Marketing Essentials: Primark Case Study, Fall 2023

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Marketing Essentials
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Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
LO1 Explain the role of marketing and how it interrelates with other functional units of an
organisation..............................................................................................................................4
LO2 Compare ways in which organisations use elements of the marketing mix (7Ps) to
achieve overall business objectives.........................................................................................7
LO3 Develop and evaluate a basic marketing plan................................................................10
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................17
Reference List........................................................................................................................18
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Introduction
Marketing is a process with the help of which the companies make sure that they are
reaching customers and gaining proper information associated with it. On the other hand, it
can be considered as a process, which makes the entire system proficient and productive in
managing the demand in the market. The management of an organisation needs to be very
selective while considering changes to be implemented after a deep down marketing
analysis. The company that has been taken into consideration in this case is Primark.
Primark is a leading brand in the retail domain and it is one of those names, which can
provide a proficient service during the after sales period. The company was established in
1969 and the parent organisation is Associated British Foods (Primark.com, 2019). The
founder of the organisation is Arthur Ryan and currently the organisation is making proficient
results in the business development process
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LO1
P1 Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function.
Marketing can be defined in the words of Philip Kotler as, “A social and managerial process
with the help of which is obtained by individuals and groups as per their requirements and
in the process, there is the creation of exchange parameters of exchanging products and
values with others”. Marketing is an essential part of any organisation; Primark Plc is a
fashion retailer that has a strong presence in the United Kingdom. The retail sector is highly
competitive and that is where the importance of various marketing endeavours that are put
forward lies. The most important roles and responsibilities of the marketing function are
associated with identifying opportunities and ensuring that products are designed
accordingly so that the markets which have opportunities can be churned in order to earn
revenue (Chernev, 2018). Market research is done to understand the various patterns of
demand that is crucial and that will help to make decisions regarding various factors of the
marketing functionality (Bagozzi et al., 2018). Understanding the market segmentation that
will help to understand the need of the target audience is also a prime function. Primark has
been involved in unique ways of catering to the business and it is linked to the fact that it has
been contributing great quality fashionable products at surprising value for money pricing.
The target marketing approach that is taken up by the firm is that it gives a lot of importance
to market research, so that the customer requirements can be easily understood. Another
major role that is played by marketing is linked to ensuring that the marketing team positions
the brand in the most effective manner. Formulating an effective pricing strategy is integral
to the business. Designing of the products as per need of the customer is another activity
with which the marketing department is entrusted, as they have to work in close coordination
with the design team in order to ensure that there is better handling of the market feedback
which is very important in the case of the fashion industry. Building an effective brand image
is also important for the organisation and that is an important responsibility of the marketing
function.
P2 Explain how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider
organisational context.
Primark Plc is a leading fashion retail brand in the United Kingdom. In the wider
organisational context, it is essential that Primark eyes the global market. It has made huge
headway in the global platform as well. The unique identity of the brand is that it is
affordable and it has vibrant cheerful designing. The designing of all its strategies are
associated with the change in the environment. In the wider context marketing has an
interface with the concept of exchange activities with the society at a large. In the wider
context there is a complex environment where the organisational marketing activities are
operating as is displayed in the diagram below:
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Figure1: External interface of the marketing function
(Source- Excerpted from support file)
Primark Plc as an organisation is associated with suppliers, competition, customers and their
preferences as a whole. As a part of wider responsibilities, the marketing functioning is
associated with responsibilities in every aspect of this framework. There are responsibilities
associated with building relationships with customers, negotiating deals with suppliers and
ensuring that all the activities are linked to the organisational objective of profit maximisation
and cost minimisation. A major role that has to be played by the marketing function is to
understand the competitor and to ensure that all the various plans are strategized in a
manner that will ensure that the competition can be met with an innovative approach for the
future. The marketing structure is associated with multiple departments like branding, media
and digital communications and product design and all of these departments collaborate and
ensure that the pricing and distribution strategy is formulated. There is also the function of
public relations and media communications that are applicable to ensure that the
organisation is able to do segment-driven marketing function.
M1 Analyse the roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of the marketing
environment
The roles and responsibilities of marketing associated with the context of the marketing
environment is associated with the fact that it is linked to understanding the opportunities in
the market and deploy various tactics to ensure that there is the effective use of all forms of
strategy that are associated with gaining an advantage over the competitor. There is the
need to ensure that competitive analysis is done that will ensure that all the activities will be
aimed at winning in the highly competitive environment that is prevalent in the retail sector in
which Primark Plc functions.
M2 Analyse the significance of interrelationships between marketing and other
functional units of the organisation
The marketing function is linked with all other functions of the organisation in a direct or an
indirect manner. As it is an essential function, it is important that all the activities of the
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marketing functions work in a synchronised function. The interrelationship with the various
functions is as follows:
 Finance Department- There is a role that marketing has that is linked to budgeting
the expenses associated with the finance department is to devise financial plans in
order to fuel the various activities linked to the marketing function. There is the need
to ensure that there is collaboration in between the two teams so that it is possible to
ensure that all the activities are conducted as per financial plans (Armstrong et al.,
2015).
 Human Resource- The human resource team is associated with the marketing
department in matters related to staffing. The HR team has to ensure that there is
effective staffing done in every area of specialisation of the marketing fashion so that
it is possible to ensure that the marketing function performs perfectly. The duty of the
human resource team is to provide marketing with the best possible to resources
 Production design- This team of designers in Primark work closely with the market
research team in order to ensure that the designing of the apparels are as per the
need in the market and as per the trends that have been noticed in the market
research that is conducted by the marketing team.
 Production Team- This team has to ensure that all the designs and the delivery of
the product are done as per the schedule and the promises made by the marketing
team are met so that it is better performance on the part of the marketing can
improve the value of the brand in the market
 Operation team- This team is associated with ensuring that all the activities are
synchronised as per the need of the marketing team, so that it can be ensured that
marketing will be facilitated in every step and the objective of marketing is met with
minimum hiccups.
 Corporate Communications: As this is a function that is very closely linked to
marketing branding function, it is important to understand that corporate
communications have to be in teamwork with the marketing function and in that way
it ensures that there is no discrepancy in the communication that is made in
representing the brand (Steenkamp, 2017).
 Other Functions: Sales and distribution, sourcing of materials and overall logistics
all have to work in collaboration with the marketing schedule of delivery. The risk
assessment team also has to collaborate with marketing to understand the new
markets that Primark wants to foray into.
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LO2 Compare ways in which organisations use elements of the marketing mix (7Ps) to
achieve overall business objectives
P3 Compare the ways in which different organisations apply the marketing mix to the
marketing planning process to achieve business objectives
The comparative study of the marketing mix is as follows:
7P’s of
marketing
Primark Plc Marks & Spencer’s
Product This is a leading fashion brand. It has a
wide range of products from children
clothes to footwear and lingerie as well.
It has ensured that the products have a
vibrant, value for the money-oriented
quality and that it is associated with
trending style in the market
(Primark.com. 2019).
This is the most popular retail
fashion brand in affordable
pricing range. This company is
focused on a product portfolio
that ranges from men and
women and children apparels
and footwear as well.
Price It has a pricing strategy that is
associated with a low price. It is a
product that considers price to be a
much more important variant than in the
marketing mix. The pricing strategy that
is associated with the brand is low
priced products and it focuses on a
continuous revenue stream through bulk
purchasing
The pricing strategy is lower
than other brands who are
offering the same kind of quality.
The pricing strategy is extremely
competitive. There are
numerous ranges available but
it is having higher price band in
comparison to Primark.
Place It has stores across the United Kingdom,
USA, Ireland and Europe and it is selling
its products via the online channel all
over the world with an enhanced focus
on emerging markets
It has stores in multiple
countries like Turkey, Spain,
France, India, and Hungary. It
sells through its own website
(Marksandspencer.com. 2019 )
Promotion It is involved with the word of mouth
marketing. However, with the change in
the time it is important that Primark is
now resorting to digital marketing so that
there is an advantage of the various
platforms that can be reaped. The
target age group is sixteen to thirty years
and that is the reason that is trying to
focus on digital marketing for the internet
savvy target population. There are
coupons with discounts that are
essential in this case.
It relies heavily on promotion,
and it is represented in all
channels where marketing
communication is possible.
There is the use of TV and
social media marketing that is
associated with the brand as
well.
People It has numerous employees all over the
world. The people who are employed
are young and are in sync with the
young vibrant style statement of the
current times
It has a huge presence in more
countries and multiple stores
that are linked to getting
manned by company
professionals. There is
employee training that is of
prime importance that is
conducted by the brand to
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prepare the employees for
effective performance
Process It has an effective distribution that
ensures timely delivery. There is the
focus of the top management that there
is customer satisfaction in every respect
and that is the reason why employee
training is focused upon. Delivery on
time is considered the most important t
part of the organisational process.
There is a good distribution and
supply chain that is taken into
consideration in the
organisation. There is a need to
ensure that all the functions in
the organisation are driven by
processes that are linked to
ensuring better customer
service.
Physical
Evidence
The stores are, and the online platforms
are the two strategic platforms that are
available to the company.
It has numerous stores all over
and it also has an online
presence that ensures that there
is an effective representation of
the brand all over the world.
Table 1- Comparison of the marketing mix of the two competitive brands in the
fashion retail sector
M3 Evaluate different tactics applied by organisations to demonstrate how business
objectives have been achieved.
Measuring the tactics that are usually applied by different organisations is a necessary factor
to be considered, and it is seen that the business modification process is associated with the
measures that are generally considered by different evaluators to analyse the scenario.
Different companies make business analysis and they make sure that the issues associated
with the business development process are being managed proficiently (Tesch et al., 2019).
It is seen that the tools that are used by different organisations are not limited to certain
things but it is seen that they are managing the issues in a significant manner. The tools that
are used are 7p analysis, Pestle, BCG matrix and others. These factors have a direct
relationship with the business development process and the objectives that have been
considered by an organisation to fulfil the aim.
The Pestle analysis is a process, which is limited to the external environmental analysis. The
factors discussed in the process have a major relationship with the objective fulfilment. The
process is not effective in proposing a market entry strategy, which is also an important
objective for a service-providing organisation. The BCG matrix is also used by a different
organisation to make sure that the issues are being settled if they are related to the strategic
positioning factor (Guenther et al., 2017). The industry attractiveness is measured to fulfil the
demand for an organisation in the highly productive market. The drawback is related to the
internal analysis of the organisation. It is a major factor to consider because the analysis
provides a detailed analysis related to the objective setting and fulfilment.
The factor that has been considered here is the marketing mix. In this aspect, if the product
factor is considered then the company will have major growth in the market offers but it is
seen that is a service providing organisation and retailer; Primark may not capitalise this
option because it is a major service-providing organisation. The best thing to be considered
in this case is the place, promotion, and people. The reason for selecting these factors is
associated with viability and accessibility. The company have pointed out some positive
sides but negative sides like sudden change in demand and trend change can make
significant changes in the business development process (Fogarassy et al., 2017).
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LO3 Develop and evaluate a basic marketing plan
P4 Produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan for an organisation
M4 Produce a detailed, coherent evidence-based marketing plan for an organisation.
Executive Summary
The business development process of an organisation often needs some changes. In this
aspect, the business management process is associated with the proper kind of product
offering or services. The business development and management process of Primark
needed some changes and it has introduced a new summer collection for men and women.
The product is being designed for the target market and the company considered teenagers
majorly for the business development process. The following segment contains a detailed
analysis of the matters associated with marketing and market analysis. Some specific tools
will be used in order to make productive outcome for the organisation.
Mission and Vision
The main mission statement of the organisation is to make sure that quality service is being
provided to people, that includes clothing, and everything associated with the daily
necessities (Abf.co.uk, 2019).
The vision statement is providing quality service and products to the people who are in the
main target market line up apart from that price strategies are mainly patronised by them.
Situational analysis
PESTLE
Factors Analysis
Political The issues associate with business
development process includes managing the
entire system and in that case, the
involvement of political factors is optimum. It
is seen that UK’s political ambience is
proficient for any organisation but in the
recent context, Brexit made some changes in
the business management process. Binding
related with the business expansion was
released and it is seen that he business
management process was intrigued properly.
Brexit provided opportunity to the UK
companies to make business expansion in
those regions, which places where banned
by EU. This is why the organisation Primark
can have benefits in this geographical
portion, as it will give more flexibility to the
company as well. The Tax rates have major
changes as well due to Brexit related export
rate increase (GOV.UK, 2019).
Economic Economically UK is a strong country and it is
seen that the business development had
become easier in this segment as well. The
issues are going to be sorted, as they are not
only depended on the macroeconomic
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condition of a nation. It is seen that UK has
one of the largest GDP rates in the world and
it is a proficient sign that the government has
allowed off shoring and import opportunities
to the organisations. The economic condition
is a major factor to be taken into
consideration and it is seen that the process
has benefited the companies. The economy
of Britain is rising and it can be stated that
the business modification process needs to
have a better option like that in the upcoming
future. The inflation rate of UK is 3.1% and
the rate has shown some signs of getting low
in the recent trends (BBC News, 2019). This
is a productive sign for the organisations like
Primark. They can capitalise the
opportunities in the market as well and it is
going to help in making proficient revenue
associated betterment as well. Investment
and return on investment will flourish in a
significant manner and it is going to provide
some associated benefits as well.
Social The society is associated with those kinds of
people who are adaptive to change. This
kind of situation is beneficial for any kind of
organisation. Offerings of the organisations
are going to be easily managed in this
manner and the demand will be analysed
because the environment is full of such
people who are extrovert in nature and this is
going to make market analysis easier. The
products developed in this process will be
made after proper concerns of the market.
There will be many ethnic groups and it is a
major factor to have into consideration. The
demand of all the races and ethic groups
have to be fulfilled and this is going to make
a significant impact on the business
development process as well. The
organisation will have a detailed assessment
o the demands and the summer collection
will be developed in accordance with it to
meet the requirements.
Technical From the technical aspect, the country is well
developed and it is seen that the business
modification process is in need of a proficient
technical upgrade. The technological sector
is getting a proper kind of revenue
generation and inclusion and this makes the
companies more aware of the fact that they
are going to get more money to be included
in the system. The necessity of business
development is related with the business
management process and it is a major factor
to be taken into consideration from the
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aspect of market sustainability management
(McGoogan, 2017). The machines can be
easily modified with the process and the
business management process will be
enhanced as well. This is needed to be
stated that the business management
process has major technical involvement and
in the long run, it will have a proficient
service oriented benefits as well.
Legal The companies have to make sure that they
are following the protocols of the business.
The acts associated with business
management like Employment Act 2002,
Companies Act 2006 and many others have
to be followed. In accordance with the
Employment Act 2002, the business
management process is associated with the
employee recruitment and giving proper
treatment requires proper knowledge of the
organisational protocols, which cannot be
breached. Primark has to follow everything in
order to make the approach more legitimate.
Environmental The business venture has to be controlled
proficiently. From the environmental
perspectives, the business development
process should be controlled so that the
environment does not get harmed. The
environment act 1995 has to be followed by
Primark in order to meet the need
(Legislation.gov.uk, 2019).
Table 2: PESTLE of UK
SWOT
Strength
 The company has global market
presence.
 Primark has a lot of experienced
employees (Cardwell, 2018).
 Market reputation is good.
Weakness
 There are some internal collisions
in the internal parts of the
organisation
 The employees often reported to
be deprived of their rights.
Opportunities
 The company needs to make
amendments in the service line
up.
 The company has to make
modifications in the supply chain
management.
Threats
 The threat of new entrant is a
major issue.
 The employee turnover is another
aspect they have to manage.
Table 3: SWOT
Marketing Objectives (SMART) and Goals
Objectives Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time bound
To introduce
the summer
The
objective is
The profit
can be
The
objective can
The
objective is
7 months.
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collection to
gain revenue
related with
the profit
generation.
measured
hence it is a
measurable
objective.
be easily
attained with
proper
strategies.
achievable
and hence it
is a realistic
process.
To make
sure that the
organisation
is making
successful
overseas
venture
The
overseas
venture is
primly
focused
The
objective can
be measured
by the
amount of
export rate.
The process
can be easily
attained, as
there are
many places
where the
company
has many
outlets.
The
objective is
easily
achievable
and hence it
is realistic.
1 year.
Table 3: SMART Objectives
Marketing Strategies
STP analysis
The company is approaching with proper kind of market segmentation and it is seen that the
main market that has been considered in this aspect is the teenagers and the people who
are below thirty (Yan et al., 2016). The fashion sense is mainly targeted and this is the best
segment to focus on as they are from the mid economic genre. The main target market is
those people from the teenage to the below thirty category. The position process needs to
be done in a significant manner and Primark has positioned it in the low quality and low cost
segment of the market.
7P Analysis
Product- the product being launched by the company is effective and efficient. People will
love the product, as it is a style statement maker.
Place- the business management process is associated with the proper placing and the
product should be launched in the urban region, as the demand is high in those parts of
Britain.
Price- the price of the product is low and that is why it is going to enhance the chances of
getting more return on investment.
Promotion- the online and traditional processes of advertisement is associated with the
business management and it is going to raise the standards of the product (Kukanja et al.,
2017). This will help in making proper kind of business settlement as well.
People- the employees of the organisation are efficient and they will have a better kind of
market analysis related knowledge as well.
Physical Evidence- the outlook of the retail outlets have to be appealing in order to make a
significant business development. Primark has to make the look of the outlets more
beautiful.
Processes- The entire process has to be effective and in this aspect, the business
management process should have a better kind of customer support system.
The company considers prioritising the price factor to make significant change in the
business development process.
Implementation Plan
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