TM6025: Strategic Marketing Planning Report - Tesco's Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Tesco's strategic marketing plan, beginning with an introduction to strategic marketing planning and its importance. The first task involves an environmental analysis using the PESTEL framework, examining political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors impacting Tesco's operations, particularly within the context of Brexit. The report then outlines Tesco's specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) marketing objectives, focusing on enhancing customer base and sales. The selection of a social media marketing strategy is justified, highlighting the use of Facebook, Instagram, and email marketing. The report also discusses market targeting and positioning, emphasizing the segmentation and targeting of specific customer groups. Furthermore, the assessment of the 7Ps of marketing and the implementation, control, and evaluation aspects of the marketing strategy are covered. The second task emphasizes the importance of monitoring and controlling the marketing strategy. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and providing references.

STRATEGIC MARKETING
PLANNING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Environmental analysis..........................................................................................................3
Marketing objectives..............................................................................................................6
Marketing Strategy selection..................................................................................................6
Market targeting and positioning............................................................................................8
Assessment of the 7P’s...........................................................................................................9
Implementation, control and evaluation...............................................................................10
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................11
Importance of monitoring and control of the Marketing Strategy.......................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Strategic marketing planning is defined as setting goals and objectives by analysing
internal and external business environment. This process involves planning and implementing
goal of a business so as to track the progress and take corrective measures. Strategic marketing
process brings all the parts of business success together so as to obtain cumulative effect within
the implemented plan. This report is prepared with the view to understand marketing concepts of
Tesco. This report includes external environmental analysis and marketing strategies of Tesco as
they are having marketing objectives for which the company is making several decisions that are
having major impact over their customer and market position as well. In the last part of this
report monitoring and controlling has been elaborated with the help of marketing theories so as
to understand about application of these concepts in marketing strategies (Sahaf, 2019).
TASK 1
Environmental analysis
In order to analyse external environment PESTEL analysis is performed which is
elaborated as under within context of Tesco:
Political factors: These factors are associated with government intervention and stability
which may have impact on business of a country. UK is one of the most prosperous and
influential country around the world but in current scenario it is not stable in political terms due
to Brexit. Broxit is an agreement in which UK has filed a referendum to separate them form
European Union. This has made high impact on political factors of UK as it is a time of
uncertainty so opportunities of business will be decreased in future. As in context of Tesco the
company is operating their business in more than 13 countries around the globe which is giving
immense opportunities to them for growing and expanding. But specifically in UK Tesco is
facing so many difficulties due to political instability (López-Gamero and Molina-Azorín, 2016).
Economic factors: These factors are associated with GDP rate, inflation rate,
employment rate, interest rate, foreign currency exchange rate and many more factors which are
having direct relation with a country’s economy and can impact a business as well. UK is having

5th largest GDP rate around the world and they promotes FDI in very prominent manner. On the
other hand UK is having diversified economy which is giving immense opportunities for private
and public sector to grow with their business. In the context of Tesco the company is operating
their business around the globe and they are free to operate their business in UK as government
is allowed companies to trade in a free manner. On the other hand due to high inflation arte
consumers are inclined towards cheaper products due to less purchasing power which is creating
threat for Tesco as they deals in quality product which are comparatively high in prices.
Social factors: These are the factors which are associated with taste and preference of
customers. Similarly this factor includes age, income and level of education in a country. It can
be said that UK is a highly established country and prosperous in infrastructure and education.
On the other side this is having high impact on businesses of UK such as Tesco. It is a
supermarket store which is highly dependent on purchasing habits of people, as they keep on
introducing innovation in their product and services by which they can attract more customers.
This factor is having significant impact on Tesco as they are totally dependent on buying habits
of customer and in order to take advantage of these habits they are researching about those habits
so as to modify their offerings.
Technological factors: These factors are associated with advancement of emerging
technology within business which can have impact on business operations. In UK technologies
are adapted at a very prominent and early manner this is giving vast opportunities for the
business which enhance intrinsic competition between industry. In context of Tesco they are
using latest technology in billing and store keeping by which they are having effective control
over the business. Tesco is focused on research and development so as to get to know about
technology trend and their implementation in the business.
Legal factors: This factor is associated with those laws and legal legislation which are
enforced by government to businesses and to avoid any law suits these are required to be adhered
to business. In UK there are very strict laws for employment and food and safety which are
requisite to follow by Tesco despite to dodge any legal proceedings. Tesco is a multinational
food chain and they are having large pool of employee in their organisation so these Acts are
strongly enforced by them in order to upkeep their employees and to satisfy safety needs of their

final customers. This factor is having essential role in Tesco as they are required to check all
their ingredients so as to subsistence their responsibility over these laws (Perera, 2017).
Environmental factors: These factors are associated with climate change and impact of
climate and ecosystem over business and impact of business over our ecosystem. In UK people
are prone to safeguard nature and ecosystem for that they prefer some practices such as recycling
and waste management. On the other hand government of UK is highly concerned about
industrial hazards to environment and for this they have made some laws by which harm can be
prevented. Tesco is dealing in packaged food so they have high consumption of plastic and
industrial waste. In order to minimise negative impact on environment they are using certain
practices in their business by which they manage wastages and this helps them to have
sustainable development and biodiversity in their business.
From above discussion it can be deduced that by analysing external environment it is
easier for the business to deal with threats and formulate marketing strategies in more effective
manner. In the context of Tesco by examining external environment situation they can make
considerable strategies to achieve their marketing objectives.
Marketing objectives
Tesco is making strategy for their marketing plan in order to make it successful and grow
their business in marketplace. These objectives are required to be placed in such a manner that it
can be achieved by marketing strategies and marketing plan. Tesco has planned for their
SMART objectives in which they are applying all their marketing tactics and theories
(Armstrong and et. al., 2018).
SMART objective of Tesco
S: Specific: The specific objective of Tesco is to enhance their customer base and sales so as to
get sustainability and market edge. On the other hand Tesco is planning to expand their business
within local markets of UK so as to get more customers and market coverage.
M: Measurable: Tesco is willing to expand to their customer base by 15% and sales by 18%.
Similarly they are planning to capture some local markets in order to enhance customer base and
sales as well.

A: Attainable: Tesco has planned to achieve these goals by giving training and development
sessions to their employees so as to make them efficient to perform within their objectives.
Besides training and development programme Tesco is motivating their employees to perform in
more effective manner and giving them reward for their good performance.
R: Relevant: Tesco has planned their activities totally in the direction to attain those business
objectives and company has planned their strategic activities in such a manner that they could
achieve objective in timely manner.
T: Time bound: Tesco has planned to achieve these objectives within 9 months that means
within next three quarter. Within this Tesco is going to position their marketing strategies within
local markets of UK in order to enhance market share of company and to get high customer
coverage. This time is enough for them to position their marketing strategies and get benefits of
those in achieving their marketing objectives (McDonald and Wilson, 2016).
Marketing Strategy selection
Marketing strategy is long ranged approach in which overall plan of action is made
related to marketing of organisational product. This is the process under which needs of
customer are identified and then proper marketing strategy is formulated so as to get high
competitive edge and sustainability within marketplace. A business may get high market success
if needs of their customers are understood in effective manner. This is the fundamental process
of a business in the path of achievement of marketing objectives. In the context of Tesco they are
marketing objective to enhance their sales and customer base by 18% and 15% respectively. In
order to achieve these objectives marketing manager to Tesco is required to establish most
effective marketing strategy in order to get grip over their marketing objectives. When marketing
strategy is appropriate goals can be archived in most effective manner. This will be most
advantageous for Tesco as they have limited time to get their objectives achieved so within this
period they are supposed to use the most effective marketing strategy in order to avoid any delay
in their goals achievement (Tuten and Solomon, 2017).
In current digital time most of the population are having online existence so social media
marketing will be the most beneficial strategy for Tesco in their path to cover up local markets in
UK.

Social media marketing: Within this marketing strategy social media tools are used by
business in promoting and advertising their product within marketplace. This is considered as the
most influential marketing strategy as this can cover and attempt so many people at large and at
once. This is an economic marketing strategy and having very simplified process to use. In the
context of Tesco they can use this marketing strategy within their strategic marketing process in
order to achieve their marketing objective within desired time frame and get market
sustainability. There are some dimensions in social media marketing which can be used by Tesco
as in marketing process which are elaborated as under:
Facebook: This is a platform where people are connected at a common platform with
major objective of have connections and sharing their thoughts. This platform can be used by
Tesco in implementing their strategy within marketplace. Within this platform Tesco can
advertise about their new market segment on their Facebook page by this awareness can be
spared. This will help them to position their product and new entry within market in most
effective manner due to which their objectives can be achieved quickly.
Instagram: This is another unofficial platform where people get connected and shares
their thoughts. By using this platform a company can advertise their marketing campaign and
strategies in a very prominent approach by which involvement can be seen by large population
and immediate feedback can be received. In the context of Tesco, they can use this platform and
push their marketing plan in such a way that it would attract more people by which Tesco will be
able to capture more market share and get help over goals achievement.
Email marketing: This is an official way of social media marketing under which emails
are sent to customer and potential customers, which contains all the information regarding
company’s new marketing movement and their marketing plan. This will help the customer to
know the company and enhance knowledge about their business offerings. In this context Tesco
can send email messages to their customer that contains new offers and vouchers by which they
can increase their customer footfall and achieve their objective of enhancing overall sales (Felix,
Rauschnabel and Hinsch, 2017).

Market targeting and positioning
Market targeting is defined as selecting the market which is most appropriate for the
company as they can attract more customers from that market and they can establish robust
distribution channel in that market. Within this concept the market will be divided in smaller
parts by Tesco and a particular group will be targeted so as to concentrate at that group of
audience. These small groups can be based on several aspects such as:
Demographic segmentation: Within this market segmentation Tesco has divided market on the
basis of age, gender, marital status, religion etc.
Psychographic segmentation: This segmentation is done by Tesco on the basis of personality
and living lifestyle.
Behavioural segmentation: This segmentation is performed by Tesco on the basis of habits and
behavioural characteristics of users and customers.
Geographic segmentation: Within this segmentation Tesco has divided the market on the basis
of area code, city and local region.
As per the proposed marketing plan by Tesco, as they are planning to tap within local
markets of UK so they have segmented the market on the basis of geographic segmentation
(Camilleri, 2018).
Market Positioning is defined as the position which is acquired by a brand or product in
the minds of customers. In order to position their product Tesco is using two major strategies
which are as under:
Quality as positioning strategy: Within this strategy Tesco is rendering high quality
products to their customers so as to be recognised as a quality brand and get high market
coverage. This strategy will position Tesco as a quality brand which is known for their superior
quality.
Product class positioning strategy: Within this context Tesco is going to position them
as a place where customer can get one roof solution to their needs and demands. This means

Tesco is highly focused in providing products from all segments so as to attract number of
customer and meet their marketing objective as well (Soe and Kakinaka, 2018).
Assessment of the 7P’s
Marketing mix is defined as sum or marketing tool which are used by a business to meet
their marketing objectives within target market and position their strategies to attain those
objectives in considerable manner. Marketing mix consist of 7P’s which are the dimensions of
marketing plan. In context of Tesco they are planning to tap up within new local markets of UK
for this they are required to examine all the dimension of marketing mix so as to know about
their strategies and requisite modifications (Abril and Rodriguez-Cánovas, 2016). Marketing mix
of Tesco has been elaborated as under:
Product: Tesco is a multinational retailer which is dealing in clothing, furniture, books,
toys, packaged food and may more. Tesco is the largest retail chain in UK and they are having
distinct product ranges which are high in quality and specifications.
Price: Tesco is a market leader but at the same time they have so many competitors
around so in order to deal with these competitors Tesco keeps their pricing strategy as
competitive strategy in which they decide discounts on a product by seeing rival’s strategy first.
Place: Tesco is having their operations in more than 13 countries. Over the world they
have 6700 stores which makes them market leader and a global company as well.
Promotion: Tesco has analysed that online presence is more impactful than offline so
they have decided to use modern methods of promotion such as social media marketing and
email marketing. This will help them to catch up more customers and save their cost as well.
People: Tesco is highly concerned about development of their employee they have more
than 450000 employee throughout the globe and in order to enhance their skills Tesco plan
various training and development sessions for personal and professional development of their
employees.
Process: The most prominent process used by Tesco in their stores is self-checkout
system which enhances ease of shopping and attract customer to have a hassle free shopping
experience. Similarly Tesco is having online delivery process in which their customer can order

from their online websites and their product will be delivered to them in minimum time. Tesco is
renowned for their minimal time delivery which makes their distinct identity within marketplace.
Physical evidence: Tesco is planning to tap into local markets of UK but at the same
time Tesco is having high appearance within UK market as the company is embracing number
one position within retailing in UK (Blut, Teller and Floh, 2018).
Implementation, control and evaluation
In the last portion of a marketing plan it is required to evaluate its performance so as to
take corrective actions and measure its effectiveness. With this context Tesco has used tools to
control and evaluate effectiveness of their marketing plan. This will help Tesco to understand
needs of their audience so as to check their position within marketplace and evaluate their
marketing strategies in more considerable way.
Key performance indicator: This tool is used by businesses to check out efficiency of
business in achieving their major objectives. KPI is emphasised on evaluating overall
performance so by using this tool of evaluation Tesco is able to know about performance of each
of their department which are involved in their business objectives. This aids them to take
corrective measure for those departments which is lacking on their performance (Choudhary and
et. al., 2016).
Benchmarking: Within this tool of performance evaluation business compares their
performance with other organisation which is known for their best business practices. In this
context Tesco is comparing efficiency of their marketing strategy with other organisation in the
same industry so as to get to know about own market position in a better way (John and
Eeckhout, 2018).
TASK 2
Importance of monitoring and control of the Marketing Strategy
Marketing Strategies is plan or strategy formulated by any organization to target
demographics, customers, products etc. and to reach those targets desired. It contains the
company’s values and various data on customer demographics and various other high-level

elements. It is important to regularly monitor and control these strategies by Tesco or in fact any
organization to in terms of Return on Investments. Return on Investment is a performance
measure used in evaluating efficiency of an investment. It is generally calculated by dividing
Return of Income with cost of the investment (Mullakhmetov and et. al., 2016).
Monitoring and controlling the market strategies should be done on regular basis to make
sure they are aligned with all the market opportunities and challenges. Below given are some
importance of Monitoring marketing strategies with respect to Return on Investment: -
Improve in approach to Marketing: - Continuous monitoring of marketing strategy
will help organization to point out the deficiency in existing marketing policies. Once these
deficiencies are, identified Tesco can analyse these and make the necessary changes to their
existing marketing Strategy. This updating will lead to reduction of marketing cost and increase
in market coverage, which will directly have positive impact on ROI. Even The Marketing Mix
theory suggests for regularly updating the marketing mix since it evolves constantly.
Stronger Financial Position: - Every effort whether directly or indirectly has financial
impact on Profit and Loss. Therefore, by monitoring your market policies and strategies you can
identify the addition made by that effort. Therefore, according to that result more investment can
be made in direction of strategy, which is more fruitful so that Return on Investment could
improve which will ultimately result into stronger market position. Tesco should regularly
analyse the results of their marketing strategies and keep updating their investment towards it.
Even Balances Scorecard theory focuses to updating marketing strategy in the way that
organization objectives met.
Understanding your Audience: - Analysis and monitoring of marketing strategy helps
Tesco in understand their audience and customers and making decisions related to their Product,
demographics of operations and marketing strategy. Once Tesco understands their audience it
would help them in making better decisions in identifying Products, Price, areas to operate,
customers to be targeted etc. which would ultimately result into higher amount of return and will
gradually improve the return on investment measure which would make their market position
stronger and reliable for stakeholders. Various strategies like Ansoff Matrix, Maslow’s hierarchy

of needs etc. directly or indirectly values understanding the audience needs, purchasing power
etc. to make better marketing strategies.
Monitor and Controlling Social Media platforms: - In today’s world, online and social
media platform is the biggest platform of Marketing and it has wide and fast reach. So, In order
to have good marketing results it is must to regularly supervise all social media posts, policies,
strategies and plans which would have direct impact on cost and revenue of the Organization. In
order to get better return on Investments Tesco has to regularly monitor and control their social
media platform of marketing to avoid any legal cost or loss and to reach mass number of
Audience. Chaffey’s theory strictly emphasis on various modes of social media marketing and its
importance to the results of Organisation. Therefore, it can be concluded that regular monitoring
of Social media platform of marketing strategy is required to improve rate of return on
Investments (Vinerean, 2017).
Market Share Analysis: - Market share is the percentage of market covered by some
particular organization for any product or service against whole Industry. It is important to
monitor marketing strategies and results to identify the market share of organization for each
product or service they offer against their competitors. So once Tesco gets to know these they
can identify their competitors and identify the ways to overcome them and with respect to market
share. In addition, to identify the segments which are generating negative value or return for
organization as well. Therefore, those segments can be closed and return of improvement would
be improved by removing the negative results. Boston Consulting Group Matrix theory as well
as GE Matrix theory by Mckinsey and company suggest the way to focus on more value adding
units and identify and remove the problem or negative results and growth units. Tesco can use
both these theories to identify and analyse each unit and their results and make the best decision
out of it so that Rate of return of investment can be improved and achieve budgeted targets.
CONCLUSION
From the above detailed report it can be concluded that strategic marketing strategy is
having prominent role in business as it is helpful in making appropriate marketing strategies.
External environment analysis helps the business to get to know about market threats and
opportunities so as to gather information regarding all the aspects and use those in making