Types of Communication the Marks and Spencer Company Maintains with the Stakeholders - Case Study Example

Stakeholders of Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer has made a for itself in the market for a long time. The clothing and home products Company has build its brand over the years winning the loyalty of its customers. The retailer has its basis in the United Kingdom but has multiple stores in the UK and 42 other regions in the world. The company has a global reputation in fashion. It has many stakeholders who have helped build a global reputation. The contribution of stakeholders to the welfare of the company is very crucial. The company strives to maintain a high level and effective communication with its stakeholders. This paper will highlight the stakeholders of Marks and Spencer and discuss the types of communication the company maintains with these stakeholders. In addition, the paper will assess the effectiveness of this communication. Internal and External Stakeholders Marks and Spencer has both internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders include the staff, management, owners, and shareholders. Staff and management devote time working for the company in order to earn a source of livelihood. Approximately, the company has 78000 workers. On the other hand, owners stand as internal stakeholders because the company’s profits are a source of income to them. Shareholders provide the company with capital of expansion while anticipating an increased a higher value of their shares as the company continues to make profits. On the other hand, it has stakeholders from the external front who include customers, suppliers, competitors or substitutes and the public. The customers play a very crucial role as stakeholders. They buy the company’s products to derive a form of utility from them and through this way, the company’s sales increase. Suppliers form the other category of external stakeholders of the company. Through the sale of goods to the company, they gain profits while the company utilizes the supplies in its business. The public forms a larger category of stakeholders because the company’s products create an impact on the welfare of the society. Competitors and substitutes play a crucial role because they affect the positioning of the company’s goods and products. The company has to find ways of adjusting the influence of stakeholders if it is to thrive in the market. Each of the stakeholders exerts a form of pressure that affects the standing of the company. Therefore, the type of communication and relationship that the company maintains with each of the stakeholders affects it. This has necessitated the company to have different forms of communication with each of its stakeholders. Relationship of the Organization with its Stakeholders The founders of Marks and Spencer emphasized on the importance of maintaining an effective and trustworthy relation with its stakeholders at all times. The basis of the relationship is the crucial value of trust. Trust has been the company’s value for the company for a long time. The company’s corporate and social responsibility department concentrates on formulating strategies of trust enhancement. The company strives to stay updated on the expectations of its stakeholders as circumstances change. For example, the emerging need for production and promotion of healthy food products has placed higher expectations from the customers. In addition, the public expects the company to maintain the trust by producing products that present limited adversity to the environment. The company has to maintain its trust with stakeholders at different fronts because the future of the company depends on these stakeholders (L'Etang, and Pieczka, 2006:216-225). In all of its dealings, the company believes strongly in using the right approach to tackle the right things. Marks &Spencer and its Customers Customers form the most important category of stakeholders of any organization. The same applies for Marks and Spencer. According to Davis (2010), the company realizes this important aspect and makes efforts to establish an effective relationship with clients. The company has managed to win a sense of loyalty from its clients with the provision of quality in its products. It has achieved this by instituting customer relationship marketing. Customer relationship marketing strives to register an increase in the company’s sales. The marketing strategies aimed at ensuring that the company retains its existing customers without a need to penetrate severally into the same market. The company has been working towards building a good reputation among its customers based on trust and respect. Unlike its competitors, the company has maintained its own-brand products over the years contrary to market segmentation done by other companies. The company ensures that there is a direct contact with its customers. Stores employ the efficiency of information systems in developing a communication between the company and its customers. Customers can communicate through loyalty cards and other direct forms to convey their needs to the company. Once the company realizes the need of the client, it matches its product to the need to ensure customer satisfaction. The company relies on understanding the unfilled niches that enable it to differentiate its products. Since the company has different units, each of the unit must identify customer needs and contribute in defining strategies for addressing these issues. According to Theaker (2004:234), the company ensures communication with its consumers through marketing communications. These should prove effective to persuade an individual to a conviction that buying a company’s product is a worthwhile venture. In addition, the communication must possess the power t o move the individual from a mere conviction to real action. The company is making effective use of television adverts to inform its esteemed customers about its products in clothing and food sectors. For example, in 2012, the company has placed multiple videos on the new channel. These videos serve to inform the customers and offer fashion tips that make sure that customers get a higher level of utility. There are different video clips by Kate Halfpenny either trying out the available styles in the M&S stores or giving fashion tips. In addition, there are food products adverts that captivate the consumers persuading them to buy. The company makes good use of social media in a purpose-driven approach. This approach ensures the maintenance of a thriving communication between the company and its customers. Its Facebook account focuses on receiving customer reviews while it utilizes the twitter entry for promotions. Through these sites, the company stays in direct contact with its customers. It is worth noting that this form of social media communication is double-sided. The customers get a front where they can express themselves and receive response from the company. In addition, the company invests in other form of advertisement. The company‘s marketing mix focuses on the product, a strategy that has worked for marks and Spencer. The company launches adverts according to weather increasing effectiveness. In addition utilizes its online website effectively. The company is a leader in online marketing. It has introduced the M&S TV that is available online. The M&S TV has twelve channels. Each channel focuses on one unit of the company’s products. These channels are unique targeting different segments of the market. For example, women are available in an independent channel with men’s wear. These channels present the customers with catchy video that offer a glimpse of the available products. Others concentrate on offering customers with fashion tips. In addition, the company has an online shopping website with persuasive adverts with the potential to convert visitors to buyers. Online marketing is an effective form of communication with clients and consumers in an era where internet is widely accessible. In addition, the company’s great portion of customers belongs to a social class that accesses internet majority of the time. The company has made another incredible move to widen communication channels with its customers. This is through mobile websites. This venture registered 13000 orders from the customers in a period of four months according to Butcher (2010). This makes it evident that the mobile website to an increased number of customers anytime irrespective of the place and time. Mobile internet services are available to a greater audience on a global front and this explains why Marks and Spencer invests in this form of marketing. The company has had innovative campaigns in increasing the effectiveness of communication with its customers. According to ITV, one of these include the launch of the ‘do your thing campaign’ that targeted at increasing awareness of a kids wear range. This campaign involved the audience and required them to send photo captions of children ‘doing their thing’. The audience participated by sending various photos of children dressed in impressive kids wear. These images have an impact because it involved the bargaining power of children. Majority of children would want to have a clothing range that portrays that they are presenting a unique brand. This was the basis of the campaign. Winners of the campaign appeared in the airing that followed. The company managed to create a diverse awareness of children products. In addition, the company launched a mobile-service campaign that uses mobile services to create awareness of its products through SMS and MMS. This campaign targeted opt-in customers. Several advertisement companies have assessed the effectiveness of the opt-in form of advertisement. The justification of this means of creating awareness was the fact that a greater part of population usually reads mobile messages. This helps the company keep customers in constant awareness of the company’s innovations. Research indicated that majority of clients receiving these messages appreciated the use of mobile messaging in creating awareness. Others suggested that they would prefer to receive messages that informed them of new products. According to Murphy (2012), experts have recognized the effectiveness of this form of innovation citing that other companies are likely to adopt it in future. Since mobile phones are devices common to almost everyone in society, the company can reach a wider audience. It proves effective because majority of the people confirmed that they read messages within five minutes after reception. Majority of the customers appreciated the company’s creativity of multi-media messages. This proved that this was an effective form of communication. It is evident that Marks and Spencer understands the needs and role of its stakeholders and strives to maintain an effective relationship with its stakeholders. The company focuses on building and maintaining trust from all its stakeholders. In reference to customers who are the company’s most effective stakeholder, the company invests greatly in establishing channels of communication through different forms of awareness creation. The company has registered some successful campaigns in its persuasion of customers to maintain their loyalty. Bibliography Butcher, D. 2010. Marks and Spencer mobile commerce site nets 13000 orders in 4 months. Available from http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/marks-spencer-mobile-commerce-site-nets-13000-orders-in-4-months [Accessed on October 24, 2012]. Davis, M. 2012. Brands search for meaningful relationships with customers. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/blog/meaningful-brands-wellbeing-social-impact [Accessed on October 24, 2012]. ITV. 2012. Marks and Spencer. Available from: http://www.itvmedia.co.uk/insights-and-effectiveness/case-studies/enhancing-brands/marks-and-spencer [Accessed on October 24, 2012]. L'Etang, J, and Pieczka, M. 2006. Public Relations, Critical Debate, and Contemporary Practice New York: Lawrance Erlbaum. Murphy, D. 2012. Making sense of mobile marketing. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2012/jun/06/mobile-marketing-retail [Accessed on October 24, 2012]. Theaker, A. 2001. The Public Relations Handbook. London: Routledge. Read More