Teaching Marketing And Logistics Majors: Importance Of Marketing Plan And Capability Analysis

Marketing Plan: An Essential Tool for Organisations

Question:

Discuss About The Teaching To Marketing And Logistics Majors?

A marketing plan is considered as a tool for every purpose that helps in the management of the marketing activities in an organisation. It provides the managers with the analysis of the flaws in the market and the manner by which these flaws can be rectified. According to Armstrong et al. (2015), in the modern world, marketing plan changes depending upon the manner in which the competitors formulate its strategies. The factors that need to be considered include the new market plan and the new products that help in analysing the effectiveness of the market.

In the case of the retail-clothing sector in Singapore, organisations such as Esprit Holding need to keep in mind the changing pattern of the economy of the country. A good marketing plan needs to take into consideration the external and internal changes that a company may undergo to understand the effectiveness of changes (David, David and David 2017). Since its inception in 1968, Esprit Holding has become one of the best retail clothing centres in the world solely based on the analysis of the external and internal factors (Esprit.com 2018). The company also considers the change in the tastes of the customers with the change in generation and lifestyle.

The capability of an organisation defines the competence that exists in the market. The synergising effects, strengths, weakness, as well as the resources of a company, are taken into consideration while formulating the strategies to define the capabilities. In the words of Kotabe and Helsen (2014), the capability represents the strategies of an organisation that utilises its strengths to overcome the weakness it possesses and create opportunities to face the threats from the external environment. For example, in the modern world, technology plays an important role in the increase of efficiency in an organisation as most jobs are done using the latest machinery and technology.

In the case of Esprit Holding, the capabilities of the company can be defined by stating that the uniqueness and creative products of the company outlines its capabilities. The brand effect it has on the customers makes the company a popular brand in the rich and high economy of Singapore. McDonald (2016) stated that global network is important to understand the capability of a company. Esprit Holding is a company that was founded in San Francisco and is popular in Singapore. The global recognition of the company has been well established by the managers.

According to Chen (2014), customers are the keystones that help in the development of an effective marketing plan. Therefore, an organisation needs to audit the internal as well as the external environment to understand the factors that are essential for the development of a proper marketing plan. The process requires gathering appropriate factors and analysing it based on the contribution and effects it may have in the business. The internal factors include the mission and objectives of the company along with the existing customers. Strauss (2016) is of the opinion that the company resources like management and financial structure along with the information technology need to be considered as a part of the internal audit of a company.

Capability Analysis to Improve Competitiveness

The external audit comprises of conducting a PESTEL analysis that covers the major factors such as political, economic, social technological, legal and environmental factors of the business environment. Apart from this, the needs and perspectives of the customers also need to be considered so that it can help in understanding the level of growth it can expect in the market (McDonald and Wilson 2016). However, the important aspect of auditing the market includes the awareness of the market.

King et al. (2017) stated that to continue an effective auditing of an organisation it is necessary that an internal analysis is considered. The internal analysis consists of a SWOT analysis that highlights the strength and weakness of an organisation along with the opportunities it can get by mitigating its threat. However, in the case of Esprit Holding, an external factor analysis is done to understand the possible threats from the Singapore environment that the organisation may face. These threats are, however, are formulated after conducting an internal analysis of the organisation (Baron, Zaltman and Olson 2017).

The external factors particularly the economy of Singapore can help Esprit Holding to gain recognition. This is mainly because of the fact that the country has a rich economy and it is necessary for the marketing managers to exploit such conditions to increase its productivity. Ots and Nyilasy (2015) stated that the technological factor can play an essential role in the analysis of the auditing. This is because technology is considered as the soul for most organisations and Singapore is one of the countries that are technically advanced.

To succeed at the international level, it is necessary that Esprit Holding have a strong and effective marketing plan. This can help organisations to remain aware of the changes that take place in the marketing environment and take precautions to mitigate the issues. However, as stated by Harris and Piercy (2015) certain barriers exist that create a great hindrance to the marketing plans and it affects Esprit Holding in a negative manner. These barriers can be analysed in a systematic manner so that elimination can be done effectively.

Lack of motivation to change is one such barrier that an organisation face. According to Huang and Sarigöllü (2014), this can be considered as an internal factor as the employees working in Esprit Holding does not grab the opportunities to change due to fear of losing jobs. Thus, a good marketing plan cannot be formulated without making changes beneficial for the purpose of growth of an organisation. Apart from this, overconfidence can be considered as another factor that may lead to the hindrance of formulating a good marketing plan. Failure of co-operation with the management and lack of communication with the employees are other factors that form barriers to effective marketing planning (Hanssens et al. 2014).

According to Vitell and Hunt (2015), stated that overcoming the barriers to marketing plan need to be a top priority for Esprit Holding. This is mainly because of the fact that the marketing plan is important for the successful implementation of the business management. Therefore, certain strategies can be formulated that can help in overcoming the barriers to the marketing plan. One such approach includes the forming of strategy before tactics. Every organisation need to ensure that the tactics of change or management are formed before the application of strategies (Vitell, Singhapakdi and Nishihara 2015).

Internal and External Audits for Effective Marketing Planning

Marketing and operations need to be related so that Esprit Holding can maintain control over the situations that exist in the internal factors. Apart from this, the shared value of a marketing plan needs to be maintained and communicate with the employees so that the structure around the marketing plan can be formulated. A thorough scan of the environment can also help in mitigating the possible barriers to a marketing plan. Aguirre et al. (2017) are of the opinion that the employees also need to be motivated to accept the changes.

Laczniak and Harris (2016) stated that marketing plan is essential for ensuring that the goals, direction and the evaluation of the company are managed effectively. Thereby, a four-step approach towards making an effective plan with the focus on Esprit Holding can be formulated.

Proper setting of goal: The mission of an organisation needs to be formulated so that it can help the employee and the employers to achieve their targets. The goal of Esprit Holding is to make people look good and feel good. It provides an authentic style for the customers.

Review situation: A Situation analysis of Esprit Holding can be done by conducting a SWOT as well as PEST analysis. These two types of analysis can help in understanding the external and internal factors that affect the market. The review shows that Esprit Holding may face competition from various sources in Asia and in Europe. Competitors such as Luis Phillipe can hamper the progress of the organisation.

Form strategy: Marketing strategy can be formed keeping in mind the objectives of the company. In the case of Esprit Holdings, the company aims to reach a million customers in Singapore within the end of the financial year of 2018. Hence, the strategy formed by the organisation includes effective conduct of marketing research and recruit of talents capable of aiding the company.

Budget implementation: Budget implementation refers to the controlling of the marketing factors and ensuring that the marketing plan is limited to the budget of the company. Esprit Holding can limit the budget by analysing the cost of promotion required for its products. Hence, the estimated budget of Esprit Holding can be $647 million at the start of the year. (Refer to appendix for cash flow statement)

A marketing plan helps to provide information that enables the stakeholders to identify and measure the strategies that are required for the effective planning of an organisation. Palmer (2017) stated that an effective marketing plan assists in increasing the sale of the product and enhance the profit of the company. Thus, some of the essentials of marketing plan include the focus of the target market. This is essential as the organisations need to ensure that the customers are identified based on the demography and the geographical situation. The segmentation needs to be done by analysing the preferences of the customers based on the lifestyle of the people.

As stated by Martin and Johnson (2015) the detriments of the demand of products need to be analysed so that effective marketing plan can be formulated. Another important advantage of the marketing plan is that it provides identify the potential customers that exist in the market. Competitors and competitive advantage are analysed that can help a company like Esprit Holding to continue its dominance in the market of Singapore. At the same time, a good marketing plan can help in providing an organisation with the ways by which it meets its daily goals and identifies new opportunities.

Barriers to Effective Marketing Planning

The new product development is considered as a process that is designed to develop as well as test and consider the viability of the new products that exist in a market. In the case of Esprit Holding, the company can develop a new product in the form of footwear for the women. It is effective in differentiating between the growth and survival in organisations particularly during the launch of a product. Rittenburg and Ferrell (2015) identified several steps that can help in the development of new products in the industry. One such effective technique can be the generation of new ideas. In this case, the idea that is generated within Esprit Holding about new footwear need to be unique so that it can help in the effective growth and recognition of the product. For a company like Esprit Holding, it is necessary to ensure that its competitors cannot replicate the products.

The competency of an organisation can be determined by analysing the internal capabilities. Lee et al. (2015) stated that screening of ideas to the employees could help organisations gain valuable information about the market. This can help in abandoning any ideas that are not suitable for the development of the organisation.

Papps and Quester (2016) consider that distribution mix that is the place is the most effective manner in which distribution and communication with the customers can be maintained. This is because the place of an organisation helps customers to visit it whenever required. Not only this, the transportation of goods can be done in a smooth manner and help in reducing the extra costs of the goods. Thereby it can be said that the distribution policy of an organisation is essential for determining the price of the goods and consequently the sales of the goods (McMurrian and Matulich 2016).

Apart from this, it is also necessary to consider the following factors that are essential for maintaining the price and distribution of products. For example, it is essential that Esprit Holding consider selling its products via internet and mail the order through the brochures. This can help in maintaining effective communication with the customers as well as. This is because continuous interaction with the customers can be made that can highlight the development of the organisation.

The factors that normally the marketing plan consists of are the elements of the marketing mix. In the case of Esprit Holdings, the company need to consider the elements that are essential for the proper implementation of the marketing plan and for increasing the revenue and popularity of the organisation.

Product: Esprit Holding is a public company that manufactures retail clothing. The products of the company comprise of men and women accessories along with footwear and cosmetics. This helps the company to provide for best quality of clothes to every gender and type of people in a society.

Price: Aguirre et al. (2017) stated that the price of the products is always important for an organisation. People want the best quality of products with the minimum price. In the case of Esprit Holding, the prices of the product are pocket-friendly for the customers.

Place: The place of an organisation is important so that it can be easy for the customers to gain access to the organisation. Esprit Holding consists of a physical store that needs to be of convenience to the customers.

Promotion: The promotion of the products of Esprit Holding needs to be based on the revenue of the company. Esprit Holding need to analyse the most effective promotional method to ensure that the organisation gain success. In this case, Esprit Holding can use social media for the promotion of the products.

Ethics help individuals and organisations provide shape to the decisions taken by them. The standards of fairness and the moral principles of an organisation are considered keeping in mind the legal laws set out by the Governments (Baron, Zaltman and Olson 2017). The main purpose of maintaining marketing ethics is to prevent anyone from deceiving and taking advantage of any situations that may pose the threat of unethical activities.

The economic condition of Singapore needs to be analysed so that the demands and needs of the customers can be managed. It has been seen that the customers need to analyse the business market before trying to break any rules related to the ethical consideration of the market. Chen (2014) opined that unethical marketing might pose a huge threat to the marketing process of an organisation and affect the marketing plan of Esprit Holding. Apart from this, organisations need to be socially responsible that cannot be done with the implementation of the unethical issues. In the case of marketing mix the ethical issues that need to be considered includes unfair demand of prices for poor quality product. The quality of the product need to be good and based on it, organisations like Esprit Holding need to maintain its price. The price need to be fair and excess charge of tax from the customers need to be justified by the company.

Harris and Piercy (2015) suggested certain strategies that can help in securing the ethical behaviour of the organisations. One such suggestion is the fact that ethical behaviour needs to be enhanced by the top-level managers so that employees can follow the policies and procedures that highlight the ethics of the company. Ethical forms need to be formed that states the required protocols needed to be followed in the organisations. David, David and David (2017) stated that an ethical training needs to be provided that highlights the importance of maintaining the legal policies and consider the organisational policies that are brought forward by the organisations.

Esprit Holding needs to consider taking ethical actions on each element of the marketing mix so that customers can be satisfied and ethical violations do not occur. This includes abstaining from misleading product information and provides poor quality of control. The organisation needs to be aware of the fact that it does not over-charge the customers based on collecting extra taxes. Apart from this, another ethical consideration that Esprit Holding needs to consider is the fact that it does not differentiate prices of the products based on the area of its marketing.

According to Armstrong et al. (2014), consumer ethics need to be considered keeping in mind the environmental issues along with the issues related to the managing of the organisations. In this regard, it can be said that certain examples can be provided that can help in analysing the ethical considerations taken by customers. One such example is the fact that the marketing plan needs to be formulated based on the right of the customers. The rights of the customers can lead to satisfaction of the customers that in turn result in the increased sale of outputs. For example, customers purchasing products outside the law that are illegal may face legal constraints. This is because the laws and rules are set keeping in mind every product and the manner in which customers need to purchase it. It is also considered as the duty of the organisations to refrain from keeping such products that are illegal and may contain the violation of rights in terms of conducting business in the market.

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