Internal Strategic Marketing Analysis of Amazon - MK4S34 USW Report

This report provides an internal strategic marketing analysis of Amazon, focusing on its consumer-centric approach. It examines the relevance of internal marketing in fostering employee engagement and satisfaction, which positively impacts the company's bottom line. The report delves into Amazon's strategic planning process, highlighting its mission and vision statements, marketing mix strategy, and various tactics for competitive advantage. It evaluates Amazon's internal marketing strategy, emphasizing the importance of understanding and addressing consumer needs. The analysis concludes that Amazon's success stems from its ability to prioritize consumer expectations and build a service-oriented culture among its employees.

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Internal Strategic Marketing Analysis of Amazon
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Introduction
Internal marketing is understood as an “inward facing marketing” technique which
follows a consumer reference point by means of efficient employee involvement capabilities
towards consumer contract. It is also evidenced that “internal marketing” facilitates a superior
employee performance, improve empowerment of staff, acceptability along with ensuring overall
responsibility of their behavior. Internal marketing also facilitates in developing a good
realisation of the organizational goals along with purposes that further facilitates the company’s
employees in recognizing their role towards the business at the time of serving the consumers
(Altstiel, Grow and Jennings 2018). The objective of the essay is to evaluate “The best marketing
strategies are not top down, they are outside in, starting from the needs and wants from
consumers” in the context of the company Amazon. Following such statement the managers of
the organization must lead by example along with setting better standards to distinct aspects. The
goals of each individual needs to be associated with the attainment of the company’s goals and in
addition better consistency the essay will also focus on evaluating whether the consumer voice
supports the strategic marketing decisions within the selected company. Amazon Inc was
established in the year 1996 that is currently positioned as a leading multinational company
offering a broad products and service range via its websites (Amazon.com, Inc. - IR 2019). The
company has its business operations via three segments including North America, International
along with “Amazon Web Services”.

2INTERNAL STRATEGIC MARETING ANALYSIS OF AMAZON
Figure 1: Revenue per User for E-commerce Organizations
(Source: Andrews and Shimp 2017)
The figure above indicates that net sales of Amazon have drastically increased till it
became a world leading retailer of its numerous product and service ranges. For within the
industry, the organization developed a Amazon is offering all its business consumers with
pricing, convenience and selection of Amazon with features along with benefits designed for
businesses of all sizes. Through offering external consumer services, the company expanded
business strategy that is highly consumer centric and also promotes both types of marketing
including internal and external supported by internal marketing techniques and related
management approach needs (Armstrong et al. 2018). Through analyzing the case study of the
company, Amazon’s marketing strategies focused on consumer preferences that effectively
support strategic marketing decisions of the company.

3INTERNAL STRATEGIC MARETING ANALYSIS OF AMAZON
Structure
The discussion below will analyze Amazons consumer centric marketing strategy based
on which the essay is segmented into analyzing the organizational structures, strategic marketing
plan, implementation processes along with function in marketing.
Discussion
Concept of Internal Marketing and its Relevance in Amazon
Bădin and Manea (2018) defined Internal Marketing (IM) as an approach of developing
consumer orientation among employees through training along with motivating both the
consumer contact as well as supports staff for working as a team. Following such concept,
Amazon considers implementing internal marketing approaches to maintain its effective
marketing process that is inward facing which follows a consumer reference point by means of a
better employee capabilities involvement for consumer contract. Internal marketing approaches
have an increased relevance in companies like Amazon as through these strategies the company
ensures employee satisfaction that is used for positively impacting the bottom line.
Strategic Planning
In companies, strategy is referred as action plans that can facilitate organizations to attain
a specified goal that includes its direction facilitating it to attain competitive edge over an
extended term basis. Blakeman (2018) added that strategic planning processes implemented in
the companies can facilitate the managers in setting effective business objectives, analysis
business surroundings along with developing a comprehensive strategy that is important in

4INTERNAL STRATEGIC MARETING ANALYSIS OF AMAZON
business strategy implementation. The strategic planning process implemented in Amazon that
supports its internal strategic marketing approaches are indicated below:
Figure 2: Strategic Marketing Process for Internal Marketing of Amazon
(Source: Chaffey and Smith 2017)
For attaining competitive advantages over its major business rivals in the market,
Amazon focused on developing and using a better consumer strategy that is highly consumer
centric. Considering a strategic viewpoint, Amazon turned out to be efficient in addressing
several environmental changes through implementing internal marketing approaches. Through
maintaining its competitive advantages, business expansion in Asia along with launching its new
online store in an advancing economy, Amazon proved its strategic advantages. De Mooij (2018)
also evidenced that Amazon is greatly centered on its business along with strategies at corporate
level that exist within its “consumer-centric” initiative that further serves three major groups
including consumers, developers along with sellers.
Strategic Marketing Plan

5INTERNAL STRATEGIC MARETING ANALYSIS OF AMAZON
De Mooij (2019) defined marketing as a function of any business which is focused on
recognition of consumer needs and supporting high sales generation. For attaining high sales
margin, strategic internal marketing of Amazon makes an increased market research
consideration and advertising along with promoting its services and products. Along with
increasing sales along with consumer satisfaction through developing innovative products which
are highly esteemed by all its consumers, internal strategic marketing served as an effective tool
for the company in increasing consumer loyalty and competitive advantages. In order to improve
the marketing efficiency, an effective strategic marketing process is deemed important for
Amazon that can guide and explain definite results sets needed to attain organizational goals.
Faulds et al (2018) explained that strategic marketing plan acts as an effective managerial tool
which facilitates in maintaining a strategic along with feasible fit among organization’s skills
objectives and resources along with available market opportunities.
Strategic marketing in Amazon is highly consumer centric that involves process of
collecting and analyzing relevant data that is greatly integrated and supports attainment of long
term marketing goals of Amazon. Similar to corporate strategy, strategic marketing plan
implemented by Amazon also considers changes which is common to take place within the
market and also encompass flexibility within the plan as well. Such marketing strategy facilitates
the manager of the company in deciding its strategic direction along with providing a detailed
understanding on their target markets, consumers along with centering on vital factors (Haider et
al. 2019). The internal marketing pan of Amazon is focused on offering better consumer services
for providing personalized offerings to its consumers that serves as an effective instance of a
company that puts consumers first.
Mission and Vision of Amazon

6INTERNAL STRATEGIC MARETING ANALYSIS OF AMAZON
Developing effective mission and vision statement is an aspect of strategic planning
process. The vision of Amazon over the long term has been totally focused on offering effective
consumer services through greatly centering on consumer experience by providing consumers
with low price, convenience along with broad selection of merchandise (Head 2017). The
mission of Amazon company is highly consumer-centric “World’s most consumer centric
organization where the consumer can reveal and discover anything that they feel like purchasing
online and also endeavor to offer its consumers with offerings at lowest possible prices”.
Strategies and Tactics
In order to attain competitive benifits, Amazon focuses on developing a cooperative
advertising aligned with distributors for generating local cost benefit in acquiring time and media
space. The company attracts its consumers through employing effective marketing mix strategy
that includes 4Ps (Product, Price, Place and Promotion). Certain other internal marketing
strategies and tactics of the company include positioning, segmentations along with tools and
communication means (Kasriel-Alexander 2016).
Action and Control
Consumer centric approach of Amazon is observed where the company started its
business as an online bookstore that in future years expanded its business with increased product
ranges. This also facilitates other retailers in selling as well as posting consumer goods via
Amazon’s platform. Advanced web technology also facilitated the organization in analyzing
consumers purchasing behavior that is employed by the organization for personalizing their
services, offering important product and segment market relied on references which consumers
indicated while purchasing or visiting product ranges (Keller 2016).

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Evaluation of Amazon’s Strategic Marketing
The important assumption within the case study analysis of Amazon is that “the best
marketing strategies aren’t top down; they’re outside in, starting with the customers’ needs and
wants”. Considering such statement, the organisation’s internal as well as external marketing
approaches are evaluated relied on the ways in which they are highly concentrated on consumer
voices for satisfying their business needs (Keller 2016).
Amazon Internal Marketing Strategy
In the current business era, the companies are making increased attempts to become
consumer oriented. Among the major factors to ensure the same is to involve company’s
employees within its marketing processes in a way that they cooperate to satisfy needs of
consumers. This top down internal marketing strategy of Amazon is focused on promoting its
products as well as services to its entire staff that is also considered as internal marketing. Such
strategy also includes employee capacity development, better internal communication along with
maintaining alignments which facilitate employees to realize overall marketing organization of
Amazon. For such strategy to attain success Klink, Zhang and Athaide (2018) indicated that the
top level management requires embracing the same initially.
Internal marketing had a vital role in successfully implementing Amazon’s consumer
centric strategy that facilitated organization in enhancing its consumer services, developing
effective consumer loyalties along with eventually attaining competitive edge over its business
rivals. It was also revealed that the competitors of Amazon are for years been obsessed with a
strict ecosystem of certain complex ecosystems of services and applications where the
company’s competitors are observed to be preoccupied with a strictly developed ecosystem of

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complex applications where Amazon greatly focuses on platforms which serves their consumers
in a better manner and as fast as possible (Lorenzo 2017). This signifies that realizing
expectations of consumers is quite efficient as realizing the objectives of the company. This is
the reason for which all the employees of Amazon consider analyzing this principle including the
management. CEO speech of Amazon indicates the manner in which high level managers have
implemented this approach and the manner in which the company’s strategy is greatly focused
on consumers. The CEO of the company stated that “Our consumers are loyal to us till the time a
second somebody provides them a better service”. Supporting such statement, Melero, Sese and
Verhoef (2016) stated that internal marketing is the major key to exceptional service and its
result is success of external marketing. In order to further enhanced consumer services and attain
excellence in internal marketing, Amazon made it important that employees take into
consideration consumer preferences which they all must focus to address.
Amazon Marketing Mix Strategy
Amazon’s marketing mix strategy is considered as a potential initiative for attracting
consumers that is analyzed in details. The internal marketing mission is to position its business as
“World’s most consumer-centric organization where the consumers can reveal and discover
anything they feel to purchase online and also endeavor to offer its consumers with lowest
possible prices”. Supporting such statement, Melnyk and Stanton (2017) evidenced that Amazon
is the largest e-commerce organization that employs an amalgamation of tactics and strategies
for attaining competitive edge over its recently increasing business rivals within online industry.
It is also perceived that organization’s consumer-centric initiative facilitates Amazon in retaining
as well as attaining an increased market shares. 4ps marketing mix strategy analysis facilitates in
linking and combining assumptions on developing effective marketing strategies for the

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business. Palmatier and Martin (2019) also explained that if such strategies are initiated
effectively, marketing mix strategies can facilitate organizations to attain their marketing
objectives along with maintaining positioning product among its target segment of market along
with offering consumers with great value.
Product Mix Strategy of Amazon
This strategy is greatly focused on the product lines that are offered by a company to its
consumers. Pels and Sheth (2017) stated that companies employing marketing mix strategies
consider aspects such as quality, variety, features, design, packaging, services and brand name.
Amazon’s online store is observed to have a broad range of products and services and is also
continuing to expand its business through considering product diversification. This ranges from
including retail services and goods like Amazon video, fresh, prime, web services along with
distribution of digital content. Such product mix strategies support Amazon’s vision of being
highly consumer centric as product diversification might ensure consumer satisfaction in case the
company has several choices as per the needs and expectations of its target consumers. Piercy
(2016) explained that product diversification satisfies consumer needs ensuring their satisfaction.
The product expansion strategies of the company have also turned out to be a great improvement
within the marketing mix. Moreover, Amazon also provides product membership which
encompasses shipping costs for the customers that buy through company’s website.
Moreover, Amazon also facilitates other retailers to post as well as sell their offerings via
its online retail platform that might negatively impacts its brand image and decrease its brand
value. This can be because of unpredictable product quality offered by its retail partners and for
this reason, Amazon is recommended to check quality of its affiliated retail offerings prior to

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their posting. Considering same, for attaining new along with retaining the existing market
shares, marketing mix strategy of Amazon is attaining increased efficiency as new offerings are
added to the company’s e-commerce platform (Röllecke, Huchzermeier and Schröder 2018).
This also reflects the retail company’s efforts to continuously expand its product line following
its consumer centric marketing approaches.
Place Distribution Strategy of Amazon
Distribution place for a company includes all its transaction channels, assortments,
coverage, inventory, location, transportation along with logistics. Having an established online
retail business, Amazon basically employs its official e-commerce website along with the
Amazon books in reaching its consumers (Smilansky 2017). Conversely, in consideration to the
consumer preferences the retail company has also launched several physical bookstores in
specific locations that facilities consumers in evaluating their desired products before they
consider purchasing. Additionally, along with its online platform and the physical locations the
company organizes consumer outreach events like “Annual Amazon Web Services (AWS) in an
attempt to reach the target consumers interact along with convincing them to pay for Amazon’s
online offerings (Ryan 2016). In this regard, the internal marketing mix of the company greatly
relies on the company’s strong online existence in reaching all the target consumers.
Promotional Mix Strategies of Amazon
The promotional marketing mix of Amazon is highly consumer centric that focuses
greatly on advertising, personal selling, sales promotion along with public relations. Under the
company’s promotional mix it employs several strategies for persuading consumers to visit and
purchase its online services and products. Among such strategies, advertising is most vital along

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with promotion of sales along with developing public relations along with initiating the direct
marketing approaches. Considering the same, the company employs its affiliate programs for
cooperating with distinct websites owners for displaying their product advertisements with
associations to their e-commerce website. This is in order to ensure that the third-party can attain
increased revenues on its sales (Venkatesan 2017). This internal marketing strategy facilitates
Amazon in reaching all its target consumers that is further supported by promotion of sales
where Amazon employs special discounts or offers for attaining high sales. In addition, by means
of Amazon smile and the organisation offers a fraction of its sales to the charity companies for
improving its brand image along with enhancing positive perception of consumers. All the
mentioned internal marketing strategies are employed for attracting along with addressing
consumers wants and desires that can gradually promote the company’s repeat sales. In addition,
the promotional mix strategy of Amazon also facilitates the company to effectively communicate
to its target consumers in a manner which encourages them to visit and purchase their online
offerings.
Price Mix Strategies of Amazon
Venkatesan, Petersen and Guissoni (2018) stated that this internal marketing strategy is
relied on fixing product price levels in a manner that attracts target consumers. As devaluation of
the company’s products and services the business considers implementing strategies such as
allowance, discounts, and payment method and credit terms. Considering such statement,
Amazon employs similar strategy for being consumer centric through attracting a huge target
consumer base for all its diversified product ranges available on its e-commerce platform. In
addition, Amazon employs a combination of pricing strategies like price segmentation, market
based pricing along with value based pricing that is highly important in the company. This