technological factors and
help organisations to operate business which are using latest technique in business. Marks
and Spencer use latest gadgets at its retail stores which can help it to open its new stores
in Latvia.
 Environmental: Environment, climate, weather etc. are considers as the part of
environmental factors. In Latvia rules regarding environment protection are very strict
and while opening new stores in the country it is very important for Marks and Spencer
comply with all of them. It can help to establish a good image within the nation.
 Legal: Rules, regulations and laws are part of legal factors and all of them vary according
to country. In order to open new stores in Latvia it is vital for Marks and Spencer to fulfil
all legal requirements. It can help to execute business in the nation appropriately with no
interference of governmental bodies.
For the purpose of situational analysis of Latvia it is vital for Marks and Spencer to focus
on all the above described elements as it can help to formulate effective strategies for business. If
all of are taken in to consideration while forming decisions then it can help to accomplish goals
that are related to business expansion in Latvia (Burns, Bush and Sinha, 2014).
Objectives: At this stage organisations set objectives for future and formulate strategies
according to them. As marks and Spencer is planning to launch new stores in Latvia and the
main objective behind it is that business entity is willing to enhance its profits by 5% in
upcoming 2 years. It is also willing to capture a larger market area of Latvia by satisfying
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customers with the help of its good quality products. In order to achieve this goal managers and
marketers of company are required to formulate effective strategies.
Strategy: Under this stage different strategies are formulated by business entities to
attain predetermined goals and objectives. For this purpose STP approach is going to be used by
Marks and Spencer and all the elements of it are as follows:
 Segmenting: There are three different types of segments demographic, geographic and
behavioural. From all of them geographic will be used by Marks and Spencer as it is
planning to open new stores in new location (Chorafas, 2016).
 Targeting: Under this element of STP strategy, targeted customers are identified by the
organisation. Targeted clients of Marks and Spencer are middle and upper class
customers in Latvia who can afford its products.
 Positioning: The process in which strategy to position products in the mind of customers
are formulated is known as positioning. For this purpose Marks and Spencer is going to
promote goods and services on social media which will help it to reach maximum number
of clients.
Tactics: All the new techniques that are planned by organisation are going to be used in
future are known as tactics. Main purpose of them is to achieve predetermined goals of business
entity. Different factors will be focused by Marks and Spencer in order to formulate tactics. All
of them are as follows:
 Price: Under this element appropriate price is set by business entity in order to attract
large number of customers. Marks and Spencer uses competitive pricing strategy in
which a specific price for the products is selected to take more advantage of goods or
services as compare to competitors. As new stores are going to be opened in Latvia and it
is vital for managers to focus on pricing. While introducing products in the country the
organisation has planned to use penetration strategy in which lower price will be set at
initial level. In future price will be raised if large number of customers will be attracted
by it (Foust, 2017).
 Product: All the items that are sold by organisations are known as products. Different
range of them are offered by Marks and Spencer to men, women and children. New
stores of the company will be opened in Latvia and it ash been planned by it that different
variants of clothes will be sold in country.
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 Place: In order to attract large number of customers it is very important to select best
place where they can reach easily. As Marks and Spencer will be launched in Latvia soon
and for this purpose marketers are required to find such places which are easily accessible
for clients. It has been planned that first store will be opened in Riga which is capital of
Latvia.
Actions: In this stage of SOSTAC model managers and top executives take action to
implement all the strategies that are formulated by them previously. In Marks and Spencer
managers focus on different elements such as budget, hiring new employees etc. It helps to
assure that the plan which is being formulated for expansion will result positively (Gordon and
Oades, 2017).
Control: This the last element of SOSTAC model in which top management is
responsible for the control of all the actions that are taken for the purpose of business expansion.
Managers of Marks and Spencer have to take control over all the activities which are going to be
performed while opening new stores in Latvia.
All the above described elements of SOSTAC model are vital to be analysed by
organisations such as Marks and Spencer which are planning to expand business in a new
location so that effective strategies can be formulated. It can help to accomplish all the tasks
successfully.
TASK 2
Evaluation of effectiveness of current SOSTAC strategy
Marks and Spencer is mainly based in UK and operating its business successfully there.
The organisation is using SOSTAC strategy in UK as well all the elements for it are described
below:
Situational analysis: Currently Marks and Spencer is operating its business successfully
all around the world. Political parties in UK helps it to execute operations appropriately as it
contributes a higher amount in the national income. Due to this it has lower negative impact of
economic factors such as taxation. Markers of organisations focus on taste, preference and
buying behaviour in order to enhance sales of products. New and innovative devices are used in
retail stores for the purpose of fulfilling technological needs of clients (Hall, 2014). All the
products that are sold by it are environmental friendly and sustainable which helps to comply
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with all the environment related laws. Marks and Spencer perform all the activities by complying
with governmental rules and regulations hence, legal parties support it to attain organisational
goals.
Objectives: Main objective of Marks and Spencer is to build a sustainable business
through consistent and profitable growth. In order to attain it business is operated within UK and
managers make sure that all the business operations helps to achieve it quickly.
Strategy: Different types of strategies are used by Marks and Spencer to operate its
business activities effectively in UK. The segmentation which is used by the company in UK is
demographic in which all the clients are divided on the basis of different variables. These are
gender, age, income level, education etc. The targeted customers of enterprise are people from
middle and upper class. For the purpose of positioning Marks and Spencer uses different modes
such as advertising through online media, personal selling etc. Price for products is set according
to buying behaviour of patronages which helps it to meet their requirements and retain for a long
period.
Tactics: Different types of techniques are used by Marks and Spencer while operating
business in United Kingdom in order to attain objective. For this purpose market research is
conducted in which needs of customers and market situations are analysed. Afterwards the
gathered data is used to take pricing, product quality and location related decisions are taken.
Currently competitive pricing is used by organisation which helps it to attain competitive
advantage in the market.
Actions: In order to achieve predetermined goals appropriate actions are taken by Marks
and Spencer. Managers of organisation focus on different elements so that all the operational
activities can be performed effectively. These are recruitment of new staff, budget for different
activities such as marketing, salaries to staff, rent, insurance etc.
Control: In this element managers of Marks and Spencer monitor all the business
operations and take appropriate actions to control a negative situation. For example, if they
figure out that excess amount of monetary resources is spent by organisation in activities then
they take action to control them. It helps to save funds for future activities (Lee and Kotler,
2015).
Effectiveness of SOSTAC model: From all the above points it has been evaluated that
current SOSTAC model which is used by Marks and Spencer in United Kingdom is highly
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effective for organisation and help it to achieve predetermined goals. With the help of it long
term objectives such as attaining growth, capturing larger market share etc. can be achieved. It
has also been evaluated that SOSTAC model guide top management to formulate strategic
decisions for betterment of enterprise. For all the business entities it is very important to analyse
al the elements of SOSTAC model as it helps to determine that company is performing well or
not. If these are not taken into consideration then it can affect negatively because managers may
miss most important facts by ignoring this model (Lees-Marshment, 2014).
TASK 3
Implementation of current strategy in international market
Current marketing strategy of Marks and Spencer which covers all the elements of
SOSTAC model is very effective and help it to achieve all the business objectives. It can be used
by the managers while planning to expand business in Latvia. For this purpose they have to
formulate new objectives, strategies, tactics and plan which can help to accomplish all the tasks
successfully. Currently Marks and Spencer is operating business successfully in UK and
planning to expand business in Latvia. In order to reduce complexities in the strategy
formulation process they can use existing strategy as it is very effective for organisation.
Current market strategy resulted positively for Marks and Spencer so managers can use it
while expansing business in international market but they have to make some modification in it.
They have to change promotional activities according to new location as taste and preferences of
consumers vary according to countries. As now Marks and Spencer is willing to open new stores
in Latvia so all the strategies which are going to be formulated should be based upon buying
behaviour of customers and local public of nation (McClements, 2015).
In all the countries laws, rules and regulations changes due to different political and legal
parties. Some of the changes in the way of executing business operation is also required because
organisation have to comply with all the laws of the country where it is planning to expand the
business. With the help of it all the operations can be executed without interference of
governmental bodies.
While opening new stores in Latvia managers of the organisation are also required to
make modification in pricing strategy (Saunders, Barrington and Sridharan, 2015). As
competitive policy for setting price is used in United Kingdom because there are end number of
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competitors in the market but in Latvia it is not possible for company to use the same strategy.
While launching business in a new location it is vital for organisations to set low prices for
products so that large number of customers get attracted towards them. With the help of it larger
market share can be captured and when managers analyse that the organisation is being
established successfully then prices can be raised in future. At the time of opening new stores in
Latvia, pricing strategy which could be used by Marks and Spencer is penetration. It will help to
capture large market share and introduce products successfully in a new geographic location
(Tricker, 2015).
It has been evaluated that current market strategy which is used by Marks and Spencer in
UK can be implemented while expanding business in Latvia as it has helped to attain growth in
UK and can lead to successful launching of products in a new location. There are some factors
that are required to be focused while using the existing strategy. These are culture of new
country, buying behaviour of customers, taste and preferences of them, political conditions of
Latvia etc. If all of them are analysed by organisation properly then it will result positively and
also help to attain objective of increasing profits. It can help to reduce different types of costs for
the company such as reduction in the expenses of research activities, lower recruitment cost etc.
With the help of it possibility of failure in future can also be reduced (Wood, 2016).
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it has been concluded that there are various types of
marketing principles such as product, price, place, and promotion which should be focused by
managers while formulating strategies for business. It can help to achieve long as well as short
term objectives. If an organisation is planning to expand business in new locations then all the
elements of SOSTAC model should be analyse by them. With the help of it effectiveness of
business can be analysed. Managers and Marketers take all of them in to consideration while
forming strategic decisions for betterment of enterprise.
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