Marketing Essentials Report: Marketing Mix and Organizational Roles

This report delves into the core concepts of marketing, exploring the roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within an organization, with a specific focus on Wilkinson, a UK-based retail store. It examines essential aspects such as market research, promotion, distribution, and product management. The report analyzes the interrelationships between the marketing department and other organizational units, including human resources, production, finance, and R&D. It further investigates how firms utilize the elements of the marketing mix to achieve business success, offering insights into different tactics and strategies. The report concludes with a discussion on producing an effective marketing plan for Wilkinson, incorporating evidence-based marketing practices and emphasizing the importance of a strong brand image and understanding the marketing environment. The report serves as a comprehensive guide to understanding and applying key marketing principles in a practical business context.

MARKETING
ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1 ................................................................................................................................................1
P1. Roles and responsibilities of marketing function.............................................................1
P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing with regard to wider organisational context.....3
M1. Roles and responsibility of the marketing in context to marketing environment...........4
M2. Significance of interrelationship among marketing and other organisational units.......5
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................6
P3 Ways in which firm uses elements of marketing mix to obtain success of the business.. 6
M3 Different tactics applied by firms to attain objectives.....................................................9
LO3................................................................................................................................................10
P4. Producing effective marketing plan for Wilkinson........................................................10
M4 Coherent evidence based marketing..............................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
PRESENTATIONS.......................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................20

INTRODUCTION
In the modern world of business, methods of performing activities have changed a lot.
Among various activities, the role of marketing has widened. Previously, its role was just
considered to be as doing promotions for enhancing the sale of company but at present, it has
multifunctional aspects (Babin and Zikmund, 2015). It is generally considered to be a set of
activities that are being performed so as to increase the demand of company's product in
market. Marketing concept is the philosophy that a firm must analyse the requirements of
their consumers and then making decisions to satisfy those. Essentials of marketing are
considered to be the major elements of marketing that makes operations more effective. In
this, various tools are being used so as to achieve maximum profits out of the business.
Marketing process is a set of four stages i.e. situational analysis, marketing strategy,
decisions related with marketing mix and then implementing and controlling it. Wilkinson is
one of the leading retail stores in UK that deals in the business of household goods. This
report highlights the ways in which various companies apply marketing mix for having
success. It also suggests the techniques that companies apply for making reach of their
promotional strategies to maximum people as it helps in solving issues related to the firm.
The role of marketing with various other departments of organisation is also highlighted in
report.
LO 1
P1. Roles and responsibilities of marketing function
There are several roles and responsibilities of marketing with regard to organisation. In
Wilkinson, there are several activities that are going in order to make products a success. This
firm needs to have a proper marketing unit so as to have a competitive advantage over others.
Some of the prime responsibilities of marketing are illustrated as below:
 Market Research: First and foremost requirement of producing product is that its
feasibility in the market must be examined. It can only be done when effective market
research has been done. Market research helps to identify needs of the consumers as
well as the company's target section in society. It helps to create products as per the
requirements of market.
 Promotion: It is one the primary roles of marketing function to promote the products
related to company. It helps in increasing pre-sale of the products. There are several
tools and techniques that are used by the organisation to make promotional campaign
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a success. It also helps in creating curiosity in the minds of potential buyers which
may result in increased sales figure of firm. Some of the traditional promotional
mediums that are used is Newspaper, magazines, television, etc. Apart from this, new
modern techniques are also used like the email and social media marketing as well as
the new ways like digital marketing is also highly effective and cheap. It also assists
in increasing the profit share of the organisation.
 Distribution: It is again crucial responsibility of the marketing function. It is the way
in which product will be delivered to the customers. It is the responsibilities of the
marketing team to set up effective distribution channel which helps to maintain the
effective distribution channels in the market. The main role of marketing in this is to
set up distribution strategy and selecting the best partners for doing so.
 Marketing Information Management: The information gathered by various activities
of the firm has to be managed properly. In the case of company such as Wilkinson
which is operational at many places to manage all the information manually. So, the
modern tool that can be used is cloud computing. It is role of the marketing team to
gather all the information from market and store effectively so as to make decision in
a better way. The data that is collected after market research help in making strategic
decisions.
 Product and service management: It is one of the major roles of marketing to manage
products and services in a better way. It helps in adding value to the products for
which customer is paying. It also includes all essential measures that will enhance the
product’s catalogue.
 Pricing: It is also a crucial role of marketing to make effective pricing strategy that
helps in having competitive advantage. Attractive pricing strategy always helps in
attracting more consumers towards company's items.
 Building brand image: It is important for the firm to create a positive brand image.
Marketing campaigns helps a lot in this. It is the role of the marketing department to
implement strategy that will help in creating a buzz in the market which will help in
capturing large market share as well as increasing productivity of the firm.
All these roles are important for ensuring success of products. All these roles have to be
conducted throughout the product life cycle. With regard to Wilkinson, since the product
range is larger hence, they have to make efficient marketing plan for each of these products.
When all these above mentioned roles are applied in a proper way then it helps in creating
better sale of the products and services.
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P2. Roles and responsibilities of marketing with regard to wider organisational context
In the modern era, marketing has some of the major roles in organisational context. In
Wilkinson, there are several units and it is important for them to have an interrelationship
among themselves. Marketing has its relation with other functional units of the firm. It helps
all the departments in ensuring that they are operating in a ways that is according to the
demand of the market which will help in ensuring success of the firm. Marketing relationship
with other departments is as follows: Human resource: Marketing works with this department so as to ensure that they
have best employees in operations which will help in adding value to the product that
customer purchases. They suggest human resource department in finding that what
kind of employees they need for developing a product which is the demand of the
market. Production department: These two department of the company helps in managing the
production requirement of the market. Marketing department tells the production
department in sating that what is the demand of the market and what would the
possible sale figure of the product that will help in maintaining the supply chain. Finance: On the other hand, finance department helps in managing the funds for
different organisational units. Marketing team works with finance department in
estimating total costing in various process of developing product as per the demand of
the market. Marketing unit assist finance team in understanding the requirement of
various other organisational units in terms of funds. It also helps in formulation of the
budgets that will be required in marketing. This is important because it helps to
manage the product in their whole life cycle to be completed in financial limits of the
firm. Research and development: One of the most crucial relationships in the company is
between marketing as well as research units. Marketing team with their market
research helps R and D team in suggesting the taste and moods of the company. It is
crucial because if the Wilkinson research is not in the direction of the market demand
then developed product fails in the market which ca result in great losses. Wilkinson
operates with the motive of achieving best sales figure which is only possible if the
company conducts its research in the same direction as the mood of the market is. Customer services: In order to increase the sale of the product by removing queries
customer service department helps the most. Marketing team suggests the marketing
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strategy that it is using to reach to consumers which customer service department will
use for increasing the sale of the developed product. Administration department: Marketing department helps administration in managing
the needs of various departments. It also helps administration in selecting the
organisational structure that will ensure that products will get delivered on time. They
also help in making the strategy for company which will help in future growth which
cannot be possible without understanding the tastes and demands of the market. Information and communication technology: In order to do modern marketing
procedure communication is highly important. Use of IT department is necessary if
the company wants its marketing strategy to reach to larger sections of the population.
Digital marketing is one such example. Marketing units not only has to communicate
external but it also has to ensure that internal communication between different
organisational units remains of high quality. This is helpful in ensuring that work flow
remains smooth as well as product’s supply chain gets maintained.
 Sales: This department has the role of maintaining the demand and supply chain
which is further a role of marketing demand. Both these department works hand in
hand with each other for underlining the needs of the market. Since sales unit directly
interacts with the customers hence, it helps in getting feedbacks which helps in
making marketing a success.
M1. Roles and responsibility of the marketing in context to marketing environment.
It is known that marketing is done so as to enhance the sales curve. It is also to be taken care
of that marketing can only be success when it is done according the environment in which it
is applied. According to marketing factors roles of marketing is as follows:
 Competition: Marketing plays an important role in checking the competition does not
effect the sale of the products which will give competitive advantage over others
(Brassington and Pettitt, 2013).
 Economy: Wilkinson is having larger amount of cash which it can utilise for making
strong position in the market.
 Technological developments: There are several technological developments that have
occurred in the industry and hence it has become necessary for the firm to utilise these
for increasing the effectiveness of the whole process.
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M2. Significance of interrelationship among marketing and other organisational units.
For any firm to attain objectives and goals it is important that all the functional units work in
collaboration. It is in the regards that all units involve others in process of their decision
making (Caragher, 2016). Product and Research department works with marketing
department to main supply chain as per the demand of the market. Sales department works
with marketing department for understanding consumer needs as well as performing market
research. On the other hand finance department helps in allocating funds in appropriate
manner. For the success of the business it is necessary that the there should be a coordination
with the marketing and other department. Marketing areas of the company acts as bridge
between the customers and other department thus informing the needs of consumers.
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Sources 1: Core marketing Concept, 2017

LO 2
P3 Ways in which firm uses elements of marketing mix to obtain success of the business.
Sources 2: 7 P's of marketing mix
In different firm marketing mix is applied in different ways. These are the essentials of
marketing that is being used for making marketing procedure a success. It is also important
for the firms to ensure that they have applied the marketing in a best possible manner and as
per the target market it is aiming to sale its products (Charles, JOSEPH and CARL, 2011).
In order to understand the marketing mix in a proper way comparison between marketing mix
of two firms that is in the same business has been compared and contrasted. There are 7 p's of
marketing mix and it has been illustrated below:
Marketing mix Wilkinson ASDA
Product This company deals in the
business of selling products
which is related to the
households goods. Which
includes home accessories like
curtains, questions, kitchen
items, garden items etc. They
It is also one of the most
popular supermarket chain in
UK and deals in the products
of larger variety. It sales
everything grocery, household
goods, kitchen as well as
personal items. Apart form this
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also produces customised
designer products for
decorating homes.
they also sale customised
consumer food products.
Price It is one of the basic
requirement for making
marketing a success. It helps in
attracting customers towards
its stores. The response
towards any product is always
facilitated by the effective
pricing of each of their
products. It is important for the
company to set up affordable
prices which is according to
the target market it is aiming
for selling of products.
It is known all around the
world for its pricing patterns. It
offers both types of pricing
strategy i.e. some are available
at lower cost while some at
higher. They believes in the
pricing needs as per the
perception of the consumers.
This company also takes use of
pricing strategy such as sales
and discounts in any particular
seasons.
Place It is defined as the places that
company chooses for selling
its products. Wilkinson has
chosen places that can be
easily accessible. Consumers
can buy company products by
reaching to its outlets. Since
the company aims to each to
larger part of the market hence
it is planning to open more
stores all around the Europe.
Apart from this they are also
using Online mediums for
selling their products like the
use of its official websites etc.
It uses fresh and simple
approach for selling its
products . Most of the business
of the company is conducted
through the use of store type
formats. To ensure that greater
profitability is achieved by its
business it has also started to
use online mediums for selling
its products (Pike, 2015). It has
also opened niche stores that
will ave the sales area of
around 90000 sq. feet.
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Promotion This company is[promoting its
products in markets using both
traditional and innovative
marketing policies such as
internet marketing. Some of
the promotional strategy that is
used by this company is taking
use of Social media, TV and
newspaper for its
advertisements. It also applies
seasonal and festive promotion
campaigns so as to increase the
profit margins of the firm.
That also opens holding for
advertising their strategies of
marketing.
This company is also applying
traditional ways of doing
marketing as well as modern
mediums. With the use of
interment and social media this
company has made its
promotive campaign more
attractive (Durmaz, 2011).
Since this company believes
on the quality of its products
hence its most of the
promotional campaign
revolves around highlighting
that only. It attachment with
WalMart has helped company
in bringing new energy too the
promotional campaigns.
“Chosen By You” is campaign
used by the firm for realising
the buyers perception. It uses
four out of 6 logos of Walmart.
Its personal logo is eye
catching.
Process In order to achieve marketing
targets it is important for the
firm to ensure that the process
that is used in the whole
product cycle is in a way that it
add value to the products. As
per the objective and aims of
the firm, process must be
efficient. Wilkinson applies
the best standard operating
In the starting this company
was only dealing in selling of
food items only, later this
company has shifted towards
adding house hold products in
its catalogue. Now they are
selling poultry products also
hence the Process that is used
by ASDA is best in the market.
This is essential for achieving
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procedures in the market or its
products.
the optimum consumer
satisfaction.
People It is important for any firm to
have a workforce that is
capable of producing high
quality products. Wilkinson
conducts various training
methodologies for enhancing
the skill of the company that is
according to the market
demand.
Human resource is important
for the firm to gain competitive
advantage. ASDA understands
that skilled labours always
adds highest of value to the
products and services. This
company has large working
force which greets consumers
in a friendly manner. It spends
a lot on the training modules
that will increase the
productivity of the workers.
Physical evidence It is one of the important part
of the marketing mix.
Wilkinson is producing
products that it has promised
(Nguyen and Simkin, 2012). It
as taken care of the factor that
the product is presentable and
is appearance attract
consumers.
This company understand the
fact that packaging is
important for attracting the
consumers. It has divided its
stores in various sections like
food and household sections. It
also provides consumers with
the products that it has
promised.
M3 Different tactics applied by firms to attain objectives
The steps that are taken by enterprises for achieving long and short term goals is known as
tactics Different tactics is as follows:
 Complete market research: Any marketing plan must be based on the research of
various aspects of business.
 Target setting: For achieving long term success targets from various sections of the
society needs to be selected.
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 Promotion: Promotional campaigns have too be very effective if any company wants
to achieve success from its operations (Hauer, 2011).
 Pricing: To have competitive advantage a company needs to have effecting pricing for
each of their products. It must be done checking the pricing method used by its
competitors.
LO3
P4. Producing effective marketing plan for Wilkinson
There are various ways using which company can develop its marketing plan. Marketing plan
is generally the mixture of all the components that is essential for making it success. It has
various sections where present and future demands of the market are being evaluated. It also
contains the information about the company's position in the market. Marketing plan for
Wilkinson has been illustrated below:
Situational analysis: Wilkinson is one of the largest retailer of UK. Its business is
flourishing in these countries. They have handled their operations smoothly that too
according to the demand of the market. They have adopted many kinds of changes which
helps to ensure that they achieve profits in the specified time period (Joshi, 2012). It is facing
cut throat competition from the companies such as ASDA, AMRA and ALDI. Since the
industry is expanding at much faster rate hence the opportunities that available to them are
wide and can harness them to grow at a higher speed. There are various financial glitches that
European market s facing which is reducing the purchasing power of the people. This has
negatively affected on the business of the firm. Political decisions such as Brexit have
impacted on the performance of the many firms.
Vision statement: Wilkinson's vision is to make shopping a wonderful experience for the
customers who is achieved through spirit, enthusiasm and team work.
Mission statement: In their mission statement they are focusing on being extraordinary
organisation which delivery extraordinary products and services.
Environmental analysis: It is essential for the firm to analyse its environment and the factors
that are associated with it as all these factors plays important role in deciding the future of the
firm.
 Political: Since the political policies are changing all around the Europe which needs
to be take care of by Wilkinson like Brexit.
 Economical: UK economy has been unstable over a last decade hence the company
has to manage its financial resources in a better way.
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