Marketing Plan for Primark: Roles, Analysis, and Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive marketing plan for Primark, a global Irish fashion retailer. It begins with an introduction outlining the company's background and the report's objectives. The main body defines the roles, responsibilities, and relationships of the marketing research and audit department with other departments, emphasizing its crucial role in collecting and analyzing market data to gain a competitive advantage. A SWOT analysis is conducted to assess the department's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The report identifies the core problem of improving product quality and repositioning the brand image, followed by the objectives of market research. Key issues addressed include the use of market research, lean planning, and financial tools to inform business strategies. Strategies for achieving objectives are proposed, including knowing customers, optimizing social media, and implementing quality control measures. The report concludes by outlining cross-functional requirements such as security, reliability, and performance to ensure the effectiveness of the marketing plan.

MARKETING PLAN

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Define responsibilities, roles and relations with other departments.......................................1
Analysis of Individual Department Situation.........................................................................2
Problem Statement & Objectives of Marketing Research and Audit Department.................3
Main issues and points addressed for business strategy by department and its impact on
overall business......................................................................................................................4
Strategies for objectives and integration to marketing plan...................................................4
Cross functional requirements................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Marketing Plan is detailed document that specifies actions for advertising strategy that
business implement to targets its potential market. Primark is Irish fashion retailer company
located in Dublin and operating worldwide (About Us, 2019). In this report roles, responsibilities
and relation with other departments of company will be defined. There will be analysis on
individual department situation, objectives of sections and problem statement of department will
be clearly defined. The main issues that are addressed for business strategies for department and
its impacts on overall business will also included. At last, integration of strategies for individual
objectives with marketing plan and incorporation of cross functional requirements are included.
MAIN BODY
Define responsibilities, roles and relations with other departments
Marketing plan is basically a blueprint that states by which organisation can implement
marketing strategies using resources to achieve sales objectives (Lee and Kwag, 2017). Primark
is Irish retailing company offering wide variety of products for infants, children, women, men
and other home and beauty products.
Role: There are different roles of market research and audit which department performs in
organisation. One of major role is collecting and presenting facts related information to company
so that Primark can gain competitive advantage in industry. Another role is to diagnose that
collected data so that some meaningful information can be extracted and strategies can be make
on the basis of results. Last is to predicting results of planned strategies so that outcomes are
estimated and related actions can be made (Babin and Zikmund, 2015).
Responsibilities: The marketing research and audit department is responsible for overall
business operations and contributes in growing sales. It is responsible for setting strategy for
marketing so that specific objectives can be achieved for Primark. It is total responsibility of this
department to support sales team with relevant data so that their efficiency is achieved. This will
help business to identify market opportunities so that factors related to customer needs are
understood to meet their demand (Haider, A. A. and et. al., 2019).
Relation with other departments: Every department in organisations are interconnected so that
overall objectives are achieved with integrated efforts. Its relation with manufacturer section is to
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plan, design, implement and execute product development so that customer expectations are met.
With distribution department it provides location, design and improve stores style of Primark so
that consumers gets attracted with outlets (Ortega and Okechukwu, 2017). Its relation with
finance department is to make budgets and allocate to activities so that market opportunities are
identified and exploited to have competitive advantage in industry.
Analysis of Individual Department Situation
Situational analysis for marketing research and audit department can be done with the
help of SWOT Analysis (Mouzas and Ford, 2018). This identifies different internal factors like
strengths and weaknesses and external forces like threats and opportunities present in marketing
environment.
(Source: SWOT Analysis, 2019)
Strengths: This is internal factor which identifies abilities of marketing research and audit
department of Primark. They have excellent market research team who work on promotional and
sales campaigns to attract customers. Audit team is efficient in finding out deviations and
purposed effective solutions so that errors are reduced in future. Research team members are
expert which helps company to identify customer taste and preferences and use it as tool for
growth. Positive point about company is that it is low prices retailer company which provides
range of products including clothing, homeware, accessories, beauty, etc. Strength of official
website is that it is user friendly and easy to operate and search specific product.
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Illustration 1: SWOT Analysis

Weaknesses: Primark lacks in distribution channel which makes its marketing strategy weak as
execution is not as per plan which affects productivity of overall business. This weaknesses also
impacts its brand image as it is not easily accessible to end consumers which leads to decrease in
sales revenue. There is need that different platforms are selected so that business products are
available on various E-commerce sites, social platforms and through official websites. Scandal of
child labour in the Sweat Shop is one of the biggest negative point about the company (The
hidden face of Primark fashion, 2019). Official Website of Primark is full of bugs and efficiency
is low in terms of performance.
Opportunities: Department of Primark is its strength and thus it identifies changes in customer
taste and preferences which provides scope for growth. There is scope that changing behaviour
of consumers are used to target new markets by providing range of product that meets their
specifications. There is scope that different appeals are used to attract buyers so that their
purchase decisions are influenced (Mayabi, 2019).
Threats: One of most common threat that any company or department possess is competition
and its strategy. For Primark marketing research and audit department it is a threat to comply its
strategies to be more effective and efficient so that company can beat competitors and survive
sustainability in industry (SWOT analysis of Primark, 2019).
Problem Statement & Objectives of Marketing Research and Audit Department
Primark is sustaining its growth in industry in effective manner as retail industry is fast moving
and ever changing in nature which demands more research related activities. Thus it is important
that company address its problems so that strategies are formed. Main problem that business is
facing in today's scenario is improving product quality and repositioning its brand image in
market. This will help in increasing share of market within industry and further its market
position (Cook, 2018). This section will identify current problem that company faces in market
research which related to problem of overall business.
Problem Statement: This states that challenges and issues faced by department that will
be directing its efforts to solve organisation problem. This statement clearly defines problem so
that it can be easily support business problem. The market research problem is 'To determine
attitudes of consumers and level of satisfaction they get from quality of product company offers'.
Objectives: The main objective of market research in general is to provide important
information to marketing manager so that strategies are effective and objectives are attained for
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overall business targets (Armstrong and et. al., 2018). But in this case, objectives will be framed
so that above problems are address effectively and issues are resolve. Some of those objectives
are:
 Identify consumers feedbacks to product of company by seeking maximum information.
 Identify consumer needs and expectations so that their attitude and satisfaction level can
be improved about products.
These objectives will help Primark to solve above stated problem for company so that overall
performance of organisation can be improved. This will help in addressing problem effectively
and providing scope to overcome it (McDonald and Wilson, 2016).
Main issues and points addressed for business strategy by department and its impact on overall
business
Department will come up with tools and theories so that strategies are framed to address problem
faced by marketing research and audit section which have positive impact on overall productivity
of business. Some of them are as follows:
Market Research: This is one of most extensively used tool that company undertake to
define or address problem so that there is complete knowledge about the problem (Chang, 2016).
In this marketing research department will conduct research and identify factors that are creating
negative impact on satisfaction level. Quality of product, attributes, materials, packaging and
other elements will be analysed so that reasons can be discovered.
Lean Planning: This theory suggests that business strategies need to be revised regularly
so that it aligned with changing business environment and positive results can be achieved.
Research related activity every month will identify changes in consumer taste and preferences
which will make Primark change its qualitative aspects (Maskell, Baggaley and Grasso, 2017).
Financial Tools: This will help company to look at financial aspects of problem so that
business have clear picture about the issues and key points of problem. This will identify
financial inefficiency of challenge and thus help of find out more negative impact on overall
operations of Primark (Demil and et. al., 2015).
All these tools and theory will help marketing research and audit department to address
main issues and key points so that business strategies can be formed and its behative impact on
whole organisation and its processes can be reduced.
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Strategies for objectives and integration to marketing plan
Customer experience are of two types positive and negative which have respective
impacts on organisation (Marmullaku and Ahmeti, 2015). Positive impacts brings profits and
sustainability in industry while on the other hand brand image and revenue decreases in case of
negative satisfaction of consumers (Smith, 2017). Different strategies will be employed by
marketing research and audit department so that problem can be resolve in effective manner.
Some of them are as follows:
Know about Customers: This includes all information that related to there beliefs,
attitudes, needs, wants, preferences, culture, etc. so that there purchase behaviour and perception
about value can be identified. This will help department to identify that aspects which are to be
included in qualitative aspects so that customer experience can be enhanced. This will also
aligned with marketing plan of identifying changes in taste and preferences of buyers.
Opt Social Media: Primark lacks in promoting its brands and products on social
platforms which is decreasing its revenue an share as compared to its competitors. It is high time
that different social platforms will be used after research that how this can be used to take
improved customer satisfaction (Blakeman, 2018). This will helps in taking feedback, being in
touch with consumer on personal basis and address queries and grievances which is part of
marketing plan.
Quality control: Primark strength lies in research as its teams is effective and experience
which brings out that controlling techniques should be appropriate. Qualitative aspects need to be
as per expectations and demands of end consumers so that their satisfaction can be improved.
This also requires research activities so that suitable techniques are used. For this total quality
management can be apply so that each and every process or activity which adds quality to
product can be controlled. This sets standards for quality check and corrective actions in case of
variances so that errors can be reduced to minimum (Demissie and et. al., 2017).
All above stated strategies will enhanced quality which will improve customer
satisfaction and attitude towards products of Primark. Marketing research and audit department
objectives will be achieved along with integration of whole marketing plan of organisation by
applying these strategies to above stated problems.
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Cross functional requirements
Cross or non-functional requirements states systems has to behave and establish
limitations with its functions (Ortega-Egea and García-de-Frutos, 2019). They makes sure that
effectiveness and usability of entire system is achieved. Some of the requirements are as follows:
Security: This requirements ensures that software is protected so that there is no
interruptions from unauthorised users to system and data. It also includes protection against
viruses and malware so that data is safe and secure (Ruiz and Lluesma, 2018). It is important for
primark and marketing department to protect their data so access to information is allowed from
authorised systems.
Reliability: It defines possibilities of software will operate without failure for specified
time. It gets decreases due to hardware issues, system components and bugs which needs to be
checked. Primark and department will measure its reliability by calculating number of operations
that are effective and without errors (Frankel and Mollenkopf, 2015). There is need that
department keeps backup of their important data in case of system failure.
Performance: It is important attribute of quality which defines responsiveness of system
in relation to various user interactions. Primark needs to check that marketing research and audit
software so that efficiency can be increased in accomplishing objectives and distributing
information needed by other division of organisation.
Scalability: This shows that systems can be developed upto what extend without
negative influence on performance. This in simple words means that more data and systems are
effective in research purpose so that meaningful data can be extracted and used in decision
making (Kreutzer, 2019). Primark will makes sure that more data is processed so that facts and
meaningful information is outcome of market research activities to assist company in achieving
organisational objectives.
The value of this cross functional requirements is to develop process so that it provides
important data and information to organisation to make strategies and take decisions (Swink and
Schoenherr, 2015).
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that marketing plan is detailed document that
specify actions and strategies related to marketing for company. This defines that there are some
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roles and responsibilities of marketing research and audit department which ensures efficiency of
their efforts in achieving objectives and relation with other section for integrated efforts.
Situational Analysis is done with help of SWOT analysis so that present situation is identified for
stating problem and objectives of department. Issue and key points ate identifies with strategies
to impact overall business using tools and theories. Strategies to achieve departmental objectives
and its integration with marketing plan and requirements of cross functional are also defined.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Armstrong, G. M. and et. al., 2018. Marketing: an introduction. Pearson UK.
Babin, B. J. and Zikmund, W. G., 2015. Exploring marketing research. Cengage Learning.
Blakeman, R., 2018. Integrated marketing communication: creative strategy from idea to
implementation. Rowman & Littlefield.
Chang, J. F., 2016. Business process management systems: strategy and implementation.
Auerbach Publications.
Cook, I., 2018. Inviting construction: Primark, Rana Plaza and Political LEGO. Transactions of
the Institute of British Geographers. 43(3). pp.477-495.
Demil, B. and et. al., 2015. Introduction to the SEJ special issue on business models: business
models within the domain of strategic entrepreneurship. Strategic Entrepreneurship
Journal, 9(1), pp.1-11.
Demissie, A. and et. al., 2017. Quality assessment and improvement for Ethiopian garment
enterprises. Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering. 34(6). pp.450-460.
Frankel, R. and Mollenkopf, D. A., 2015. Cross‐functional integration revisited: Exploring the
conceptual elephant. Journal of Business Logistics. 36(1). pp.18-24.
Haider, A. A. and et. al., 2019. Marketing Management.
Kreutzer, R. T., 2019. Toolbox for Marketing and Management . Springer
Lee, J. W. and Kwag, M., 2017. Corporate marketing strategy using social media: a case study of
the Ritz-Carlton Seoul. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business. 4(1). pp.79-
86.
Marmullaku, B. and Ahmeti, F. B., 2015. Factors affecting marketing strategies: pricing, channel
structure and advertising strategies. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and
Management United Kingdom. 3(6). pp.599-609.
Maskell, B. H., Baggaley, B. and Grasso, L., 2017. Practical lean accounting: a proven system
for measuring and managing the lean enterprise. Productivity Press.
Mayabi, B., 2019. Primark. Core Competencies, Pestle Analysis, SWOT-Analysis. GRIN Verlag.
McDonald, M. and Wilson, H., 2016. Marketing Plans: How to prepare them, how to profit from
them. John Wiley & Sons.
Mouzas, S. and Ford, D., 2018. The mediating role of consent in business marketing. Industrial
Marketing Management. 74. pp.195-204.
Ortega-Egea, J. M. and García-de-Frutos, N., 2019. Greenpeace’s Detox Campaign: Towards a
More Sustainable Textile Industry. In Case Studies on Social Marketing (pp. 37-47).
Springer, Cham.
Ortega, A. M. G. and Okechukwu, C. U. U., 2017. Strategic means to launch business-Primark in
Denmark.
Ruiz, P. G. and Lluesma, C. R., 2018. Virtues and the common good in marketing. In Business
Ethics (pp. 99-123). Routledge
Smith, R. D., 2017. Strategic planning for public relations. Routledge.
Swink, M. and Schoenherr, T., 2015. The effects of cross‐functional integration on profitability,
process efficiency, and asset productivity. Journal of Business Logistics. 36(1). pp.69-
87.
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Online
About Us. 2019. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.primark.com/en/aboutus>
SWOT analysis of Primark. 2019. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.howandwhat.net/swot-analysis-primark-primark-swot-analysis/>
The hidden face of Primark fashion. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/22/india.humanrights>
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