MARKETING by Asda

Discuss the role of Marketing and the Marketing department using an organization of your choice to illustrate the points you make.

“Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and exchanging products of value with others”

(P. Kotler, Marketing Management, 8th edition, 1994)

The role of marketing is about engaging with your customers and letting them know how important they are to you and your business. As well as letting people know who you are, it’s also about letting people know what you are about.

Today, most firms have adopted ‘The Marketing Concept’. This is the belief that firms should analyse the needs of their customers and then make decisions to satisfy those needs.

Market research is “…the process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a market; about a product or service to be offered for sale in that market; and about the past, present and potential customers for the product or service”

Market research is essential to a business as it provides a wealth of information about existing and potential customers, competition, and the industry in general. Market research aims to answer key questions relating to customers needs and wants. These include:

Who makes up the target audience?
What do they want?
Where does it sell best?
What are our competitors doing?
How is our market changing?

The research gathered can be ‘primary’ or ‘secondary’ information. Primary research is carried out by the business itself i.e. questionnaires, surveys. These can be through personal mail, over the telephone, or face to face.

Secondary research is research that is already compiled and organised for you i.e. government agencies, other businesses within an industry. These are generally published in pamphlets, magazines, and newspapers. Most market research is usually secondary.

When a marketing department is making ...

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Who makes up the target audience?
What do they want?
Where does it sell best?
What are our competitors doing?
How is our market changing?

When a marketing department is making decisions regarding marketing they will use the ‘Marketing Mix’ (the 4 P’s of marketing). Using the marketing mix, marketing decisions will usually fall into 4 categories. These 4 P’s can be controlled by the marketing manager.

‘McCarthy (1960)’ identified the four P's of the marketing mix as:

Product – defines characteristics of a product/service that meets needs of the customers.
Price – even if a service is not charged for, it is still a conscious decision and forms part of the pricing strategy.
Promotion – includes all weapons in the marketing armory – advertising, selling, promoting etc
Place (distribution)

Product

The product or service being offered is the ultimate reason why a consumer would be interested in an organisation. ASDA offers a huge range of products and services to its customers, ranging from groceries and wines, to clothing and financial services. ASDA have their own unique clothes brand, ‘George’, which is now recognised worldwide.

In 1992 ASDA launched a food pledge which aimed to reduce salt, fat, and sugar levels in ASDA brand products, as well as providing nutritional information to their customers.

Due to their customers changing needs and requirements, ASDA are always expanding their product range. ASDA is also rapidly expanding into ‘Specialty’ areas such as pharmacies, opticians, jewellery and photo department.

Price

Researching customers’ opinions on pricing is key as it indicates how they value what they are looking for, as well as what they want to pay .The price a business decides to charge for a product or service can support its positioning. On the other hand, a pricing which appears unrealistic for a product and with the other marketing elements will only confound customers and consequently lead to lower sales.

ASDA has won the Grocer Magazine "Lowest Price Supermarket" Award for the past 9 years. ‘Smart price’ is an ASDA brand which offers a range of lowest priced food and general merchandising essentials.

Promotion

This is a way in which to communicate with potential customers through PR, sales, and advertising. Most organisations go straight to this stage of the marketing mix. However, it is important to put a lot of effort into the first two or this stage could waste a lot of time and money.

ASDA promote their organisation in a number of ways. They promote it using TV adverts, leaflets, and online. ASDA is famous for their ‘ASDA Price’ TV advert in which customers tap their pockets to show the change left in their products due to ASDA’s low prices. They also use famous celebrities like Michael Owen and Sharon Osbourne in their adverts to promote themselves further more. If consumers see successful celebrities using ASDA products then they would want to use them as well.

They also send out leaflets promoting special offers on some of their products. These leaflets are sent to nearly every house so that everyone is aware of their business. One of ASDA’s latest promotions is offering customers’ savings on petrol and diesel at ASDA petrol stations if they use the ASDA credit or store card.

Furthermore, ASDA leads the way in price promotions ahead of Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

Place

The place refers to the means by which a product is purchased, including the actual place it is purchased as well as the actual route of distribution.

ASDA is part of retail giants Wal-Mart and is the second largest chain in the UK after Tesco. There are currently 243 ASDA superstores, 37 ASDA supermarkets (including town centers), 24 distribution centers, plus many more.

Also, with online shopping and home deliveries, ASDA products and services are available to almost everyone in the UK.

In the present day, marketing is seen as one of the key departments of a business and must be given a lot of time and effort in order for a business to succeed. The marketing department needs to work with other departments in cohesion to satisfy the needs of customers.