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Introduction
Marketing refers to the activities in which an organization promote all its products so that large segment of market can be acquired. All the companies are required to gather information of market so that awareness among customer can be enhanced about the business. Marketing is vital for the business entities so that large number of customers can be attracted toward the organization (Akaka, Vargo and Lusch, 2013). This assignment is mainly based on H & M who is operating its business in multiple countries such as US, Spain, Germany, Canada and France. It is a retail company of clothes and offering wide range of fashion brands to the customers. This report covers various topics such as roles and responsibilities of marketing function, interrelation between marketing and other departments of the organization and comparison of H & M’s marketing mix with its competitors. A detailed business plan with SWOT analysis have also been covered under this report.
Task 1
P3 Comparison of marketing mix of H & M with Zara
Marketing mix:Â
It is a combination of seven different types of P’s that are related to marketing. It is very important for the marketers of an organisation to have information about all the elements of marketing mix as all of them helps to operate business in effective manner (Schwarz. and Hunter, 2012). A comparison of marketing mix of H & M with Zara is as follows. This analysis may help to analyse that in which way different types of organisations are using all the components of marketing mix.
|
Marketing mix |
H & M |
Zara |
|
Product |
H & M is a retail company of clothing it provides good quality products to its customers that help to retain them and these products also help the organisation to remain competitive in the market because large number of customers get attracted toward the good quality of clothes that are supplied by H & M. Customers have options in the clothes as they have wide rage of varieties to choose from. It is selling clothes to the customers. |
Clothes that are supplied by Zara are of good quality and this characteristic of the organisation attracts large number of customers. As the company is well known for its quality of the clothes hence it helps to grab attention of large number of customers and then retain them by satisfying their needs. Clothes are sold by Zara in the market. |
|
Price |
The price for the products of H & M is very low and the organisation is using cost-based pricing strategy in which it sets cheap and affordable price for its products so that all type of customers may buy their clothes. |
Marketers of Zara are using premium pricing strategy for the organisation in which high prices for the products are set and upper-class customers are targeted by them so that higher profits can be acquired by the company. |
|
Place |
Shops of H & M are located in well-known and established shopping streets that are easy to access by the customers. Online selling is also done by the company in which customers may order clothes form their house and organisation deliver those products to their home. Currently H & M is having 4500 stores all over the world. |
Stores of Zara are opened in such place where the customers may reach easily s the organisation want to retain all its customers and attract more with the help of good quality products and services. Zara is executing business in more than 7400 stores all around the world. |
|
Promotion |
H & M is spending lot of time on promotional activities so that it may attract more and more customers. Organisation is using world celebrities to promote and advertise their products which is very beneficial for the organisation. H & M is using free gifts and discount prices promotional strategies. |
Zara is using innovative promotional activities in which it is offering discounts on festive season and also providing various types of offers to its regular customers so that sales can be maximised (Blakeman, 2015). Zara is using voucher and coupons promotional strategies to enhance sales. |
|
People |
Employees of the shops are trained appropriately and they are able to interact and cooperate with the customers who are visiting the shops of H & M. They interact with all the visitors and then give appropriate response on their queries. |
All the staff members of Zara are well educated and experienced as they have to communicate with customers face to face at stores. |
|
Process |
The supply chain and distribution process of H & M is very good and it is handled by professionals so that possibility of errors can be reduced. |
Process of supplying products to customers and the supply chain is also managed appropriately so that business can be operated smoothly. |
|
Physical evidence |
Market image of the company can be considered as physical evidence. Performance and image of H & M is very good and it helps to enhance sales and profitability. |
There is a good market image of Zara in the market which is established with the help of good quality clothes that are provided to the customers. |
TASK 2
P4 Marketing plan for H & M
Marketing plan is a document that carry all the business marketing related information so that all the activities can be executed appropriately. It is very important for the marketers of the organisation to use the plan accurately so that marketing activities can get success in the market (Guffey and Loewy, 2012). H & M is now willing to launch a new service in the market in which it will take online order from its customers and than deliver the products by it self so that possibilities of the frauds can be reduced. A marketing plan for the company is as follows:
Overview of the company:Â
H & M is a fashion brand who is operating its business in various countries and currently it is executing its business effectively in the market. Current employee strength of the company is 132000 people and business is operated in 62 countries with the help of 4500 stores.
Mission:Â
The organisation is willing to drive long lasting positive change in the society so that standard of living of general public can be enhanced (Null and Lobur, 2014).
Vision:Â
Long term vision of the organisation is to supply good quality and branded clothes to the society on low prices so that every one can afford good clothes.
Objective:
 Main objective of H & M is to acquire large market share by expanding business in more geographic locations.
SWOT analysis:
 Four different elements are included in SWOT analysis that helps the organisation to analyse marketing conditions that may affect organisational performance (Hacker, Gambone and Hobel, 2015). A SWOT analysis for H & M is as follows:
Strengths:
- Different variety of clothes are offered to the customers with low price and good quality that helps to retain customers.
- H & M is having a unique identity for all its brands because it is depended upon the targeted segment of the market.
- Financial performance of the organisation is very strong and the financial strength of the company is increasing continuously.
Weaknesses:
- It is depended upon the third parties to supply all its products which is an outsourcing of merchandises hence it has less control over its production.
- As H & M is offering good quality products on low prices but all the clothes are made by following after trends and this may affect profitability in long term.
Opportunities:
- As the organisation is willing to launching a new service in which it will supply clothes to customers by it self that may help to reduce the outsourcing percentage and increase its control over production (Ionita 2012).
- Organisation may expand its business on more locations this will help to increase its profitability.
Threats:
- The biggest threat that H & M is facing is of competitors in the market. These competitors are Marks and Spencer, Zara etc.
- In fashion brands different new organisation are entering which is a threat for the company because they may acquire market share of H & M.
STP analysis:Â
This analysis is used by companies to launch new product or service in the market with the help of proper planning (STP Model, 2018). It has three different elements all of them are as follows:
- Segmenting: In this step H & M may select the segment where the organisation is w going to introduce its service.
- Targeting: In this stage the marketers of H & M select the target customers to whom service will be provided first time.
- Positioning: This is the last stage of STP analysis in which marketers try to establish a good image of the organisation in the mind of its customers.
Marketing budget refers to the total amount of all the expenses that are faced by an organisation while conducting marketing activities. A marketing budget H & M is as follows:
|
Expenditures |
Amount |
|
Research cost |
1200 |
|
Cost of hiring new employees |
2000 |
|
Cost of new material |
15000 |
|
Promotional activities |
1400 |
|
Online advertisements |
900 |
|
Total |
20500 |
Monitoring:
In this plan it has been monitored that organisation may face issues that are related to the cost which is going to be faced by organisation in future while launching the new service in the market.
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Controlling:Â
The issue can be controlled by maintaining the budget appropriately so that it can be used appropriately for all the activities that are going to be performed by the organisation.
Conclusion
From the above project report, it has been concluded that marketing essentials help an organisation to be more competitive in the market as they are related to the marketing practices that are conducted by the marketers. It includes promotional, selling and advertising activities that are mainly performed to enhance sales and profitability. Various marketing functions help to understand the market conditions and taste and preferences of customers and guide the organisation to provide such products to the customers that they are willing to buy for the company. Marketing mix elements are used by companies to evaluate the organisational performance in the market.
References
- Akaka, M. A., Vargo, S. L. and Lusch, R. F., 2013. The complexity of context: A service ecosystems approach for international marketing. Journal of Marketing Research. 21(4). pp.1-20.
- Blakeman, R., 2015. Advertising campaign design: Just the essentials. Routledge.
- Guffey, M. E. and Loewy, D., 2012. Essentials of business communication. Cengage Learning.
- Hacker, N. F., Gambone, J. C. and Hobel, C. J., 2015. Hacker & Moore's essentials of obstetrics and gynecology. Elsevier Health Sciences.
- Ionita, D., 2012. Entrepreneurial marketing: a new approach for challenging times. Management & Marketing. 7(1). p.131.
- Null, L. and Lobur, J., 2014. The essentials of computer organization and architecture. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
- Schwarz, E. C. and Hunter, J. D., 2012. Advanced theory and practice in sport marketing. Routledge.
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