A Comparative Study of Marketing Mixes: Tesco vs. Sainsbury's

Desklib provides solved assignments and past papers to help students succeed.

Marketing Essentials
1

Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................... 3
LO1.................................................................................................................................. 4
LO2.................................................................................................................................. 8
LO3................................................................................................................................ 12
Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 18
Reference List................................................................................................................ 19
2

Introduction
The core need of marketing from the perspective of different organizations in recent
context will be evaluated at the study. In order to do so, the key role of marketing and its
core interrelation with some other functional units will also be analyzed and discussed at
the study. In addition to that, a comparative study will also be demonstrated between
two different organizations from identical industry in order to plan a prefabricated
marketing planning process at certain extension. Lastly, a basic plan regarding
marketing will also be described at the study from the perspective of an organization.
Tesco will be taken into consideration for conducting the specific study. It is the biggest
supermarket chain of entire UK and one of the largest supermarket chains of entire
world. They mainly sell merchandise products and grocery items at certain extension.
They have stores at more than 7 thousand places. In addition to that, 7p of marketing
mix will be conducted in order to achieve the overall goals and objectives of the
organization.
3

LO1
P1 Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function.
Marketing is considered as the essential function for an organization or business. It is a
technique used for the creation of a product and bringing it to the customers to meet
their necessity (Ibrahim et al., 2017). The whole procedure of exchanging goods
between customer and organization is elaborated by marketing strategies of the
organization, which is considered as the key role involved in the marketing function. The
responsibilities and key roles of marketing function have been explained below:
Marketing Plan
During pursuance of market research, the goals of the company are prioritised. Tesco’s
marketing function is based on systematic planning and strategizing the way it will drive
to achieve objectives, parallel considering the marketing budget, profitability and
expected revenues.
Product development
According to information gained from market research, product is developed by R&D
section by analysing the provided information by marketing team. Tesco gain
competitive edge by creation of product according to customers’ demands and wants.
Product Standardisation and Grading
The different features of products such as weight, quality, raw materials used and
product design details product standard. Standardization assists in producing
uniqueness in products available in market (Nguyen et al., 2017). Following this the
products is graded following their standards. Tesco always grade their grocery items
like A, B, C and so on.
Product Packaging and Labelling
4

All Tesco products are required to be packaged appropriately for avoiding damage
during transportation from one place to another. Packaging is completed by encasing
product in boxes, bottles, cans and is even wrapped with papers and plastic.
Product labelling is performed for giving products an identifiable label. The label on
products details all important information regarding the product such as its manufacture
date, manufacturer name, expiry date, key ingredients and others.
Branding of the Product
For distinguishing the products from others Tesco name all its products. Alongside
naming, the Company’s logo is printed on product package, which is termed as
Branding. This is performed by Tesco for giving their products own unique identity.
Product Pricing
Pricing of a product made by Tesco has always been targeted towards its customer
base that determines their unique pricing strategy. For instance, if the target customer
Tesco’s product is towards middle and low income class people, the products
necessitates to be priced lower for making it affordable to its target customers.
Promotion of Products
Advertising channels comprises of mass media channels such as radio, newspapers,
television, internet, banners and many more (Wood et al., 2016). This is very crucial
aspect as better and catchy advertisements cater to target consumers eventually help to
increase brand awareness and thereby generate interest on their minds to purchase the
product. Taglines, catchy slogans and brand ambassadors are characterised on
Tesco’s product advertisement.
Physical Distribution of Products
For physical distribution of product from producer to consumers, the product
necessitates going through numerous distribution channels for reaching its final
destination. While distribution, numerous factors are considered such as fragility of the
5

product, warehousing and transportation. Tesco requires storing their products in
warehouse and thereafter catalogue that inventory. Transportation through vehicles in
the acute way is performed being Tesco a multinational company having customers
across the world.
P2 Explain how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider
organizational context.
In modern business aspects, marketing and customer relationship are two most
important factors that impacts over business profitability and overall sales performance
simultaneously. It allows achieving more amounts of profits in business. Customer
relationship is the core of business that allows high employee engagement. The
marketing head needs to ensure the customer relationship in order to achieve greater
level of sustainability (Baker and Hart, 2016).
Additionally, marketing department also maintains a healthy relationship with other
organizational functional departments like HR department, finance department, IT
department and others. The IT team of the specified organization needs to be active in
their roles and use online promotional mediums for reaching out more numbers of
customers across the global premises. Tesco is one of the most popular and successful
retail organizations across the Great Britain premises so that the company must ensure
the healthy relationship between marketing department and other functional
departments (Khodakarami and Chan, 2014).
However, the company also needs to make sure about their customer relationship
management procedures that are conducted by higher marketing authorities. In Tesco,
there must be adequate procedures for maintain healthy and prefabricated relationship
with the valuable customers in order to retain them and achieve competitive advantage
in market place. Larger customer base will allow the organization to be more productive
and meeting the expectations and needs of the customers in an effective manner.
M1 Analyse the roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of the
marketing environment.
The overall roles and responsibilities of marketing has been described below:
6

 Marketing department conducts market research and gathers information from
market about the customer purchasing behavior and current market trends.
 Marketing department also responsible for setting the best affordable price rate
of products compared similar products of rival companies.
M2 Analyse the significance of interrelationships between marketing and other
functional department of an organization
Marketing and other functional departments of different organizations like Tesco are
closely linked with each other at certain extension. As an instance, the finance and the
marketing department work alongside with each other for maintain the overall business
objectives (Feng et al., 2015). Moreover, HR department and IT department of that
organization are also closely linked with marketing for improving efficiency and
affectivity.
7

LO2
P3 Compare the ways in which different organizations apply the marketing mix to
the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives
Elements of marketing
mix
Sainsbury Tesco
Product The diversified product
line comprises of
vegetables, fruits, dairy
products, health and
beauty products, bakery,
pet care and others. The
varied product range
serves the varied wants
and desires of consumers
and thereby ensures
higher sales.
Tesco offer numerous
products under their brand
name like clothing, food
products, electronic
goods, financial services
and others. Tesco also
sales regional products
which are being sold at
special places across the
world (Nguyen et al.,
2017).
Price Sainsbury is doing
business with
maintenance of value for
money through selling
products and kept pricing
strategy according to the
products. The key
products include grocery,
baby food products and
others that are brought
from local suppliers.
Sainsbury’s chilled
products and bakery are
Tesco has been proficient
in keeping the prices low
by dropping operational
costs. This low pricing
strategy has allowed
Tesco in becoming a
successful epitome of
supermarket chains
across the globe.
8

sold following premium
pricing to target people
having high income.
Place Sainsbury is operating in
over 600 supermarkets
and 1400 shops, which
are enabled with self
checking out services,
numerous cash counters
and convenient kiosk. Its
online presence allows
customers to buy products
online (Blythe and Martin,
2019). The brand’s
national and regional
supply channels manage
their distribution chain and
help reaching products to
customers within promised
time.
Tesco opened their stores
and outlets in numerous
countries and expanded
their selling operations by
online product selling. This
is enabling consumers not
to have accessibility to
their shop for buying stuffs
and in turn increasing
sales effectively.
Promotion At Sainsbury, BTL and
ATL have been the most
popular promotional
strategies. BTL is
considered as “below the
line” by which direct email
and product demonstration
is enforced for targeting
specific groups.
Conversely, ATL is “above
the line” by which the
Tesco has been
advantageous in terms of
selling their product lines
at competitive prices,
which is considered as
USP or unique selling
proposition. The brand
also uses BOGOF or Buy
One Get One Free offer
on certain occasions and
various other promotional
9

brand uses television,
billboards, radio and
printed media for attracting
target customers (Hurth et
al., 2015). The Nectar
Reward proposed by
Sainsbury has enabled
customers towards
earning redeem and point
on their every purchase,
which eventually resulted
in maintenance of a huge
loyal customer base.
offers as well as discounts
for keeping customers to
come and buy their
products (Ramanathan et
al., 2017). Moreover, Club
Cards System is also used
for provision of discounts
as an efficient promotional
tool to satisfy prospective
customers and increase
sales.
Physical Evidence The logo tagline, product
packaging and offerings of
Sainsbury can be
considered as the key
evidence involved in
business operations. The
brand message “Live well
for less” entails the value
and quality of every
product sold by Sainsbury.
In relevance to physical
evidence, Tesco has
reflected their proficiency
in maintenance of stores
totally tidy and simple
irrespective of its
competitors. This is
enabling customers in
finding products easily
whatever they need.
Products has been
strategically categorised
and are kept in various
shelves making it easy for
customers to easily locate
their necessities.
People Sainsbury have such
employees that are
The sales assistances of
Tesco are incredible, that
10

capable enough to
carrying out their
operational and functional
activity.
assist their organization at
generating as much
revenue as anticipated
Process The overall process of
Sainsbury is basically IT
supported and consumer
centric.
Tesco has a fast billing
process that helps their
organization at gaining
effective consumer
perception.
Table 1: Comparison between marketing mix of Tesco and Sainsbury
(Source: Created by the learner)
M3 Evaluate different tactics applied by the organization to demonstrate how
business objectives can be achieved.
In order to achieve their perfected business objectives, it is essential for different
organizations such as Tesco to make sure the fact that they are perfect deadline and
clear roadmap regarding their overall product journey in order to make sure the fact that
they are maintain the overall objectives of conducting business at certain extension.
They can also appoint new employees that has the job role of maintaining the overall
business objectives in accordance with the overall profitability ratio.
11

LO3
P4 Produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan for an organization.
Marketing plan is basically a strategic document that can make more focus into the plan
and resources for growing the overall business at certain extension. In addition to that,
through the help of effective and efficient marketing plan, it can be described that the
functionality of different departments belonging from Tesco can be also be evaluated
through the help of effective and efficient marketing plan at certain extension.
Overview of company
Tesco Plc is one of the biggest and famous organizations that conduct their business
operation from United Kingdom. They deal with different types products such as grocery
items, household equipments and many other products and they are well known for
their overall products at certain extension (McKeever, 2016). It mainly operates with a
range of different products and services for generating as much revenue as they have
preliminary anticipated.
Key objective of conducting marketing
In order to increase the overall quality of their performances, it is needed for different
organizations like Tesco to make more focus into the development portion of their
overall organization as a whole. The key marketing objective of Tesco has been
described below:
 For increasing the overall profit generation at the end of the fiscal year
 For providing adequate products and services while maintaining the overall
requirements of consumers
 For increasing the overall productivity of their organization for increasing their
current position at the market
 For getting competitive advantage by providing adequate training towards the
employment base of the organization
Environmental Analysis
12