Marketing Essentials Report: Zara's Strategies and Planning

This report provides a detailed analysis of Zara's marketing strategies, focusing on the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within the organization and its interaction with other departments like finance, production, research and development, and human resources. It examines the impact of the marketing environment on Zara's operations, highlighting tactics used to achieve business objectives. The report includes a comparison of Zara with H&M based on the 7 Ps of the marketing mix, offering insights into product, price, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence strategies. A basic marketing plan is presented, along with an application of the 7 Ps to Zara's marketing approach. The analysis covers situational analysis, objectives, strategy, tactics, action, and control elements. The report also explores the importance of interrelationships between marketing and other functional units, emphasizing how effective communication and collaboration contribute to improved customer services and increased efficiency, ultimately building trust within the organization. The report concludes with a critical analysis of key marketing elements and their relation to other functional units.

Marketing Essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
a) Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function in organisational context of ZARA 1
b) Roles and responsibility of marketing in context of marketing environment....................2
c) Importance of interrelationship between marketing and other functional units of an
organisation............................................................................................................................3
d) Critically analyses of key elements of marketing function and their relation with other
functional units.......................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
1. Comparison of 7 P's of marketing mix to marketing planning process..............................5
2. Different tactics used by organisations to achieve business objectives.............................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
1. Basic Marketing plan..........................................................................................................8
2. Marketing plan of ZARA...................................................................................................8
3. Application of 7 P’s with market plan..............................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is an essential part or functions of each and every organisation that helps in
promoting goods or services in the market. It very important for attracting customers globally to
purchase a company's product or service. The present study is in context to Zara which is a
leading brand in clothing industry. The report will identify various external and internal factors
that are influencing functions of the cited company. It will discuss the interrelationship between
marketing and various other departments in the organisation. Furthermore, the report will also
determine various techniques used by Zara to achieve its marketing as well as business
objectives. An effective marketing plan will be also recommended in this report to promote
products and services in the most appropriate manner leading to increase in business
profitability.
a) Key roles and responsibilities of marketing function in organisational context of ZARA
In a company, there are various departments who perform different functions. No
department can handle complete organizational work by their own self. All departments are
linked with each other in some or the other way. Likewise, marketing department has been
established to increase the sales of company. Marketing manager forms such policies which
helps the company in achieving its objectives of covering maximum possible market.
Marketing and production: Production department operates only after knowing the
needs and wants of consumers. Product is being made after considering every aspect that ZARA
should fulfil for making the consumers feel satisfied with the product (De Mooij, 2018).
However, it is the marketing department of ZARA that makes entire research on needs and wants
of consumers that what they are expecting from the brand. So, both the departments are highly
connected with each other which help them in knowing about their targeted market and they
design products accordingly.
Marketing and finance: Finance is that department where every report is being prepared
and profits and losses of company are being determined. In ZARA, both the departments of
company are highly interlinked with each other. Marketing manager takes decisions related to
customer needs and product cost after consulting with finance manager. Decisions related to
policies of the product are made only after knowing credit worthiness of their existing customers.
Marketing and research and development: Both these departments of ZARA are
highly joined with each other as research managers do entire investigation on fashion sense and
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demand of clients of ZARA. They should ensure that products will be designed in such a way
that it will fulfil the wants and desires of consumers. Whereas, marketing department cannot start
its work before research and development.
Marketing and Human resource department: In case of any vacancy in the company
HR of company recruits new people as per the demand and qualification required for the vacant
position. This department also gives training to new joinee and solves every issue that a
employee is facing in the organisation. HR department of ZARA is interlinked with its marketing
department because when any vacancy arises in marketing section, HR take all the steps of hiring
a new joinee and trains them as per the requirements of Marketing division.
b) Roles and responsibility of marketing in context of marketing environment.
Marketing environment is the group of both internal and external factors which impacts
the establishment in keeping good relationship with its consumers and providing them the best
possible quality services as per consumer needs and wants (Kennedy, 2017).
Betterment of sales process: Marketing manager analyse the condition of their targeted
market and make such strategies to cover the entire market. It helps the organisation in
increasing its sales. Like ZARA has a strategy to provide different offers to its customers by way
of availing discounts and coupons on next visit. This makes the consumer visit more frequently
and increases the sales of ZARA.
Value needs of customer: It is the responsibility of marketing manager to analyse the
needs and demand of targeted customers. Many strategies are being formed in order to fulfil
demands of consumer (Khurana, 2017 ). Marketing department of ZARA has always focused on
valuing their customers and for the same they have made the best quality design clothes. ZARA
also takes in to account every feedback and takes care of it in its next production.
Brand promotion: Marketing department has major aim is to promote goods by
way of different channels like TV, social media etc. Manager of marketing department
also has major focus on providing goods at minimum prices so that they can attract
maximum consumers (Guo and et.al., 2018). ZARA has a high brand image which makes
consumer buy more of its products.
Conducting market research: Marketing research is conducted to know the needs and
wants of consumers. Research main aim is to know about demand of products and value of brand
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in the market and ways to enhance the same. It also helps in providing products as per the desire
of consumers.
c) Importance of interrelationship between marketing and other functional units of an
organisation
All the departments of an organization are interconnected with each other. Their
interrelationship allows operation and functions to get managed properly (Chandiok and
Sharma, 2017)
All the departments like finance are connected with marketing because no marketing
strategies can be formed without consulting the budgets from finance department. Human
resource department of ZARA will recruit marketing employees after considering all the
requirements the section needs to accomplish tasks. HR of the company will hire such people
who complete their demands and train them accordingly.
Helps in improving customer services: ZARA also has interdepartmental relationship
like other companies which results in providing superior work to its customers. All departments
should have quality work which can help in achieving organisational objectives delivering the
best quality services to customers
Increasing efficiency: Accurate communication in between the departments helps in
increasing efficiency of overall operations of company. For example: Increase in product does
vary from time to time and it is not in knowledge of production sector, then company will lack
its business and suffers loss in business. So, better communication between departments helps in
increasing the efficiency.
Building trust: Marketing department of ZARA has great communication with other
section of company (Kayabasi and Mtetwa, 2016). It helps in earning trustworthiness of each
other by giving reliable message to each other. Trust issues are the reason of lacking in a
business organisation and it results in loss of the company. So having an effective relationship
between all the functional units of organisation helps in achieving goals and targets of firm.
d) Critically analyses of key elements of marketing function and their relation with other
functional units.
Marketing department of a company is highly involved in making strategies to
conquer targeted markets. Manager along with the entire department makes such
planning that company can earn a brand name. It involves huge cost and time because
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advertising activity of marketing department involves higher expenditures. Customers are
highly valued by every employee because without them organization is nothing, Now
marketing section of ZARA is majorly connected with every other department of
company like says that advertising expenses will have impact on accounting department,
it should be known and covered by finance department (Edwards, 2016.). Else it will
affect net profits of the company. Customers are more valued in order to attain goals and
objectives. Company should always change its promotional plan as per the trends and
technology.
Situational Analysis- This is first stage of this model which shows that company
should know that where it is standing (Omar, 2017). ZARA is using the tool like SWOT
analysis, PESTLE analysis in order to know the effect of all the internal factors on
company.
Objectives- This is the next step which defined that explains that what company wants to
achieve in the future. The objectives of company can be active with the help of setting the
SMART goals.
Strategy- Strategy means planning made by the organisation to achieve the goals and
objectives of company. There are various strategy of ZARA that are formed by the management
system. It will help in achieving the desired goals and objectives of company like acquisition,
merger, engagement, team working and many other strategies are set according to the needs of
attaining aim and objectives.
Tactics- Tactic covers the particular instruments of the marketing that are utilized in
order to achieve the goals and objectives. PESTLE is one of the most common tools that ZARA
used to check the performance of company in the market. It helps in knowing about the external
factors that affect growth and overall business.
Action- This is the stage where plan is implemented within organisation. It is the most
important where company has to take care of every step with very carefulness.
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Control- This is the last stage of this model where the managers of ZARA used to
control on the activities in order to achieve the desired gaol like measurement, reviewing,
monitoring, updating etc.
TASK 2
1. Comparison of 7 P's of marketing mix to marketing planning process.
Basis ZARA H&M
Product ZARA makes fashionable
clothes and accessories
along with many other items
like handbags, perfumes etc.
(Smith, 2015)
It is also a leading luxury
fashion brand which offers
quality clothing to their clients.
Price ZARA has low pricing of its
products along with high
quality of services (Burgess
and Munn, 2017.)
It has comparatively high
prices than ZARA. High
pricing strategies makes its
sales low at some point of time.
Promotion Many promotional events are
being conducted by ZARA in
order to increase its sales.
Mouth publicity is also a
reason why Zara has high sales
(Andreasen, 2018 ).
H&M has newly emphasized
on social media marketing. Its
Facebook account has more
than 50 million followers. This
brand has planned of covering
the world majorly through
digital media.
People Customers and stakeholders
comes under the category of
people for ZARA (De Mooij,
2018)
This brand has always focused
on its customers. The Best
quality to all people is its major
concern.
Process ZARA follows high technical H&M always focuses on its
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equipment’s for production.
Such processes leads to fast
production and growth of the
company (Olson and et.al.,
2018.).
management process.
Company believes that a good
management can help in
achieving goals and objectives
of the company.
Physical evidence ZARA has very attractive
stores all around the world
which helps the company in
attracting more consumers
(Liu and Walsh, 2018).
H&M does not have high
attractive stores as in
comparison to ZARA.
Company should focus on its
locations more so that it can
achieve higher success.
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2. Different tactics used by organisations to achieve business objectives.
Every business runs to achieve the objectives they have set. In order to achieve goals and
aims of the company many policies and procedures are followed by the establishment. Many
tactics are used by ZARA to achieve its objectives, some of them are described briefly below.
Performance management: Performance of every employee contributes to the company
to a great extent. (Bloom, Hussein and Szykman, 2018) If a worker is not performing well than
it will affect the organisation work and the entire work department. ZARA has major focus on
monitoring performance of employees and giving them feedback so that they can improve their
performance in the future (Olson et.al., 2018)Managing performance of employees and taking
out best from them is the best way for achieving objectives and goals of the establishment.
Smart selling: Higher sales is one of the objective that every company focuses on
accomplishing (Hulland, Baumgartner and Smith, 2018). Products and services are the major
focus of every organisation. Sales and marketing department has been formed to increase the
sales of the company. Manager of sales department of ZARA has made different policies and
came with new ideas to increase sales of the company. Many new techniques are followed by
ZARA like discount offers, coupons and end of season sales etc. which helps in increasing sales
of the organisation.
Targets: Targets are being so that a specific deadline in order to set a specific criterion
for work. Sales and profits are always been achieved only if company has specific target
(Goldberg, Fishbeind and Middlestad, 2018).Every department of ZARA has some specific
targets which should be met by the employees so that objectives of the company can be
achieved.
Assigning responsibilities: Works are assigned to every person who is working in the
company (Goldberg,Fishbein and Middlestadt, 2018). But, manager should check the
qualification and capabilities of employees before assigning responsibilities to them. Proper
allocation of tasks helps in achieving the targets set by the higher authorities. When right work is
assigned to right person as per their skills and capabilities. It will help the company in achieving
organisational objectives.
Good distribution network: ZARA has such distribution network of its products that it
reaches every consumer at maximum possible locations. A good and effective distribution
channel helps in increasing sales of the company (Guo and et.al., 2018). This will result in
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achieving goals of the organisation. Marketing department has major aim is to promote
goods by way of different channels like TV, social media etc. Manager of marketing
department also has major focus on providing goods at minimum prices so that they can
attract maximum consumers. ZARA has a high brand image which makes consumer buy
more of its products.
Value customer: ZARA has so many strategies which are formed for valuing its
customers. One of them is to provide the best quality services to clients. Every company should
value its consumers and try to fulfil their wants and needs. So that consumer will come again to
buy the products of the company.
TASK 3
1. Basic Marketing plan
For executing the plan company needs to make prepare objectives and aims for which
marketing plan is being prepared. Every factor that affects the organisation in some or the other
way should be analysed completely. ZARA has a marketing plan of increasing sales of the
company by 20% by launching exclusive range of men's leather JACKET this year. ZARA
should prepare the marketing plan accordingly (Andreasen, 2018). It is being prepared to know
the plan company needs to execute and in what direction it will go. Marketing plans define a
direction to the company and helps in overall growth.
2. Marketing plan of ZARA.
Executive summary: ZARA is multinational clothing company in retail industry. Which is
focusing on increasing its sales by 20% by the end of this accounting year (Bloom, Hussein and
Szykman, 2018). It has major objective of achieving profits by increase in sales of the
organization. To execute the marketing plan manager should use the tool of analyzing internal
and external factors which affects the environment of company. SWOT analysis and PESTLE
analysis will be used for determining the same.
Mission: ZARA has main purpose behind establishing the company is that it can offer high
fashionable products with the best quality to its customers (Smith, 2015). ZARA has major focus
on quality even more meeting the needs of its customers. It is working in such a condition that
quality of products can be attained.
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Vision: Management of ZARA has always focused on running the company in such a way that it
can sustain environment (Omar, 2017). Its major focus is on meeting the needs of present
customers but by keeping in mind about the future generations.
Aim: “ To increase the sale of company by 20% till the end of the financial year”.
Objectives: ZARA has objective of achieving growth and profits by keeping the environment
factors in its working conditions. For short term ZARA is planning tom
Analysis: Analysis of internal and external factors is described below.
Internal factor analysis: SWOT analysis is being used to conduct research on internal factors
that affects the company.
SWOT analysis of ZARA
Strengths:
 ZARA is one of the leading brand in the clothing industry which has many employees
working for it in all across the country.
 Company operates in 66 markets which helps it in reaching consumers at a great extent.
 This organisation is very much stable in terms of finance as it has increased its revenue
by 20% in current financial year. This growth allows the company in implementing any
new idea and plan (Andreasen, 2018).
 Delivery time of the product is very low, it just takes around 12 week to come from
manufacturing place to retail stores. So new designs come very frequently to the stores,
which makes customers visit on a rapid basis.
Weaknesses:
 In clothing industry, fashion changes very frequently which makes tough for company to
sale old stock.
 Heavy capital investment has been made by ZARA for production purpose. All machines
are being installed by ZARA in order to manufacture each type of clothing. It takes high
cost of maintenance which increases overall cost of production.
Opportunities:
 ZARA has a great opportunity of expanding its market through e commerce platform. In
today's world, every person buy clothes from websites of the company and enjoy services
of home delivery of product of their choice (Edwards, 2016)
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 People across the world are improving their lifestyle by switching to fashionable
clothing. This is an opportunity for ZARA to expand its business more across the world.
Threats:
 In fashion world there is very high competition with local and other worldwide brands
which is a big threat for ZARA
 Labour cost in every developing country is very high these days which increases the
manufacturing cost and overall price of the products (Hulland, Baumgartner and Smith,
2018.) Higher pricing makes it hard for company to give a tough competition in the
market.
External analysis: This is done by using PESTLE analysis.
Political
Political risk is high for ZARA as the company is operating in many countries. There are
many regulations in every nation and which differ in every country. ZARA has to follow all the
policies and legal rules which are applicable on it. Due to frequent changes in law of the nation,
it is difficult for the company to manage its operation in different countries.
Due to many reasons ZARA has to merge and collaborate its business with many other
organisation in Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt etc. eve tough franchising does not come under the
strategies of ZARA.
Economic:
ZARA believes in buying in bulk from those suppliers who provide raw material at
affordable prices. It helps the organisation in keeping its cost low and affordable prices is the
major strategy of the company (Kennedy, 2017). But as ZARA operates in different nations it is
very difficult for the company to maintain same prices due to changing inflation and currency
rates. Also, Import duties and other law make it very difficult to operate at low pricing strategies.
.
Social
ZARA always supported women as in comparisons to men in its offices and working
place. It is the major concern of the company to provide equal opportunities to women to show
their talents (Khurana, 2017). Secondly, it is also working for such system which provides better
working conditions and hygienic environment to its employees.
Technological
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