Marketing Mix, Advertising Budget, and IMC: A Case Study Analysis

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CASE STUDY

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
1. Role of marketing mix to differentiate service offering and achieving competitive
advantage....................................................................................................................................4
2. Different advertising budget..................................................................................................4
3. The concept of IMC and its effects on consumer perceptions...............................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5
Reference List............................................................................................................................6

Introduction
The following section presents answers to some specific questions associated marketing mix,
budget and Integrated Marketing Communication. The section is based on specific case
study.
1. Role of marketing mix to differentiate service offering and achieving competitive
advantage
In case of differentiating the service offerings by the retailer, the elements of product, price,
placement and promotional operations can make huge difference from that of the market
competitors. By making strategic application of these elements of business, the organizations
can better survive in the competitive market. As observed from the present case study, the
retailer is aimed at making significant Christmas profit in the festive period (October, 28-
December, 29), where the roles of seasonal products and personified gifts have been
considered. The strategy of online sales and personified gifts are the associated to the aspects
of marketing mix as these are the strategies adopted by the retailers performing effective level
of promotional and placement activities for gaining higher competitive advantage in the
market (Armstrong et al., 2015). Besides this, there is the matter of strong online proposition
development by the retailers, which is an integral part of marketing mix. Therefore, changing
the product range and price setting in well-strategic ways can help the retailers in earning
higher level of competitive advantage. Moreover, promotion, as integral part of marketing
mix, can make customers aware of the festive offers and personified gifts, which will attract
more customers along with making them loyal to the brand (Huang and Sarigöllü, 2014).
2. Different advertising budget
According to Referenceforbusiness.com (2019), different advertising budget in case of the
retail firm can be mainly offline and online budgets. For performing the business operations
and marketing activities online, there are specific budget. On the other hand, for effective
performing the offline activities, specific budget is developed. For instance, for the purposes
of general traffic and leads, technological applications, cloud incorporation, training of
employees and online advertising, there are specific amount of budget development
(Blakeman, 2018). Therefore, mainly development of budget considers the amount to be
spent in offline and online budgets. Apart from this, there are different types of advertising

budgets like Competitive Parity, Unit sales budget and Affordable budget method (Chen et
al., 2014). As described in the case study, for developing online proposition and offering
personified gifts, application of Percentage and Sales method and Competitive parity
Methods will be mostly compatible.
3. The concept of IMC and its effects on consumer perceptions
Integrated marketing Communication is specific approach for planning communicative
developments, which provides the business with higher potential for getting better results
from the campaigns and reduced marketing costs. The main purpose of IMC has been to
ensure careful linking of all sorts of messages and communication in business together. Thus,
IMC mainly assists integration of different promotional tools. As stated by Blakeman (2018),
integrated marketing communication affects consumer perception through communicating
details of the service and products, its features and utilities to them. In a case study, IMC
through the case, helps the readers in knowing important features of products and thus,
attracts them towards the brand.
Conclusion
The above discussion provides brief insights regarding role of marketing mix elements and
IMC for business with regard to the present case study.

Reference List
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Buchwitz, L.A., Trifts, V. and Gaudet, D., 2015. Marketing: an
introduction.
Blakeman, R., 2018. Integrated marketing communication: creative strategy from idea to
implementation. Rowman & Littlefield.
Chen, G.G., Weikart, L.A. and Williams, D.W., 2014. Budget tools: Financial methods in the
public sector. CQ Press.
Huang, R. and Sarigöllü, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand
equity, and the marketing mix. In Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors (pp. 113-132).
Springer, New York, NY.
Referenceforbusiness.com. (2019). Advertising Budget - percentage, type, cost, Budgeting
methods, Media scheduling. [online] Available at:
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/A-Bo/Advertising-Budget.html [Accessed 30
Mar. 2019].