Marketing Essentials Report: Roles, Mix, and Plan for McVitie's

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of marketing essentials, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within an organization, and its interrelation with other departments. It examines various marketing concepts and their evolution. The report then delves into the application of the marketing mix by different organizations to achieve their business objectives, using McVitie's and Ferrero as case studies, comparing their product, pricing, place, promotion, process, people, and physical evidence strategies. Finally, the report culminates in the creation of a basic marketing plan specifically tailored for McVitie's, covering market research, target audience identification, and promotional strategies, providing a practical application of the theoretical concepts discussed throughout the report. This report is designed to help students understand the practical application of marketing principles.

MARKETING
ESSENTIALS

Table of content
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................4
TASK 1..........................................................................................................................4
Roles and responsibilities of marketing function in an organization......................4
Interrelation of marketing functions with the other departments within the
organization.............................................................................................................7
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................8
Comparing the ways in which different organizations apply marketing mix for
achieving their business objectives.........................................................................8
TASK 3........................................................................................................................12
Marketing plan for McVitie’s................................................................................12
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................17
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is a term which refers to the communication process through which the
companies shares the information regarding their products and services with the outer
world, especially with the customers. In other words, marketing is the procedure of
establishing relationships with the customers with an aim of providing ultimate
satisfaction by offering them the goods and services which meets their needs and
expectations. The marketing function is considered to be an integral function of the
management of the company as it this department which comes into direct contact
with the customers and the one who is well aware of the demands of customers
(Blythe and Martin, 2019).
The present report is about McVitie’s, a British company which is engaged in
confectionery industry and offers biscuits and other snack food items such as cakes.
The company is a subsidiary of United Biscuits and is based in United Kingdom.The
report will cover the roles and responsibilities of the marketing function and the
interrelation of marketing function with the other departments of the company.
Further, a comparison will be done of organizations regarding the marketing mix they
apply in their marketing plan and lastly a basic marketing plan will be created for the
company.
TASK 1
Roles and responsibilities of marketing function in an organization
Marketing is a procedure which is applied by all the companies in the world for
spreading the information of their products and services. This procedure includes
intensive marketing research, promotion of the goods and building customer relations
and public relations.
From the above meaning of marketing, its various characteristics are
highlighted, which are as follows :
 Marketing focuses on the customers and undertakes all the activities that revolves
around the customer satisfaction by serving the products which meets customers
demands.

 It is a exchange process which involves sharing of the products’ information and
exchange of goods, services and thoughts in lieu of money.
 It emphasizes on creating and maintaining the healthy customer relationships.
 It is concerned with spreading the brand awareness of the products and services
of the company and promoting the brand (Kirova, 2017).
Marketing as a concept :
It is termed as the philosophy which is related with the process of analyzing the
requirements and necessity of the customers and then forming decisions for satisfying
those necessities and need which are more better than its competitors. Over the time,
the concept of marketing has evolved and till now there are five concepts which are
described below :
Illustration 1 : Marketing concepts
(Source : 5 Marketing Concepts Explained with Examples , 2017)
Production concept :
This concept advocates the theory that customers prefers the goods and
services which are easily available and affordable. It is for this reason that
companies used to focus on undertaking operations on large scale and reducing
their costs.
Product concept :
This concept states that customers wants products and services which are of
supreme quality, performs supremely and possess distinctive features. Under this,
marketing strategies of the companies focused on improving the goods continuously.

Selling concept :
The selling concept holds the believe that companies focuses on increasing the
sales irrespective of the quality of the products and services. The aim of companies
under this concept is to sell whatever they produce rather serving what the market
demands.
Marketing concept :
The mentioned concept stipulates that the organizations tries to reach their
objectives and goals by understanding the needs and wants of the customers and
creating products that are capable of meeting the requirements of the customers.
Customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal of the companies following this concept.
Societal marketing concept :
This is the newest marketing concept which is concerned with the objectives of
making the lives of customers by delivering the value to the customers and to the
society in whole. It runs on the philosophy which says that company shall find the
right products for their target audience by analyzing their needs and wants rather than
finding the right audience for their goods and services.
McVitie’s follows the Societal marketing concept through which it puts its major
resources in researching about the conditions of market and formulating marketing
strategy for providing exceptional customer experience and value to the people
through its products.
Roles and responsibilities of marketing function
The marketing department of the McVitie’s plays different roles and
responsibilities. They are as follows :
Conducting market research :
The marketing department is responsible for undertaking a detailed analysis of
the market conditions and assessing the circumstance that are prevailing in the market
such as position of competitors, preferences of customers, state of technology in the
industry, government policies relating to the business etc (Larson and Draper, 2015).
Defining and maintaining the brand :
The marketing function of the company is responsible for defining what the
company is about, what it stands for and how it aims to achieve its objectives.
Searching for expansion opportunities :
Company’s marketing function plays great role in searching for the potential
growth opportunities in the emerging international markets and helps the company in

attaining its organizational goal of expanding the business (Malhotra, 2015).
Finding the target audience :
Through proper analysis of the market, the marketing function helps in
identifying the most perfect target audience for the company’s products (Mokwa,
2017).
Promoting the products & brand :
Marketing department is one in the McVitie’s which is responsible for promoting
the brand and communicating the information about company’s products such as
biscuits and cakes to the customers and enhancing the brand image.
Interrelation of marketing functions with the other departments within the
organization
Marketing function does not take place in insolation within the McVitie’s. It is
connected with all the other major departments of the company through which the
company becomes able to deliver the highest value services and best quality products
to its customers. The interrelationships between the marketing and other departments
are shown below :
Marketing and finance department :
Marketing department while planning and implementing a marketing plan, then it
will have to work in close liaison with the finance & accounts of the company.
Finance department would assess that whether the company have adequate financial
resources for meeting the requirements of marketing plan in terms of budget,
campaigning cost, promotion expense and market research (Feng, Morgan and Rego,
2015).
HR and Marketing department :
These two departments are interrelated in the sense that HR department is the one
in the company is responsible for providing the most suitable and appropriate staff to
all the departments. Marketing department also requires skilled and creative staff
which can contribute towards the formation of marketing strategies, people who can
carry out comprehensive market research for analyzing the needs and preferences of
customers.
IT and Marketing department :
Since, companies are using more of digital marketing and offering the customer

support services through the application of artificial intelligence technologies, the
interrelationship between the IT an marketing department even more important in the
McVitie’s. Online business, website, promotions on the online platforms, etc., are
possible only when both the department of the company work very closely and in a
coordinated manner (Rowley, 2016).
Marketing and Sales department :
It is the marketing department that conveys the information about the products of
company in the general public and attracts their attention towards the brand. It makes
ready the platform for the sales team to sell the products to the customers.
Production and Marketing department :
Marketing department is the one which assesses the needs and preferences of
customers and conveys the information to all the departments within the organization.
The production make its strategies from such information in terms of quality, design,
and taste of the biscuits & cakes which the customers wants from the company
(Marketing and its relationship with other business activities , 2019).
TASK 2
Comparing the ways in which different organizations apply marketing mix for
achieving their business objectives
Marketing mix in the most simple language means the combination of elements
which are controlled by the organization for persuading the customers to purchase
company’s products and services. It is a part of a comprehensive marketing plan of
the company which is concerned with the positioning of the product in the market
(Bahadir, Bharadwaj and Srivastava, 2015). Marketing mix consist of seven elements
which are described below :

Illustration : 2
( Source : The Marketing Mix 4P’s and 7P’s Explained, 2019 )
Product :
Products are the offerings of the company to its customers which could be in the
form of either tangible or intangible such as goods and services. The products must be
created with has the potential of meeting the needs and expectations of the target
customers. Further, how the products can be differentiated from its competitors n the
market which would help the marketing manager of the company in building the
competitive advantage.
Place :
It involves the location of the company or its store or its distribution channels
through which the products of the company are conveniently accessible to the
potential customers. There are different distribution strategies which the companies
could adopt such as intensive distribution, exclusive distribution,selective distribution
etc.
Price :
It refers to the amount which the customer is willing to pay for the company’s

products in the market. Proper pricing is necessary because it decides the fortunes of
the products. This is because customers are facilitated with large variety and the
elasticity of the product is very high. There are different strategies of pricing the
products such as skimming, penetration and neutral pricing.
Promotion :
It is spreading the information about the brand in the public. This element consist
of various aspects such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations and sales
organization (De Mooij, 2018). There are various ways of promoting the products
such as on social media, direct mailing, discounts, special offers etc.
Process :
The systems and processes which the companies employs in their operations
affects the implementation of the services. Better frame-work, disciplined work
system and process is to employed by the business which suits the requirements of the
company. This helps them in reducing the costs of operations by avoiding
unnecessary expenses and wastage in the production.
People :
Employees of the organization is a crucial part because they are the one who turn
strategies into actions and make available the products from the production area to the
market. Efficient in the performance of employees is directly seen in the quality
products, higher productivity, customer satisfaction and better financial results for the
company.
Physical evidence :
It refers to the presence of the brand in the market. Physical evidence is mainly
related to the fact that company delivered the service. It is interface through which the
customers interacts with the brand (Chitty, D'Alessandro and Gray, 2019).
Comparison between the McVitie’s and Ferrero companies regarding how they
apply marketing mix in their marketing planning for attaining their organizational
goals
Marketing mix elements McVitie’s Ferrero
Product The company offers snack
food and is the best biscuit
seller in UK. It offers
chocolate digestives,
Hobnobs, Rich Tea and
The company offers
confectionery items such
as chocolates, hazelnut
filled wafers Frozen
desserts, candies etc. The

Jaffa cakes. products are premium
luxurious chocolate items.
Price The organization follows
the penetration pricing
policy for its products. It
aims of leading the market
with cost leadership
strategy through which it
can give stiff competition
to other brands in the
market place.
Being a company that
manufactures premium
chocolates products, the
prices are higher than the
chocolates of other brands.
The organization follows
premium pricing strategy
for its products.
Place Being a regular product,
the company has adopted
wholesale distribution of
its products and its biscuit
range is available in every
grocery shop,
supermarkets.
The company has chosen
selected distribution
strategy for making its
products available to
customers. It is mostly
available in malls and
supermarket. It has 22
production plants in over
170 countries (Ferrero
Rocher Marketing Mix
(4Ps) Strategy, 2019).
Promotion The business entity
focuses on promoting its
products through social
media, newspaper and
largely relies on word of
mouth.
The company uses
attractive packages for
grabbing the attention of
customers and during
festivities, it aggressively
promotes the brand on
television.
People The employees at United
Biscuits amount to 7000.
The organization possess
great employee strength
and have 33219
employees.
Process The company uses Ferrero has a planned

artificial intelligence
technologies and robots in
its production to offer
consistency to the
customers.
structure and processes for
manufacturing the
products. Also, it has well
maintained system for
customer support services
by the way of information
technology through which
it tries to customer
satisfaction.
Physical evidence The McVitie’s digestive
cookies is one of its
highlighter in its product
range.
Physical evidence of
Ferrero is its golden
wrapper which shows the
image of brand that comes
into the minds of
customers.
TASK 3
Marketing plan for McVitie’s
A marketing plan refers to the document which lays out the activities and action
plan for achieving specific marketing objectives within a specific time frame. Below
is the marketing plan for McVitie’s for introducing a new range of biscuits and
increase market share.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Marketing is an essential function of company’s management which plays a great role
in achieving overall organizational goals and objectives. McVitie’s is a British
company which manufactures and sells snack food items is planning to introduce a
new biscuit range which offers high nutritious value to the customers. The plan will
include a situational analysis, budget, STP strategies and monitoring and controlling
techniques such as KPI, variance analysis for reviewing effectiveness of the plan.
Aim : “To introduce new range of biscuits and to expand market share by 5% ".
Objectives :