Marketing Plan Analysis: Strategies for Marks and Spencer (M&S)

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the marketing strategies employed by Marks & Spencer (M&S), a leading global retailer specializing in clothing, food, and home products. It begins with an introduction to the concept of marketing and its importance for organizational success. The main body of the report delves into M&S's use of STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning) strategies, examining how the company segments its market demographically, psychographically, and behaviorally. It also explores M&S's targeting approach and positioning strategies, including functional, symbolic, and price positioning. The report then analyzes M&S's marketing mix, covering the 7Ps of services (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical Evidence). Furthermore, it examines M&S's relationship marketing strategy and offers recommendations for improving the company's business performance. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations, emphasizing the importance of these strategies for enhancing M&S's market position and customer relationships.

Marketing Plan

Executive Summary :
Overall game plan of a business to reach the expected targets of consumers to make them
customers of particular product or services, is known as marketing strategy. Marks and Spencer
(M&S) is the company chosen for analysing the marketing strategies. This company is a retailer
company with the speciality in selling clothes, food and home products. This report will be
focusing on all the factors responsible in improving and maintaining the business sustainability
in the market. With the help of STP analysis this project provides brief about the segmentation,
targets and positioning required for the marketing strategy of M&S. By explaining about the
marketing mix and the 4Ps of products and 7Ps of services this project enlightens the objectives
of the strategies of Product, Price, Place, Production, People, Process and Physical Evidence.
With proper explanation this project determines the needs of these strategies for M&S company.
These strategies are required for improving the business of a company, which proves how
essential they are for a business. This project uses Relationship marketing strategy to understand
the relation between customers and the business. The main aim of this project was to recommend
the best addition or changes to these strategies for improving the business of M&S. These
recommendations consisted of changes and implementation of certain processes for improving
the business of M&S.

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................4
STP Strategies for the chosen organization.................................................................................4
Marketing Mix for Mark and Spencer.........................................................................................7
Relationship marketing strategy and recommendation...............................................................9
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is defined as the process through which an organization communicates create
and exchange offerings which has value for the customers and organization itself (Liu, 2017).
Without emphasis on marketing practices it can be impossible for the organization to reach out
its potential customers and to gain competitive position. For effective application of marketing
principles, it is necessary that organization must conduct an analysis of its target customers and
business goals. The report will provide a critical evaluation of marketing strategy of Marks &
Spencer (M&S) that how marketing has been utilized by organization to become a leading global
retailer. M&S is a global clothing and house hold retailer which has head quarter in United
Kingdom. Organization has marked its global presence via successful marketing and supply
chain. The report will discuss the application and effectiveness of marketing approaches used by
organization to achieve success. It will also assess the significance of relationship marketing in
improving the brand value and customer experience.
MAIN BODY
STP Strategies for the chosen organization
M&S is a British retailer company with the speciality in selling clothes, food and home
products. M&S was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. M&S currently
owns 959 stores in the whole UK(David, 2020). Majority of those stores sell only food products.
STP strategy is crucial for understanding the behavioural pattern of an organization.
M&S as a retailer company uses STP strategies for understanding the customers and developing
such products which the customers can relate with. STP consists for three parts Segmentation,
Targeting and Positioning (Zhang and Wang, 2019).
Segmentations :
Segmentation is the division of market into different part or segments in different order.
Recognition of potential customers is very important for a company in order to increase its sale
(Gómez and Pérez, 2018). Therefore, segmentation is done in different categories according to
age, income status, location and behavioural characteristics.
Demographical -
M&S has to consider demographical segmentation in various types such as Age, which
includes all the categories of age group that are part of the customer base to M&S. This gives the

company opportunity to have products preferred by different age groups. For the sale of the
clothing products M&S company generally focuses on generation y. Gender is an easy way of
segmentation for the company. There consists lot of differences in the needs of both the genders,
which further provides the company the need of dividing their product accordingly. M&S has
different variety of products for male and females. Customers of M&S are also divided by their
income status, the company should have products of different brands and quality for customer
with different income status. There are other ways in which customers are segmented
demographically on the basis of Occupation, Education, Social Status and the size of family they
belong to (Gajanová, 2018). These segmentations provide M&S with opportunities to consider
before introduction of new or modification in older products.
Psychographic Segmentation -
According to this segmentation the lifestyle and personalities of the customers
determines there specific type when it comes to the product requirement. Such segmentations are
hard to be identified but once observed can be useful if saved in the data base. These sorts of
customers are seen having unique demand which turns into opportunities for M&S (Metag and
Schäfer, 2018).
Behavioural Segmentation -
Usually these segmentations are not easy to be recognized, these are differentiated
according to the behavioural differences in the customers. Customer shows differences in
behaviour due to certain occasions which may be social or cultural. Some other ways these
differences are seen are attitude, user status and benefit sought. M&S is a retailer for clothes in
which the behaviour of the customers play a very important role as the customers usually choices
mostly of the younger generations depends upon the fashion trends in the society.
Targeting :
With the help of Targeting M&S runs the business in a very ethical structure by
maintaining market oriented targets for their business. M&S targets the potential of each division
of segments after analysing the commercial attractiveness of each segment. Company decides on
which segment or segments to be tackled according to their potential. Targeting should be done
by the potential of segmentation of customers need and demand. Targeting also requires
calculation of possible threats and opportunities which can be evaluated in order to make profit
for the organization. A company influences the money requirement for its projects and predicted

revenue generation in Targeting part of marketing strategies (Popkova, Hajek and Jelinek,, 2020)
Setting up of targets should be done in such a manner that they are achievable and does not
cause any other sort of difficulties in the company. If targets are proved unachievable M&S
should consider change of targets as this will be beneficial for the company.
Positioning :
M&S deals with different individuals of targeting customers segment in a very effective
manner. Positional strategies used by M&S are of very wide range. Positioning is used by an
organization for tactically placing their products according to the segmentation and the targeted
customers. Positioning can be done in various ways such as,
Functional positioning –
Functional positioning is associated to increase in range of products as well as increase in
quality of services. This can be explained better with an example of in which M&S which has
fine range of products only focuses on advertising those products which have more marketing
demand according the recent trends (Cuzzocrea, 2020 ). Usually these products sold with the
help of functional positioning are comparatively more expensive than other common products.
Symbolic positioning –
This type of positioning is subjective and based on aims and values of the customers.
M&S utilizes this functioning in its fair trade range for products in home products and food
sector. M&S also shows the use of this positioning in clothing products of the company.
Symbolic positioning done with products which usually has a sentimental or social meaning to
it, this is recognized by the combined help of segmentation and targeting.
Price positioning -
In this positioning attraction of specific customer segment is done who are concerned
with the difference in price of the product rather than its quality compared to other products.
Such positioning is done to fulfil the needs of such specified customer segmentation. M&S does
this positioning for satisfying those customers which cannot afford products above a certain
amount or value. In other words M&S uses this for targeting segment with less income status. In
this positioning company can provide customers discounts on buying multi products at less
prices. Pschographical pricing strategy can also be used for influencing the purchasing decisions
of the customers in which the price seems less than what is actually is but actually there is very

less difference (Gajanova, Nadanyiova and Moravcikova, 2019). For example products which
are of 100 should be sold at 99 as this is considered less.
Marketing Mix for Mark and Spencer
Marketing Mix is different factors coming together from control of a company in order to
influence customers purchasing power of its products. Marketing Mix focuses on multiple areas
in comprehensive market plans. This term is often refereed for classifying the 4Ps for product,
which are product, price, placement and production. For services there are additional of 3Ps
which make in 7Ps of services. 7Ps of services also include People, process and physical
evidence (SOFICĂ and Cosma, 2018). Considering the marketing mix of M&S Group plc the
total 7Ps of marketing mix are,
Product :
M&S deals with products of various categories such as clothes, home products, furniture,
food and other gift products (David, 2020). M&S also utilizes cultural festivals as opportunities
for new range of products for example, Christmas related products used for gift and decoration.
This company divides its products into various categories. It studies the lifestyle of the
customers for providing clothes according to time place and occasion for example formal,
casual, party wear and night wears. Along with having a wide variety of products company also
owns online websites where customers can order products at their home. M&S is known mostly
for providing good quality in its products (Addision, 2019).
Price :
M&S is known for its supermarkets of premium quality. In which products are prices in
various forms ranging from low to high. Company tries to keep the prices of products in such a
manner that customers understand the value for money which is reflected by the demography of
the company. Despite this M&S have been criticized for the unfair prices of its products by the
customers. Although the company followed the theory of discriminating pricing strategy its
customers did not welcome this strategy and where angry at the policies of M&S (Alqahtani,
2020).
Place :
M&S has its business spread in 62 international markets with over 1500 stores. M&S
employees more than 78000 people in these stores (David, 2020). In UK M&S has over 959
stores. This means M&S has UK market as the major source of its business. For increasing the

online business of the company M&S bought 50% of the shares of Ocado's UK retail business.
This was done by M&S for introducing online food delivery for the first time in its business
career. Such a strategy worked very well for M&S as it was able to deliver 6500 types of food
products online.
Promotion :
The company has been seen spending millions of pounds for advertising and other
marketing purposes (David, 2020). The reason for which was the highly competitive market of
food and clothes. Although since the growth of digitalization the company has decided to
decrease its spendings over advertisement and use it for increasing the money spent over social
media platforms. M&S has been seen promoting many of its product with the introduction of
offers. For Example company has been providing 30% off as an offer on certain products. Other
ways in which company provides offers are by selling the product in bundles with less collective
prices (Solimun and Fernandes, 2018).
People :
Employees of M&S working in its sales team have the most crucial role in the efforts of
marketing for the company. Their persuasive skills with respect to customers are key to the
success of M&S company(Sudari and et.al., 2019.). Customer services of the company deals
with the issues faced by customers related to products and services. They treat customers with
huge respect and do their best in solving their issues. Employees working with the suppliers for
obtaining raw materials play a very vital role for maintaining and improving the quality of the
product. Employees of M&S prove the importance of people in products and services of a
companies marketing mix.
Process :
Activities which are carried out for ensuring the quality or availability of essential parts
of business are the process which are included in the 7Ps of services. M&S has to maintain its
inventory levels which are very important for business. Thus, assurance of these phenomena is
important for replenishing its stock. Just like that online delivery process of the company which
includes receiving orders through online websites, and further processing them for delivery.
Along with these processes M&S also has to keep on doing the process of research of market
opportunities. This develops an understanding between the company and its market trends
(Surtawijaya and Soegoto, 2020).

Physical Evidence :
M&S is known for selling its products in different colours packagings which are easy to
distinguish. In the supermarkets of M&S products are kept on their specific shelves provided by
the company which are also distinguished by colour. These makes shopping for different
products easy for the customers as they do not have to search for a particular product rather can
easily obtain there desired products. Along with this M&S website has very special features with
high quality images for customers to identify their products from different angels (Mahmoud,
2018).
Relationship marketing strategy and recommendation
Long-term engagement with customers by maintaining loyalty and interactions such a
strategy is called Relationship marketing strategy. This strategy provides customers with direct
informations suiting their needs and demands. In order to create strong connections with the
customers M&S needs to use this strategy of relationship marketing (Do,and Vu,2020).
A very important aspect for relationship marketing is building of a sense of trust and
respect between customers and the business. Aim of this strategy has been to increase the sale
with retention of customers in-spite of constant penetration of same market in the search for new
customers. This approach has been proved very fruitful for M&S. Success has been achieved by
M&S with the help of Relationship Marketing strategy due to certain factors. Factors which
include focusing on own brand dishes, advertisement and its labelling of products.
By prioritizing own brands M&S has gained the trust over many customers. Because
M&S has been keeping products of many suppliers they have understood the needs and demands
of the customers. This is how M&S utilized this research for producing own products with less
cost so that customers switch there preferences to their brand. Relationship marketing proves
important in this scenario as it developed trust between the customers and the business.
Developing trust isn't enough for any company, with trust the company need to show that it can
deliver the right quality and service to the customers.
In the current scenario of Covid 19, the company had to increase its capacity of online
transactions and delivery in order keep the business going. Result of this M&S has targeted the
customers which are incapacitated for using online services. Customers have been seen ordering
as much as they can because they don't have to visit the store. M&S provided many offers in
these times of online transactions as the customers where ordering products in huge amount.

Recommendation
Segmentation of customers should be done according to the products sold by M&S.
Better than providing a particular segment their product, it will be better if the company finds
customers which prefer its products. With the help of segmentation a company can add or
remove products according to its popularity or demand. For achieving greater success M&S
should understand the majority of the customers which need to be targeted. Targeting can be
done properly only when the company has segmented its customers accordingly. Setting correct
targets in segments provides the company to understand where to invest or make changes in its
products or strategies. M&S can improve its business if it utilizes the study of segmentation and
targeting and then can take position according to the preferences of the customers. As discussed
before there are different types of positioning which the company can utilize for improving its
products and services.
M&S can do many changes in its marketing mix for influencing the customers
purchasing power. In the 7Ps of products and services the company can make certain adjustment
of strategy for improving its businesses. For improving the product strategy M&S should
increase the benefits like warranty, delivery and credit sales. M&S should also introduce new
products which are in the trend these days (Kwok, Tang and Yu, 2020). For better results it is
recommended to company that it should first testify its new product before introducing it in the
market (Addision, 2019). In order to improve the price strategy M&S should introduce special
discounts and offers which reduces the price for small period resulting in attraction of customers.
Pschographical pricing is the strategy of pricing in which the price seems less than what is
actually is. This strategy should be used for example products which are of 100 should be sold at
99 as this is considered less (David, 2020).
For place strategy the best recommendation possible is to make the products available on
social media as well. Social media is the most used platform these days and has the majority of
customers on it. This should be used as business platform by M&S company(Addision, 2019).
Another place strategy suggestion is for opening small retail stores which are operated by the
company itself for increasing the sale. M&S can improve its promotional strategies by hiring
social media influencers which are popular on these platforms. Even actors or bloggers should be
used for the promotion of the company. Such people may have the most effective audience for a
certain type of M&S product (David, 2020).

The strategy of improving people can be implemented by providing special training to
existing employees for improving their performances. Other ways of improving or motivating
the employees are by providing incentives to the deserving employees (Addision, 2019). Process
strategies are best improved when computers are used for handling the various process
effectively. Along with that company can also look for better and new ways of implementing
those process in order to reduce cost. By collecting feedback from the customers the physical
evidence strategy can be not only be improved but can also be encouraged. M&S should try to
set up its own stores for providing better and friendly environment to the customers (David,
2020).
Sustainable growth and performance can be maintained by continuous improvement in
the relationship marketing as per business environment. For gaining competitive advantage by
means of relationship marketing M&S must give more emphasis on building relationship with its
customers. The existing relationship marketing strategies must be made more personalized
which add values to customer experience. The organization can also make changes to its pricing
strategies by depending upon customer segmentation or the geographical aspects of the market.
Organization must make necessary changes to its pricing and product strategy (David, 2020).
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that for sustainable growth organizations are
required to continuously improve marketing strategies. Marketing mix elements plays significant
role in customer retention thus organization must improve this strategy by accurate evaluation of
business environment. It is also concluded that for sustainable growth service providers must
also emphasis on improving relationship through interactive approaches. The marketing concepts
and scope are changing greatly with time and thus for dominating market and to explore the
potential opportunities it is recommended that marketing process must be improved
continuously.

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