Unit 3-P1 Firstly, a marketing strategy is a plan that is used in the long term to achieve a business or organisations objectives. Furthermore, a marketing strategy may also be defined as a plan designed to meet marketing objectives. For example, a company may set the following marketing objective: “To be able to satisfy customers through our products. ” The next step is the planning procedure otherwise known as the marketing strategy used to meet the business or organisations objectives.
It is important that the terms: “marketing strategy” and “marketing technique” are understood clearly. Likewise, the term “marketing technique” may be defined as an overall plan designed to meet the needs and requirements of customers. A business should ensure that they base their plan on clear objectives. A number of techniques will then be employed to ensure the marketing plan is effectively delivered. There are many marketing techniques such as: public relations, trade and consumer promotions, point of sale materials and editorials.
Businesses ensure that the marketing techniques are employed at three stages of marketing which is shown in the diagram below: Alternatively, market research enables the organisation to identify the most appropriate marketing mix. The marketing mix should consist of the following: the right product; making sure it’s sold at the right price; in the right place and to make sure it’s used in the most suitable promotional techniques. Furthermore, one example of a company who ensures it meets its marketing mix is Sainsbury’s.
Sainsbury’s as a marketer ensures that their products have the right features – for example: looking good and working to a satisfactory standard with its customers. Sainsbury’s also ensure that they meet their marketing mix by ensuring that their prices are right. In order for the company to take in a huge sum of profit, they must ensure that their prices are right so that consumers can buy in large numbers in order to provide profit towards the company.
They also ensure that products are in the right place at the right time so that they can provide a service to their consumers efficiently in order to make profit. Finally, the last technique that Sainsbury’s will use to meet their marketing mix is promotion. In order to meet their marketing mix, Sainsbury’s advertise and promote their existence to their target audience so that they are aware of their products. Ideally, successful promotion helps a firm spread costs over a larger output which is why Sainsbury’s focus purely on this marketing technique.
However, there are other methods/ techniques that are authentic to Sainsbury’s alone such as divisions. Hence, Sainsbury’s divides its customers and marketing department into three components. A marketing team will focus purely on improving the brand awareness across a range of channels and outlets using Sainsbury’s website. Moreover, the companies media team will focus on maintaining a positive image in the newspapers and television along with magazines and the internet while the customer team focuses on improving and working on the aftersales experience of the company.
These are all the marketing techniques adopted by Sainsbury’s when marketing their products across to their consumers. On the other hand, another company that markets their products using a different style of techniques is Apple. Furthermore, Apple focuses mainly on the 4p’s of marketing when choosing to market their products across to consumers. Likewise, the 4ps of marketing is a common phrase or saying which is used to describe the different styles of choices organisations have to make in the entire process or cycle of bringing a product or service to market.
Apple focuses on product – one of the 4 p’s of marketing. A product is thus a good or service that is sold to a customer by an organisation or business; businesses need to choose the functions, appearance and costs that are most likely going to make a product appealing to the target audience or market and this technique is known as product differentiation. Apple uses product differentiation by establishing a strong and recognizable brand image and making their USP bold and unforgettable along with clear.
Apple also focus on price when marketing a product and are famous for changing pricing during the different seasons for when demand for apple products are higher such as in the summer. For example, IPhone had a much lower cost during the summer season compared to the winter so that the company could receive a large amount of profit from their sales. Also, Apple use price skimming when they release new products to make it appear as if it is a luxury resulting in people spending the money.
Similarly, Apple also spends a lot of their attention on promoting their products at the same time. Therefore, whenever an apple product is created and launched, the CEO of the company presents the product to the world and its media. They also use things such as celebrity endorsements where they hire celebrities to promote a feature of the company such as: Siri. These are all the aspects and marketing techniques adopted by Apple when marketing their products across to their consumers.
