University of Northampton MKTM028: Strategic Marketing STP Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP) model in strategic marketing. It begins with an introduction to the concept, exploring its theoretical and conceptual underpinnings, and then examines the application of STP within the Sainsbury industry. The report delves into the specific segmentation strategies employed, such as geographical and behavioral segmentation, and assesses the targeting approaches used to identify and reach specific customer segments. Furthermore, it examines the positioning strategies adopted by Sainsbury's to create a distinct brand image in the market. The report also identifies and evaluates strategic implementation issues faced by Sainsbury, such as limitations in promotional strategies and pricing, and offers generic management recommendations to address these challenges. Finally, the report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the importance of STP in achieving marketing objectives and enhancing business growth. The report is structured to provide a clear understanding of the STP model and its practical application in a real-world context, supported by relevant academic literature.

Running Head: Marketing
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SAINSBURY
Strategic Marketing Management
Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP)
2/8/2020

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Theoretical and conceptual perspective of marketing models of strategic marketing.....................2
Understandings of STP in Sainsbury industry.................................................................................3
Strategic implementation issues in company...................................................................................4
Generic management recommendations..........................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The report is prepared in regard to the concept of the strategic management and conceptual
models and the framework of marketing concepts. The competition in the market is very high so
strategic marketing is required in the company for the proper planning, developing and
implementing the things. The objectives of the company can be achieved through the proper
outline so in this report, the model of the segmentation, targeting and positional will also be
stated (Christofi, et al., 2015). The issues in the process of the STP in the company Sainsbury
will also be elaborated in this report and recommendations to solve those issues will also be
enhanced. STP helps in marketing to evaluate the segmentation of the market, targeting the
customers and positioning the offers. STP is the tool which is very effective in marketing as it
helps in aligning with the products with the right customers.
Sainsbury’s is the retailing company that was founded in 1869 by Jon James Sainsbury. The
company was headquartered in London, United Kingdom which has many supermarkets,
superstore serving in the UK. It is the second-largest supermarket chain in the UK which has
many groceries (Khan, 2014).
A theoretical and conceptual perspective of marketing models of strategic marketing
STP is one of the important processes used in the marketing aspects of any organization. This is
considered as a familiar strategic approach used in the process of modern marketing. STP
process is one of the important concepts as it defines the proper link among the market and the
aspects of managing competition in the market. Segmentation is the process to divide the whole
market of the product into various segments (Schlegelmilch, 2016). In this process of
segmentation the process of splitting a market into small groups with the same characteristics to
select an appropriate target market. Targeting is the process of selecting the target market from
the whole market. Target Market includes a group of buyers that satisfaction matters for the
organization. Positioning aspects help to create the impression of brands in the minds of the
target audience that work as per the product or service among consumers.
There is various STP model used by the organizations to maintain the overall marketing process
in the business organization. The segmentation is treated as an essential marketing development.

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Segmentation is one of the important aspects used in the marketing organization. STP model
provides proper help to the marketers in managing their marketing environment and improving
all the aspects of the marketing environment (Andaleeb, 2016). The model of STP is helpful in
making marketing communications with the customers and target audiences. The product-
focused approach is better to provide relevant messages to commercially appealing audiences.
In the STP model, the three important aspects are included that are segmentation, targeting and
positioning. In the market segmentation, the base for the segments is identified that is much
beneficial for the overall aspects of the marketing of the business organization. The other aspect
is related to the market targeting that includes the proper evaluation of the potential and
commercial attractiveness of each and every segment in the company (Domegan, et al., 2016).
One or more segments are selected in this process as a target market that is most important for
the overall growth of the company. The last and important aspect of the STP model is the
positioning of the products that decide the proper position of the products in the marketing
process. STP focuses on the selection of the most valuable segments, effective commercial
activities and product positioning strategy for the marketing mix.
There are various theories included used in the STP process of the company as this decides the
profitability and productivity of the company. STP is relevant to digital marketing that includes
various tactical communications in the overall organization. The concept of STP marketing also
includes in the digital marketing and improves the attraction of the customers. The STP model is
the most important model used in the overall process of the organization (Choi, et al., 2015).
This model helps the organization in achieving all the goals and objectives of the company and
also improves productivity and profitability. The use of this theory improves the overall growth
of the organization. This fulfills all the needs related to the marketing aspects as well as
consumers in the business. This provides several benefits and features to the organization.
Understandings of STP in Sainsbury industry
STP plays an important role in the Sainsbury industry as it gives several advantages to the
company. Segmentation is one of the essential processes that help in the development of the
company by analyzing the market. The Sainsbury includes geographical and behavioral
segmentation. This segmentation is the best segmentation in the business (Barton, 2015).

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Sainsbury chooses the UK as the primary geographical segmentation as the market share is
captured by using the various process of the segmentation. In behavioral segmentation, the
organization chooses the mid-tier brand. This process gives the best value for the money. The
segmentation strategy needs to maintain the overall process of the organization as it includes the
bespoke formula to improve the best position in the market. The different segment of the market
Targeting is also an important process in Sainsbury business as it improves the overall process of
selecting the target customers in the business and improves the overall productivity of the
business. This shows the capability of the organization to become a highlight in the overall
market so the customers attracted to the business. Sainsbury uses behavioral segmentation in its
business which treated as one of the targeting strategies of the organization (Venter, et al., 2015).
Targeting considered one of the important strategies used by Sainsbury as it gives several
advantages and benefits to the business. Sainsbury needs to develop target tiers linked with the
products. This helps to maintain the proper target of the company. The variety of products is
offered by the company to manage the target audience.
Positioning defines the process of the organization to perceive in the market. This shows the
process used by the organization to makes the position of itself in the target market. The price
issued in this aspect as an important point of view in the marketing process. In this aspect,
Sainsbury target the market that adopts good quality products and the price of the products also
included the medium and high end of the market. This improves the value of the customers and
managing the overall profits of the company (Katsikeas, et al., 2016). This process also used to
create value for its consumers. The positioning strategy provides several benefits to the
company. The pricing process of the company is one of the best processes that attract more and
more customers towards the products of Sainsbury. The organization maintains a high position
by making the discounted market segment.
With the help of the STP process, the company has not only even targeted the customers but also
helps in enhancing their market. The risk in the company is reduced through this process and it
helps in comprising the products (Bolos, et al., 2016). STP helps in marketing to evaluate the
segmentation of the market, targeting the customers and positioning the offers. STP is the tool

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which is very effective in marketing as it helps in aligning with the products with the right
customers.
Strategic implementation issues in the company
There are several strategic marketing issues in the company and the basic issues are tied up with
the positioning strategy of the company. The promotion of the product is not done in an effective
manner which is the core limitation of the company. The offering of the company is undercut
and this impact on the discount stores of the company. The growth of the company is not
enhancing as the company is not offering good discounts to the customers so people are targeted
to the other retail stores where the good offers are given to them (Camilleri, 2018).
The development of the company Sainsbury is not done in an effective manner due to the issues
of the promotional strategy of the company. The company is adopting the traditional way of
promoting things that are not helpful in targeting customers. The company has a limited
marketing strategy which is a major factor that impacts the growth of the company. The targeted
customers of the company are high class and medium class people only as they are the people
who can afford the high price ranges of the grocery (Londhe, 2014). So this also creates the
issues in the company Sainsbury that the low-class people are not able to take those grocery
products as their prices are high.
The company has segmented the people depending on the behavior of the people too so it also
creates the issues in the company as the targeting strategy of the company is trickle down. The
prices of the products are high as they offer a high range of quality products. So in the marketing
strategy, this also creates the issue (Lamberton and Stephen, 2016). Sometimes people want the
normal quality product and have to pay the lower price. The value of the customers can also be
created in the market by offering normal quality products so the company has to put the major
focus on that.
Increasing competition in the retailing market creates major issues in the company. To target the
people when the competition is high is difficult. So the company needs the proper plan and there
was a lack of a plan in the company Sainsbury. The company has a lack of skilled labor force
due to which to attract the customers becomes difficult (Tania, 2014).

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Generic management recommendations
The marketing strategy can be effectively developed by the company Sainsbury if they
developed a marketing mix to meet the new marketing demands. The marketing sustainability of
the company Sainsbury can be enhanced by using the geographical position. The buyer’s
demands and wants have to be fulfilled to attain the major growth in the company. The company
has to focus on the needs of the geographical needs so that the business position of the company
can be improved (Pawaskar and Goel, 2014).
The major focus which the company was doing is in developing the quality products but the
company should also offer the value products. They should make the products with lower quality
at lower prices so that the lower class of people can afford it. By offering the variety of the
products to the customers the target customers can be increased. The needs and wants of the
geographical area has to be concerned so that customers will be attracted to the stores of the
company as they want are satisfying (DeSarbo, et al., 2017).
It was recommended that the company should use the new modern method of promotion such as
social sites or online sources so that more people can be targeted. The major audience is attracted
through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, twitters, etc. (Pyo, 2015). It is
recommended that the company can also use the campaigning way to promote the products
more. The company can organize the offers and discounts to the one who wins in the campaign
so that its customers put the attention towards the products. The company can also make
effective decisions by making the proper plans in the company Sainsbury.
It is recommended that the company should adopt the lower level of the prices also in which
fewer quality products should be offered to the customers so that the company can attain the
target of the lower class of people also (Kotler, et al., 2019). With the price range, the product
quality should be offered to the customers. Even the competition in the market is also high so it
is recommended that the company should offer the wide range of products to the customers so
that at one store only people get many things and instead of going to some other stores customers
will prefer this only.

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Conclusion
From the above report, it is concluded that marketing strategies are very essential for the
company to adopt as it does not help in taking the effectual decisions but also helps the company
in enhancing its growth in the market. By using the STP approach or model, the company can
easily target the customers and gain more market shares. In this report, the different literature
review has been studied by the different authors so that the conceptual and the framework
marketing strategies can be developed. The STO of the Sainsbury Company has been examined
and the issues related to this have been addressed in this report.
The major issues which have been seen in the STP are a promotional strategy of the company.
The company is adopting the traditional way of promoting the things which are not helpful in
targeting the customers so it was recommended that the company should use the social media
way or the online sources to attract the customers. The company has segmented the people
depending on the behavior of the people too so it also creates the issues in the company as the
targeting strategy of the company is trickle down. So in this report, it was recommended that the
marketing sustainability of the company Sainsbury can be enhanced by using the geographical
position. There are many other ways through which these issues can be resolved and above it is
clearly stated.

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