Role of Basic Marketing Essentials in ASOS plc.

Organisational Background

ASOS Plc is a British online fashion and cosmetic retailer, where it was founded in the year of 2000. The website sells over 850 brands as well as it has own range of products including clothing, accessories and ship to all 196 countries from the fulfilment centres n the UK, US and EU. The major product of the company are such as cosmetics, shoes, accessories and clothing as well as health and beauty products as per the market trend and customer’s choice and preferences (ASOS, 2019a).

The company is efficient to generate revenue in the market, where in the last year, the organisation has generated over £2.4 billion revenue and the organisation is also efficient to manage their staff where the numbers of employees are more than 4500. It runs their business through e-commerce facilities and it is efficient to develop effective marketing planning for grabbing the market opportunities and strengthening their customer’s base, so that it is possible to secure future sustainable development in fashion industry (ASOS, 2019b).

Explaining the role of marketing and its interlinks with the functional units of the organisation

In the recent era of globalisation and highly competitive market structure, all the multinational corporate firms focus on developing effective marketing mix strategic planning to run their business sustainably in near future, where the companies try to grab the market opportunities by developing effective marketing tactics and strengthen their customer’s base to make the business profitable (Baker and Saren, 2016). The marketing mix strategic planning in this regard plays a crucial role in fulfilling the objectives of the firm. The objective of the organisation ASOS is to maximise the profitability by retaining the customers where the company focuses on creating values for the customers by delivering high quality products and services to the customers so that their expectations can be met well. Hereby, it is necessary for the organisation ASOS to develop effective marketing plan to attract the audiences in the market and strengthen their long term buyers for sustaining in the business. Hereby, the marketing plan is beneficial for ASOS to grab the market opportunities of high demand for cosmetics and beauty products among the customers through developing the marketing mix strategic planning (Scarano, 2016).

In addition to these, the marketing strategic planning plays a crucial role in gaining high competitive advantage by satisfying the customers where the company also can maximise its profitability and enhance sales vole further. In this context, ASOS is also successful in retaining the long term buyers and gain competitive advantage over other competitive firms in the market such as SHOPBOP, Gilt group, Revolve, Boohoo.com etc. Apart from that, the organisation is also efficient to gain high market share in the fashion industry through marketing planning where the marketing planning of ASOS plays a crucial role in attracting the customers and appropriate branding in the market place. Additionally, expansion of the brand can be possible through marketing mix strategic planning and also the firm scan create good corporate image through the marketing mix strategic planning (Rigby, 2015).

In this context, the organisation ASOS also can expand their business over 190 countries, were they serve the customers efficiently. In addition to these, the company is able to maintain the economies of scale and enhance the efficiency of their services in serving the customers in a better way. The organisational objectives can be net well by the marketing mix strategic planning. The marketing strategic planning is also important for managing the organisational functions in ASOS, where through the strategy of people management and process innovation, the company can develop proper working culture and improve their efficiency to serve the customers across the globe. Brand loyalty and brand equity can also be enhanced by the marketing mix strategic planning.

in this context, the organisation ASOS is also beneficial tin developing proper marketing strategies in order to improve branding and increase visibility of the brand in the market, which in turn provides a scope to ASOS to improve brand equity as well as trust and loyalty among the customers in the market. Brand image is another benefit of developing effective marketing strategies where the organisation can improve their brand image in the market and ensure to deliver quality products and efficient services to the customers. In this regard, ASOS also focuses on creating values for all the stakeholders through developing effective marketing strategies, where proper management of the stakeholders further help the company to manage their operational activities efficiently and secure future sustainable development. Hereby, the marketing mix strategic planning is important and playing a crucial role in managing the business operational activities as well as secure brand image and brand equity in the market.

In this regard, the marketing strategies are important to reshape the functions of the organisation as there are proper planning of people management, product development, pricing, process innovation and physical activities which are important for the business activities of the firm to be managed efficiently. The tactics of people management is effective for ASOS to develop proper human reduce management, which in turn helps to improve the overall performance of the firms and deliver quality service to the customers. Hereby, the marketing strategies have crucial impacts on the functional activities of the fir sin doing their operational activities efficiently. Moreover, process development and physical activities development are also effective contributing factors in reshaping the business functions where the organisation can develop effective strategies to run their functions and operational activities properly to meet the ultimate objective (The Times 100, 2015).

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Additionally, through the marketing tactics, the organisation tries to identify the appropriate customer base and acknowledge the market trend and recent customer’s preferences so that it is possible for the company to develop effective product line that would attract the customers. Hereby, for managing the product line and enhance the product diversification, the marketing mix planning is also important for ASOS through which the organisation can deliver the right products to the customers for fulfilling their actual needs and preferences. Moreover, through managing the price strategy and placing the products, the organisational functions have been developed well, where the company like ASOS focuses on setting proper price for their products as well as developing appropriate strategies to place their products in the market through developing effective supply chain and distribution network. Hereby, the marketing mix strategic planning plays a crucial role for ASOS to develop effective tactics to improve brand image and equity in the market and create proper functions, so that it is possible for the firm to run their business operational activities strategically (Waite, 2014).

Comparing the ways in which the organisation use the elements of marketing mix to achieve the business objectives

 As per the marketing mix strategic planning, there are 7 segments which are products, price, place, promotion, physical activities, process and people which are important aspects for restructuring the functional activities of the firm and developing appropriate marketing mix strategic planning in order to promote the brand successfully.

• Product:

The products strategy of the organisation ASOS is good where diversified product are present in the company from which the customers can choose the right products and service according to their personal preferences ad choices. In this regard, ASOS focuses on the product lifecycle including introduction of the products, rapid growth, maturity, saturation and decline, through these stages, it is possible for the company to reshape the products strategy. The company introduce the products in the website and maintain adequate stock and promote the products through the website in ensuring rapid growth. Additionally, at the maturity stage, the company focuses on remind the customers about the features and equality of the products through the online content, company website and newsletters (Shankar and Bolton, 2014). At saturation, the organisation set the price of the product and targets the right customers in the fashion industry to grab further market opportunities. For example, the company Boohoo.com focuses on product diversification where there is a huge amount and variety of clothing and accessories through which the company targets the diversified customers in the market and this strategy is beneficial for Boohoo.com to generate profitability in the end of the year (ASOS, 2019b).

• Price:

Pricing strategy is also another aspect of marketing mix, where the company needs to set appropriate pricing to retain the buyers in the market. In this regard, the company focuses on zone pricing strategy which indicates that the price of the products varies with the distance between the warehouse and the point of purchase by the customers. This is a unique pricing strategy for which the price varies customers to customers according to their geographical locations. The price is also affected by the issue of currency fluctuations, whereas ASOS charges the minimum price for the own branded product. In comparison to ASOS, the company Boohoo.com focuses on price penetration, where the company focuses on setting the lower price of the products as compared to other competitive companies in order to retain a large customer’s base in the market where the customers can make effective purchase decision for the quality products at the minimum price of the products.

• Promotion:

The promotional activities are the major initiatives, taken by the firms in order to promote their business in the market. In this regard, the organisation ASOS focuses on online activities and utilisation of the social media platform for enhancing two way communications between the customers and the organisational representatives. In this regard, the Facebook posts, proper content development in the Blogs and Twitter are appropriate strategic planning of the firm in order to share the organisational information with the customers (ASOS, 2019c).

• Place:

Placing the product is useful and in this regard, the company ASOS focuses on managing the warehouse in order to conduct their online activities. ASOS mainly aims to maintain their stick of the products as well as manage the warehouse successfully. The company uses GPS system to track the demand of the customers as well as telephonic conversation ad online activities to tack the order details are effective to manage the placement of the products and services, offered by the organisation.

• People:

Proper management of the people is necessary for developing the marketing mix strategic planning and in this regard, through manage to the people, the firms are trying to retain long term employees and skilled workforce to serve the customer in a better and unique way, by ensuring excellent customer service. In this regard, the organisation ASOS focuses on managing the people by providing structured salary ad compensation that would be effective for creating values for them. Additionally, the company maintains the health and safety of the employees and manage them efficiently to create trust and loyalty and retain them for long run so that the organisational operational activities can be managed well.

• Process:

In order to develop proper process, the organisation focuses on managing the company website efficiently with proper activities such as one click order placement, managing the customers online and developing efficient staff base by providing proper training and development program so that the employees can deliver quality services to the customers.

• Physical evidence:

Physical evidence management is another necessary aspect through which the organisations in the recent years can develop effective infrastructure to secure future sustainable development and in this regard, the company ASOS focuses on developing proper infrastructure in the warehouse, so that the stick management system can be developed well (ASOS, 2019c).

Developing and evaluating a basic marketing plan for ASOS

The marketing plan will be developed in six steps, such as, SWOT analysis, objectives, strategy, action plan, forecast, and control.

Steps of marketing planning development

Marketing planning

1. SWOT analysis

3. Strategy

4. Action plan

6. Control

2. Objectives

5. Forecast

Evaluation of Marketing Plan

Marketing plan has been created by ASOS to achieve their long term and short term objectives of business. This plan consists of various strategies that has been used by company. Strategies has supported growth in firm. This plan has also analysed the budget that would be implemented in organization.

1. SWOT analysis

Considering the SWOT analysis, the strengths of the company are high use of social media, high growth rate, financial stability, strong employee base, ultimate fashion destination and revenue growth. The weakness are such as no physical store, not well known in Australia, high cost of production and distribution, which needs to be resolved well by developing effective marketing mix strategic planning. The opportunities are digital media advertisement growth in demand of fashionable product and beauty product, growth in popularity of online shopping and increase the use of mobile technology and application as well as the threats for the firm is uncertain economic issues, high competition dependent on internet, lack of televisions and offline advertisement.

Strength: ASOS have high brand image, they have been engaged in providing high quality of products, goods and services to their consumers. ASOS has created a good brand image by emphasizing on the corporate responsibility and also letting the customers know who they are helping. ASOS loves good advocacy of the brand.

Weakness: A number of cases have been registered by number of consumers that ASOS has not been engaged in fully addressing the problems which is being face by consumers. It has also been analysed that company is not investing much in Research and development department.

Opportunities: ASOS has the huge opportunity to expand their market in new areas so that their profitability and presence in global market will be increased. Trends change very year so, ASOS can involve in adopting new trends which is an opportunity for them to attract potential consumers.

Threats: Company have huge threat from competitors. They are engaged in doing business online, so ASOS also is facing threat related to leaking of personal data of consumers that might hamper their goodwill.

STP analysis:

As per the STP analysis, it is possible to segment the market and target the audiences for successful positioning of the brand. For segmentation, the organisation categorises the customers on the basis of gender, culture, personal preferences and economic condition. In this regard, targeting the middle class family is suitable for the organisation, as there is huge population from middle class family and it would be beneficial o target the audiences and retain them in long run by delivering the quality products at lower price. Additionally, the company targets male and female for variety of products as well as the customers who prefer latest products. This is effective to segment the market and target the audiences for establishing the brand by strengthening their customer’s base. After segmenting and targeting the customers, the organisation focuses on the positioning strategy which will be recommended further through marketing mix strategic planning for successful establishment of the company in the market.

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Unique selling proposition:

The unique selling proposition of the organisation must be the highest quality and the lowest price, where the organisation is able to serve the customers in a better way and create values for them by providing high quality products and efficient services at competitive price, in which the customers can make effective purchase decision for better quality and lower price.

2. Marketing Objectives of ASOS

The objectives of the company AOS are,

To develop strong brand image in the fashion and retail industry worldwide

To strengthen their customers base by gaining larger global client base

To enhance profitability and sales volume

To secure future sustainable development

3. Strategy:

Recommended product strategy:

For product innovation, the company needs to focus on BCG matrix where diversified products can be represented in the website which in turn attracts the audiences in the fashion industry. Apart from the cosmetics and beauty products the company should focus on clothing including tops, jeans, formal wear for both men and women, kids wear, dresses and shirts so that it can target all the segments of the customers. In this regard, the company needs to focus on product diversification by manufacturing the products so that it can deliver the products with their own brand labelling. Additionally, as per the BCG matrix, the company must focus on product mix strategy for market penetration, which is described below,

Through stock clearance, offering clearance, the brand needs to penetrate the market scope as well as introduction of new products such as exclusive clothing and accessories, shoes and own branded shirts, the company can grab the market opportunities in near future as the demand for the these fashionable products among the customers is increasing at a rapid rate. The strategy of excessive sales, discount on occasion basis, stock clearance and promotions are effective for ASOS to retain more long term buyers in the company.

Developed pricing tactics:

The organisation should focus on dynamic pricing strategy where 24*7 monitoring system is helpful for ASOS to monitor the market demand and supply and according to the demand and supply of the products, the company must charge appropriate price that reflects the quality and usability of the products. Price intelligence software also needs to be installed in the organisation, where the company ASOS can review the price fluctuations and set the effective price so that the customers also can review the variety o prices in different website like Boohoo.com and Amazon.

Recommended promotional activities:

In order to improve the promotional activities, the company need to focus on enhance the search engine optimisation and promote the products through snap chat and create YouTube videos. In the recent years, the use of YouTube videos and Instagram pictures is rising rapidly and through proper posts on YouTube and Instagram and it would be beneficial for ASOS to retain more customers across the globe. Moreover, creating proper mobile application is necessary for the firm through which the customers can handle the application easily and place their order on though one clicks options. Additionally, email marketing and social campaigning needs to be developed well, where the social campaigning provides a scope to the firm to improve brand and brand visibility in the market. In addition to these online activities, the company needs to focus on offline media where through televisions advertisement and advertisement through newspaper and magazines, the company can strengthen their customer’s base in the market.

Placing strategy:

For placing the products, the company needs to develop green supply chain and strengthen their distribution network for easy movement of goods and services across the countries. In this regard, the company needs to invest on using electric cars in order to distribute the products in an environmentally sustainable manner, where the use of electric cars reduce the greenhouse gas emission as well as helps the organisation to secure future sustainable development.

People management strategy:

For people management, it is necessary for the organisation ASOS to restructure the human resource policies and practice in order to handle the staff members across the international borders. Constant communication through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well as proper cooperation and team collaboration are required where the leader of ASOS and management team need to cooperate with all the staff members, distributers, supplier’s ad front line managers so that they can communicate and collaborate with each other for better performance. Apart from that, managing transparency and accountability is necessary for maintaining the working environment, where the management team can create values for the staff and moreover, it is necessary for the manager of ASOS to give freedom and harmony to the employees, where the staff can choose the working hours as per their convenient. In addition to these, creating values for the stakeholders is necessary, where the organisation needs to provide performance related pay and encourage employee’s creativity to perform better and serve the customers in a better and unique manner.

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Suggested process innovation:

For process innovation, it is necessary for ASOS to implement cloud computing system as well as easy customer excels tracker to handle the customer so that the delivery date of the products cannot be exceeded. Apart from that, for process innovation, the organisation needs to develop three segments such as easy calling, video chat and chat with the organisational representative in order to provide 24*7 services to the customers, where the buyers can resolve their users and get proper help from the front desk management team of ASOS.

Physical environment management:

In this regard, for managing the physical environment of the company, it is necessary to provide facilities to the stakeholders by managing their activities efficiently. Interface development, and smart activities through technological advancement are also necessary for ASOS to run their business operational activities across the globe.

Sales analysis: Sales analysis can be used by ASOS to determine the frequency of products that has been sold up by them. It can be used to measure effectiveness of a sales force, how to set manufacturing capacity and to see how the company is performing against its goals.

4. Action plan

Budget plan for marketing mix strategic planning	2020	2021	2022
Product diversification	$ 120	$ 100	$ 80
Maintaining variety of products	$ 80	$ 60	$ 50
Warehouse management	$ 80	$ 90	$ 100
Website creation	$ 100	$ 150	$ 160
Development of mobile application	$ 200	$ 150	$ 100
Designing the email	$ 100	$ 125	$ 150
Creation of YouTube videos	$ 45	$ 60	$ 90
Blog and Twitter creation	$ 50	$ 60	$ 80
Social campaigning	$ 55	$ 70	$ 86
Introducing electric cars for distributing the products	$ 100	$ 120	$ 140
Managing people	$ 80	$ 100	$ 120
Total marketing budget	$ 930	$ 1085	$ 1156

5. Forecast

Forecasts	2020	2021	2022
Cost	Reduced by 20%	Reduced by 30%	Reduced by 45%
Sales	Increased by 15%	Increased by 35%	Increased by 50%
Profit	Increased by 20%	Increased by 50%	Increased by 60%
Market share	Increased by 25%	Increased by 35%	Increased by 45%

6. Control

In order to control the above mentioned strategic marketing planning, it is necessary to monitor and evaluate the continuous activities of the firm. In this regard, for proper control and management, the organisational structure needs sot be developed, where the leader provide proper information to the managers. The managers are responsible to share proper information and working activities in the workplace to the staff, employees and front line team, so that they can manage the customers well. Proper training and development program needs to be delivered to all the staff to control the marketing tactics and implement it properly to increase the organisational sales volume and profitability. The company also needs to monitor the unique visitors, page views, and reviews from the customers and search engine traffic on a regular basis to measure the performance of the organisation. The Google analytics in the organisation in this regard plays an important role to evaluate the marketing tactics and strengthen their customer’s base by frequent observation of the customer’s activities and maximising the efficiency of the staff for serving the customers in a better and unique way.

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