Unilever's Marketing Mix: Impact on Success & Customer Satisfaction

This report delves into the nature and importance of the marketing mix within the marketing process, using Unilever as a case study. It explains how the marketing mix, encompassing product, price, place, and promotion, helps companies like Unilever promote and sell their offerings effectively. The report highlights the importance of a clean mix creation, new product development, product portfolio expansion, business improvement guidance, and differentiation from competitors. It also analyzes how other key marketing theories, such as STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning) analysis, can impact marketing success and customer satisfaction, detailing how Unilever applies STP to segment its customers, target the most profitable segments, and position its products effectively. The report concludes that the marketing mix is essential for companies to establish their product and service position in the market.

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The nature and
importance of the
marketing mix within the
marketing process

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Explaining the nature and importance of the marketing mix within the marketing process.......1
Analysing how the marketing mix and other key marketing theory can impact the success of
marketing activity with particular reference to customer satisfaction.........................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Marketing refers to an actions that help companies to promote and sell its offerings as
well as conduct market research and advertising more efficiently. Marketing mix refers to a
collection of various marketing tools that help companies to sell their products and services in
their target market or customers (Parmer, Dillard Jr and Lin, 2021). This will also help company
to develop their own strengths as well as limit their weaknesses appropriately. By using these
tools, companies becomes more adaptable and competitive in its market effectively. In the
following report, selected company is Unilever, which is an international organisation of UK and
provided consumer goods to its potential customers. It is founded by Lever brothers and
Margarine Unie on 2 September 1929 and its headquarters is in London England. The following
report describes about the nature and importance of the marketing mix within the marketing
process. It further describes how marketing mix and other key marketing theory can affect the
success of marketing activity.
MAIN BODY
Explaining the nature and importance of the marketing mix within the marketing process
Marketing mix is a most important tool for companies which helps them to promote as
well as sell their products and services in the market in efficient and effective manner. The
company used this method for identifying and arranging the elements of marketing mix in order
to make more profitable decisions of marketing in at every level (Abedi and Abedini, 2017). The
marketing mix model consist four basic elements of the company that help them to make their
marketing strategies more profitable and successful are product, price, place and promotion. In
context of Unilever, the importance of using marketing mix in order to sell and promote its
products are described below:
It helps in a clean mix creation- This makes company to analyse that their all P's of
marketing are compatible with each others. The price of the product should be matched with the
place of the product and the product should matched with their promotions. This will help
company to make a strong bonds chain for their products and service. This strong bond help
them to make their chain longer means it helps them to make their marketing strategy most
effective and can be use for longer term in order to earn more and more profit from it. This will
help management of Unilever to view at the overall picture of marketing mix while adding any
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changes or new features in their existing products. This will assist them to create clean marketing
mix for their product.
Marketing mix helps in new product development- It important for the company to
design new and effective ideas for their products in order to make their competitive position in
the market as well as earn more and more profit. But designing in new product need to analyse
its price, place and promotion (Praditpong, Sensod and Arnond, 2017). By using marketing mix
method,company can develop various good ideas that helps them in their new product
development. This will help Unilever, to design new product effectively in order to make
competitive position in the market.
Marketing mix helps increase the product portfolio- Whenever a company want to
raise its product length and line they have to make certain changes in their product. Which makes
company to make changes in the marketing mix also. This will make management of Unilever to
alter its marketing mix and certain features of its marketing strategies which results in
enlargement of their product portfolio.
It provide guidance to improve a business- In marketing mix, physical evidence refers
to a most important P that help company to improve their business more efficiently as well as
make their competitive position more strong and effective. In marketing mix strategy of Unilever
its physical evidence, people and process which helps them to improve their overall performance
of its organisation and make their competitive position more strong and effective.
It helps in differentiation- This makes company to analyse its competitors marketing
mix in order to identify most effective ways that help them to become differentiate from its
competitors (Kumar, Shankar and Aljohani, 2020). This makes management of Unilever to find
out the poor element of its competitors marketing mix in order to make their own element more
clear and better for their product in order to make themselves differentiate from their own
competitors.
Marketing Mix of Unilever 's products-
Unilever is a leading company in the consumer goods industry as well as maintain its
marketing strategy more effectively in order to maintain its competitive position in the market as
well as address its global challenges in the global market in more efficient manner. It implements
its marketing mix more effectively by considering its products differentiation and variation
properly which helps them to sale them in the global market appropriately as well as help them
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to earn more and more profit from it. Its marketing elements along with their importance are
described below:
Product- This refers to the offerings of a company that need to sold in the market for
earning a profit. It is important for the company to consider its product life cycle properly in
order to overcome those challenges that may arises when the consumer used them (Abdullah,
2018). In respect of Unilever, it has a wide variety of products which is classified in different
categories which includes foods, home care, refreshments and personal care. The company uses
effective strategies in order to make their products more competitive from their competitors. Its
management uses this model to promote and sell its products in all over the world effectively in
order to earn more and more profit. Its best food product that has a great demand in the market
are Knorr stock cubes and sauces as well as Best Foods Mayonnaise and sandwich spreads.
Place- It describes the physical location where a company want to sell its products and
services as well as where consumer can easily use, purchase and access them. The physical
location describes in many different category which includes transport, warehousing, distribution
centres, franchises and inventory decisions. In regards of Unilever, it used to distribute its
products in all over the world in order to fulfil their potential customers needs with the help of its
consumer goods. It distributes its products mainly in certain places that are stores, retailers and
kiosks. Retailers are its primary place or distribution centre that help them to sold its products to
its target customers. The company uses kiosks occasionally for introducing its product directly to
its customers. All these places of Unilever helps in selling its products in all over the world as
well as make competitive position in consumer good market.
Price- It describes the cost of product or service that the consumer need to spend in order
to purchase them. It basically depend on the perception of customers as well as may change
according to the marketing strategy (Wacker and Samson, 2021). If the price of the product is
high which makes customers to seek exclusivity whereas if it is low then it can be easily
accessible to more and more customers. This implies that the company should set their price
higher than the cost of production which can help them to earn profit by making it. In case of
Unilever, it uses large variety of setting prices by considering the different level of status of its
products. The company uses most effective strategies in order to determine the price of its
product are premium pricing strategy, market-oriented pricing strategy and product bundle
pricing strategy.
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Promotion- This describe the strategy that help company to promote or market their
products and services in the market. It cover what is need to communicated in order to influence
customers in order to purchase their products and services. It includes advertising, sales
promotion and direct marketing in order to communicate and influence customers to purchase
products and services of a company (Sridech and Peanmunkung, 2019). The company uses
various strategy or methods in order to promote their offerings are commercials ads on TV,
catalogues, internet ads, billboards, trade fairs, etc. In aspect of Unilever, it important for its
management of promote its products by considering the high level of its customers in the
international consumer goods market. The company uses various method in order to promote
their products in all over the world are sales promotion, personal selling, advertising, direct
marketing and public relations. Advertising refers to its primary promotion method which helps
them to market their products in all over the market in effective manner.
Analysing how the marketing mix and other key marketing theory can impact the success of
marketing activity with particular reference to customer satisfaction
The other key marketing theory is STP analysis that helps company to make their to
increase its success in the market as well as higher satisfaction of their customers. STP analysis
helps company to analyse its target customers as well as identify promotion strategy in order to
promote their product and service in the market by using its three elements that are segmentation,
targeting and positioning (Jedin and Balachandran, 2021). The management of Unilever apply
this theory in order to analyse its target customers as well as put them their offerings according
to the demand of their target customers. Following are described the STP analysis of Unilever
products in order to satisfy their target customers:
Segmentation- This is used to classify the customers into different groups according to
their common needs and characteristics. This will helps company to fulfil its customers demand
effectively. There are many ways in which different segments is created for the product and
services of the company. Demographic section describes the personal feature of customers which
includes their age, gender, marital status, education., sexuality, occupation or ethnicity.
Geographic section divides customer according to their region, country, state, city, or
neighbourhood. Psycho-graphics segment divides customers according to their personality,
values or lifestyles. Behavioural sections divides customers according to their behaviour for
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purchasing their products. As the products of Unilever are consumers goods with different
variety. This company to analyse segments according to the nature of their products.
Targeting- This element help company to analyse which segments is relevant that help
in analysing their target customers as well as provide largest return (Yan, Zhu and Yang, 2018).
It is important for the Unilever to consider certain factors for selecting effective segment for their
products. In first, they have to analyse the profitability and productivity of each segments in
which they can understand that the which customers group provides the most profit to them.
Further they have to analyse the size as well as potential growth of each segments in order to
understand that the company has potential to reach the size of its target customers or increase
their growth. In last they have to analyse how well they can provide effective service to their
target customer or market in order to make their customers more satisfied from their products.
Positioning- This makes company to identify effective strategy that helps them to
position or promote their products and service to their target customers. The company can also
uses marketing-mix in order to promote their goods and services (Datta and Das, 2019). This
makes management of Unilever to analyse the effective strategy that helps them to make strong
position in the market as well as sale their product abs services in appropriate manner.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned report, it is concluded that marketing mix is an essential tool
for the company that help them to make their product and service position in the market in order
to earn more and more profit. It helps in a clean mix creation, new product development,
increase the product portfolio, provide guidance to improve a business, as well as it also helps in
differentiation of a company in order to make their competitive position in the market.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Parmer, L.L., Dillard Jr, J.E. and Lin, Y.C., 2021. The 8Ps Marketing Mix and the Buyer
Decision-Making Process. Journal of Marketing Development and
Competitiveness, 15(4), pp.32-44.
Abedi, G. and Abedini, E., 2017. Prioritizing of marketing mix elements effects on patients’
tendency to the hospital using analytic hierarchy process. International Journal of
Healthcare Management, 10(1), pp.34-41.
Praditpong, P., Sensod, A. and Arnond, S., 2017. A Survey of Marketing Mix and Decisional
Factors on Airline Carrier among Incentive Freight Forwarder in Thailand. Available at
SSRN 2994882.
Kumar, A., Shankar, R. and Aljohani, N.R., 2020. A big data driven framework for demand-
driven forecasting with effects of marketing-mix variables. Industrial marketing
management, 90, pp.493-507.
Abdullah, J.B., 2018. Islamic marketing mix: is there a role for Islamic-based
strategies?. International Journal of Islamic Marketing and Branding, 3(1), pp.15-34.
Wacker, J.G. and Samson, D., 2021. Beyond supply chain management: jointly optimising
operations/supply and the marketing mix. Operations Management Research, 14(3),
pp.451-466.
Sridech, S. and Peanmunkung, N., 2019. Marketing-Mix-Factors Affecting the Selection of
Domestic Airlines Services at U-Tapao International Airport (Rayong-
Pattaya). Available at SSRN 3327661.
Jedin, M.H.B. and Balachandran, I.A.P., 2021. Marketing Mix Elements and Customer Service
Satisfaction: Empirical Evidence in the Malaysia Edutainment Theme Park
Industry. Services Marketing Quarterly, 42(1-2), pp.93-107.
Yan, T., Zhu, J. and Yang, K., 2018. Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus resorption of woody species
in response to climatic conditions and soil nutrients: a meta-analysis. Journal of
Forestry Research, 29(4), pp.905-913.
Datta, P. and Das, S., 2019. Analysis of long-term precipitation changes in West Bengal, India:
an approach to detect monotonic trends influenced by autocorrelations. Dynamics of
Atmospheres and Oceans, 88, p.101118.
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