Roles And Responsibilities Of Marketing Function At M&S - Essay.

Key Roles and Responsibilities of Marketing Function

P1- Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function 

1.Market analysis

(Briefly explain what market analysis is. Explain the SWOT analysis)

2.Selecting the target market

(Explain what is segmentation and the 4 targeting strategies. Explain briefly what is positioning?)

3.Explain the Marketing mix– 4Ps or 7Ps.

4.Implementation and control

(Explain what the implementation of a marketing plan is. How does a company evaluate the performance after implementation?)

M1- Analyse how the external (macro) environment may influence and impact the marketing activity of your business at M&S. (use PEST analysis)

P2 - Explain how the roles and responsibilities of marketing are related within the context of M&S.

 Guidelines:

Explain the role of marketing within B2C context

Explain the role of marketing within B2B context.

Which of these is relevant to your company? Explain why.

M2 - Analyze the importance of interconnection between marketing and following departments at M&S limited.

1.Finance

2.HR

3.Production

D1- In a report:

Critically analyze and assess the marketing mix for your business (optional)

Critically analyze and assess the challenges that the marketing department faces when collaborating / interrelating with other departments.

Task two – (P3)

 P3 - Compare the ways in which M&S applies the marketing mix to the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives.

 Guidelines:

 Carry out research with view of assessing the marketing mix and the extended elements and make comparison between M&S and Next.

 Explain what is extended marketing mix 7Ps.

 Why is extended marketing mix important to an organization.

 Compare the ways in which M&Sand next apply the extended marketing mix to achieve business objectives.

(Give similarities and differences between the two companies based on 7Ps).

 M3 - Using your knowledge as a Marketing Assistant, evaluate different tactics applied by M&S and Next to demonstrate how business objectives can be achieved.

Guidelines:

Devise the objectives for M&S.

Assess / evaluatethe tactics/strategies that are used by M&S to achieve their overall business objectives.

(e.g. through promotional campaigns such as advertising etc. give examples).

Task Three: (P4) Marketing Plan

‘Your Marketing Plan’

 Considering the existing issues at M&S you need to devise a marketing plan that must include the following:

 P4 - Produce and evaluate a basic marketing plan for M&S.

Guidelines:  

Executive summary

(Summarize what is in the plan)

Objectives of the marketing plan

(Why you are making this plan for M&S. Give at least 2 SMART objectives)

Market analysis

(Conduct SWOT analysis & PEST analysis)

Identify sales channels

Track the marketing activities

Evaluating the progress. Assess if this marketing plan was successful or not.

(You can do this by: Monitoring sales, customer feedback etc.)

M4 – Evidence based marketing plan for M&S.

For this you need to add the following to your marketing plan in P4 for M&S.

Devise a good Marketing Budget.
Suggest improved Market Segmentation
Suggest improved Targeting strategies
Suggest improved Positioning.

D2 - As a marketing assistant, design a strategic marketing plan that tactically applies the use of the 7Ps to achieve overall marketing objectives for M&S.

TO achieve D2 you need to discuss the 7Ps instead of 4Ps:

Extended marketing mix (suggest improved 7Psfor M&S to improve the existing situation).

Task one

P1- Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function

Marks and Spencer’s

The Marks and Spencer’s plc which is also known as the M & S, is a British multinational brand which is headquartered in London. The given company is also registered under the London Stock Exchange as a part of the constituent of the FTSE 100 Index (Marksandspencer.com.  2018).

The company specializes in the selling of home products, luxury food products, clothing and other products. The company also started selling normal food items back in 2008. The company currently has 1000 stores across the United Kingdom, out of which more than 50% sell food products (Ahmed and Rafiq 2013).The Company is a global name and one of the most successful companies in the globe.

Define Marketing

Marketing can be defined as the study of the exchange of relationships and its management. The function of marketing is primarily used to satisfy the different customers and keep them updated with the latest market trends. Marketing is known as a core function of Business management, as it is a relevant component of the aspect related to the customer satisfaction.

Popularly, Marketing is the set of institutions and definitely a set of processes which are primarily used to communicate, create and deliver the offerings which tend to hold value and can delight the different parties to a business like the partners, clients, customers and the entire society at large (Hanssens et al. 2014).

For the customer concern aspect, Marketing is taken to be relevant aspect of the business as it deals with the sales aspect which is the core function of the organization. In other perspectives, marketing is also known to increase the stakeholder value and create a competitive advantage for the chosen business.

The industry of marketing is a very creative one as it includes distribution, selling, advertising and other related activities. It includes the study of various social sciences like psychology, sociology, mathematics, anthropology and science.

Generally explain the following key roles of marketing function.

Roles and Responsibilities

Strategy- Marketing Department is essentially involved in the strategy making of the given organization. It is responsible for ensuring that proper strategies are formulated and that the position of the firm is presented in front of the correct target market in the right manner.

Market Research- The marketing department assists in Market research as well. It is their responsibility to look out for new trends and begin to design ideas for new products or services which are required to be present (Helm and Gritsch 2014).

Product Development- The marketing department is essentially entrusted with the duty of new product development. This means that the department needs to have a look at the different markets and their functioning’s in order to ensure that is successful in innovating a product idea that may bring about a competitive edge to the given market.

Communication- The communication strategy which a firm might have is also supported by the marketing department of the organization. This means that if there exists a scenario where the firm is required to ensure that its message is going out to the concerned target market then in that case, it will be able to bring success.

External Environment's Impact on Marketing Activity

Sales support- The Marketing department is trusted with the responsibility of managing the sales of the enterprise. This means that the given company will be asked to ensure that they are engaging in relationships which bring about customers and revenues (Hartley and Claycomb 2013).

Events- The marketing department assists the chosen organization by helping them to manage the different events of an organization.

1.Market analysis

The market analysis can be defined as the study which involves the determination of the attractiveness of the different aspects of a market within a given industry. Market analysis takes into perspective the industry and its working and for this reason, it is commonly also known as the global environmental analysis (Hartley and Claycomb 2013). Market analysis largely involves and takes into consideration the assessment the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunity of a given in the realm of business.

Using the market analysis strategy of SWOT Analysis, the company may also be able to formulate strategies suitable for the firm and in the external environment as well. The market analysis is also known as an investigation used to plan the different activities of the firm in advance. This can include planning activities like purchase, inventory, workforce expansion or contraction, promotional activities and other related aspects.

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis can be defined as a Strategic Management tool which helps an individual or a business at large, to identify the Strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities and the Threats in a business environment. Using the SWOT analysis a firm will be easily able to identify the internal as well as the external factors which may have an impact on the business enterprises.

SWOT analysis helps in answering those questions which tend to generate information which can be used for the future of the organization (Helm and Gritsch 2014). The Strengths and the Weakness are interrelated and internal to a firm`s working whereas the Opportunities and Threats commonly tend to throw light on the external environment in which the business functions.

• Strengths: can be defined as those characteristics of the business enterprise which tends to act as a positive aspect in a business and provides it with advantages in the external business environment.
• Weaknesses: The weakness can be described as the character of the business enterprise which might act as a disadvantage in the long run of the business.
• Opportunities: The opportunities in a business environment can be defined as a factor which may beneficial for the firm in the long run.
• Threats: The threats in the business environment can be defined as the factors that may hamper the company in the long run of the business.

It is very important for the internal environment of the firm to match with the external one so as to bring about competitive advantage for the business enterprise. The SWOT Analysis is important tool and assists in the decision making (Huang and Sarigöllü 2014). The objectives of the company may be relevant to the SWOT Analysis.

2.Selecting the target market

Segmentation can be described as the process of dividing the business or the consumer market which comprises of the potential customers into different customer segments based on some shared characteristics. The marketers generally look out for common characteristics in such a scenario. The main purpose of the entire process is to high yield the segments.

The four approaches to target marketing are as follows:

1. Undifferentiated Marketing

In this approach there exists no such differences between the various customers and their characteristics. There is an absence of segmentation in the given scenario (Zhou and Wang 2014).

2. Differentiated marketing or multi-segment targeting:

In this technique different set of target segments are identified and strategies to serve each target market are identified. In this targeting approach a company aims to target different segments available and follows a distinct marketing mix for every segment which has been identified.

3. Focus or concentrated targeting:

The concentrating targeting strategy aims to target one segment specifically out of the different selected marketing segments which have been identified accordingly. This approach is taken to be a holistic one whereby the company tries to concentrate on one segment specifically.

4. Customized marketing:

The customized market is associated with the formation of close relationships between different suppliers and the customers in order to be able to focus accordingly and provide tailor made services.

3.Explain the Marketing mix– 4Psor 7Ps.

The marketing mix can be defined as putting the right product at the right time in front of the right customers. Previously, there were only 4Ps of marketing available but currently there are 7ps along with the 4Cs.

1. Product: The Product can be defined as the component which the company sells to satisfy the needs of the different customers.
2. Price: The price at which the product is sold is a relevant determinant of the kind of market which the company aims to serve.
3. Place: The place is the area and country where the seller distributes its products and services. The company may choose to opt for Intensive distribution and franchising for the place aspect.
4. Promotion: The promotion determines the strategies which the company aims to opt for in cases where it wants to promote the product in the market.
5. Implementation and Control

The implementation of the marketing plan can be defined as the stage where the different marketing strategies and plans are put into action. Various plans are generally made in order to successfully implement the marketing plan and it is at this stage that those plans are put into action in order to see to it that the firm is successfully able to understand and actual performance in place.

The performance can be evaluated in the end by evaluating the planned with the actual. The marketing plans are planned carefully and every resource aspect is decided at a previous stage, however it may always not happen that the plan is successful and for this reason, it is very important for the firm to see to it that the performance is in place with the planned one, so a comparison between the two can be made and corrective actions can be taken (Wilson et al. 2016).

M1- Analyze how the external (macro) environment may influence and impact the marketing activity of your business at M&S. (use PEST analysis)

The PEST analysis comprises of the Political, Economic, Social and Technological environmental factors which lie outside the vicinity of the business but tend to impact the business in a severe manner.  

The PEST analysis is critical to the marketing of a firm in the sense that it helps the firm to take into account the external factors which may be relevant in determination and formation of the basic ideas and marketing strategies. If the modern digital technologies are used, it should be seen to it that the basic technological aspect of the organization is analyzed.

P2 - Explain how the roles and responsibilities of marketing are related within the context of M&S.

 Explain the role of marketing within B2C context

The role of marketing in B2C context is very relevant as it goes a long way in making the customers aware of the services which are being provided by the firm to its customers. The customers may not necessarily be aware of the products which a company has to offer and pertaining to this scenario the B2C marketing goes a long way in getting the right information across to the customers.

 Explain the role of marketing within B2B context.

The B2B companies which refer to the business to business companies are often product driven companies. The role of marketing in the B2B context is more than just creating brochures or printing the advertisements. The role of marketing in this context lies in transforming the company to a customer driven enterprise.

Tactics for Achieving Business Objectives

B2B Marketing aims to own the customer experience (Theaker 2017).  This is because the marketing represents the Voice of all the Customers and goes a long way in more than just branding. The content strategy which is used in the B2B Marketing goes a long way in helping a firm to get to the right customers Furthermore, it also assists the customers in achieving a competitive edge in the long run of the business enterprise domain.

Structure and Operations of Marketing Department

The structure of the marketing department is very simple. There is a head of the department known as the President of the department followed by the Vice President. Under these two heads there is a marketing manager and then under his domain the work of the given department is divided into different domains (Theaker 2017).   These domains may be departments like the Public relations, Market Researchers and creative services. Each of them will be answerable to the manager who is governed by the president and the vice president.

 Modern Trends

The current trends of the marketing department specifically in Marks and Spencer’s include a separate department for the social media marketing and website development. This is because the social media marketing forms an essential part of an organization in the current scenario and for this purpose it becomes increasingly important to invest in one. The company is also planning to get into the virtual reality segment (Kim and Mauborgne 2014).

Relevance to Marks and Spencer’s

The B2C Marketing is relevant to context of Marks and Spencer’s in the sense that the organization offers products to the customers directly (Kim and Mauborgne 2014). This means that that the Marks and Spencer`s company lies under the domain of Business to Consumer range because of the services provided. For this reason, it makes use of the given B2C Marketing techniques in order to attract the desired target market:

Social Media

Print Media

Television

Mobile Marketing

 M2 -Analyze the importance of interconnection between marketing and following departments at M&S limited.

1.Finance- the Finance department forms the basis of the organization. All the functions of the Finance department have an impact on the functioning of the overall organization. The Finance department forms the budget of an organization which tends to have an impact on the spending of the organizational departments as well (Johnson, Christensen and Kagermann 2018). For this reason, marketing is directly related to the marketing department because the funds required for marketing department are directly related to the sanction as given by the Finance department.

2.HR- The Human resource helps the different departments by providing them with assistance and manpower. The HR department of an organization is primarily responsible for helping the marketing department at Marks and Spencer’s to get the right type of people who will contribute towards the accomplishment of the marketing needs (Kotler 2015).

3.Production – The production aspect refers to the products which are ideally important for the organization. The job of the marketing department relates to the production in the sense the marketing department at Marks and Spencer’s helps the production department to identify the products which they should actually be producing in the long run of the firm.

 D1

Marks and Spencer’s- Marketing Mix

Product- Footwear, clothes, home appliances, accessories, furniture, food products, flowers and gifts

Price- Competitive pricing strategy is followed by the company. It also follows a dynamic pricing strategy as during the off season times, more offers are provided so that the old stock gets sold out easily.

Place – The brand has more than 1000 stores and operates in more than 50 countries. International delivery for certain products and countries is also available (Osterwalder et al. 2014).

Promotion- The store strategy and digital marketing are used as the primary promotion strategy

Critically analyze and assess the challenges that the marketing department faces when collaborating / interrelating with other departments.

Challenges faced

While collaborating with the other departments, the primary challenge being faced by the Marks and Spencer’s relates to the challenge of making them function in collaboration with the marketing department. The different departments at Marks and Spencer’s often lack collaboration with the marketing department and do not tend to take the advice of the same. For this reason, it is suggested that the firm needs to plan accordingly and ensure that the marketing department collaborates effectively with all departments to avoid any other problem in the future.

Task two – (P3) 

P3 - Compare the ways in which M&Sapplies the marketing mix to the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives. 

Carry out research with view of assessing the marketing mix and the extended elements and make comparison between M&S and Next.

Explain what is extended marketing mix 7Ps.

As stated previously, the marketing mix plays a critical role in assisting the marketing strategy of the organization. The marketing mix has a key role to play in the business domain as it helps the company in analyzing what is necessary for the firm and what is not necessary for the given organization. The 7Ps of marketing mix have the given components. The 7Ps components have been explained in relation to the chosen company the Marks and Spencer’s.

 Product

The product can be defined as the goods and services which the company offers in terms of value creating opportunities to the different clients. The Marks and Spencer’s department is one of the top retail chain brands in UK. The company has operations outside the United Kingdom domain as well and engages in selling of items which are catering to the needs of all age groups and genders which comprises of men, women and even children. The company offers Footwear, clothes, home appliances, accessories, furniture, food products, flowers and gifts. The company also provides international shipping in various countries.

Price

The price component can be determined as the structure or the strategy being followed by the organization in order to achieve optimum services to the different customers.

The pricing strategy being followed by the company Marks and Spencer is the competitive pricing strategy. The company has an in house brand for all age groups and genders and therefore they are priced high because of the good quality being offered (Gummerus 2013). However it conducts a market analysis and adopts the competitive pricing strategy which allows the customers to have more options at affordable prices. During the seasonal time, a dynamic pricing strategy is followed by the firm.

Place:

The place can be described as the place where the company aims to sell its products. Currently Marks and Spencer’s has more than 1000 stores in 50 countries and has been expanding its operations to countries and stores like India. Turkey, Spain, France, Ireland, Hungary, Finland and others (Kotler 2015). The company also provides the customers with international delivery options when they purchase online using the application on mobile or the website

Promotion:

The promotional aspect of the marketing market ox concentrates on choosing the different promotional strategies that are to be issued by the company in order to attract the target market of the firm (Leonidou, Katsikeas and Morgan 2013).  The Marks and Spencer’s makes use of a very thoughtful strategy whereby it tends to combine digital marketing with instore strategy in order to give out a common message to all the chosen customers. The company makes use of its own website in order to promote the products and uses various blogger references as well. The company offers different discounts during the lean seasons and provides them with reward points as well to encourage repetitive purchases.

People:

The people aspect of the marketing mix refers to the people who work for the given organization. The employee strength of marks and spencer’s is more than 83000 which helps the company to pay special attention to the given set of employees. The employees themselves get special discounts and various offers are provided to the firm in order to ensure that it is successfully able to keep them motivated (Kiel 2014). Marks and Spencer’s also concentrates on Diversity and lets the female employees support by introducing more female friendly policies.

Process:

The process involves the way a business is carried out in an organization. As Marks and Spencer’s operates in urban as well as sub urban areas as well, the stores in the malls and the sub urban area localities are organized beautifully (Tapp and Spotswood 2013). The stores are divided into different floors and the section for women, men, kinds and children are all different. The website used by the firm is also very user friendly whereby the customers can login and identify the purchases to be made by the customers and assists them in the same.

Physical Evidence:

Physical evidence can be described as providing the evidence of the sales and purchases being offered by the organization. Marks and Spencer’s has a large number of stores around the globe. As stated previously, the company has stores in Spain, France, Ireland, Finland and Turkey. These stores tend to act as a physical evidence for the company and the company sells goods online as well.

The extended marketing mix is very important for the firm because:

• It helps in identification of the People who are involved in the marketing process. This helps the organization to hire and retent those employees who are suitable for the marketing mix of the organization.
• It helps in improvisation of the Processes (Martelo Landroguez, Barroso Castro and Cepeda-Carrión 2013).
• Identification of suitable processes also goes a long way in assisting the firm to achieve those processes which are suitable for achieving competitive advantage.
• It helps in providing physical evidence
• The physical evidence aspect is also very important as it highlights the key areas where the company needs to concentrate on in order to perform better.

Compare the ways in which M&S and next apply the extended marketing mix to achieve business objectives.

The Next Company is also performing comparatively well as compared to the Marks and Spencer’s company. In the given section the extended Ps of marketing of Next have been discussed:

Physical evidence- Next has more than 540 stores around the globe and it also has an online website which sells the products of the company online as well.

People= There are more than 49000 people employed in the Next stores. These employees work hard for the welfare of the organization  and see to it that the aims and objectives of the organization are successfully achieved.

Process- Next understands the importance value which needs to be provided by the company to its people and for this reason, it manages the store well and ensures that adequate value is added to every level of the supply chain (Khan 2014).

M3 - Using your knowledge as a Marketing Assistant, evaluate different tactics applied by M&S and Next to demonstrate how business objectives can be achieved.

Devise the objectives for M&S.

The objectives of Marks and Spencer’s are as follows:

• To provide premium quality products to the different customers
• To provide loyalty programs for the welfare of the different consumers
• To ensure safety of the environment (McDaniel and Gates 2013).
• To ensure that all the needs and demands of the customers are fulfilled accordingly

Strategies used by Marks and Spencer’s

Digital Marketing strategy

The company, M & S will make use of the Digital Marketing strategy in order to promote its products in the external environment and make them attractive in the eyes of the customers. By using various social media and other marketing techniques the firm makes use of its resources in order to make the customers aware of the offerings (Gronroos 2016).

Competitive pricing strategy

 

The firm makes use of competitive pricing strategies in order to ensure that the pricing of the firm is at par with the different competitors.

Strategies used by Next

Differentiation strategy

Next follows a differentiation strategy in order to provide the goods to the customers which are different from that of the competitors. This is because the company wants to stand out different from its competitors and for such purpose it follows the given strategy.

Dynamic pricing strategy

The Next Plc also follows a dynamic pricing strategy whereby the company offers huge discounts to the different customers in seasons and very often at selected products at all times.

Conclusion

Therefore from the given analysis it could be stated that although, Next has a fairly competitive strategy in place, however there are various strategies which are just followed by Marks and Spencer’s which are different to its own needs and are difficult to copy.

Task Three: (P4) Marketing Plan

Introduction

The given paper will be analyzing the marketing plan of Marks and Spencer’s company. The segmentation, marketing, targeting and positioning aspects will also be taken into consideration.

External situation analysis:

Pestle analysis:

Political:

The Marks and Spencer’s company needs to abide by all political factors in order to ensure that it is able to carry out all the activities of the organization essentially. When the government changes, the profitability is affected and hence, business growth gets hampered.

Economic

The economic situation of the United Kingdom also has a huge impact on the Marks and Spencer’s business as when the VAT increase, the company has to pay for the given change. Therefore, it has to been seen that the Marks and Spencer’s ensures that the economic activity of the firm is in alignment with the requirements of the economy in order to ensure successful operations (Hair Jr and Lukas 2014).

Social

The consumer perception towards a brand plays a key role in determining the success of the band in the market operations.

Technological

With the advent of technology, media and digital advertisement plays a key role in the promotion of the fashion goods (McDonagh and Prothero 2014). The customer these days like to engage in price comparison activities which go a long way in assisting the given company to portray their image in the eyes of the different customers.

Swot analysis:

The SWOT Analysis is a strategic marketing tool which is used to analyses the current internal situation of an organization and gives information about the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities prevalent in the given market. The swot analysis has been given as follows:

Strengths

The strengths of the company are that it offers a wide variety of products which range from products like Food, Clothing, Financial products and others. These ranges help the firm to grab the market opportunities (De Mooij 2013). Secondly being one of the largest retailers in terms of sales, the cash flow position of the firm is very strong.

Weaknesses

The primary weakness of the organization is that it is unable to inhibit the profits. The various environmental issues pertaining to pollution and other related substitute products tend to tamper its business expansion plants to a certain extent (Keller 2013).

Opportunities

The opportunities of the firm are that the company can grow its operations in various emerging markets as well.

Threats

Lastly, the company also has various threats like the existing competition from local companies, new legislations being taken out by the firms, presence of low cost retailers and the potential competition which could disrupt its operations.

Aims and objectives

The marketing objectives form an essential aspect for any business as the given tends to help the company to measure its performance at the end of a period and to ensure that it has made considerable progress. In the given section the marketing objectives have been stated as follows following the SMART Criteria (Baker and Saren 2016).

Specific: The primary objective of the marketing plan is to see to it that the popularity of the store increases and the different customers and achieve success in the future. Hence, in the given report it will be analyzed:

The ways in which the company wants to increase the profits and open more stores in the coming three years.

To become a major retailer by the year 2017, and take out a new clothing line focusing on quality.

Measurable: The aims and objectives of the Marks and Spencer’s in the given industry would be to retain the best talent and ensure that they become the leading brand in the economic market. As a new clothing line needs to be introduced, it becomes increasingly important to ensure that new ideas come in the form of these creative ideas (Shen, B. and Bissell, K., 2013).

Agreed: The primary objective of the given company Marks and Spencer’s is to ensure that the customer service in the given stores is very good and that they have the power to influence the customers in the best way possible.

Realistic: The realistic component of the Marks and Spencer’s company is to advance the quality by 2017 and ensure that environmental and social factors are taken into consideration so that the customers can lead life in a sustainable manner.

Time: In the time aspect, the company aims to achieve the given objectives. It aims to conduct these plans in a period of 3 years.

Segmentation, targeting and positioning

The primary target market of the given company is the people with a high income and group and the ones who like to dress smartly and enjoy wearing good clothes as well. These people have a high purchasing power which then helps them to purchase such expensive products. Age is not a limitation in the given scenario.

Segmentation Criteria: The segmentation criteria has been based on gender related, age related and behavior related concepts. Certain aspects are also based on lifestyle related segments. Clothing depends on the lifestyle of the given consumer and therefore, for this reason, the given segmentation has been applied (Czinkota and Ronkainen 2013).

Positioning: Marks and Spencer’s wants to position itself as a leading brand in the market which offers good quality products at affordable prices.

Competitors: Marks and Spencer’s has various competitors in the United Kingdom. These competitors run their business model similar to that of Marks and Spencer’s. Next, Arcadia Group Limited, Benetton Group and the Burberry Group PLC. These companies have various branches in other companies China, South Korea and Indonesia (Coombes and Nicholson 2013).

Competitive Position of M&S: The Company is one of the primary retailers in the United Kingdom and provides sufficient competition to various companies in the same sector. The primary competitive advantage of the company is that it has a big brand name in the given market. Secondly, it has its development in various markets with respect to online shopping facility, fashion trends and others in order to ensure that it attains the maximum sales in the given market. The Marks and Spencer’s is a market leader because of its high brand value and recognition among the different customers.

Communication Theme: The primary communication theme of Marks and Spencer is based on the use of social media. The company makes extensive use of the social media channel and markets its products in the same manner.

Implementation

In order to understand the implementation aspect of the marketing plan the marketing mix strategy of Marks and Spencer’s would be analyzed in order to understand the marketing perspective of the given scenario. The marketing mix acts as a major function which goes a long way in assisting the organization to mix strategically with the given company strategy and maintain the demand of the given products being sold by the organization.

Product

The Marks and Spencer’s department is one of the top retail chain brands in UK. The company has operations outside the United Kingdom domain as well and engages in selling of items which are catering to the needs of all age groups and genders which comprises of men, women and even children (Blakeman 2018). The company offers Footwear, clothes, home appliances, accessories, furniture, food products, flowers and gifts. The company also provides international shipping in various countries.

Price

The pricing strategy being followed by the company Marks and Spencer is the competitive pricing strategy (Babin and Zikmund 2015). The company has an in house brand for all age groups and genders and therefore they are priced high because of the good quality being offered.

Place:

The place can be described as the place where the company aims to sell its products. Currently Marks and Spencer’s has more than 1000 stores in 50 countries and has been expanding its operations to countries and stores like India. Turkey, Spain, France, Ireland, Hungary, Finland and others.

Promotion:

The promotional aspect of the marketing mix concentrates on choosing the different promotional strategies that are to be issued by the company in order to attract the target market of the firm.  The Marks and Spencer’s makes use of a very thoughtful strategy whereby it tends to combine digital marketing with instore strategy in order to give out a common message to all the chosen customers and uses various blogger references as well.

People:

The people aspect of the marketing mix refers to the people who work for the given organization. The employee strength of marks and spencer’s is more than 83000 which helps the company to pay special attention to the given set of employees. Marks and Spencer’s also concentrates on Diversity and lets the female employees support by introducing more female friendly policies.

Process:

The process involves the way a business is carried out in an organization. As Marks and Spencer’s operates in urban as well as sub urban areas as well, the stores in the malls and the sub urban area localities are organized beautifully (Armstrong et al. 2015). The stores are divided into different floors and the section for women, men, kinds and children are all different.

Physical Evidence:

Physical evidence can be described as providing the evidence of the sales and purchases being offered by the organization. Marks and Spencer’s has a large number of stores around the globe.

Alternatively in order to increase the marketing mix strategy of the given organization the company can go a long way in changing the design of the way it sells the product to the customers. This can be done by introduction of new selling techniques like virtual reality aspect. It can add new products to the line which may cater to the needs of the different markets. It can made a mixed fashion offering to the different consumers through a mixes strategy and ensure that it is successfully being able to establish their dominance in the market (Black 2013).

Contingencies and controls

Contingency planning and control forms an effective part of any marketing plan and for this reason it is extremely important to ensure that the company is making use of effective plans to see to it that in case anything foes wrong, they can bring the activities back on track. The company would keep a track record of its sales to measure the effectiveness and ensure that the operations are successful (Andrews and Shimp 2017). It would track its external environment continuously to ensure any changes that take place in the given market.

Conclusion

Therefore from the given analysis it can be stated that Marks and Spencer’s have been doing well in the given domain. The plan looked at the various aspects of the marketing which needs to be undertaken by the organization in order to achieve success.

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