Marketing Strategies for Sainsbury - Assignment Example

Marketing Question The political factors that influence the operations of J Sainsbury among other similar stores in the United Kingdom include political stability and peace in the country. The two are major factors that contribute to the creation of a conducive environment for commercial activities thus heightening the competition among the businesses. The economic factors that affect the success of J Sainsbury in the market include inflation and gross domestic product of the country both of which affect the populace’s purchasing power (Ansoff, 1965). The purchasing power influences the performance of the chain store since it fluctuates the purchasing trends compelling the business to vary its marketing trends. Social factors on the other hand further affect the performance of the store. Key among the social factors includes culture and consumption behaviors of people. The store sells numerous products including electronics and groceries whose consumptions rely on cultural, technological and preferences among other factors. PESTEL is a fundamental marketing tool that provides an elaborate analysis of the external factors that affect the operations of business. Numerous external factors affect the operations of J Sainsbury as the discussion above portrays. Other external factors include technological and legal factors. As discussed earlier, the store sells numerous electronic products whose appropriateness relies on the prevailing technologies (Blick, 2011). As such, technology becomes a major factor that influences the profitability of such products. Additionally, technology enhances efficiency in management thus improving the profitability of the business. The business uses appropriate information system that enhances the management of the numerous stores strewn all over the country. The efficiency of the information system enhances the operations of the business. The legal factors on the other hand included the laws governing the operations of businesses in the country. The United Kingdom has a liberal market economy one that permits businesses to enjoy the freedom to manipulate their products and services as they deem appropriate a feature that enhances the competition among the businesses. Question 2: SWOT analysis is yet another essential marketing tool that provides marketers with an elaborate view of both their respective industries and their business thus informing their marketing activities. Strength and weaknesses are internal factors while opportunities and threats are external factors that affect the operations of a business. Among the strengths of Sainsbury are its numerous branches, which increase its infiltration of the market thus, enhancing its reach of the market. Diversity is yet another strength of the business since it further widens the chain store’s target market. Sainsbury’s weaknesses on the other hand include lack of effective marketing. Marketing is an important management function mandated with the determination of markets. The marketing team must therefore determine and implement appropriate policies that cushion the business from incurring loses. The fact that Sainsbury fails to meet its targets is a portrayal of the marketing weaknesses. The opportunities of the business include the large size of the market. The United Kingdom is a developed economy with numerous cosmopolitan cities. Sainsbury thus has numerous target cities where it can set up branches and enjoy increased profitability. Another essential opportunity is the se of the social media in marketing. The social media is a cost effective tool used in marketing in the contemporary society that provides markets with cheaper yet effective ways of marketing their products and carrying out effective market researches. Despite such opportunities, Sainsbury faces numerous other threats key among which is intense competition. The business faces intense competition from such established brands as Tesco and Asda among many others. This implies that Sainsbury must enhance its operations in order to curb the threats with the view of enhancing both its longevity and profitability, as is the objective of every business (Adcock & Halborg, 2001). Question 3: In marketing, SMART objectives imply that the objectives must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time scaled. Given the above SWOT and PEST analysis of Sainsbury, the company’s marketing team requires numerous SMART objectives that will enhance the company’s profitability while safeguarding its longevity. Such objectives include achieving a growth of 2% in its sale within the next fiscal year. Such is a SMART objective, one that is not only achievable but also both realistic and measurable. The company targeted to achieve a growth of 1%, such was a low target which portrayed the weaknesses in the prowess of the marketing team. The team must therefore strive to improve the company’s market share by 2% since such is achievable given the state of the UK economy. Another SMART objective for the chain store is acquiring new 100,000 new customers on its online platform within the next fiscal year. As discussed earlier, the internet is a fundamental resource that has expanded markets for numerous businesses. Most of Sainsbury’s competition uses the internet in increasing their market share (Aburto, 2010). The company must therefore change its marketing strategies and appreciate the use of technology in growing its market share. This will not only portray the company’s growth but also its appreciation of technology thus enabling the company to use the modern technology such as the social media in marketing its products. Another vital SMART objective for Sainsbury is increasing the value of its shares by 5% within the next financial year. Investor confidence is vital for the company’s success. Achieving the two objectives above will enhance the value of the company’s shares. Coupled with the third objective, the management of the chain store will ensure that the company is profitable to all its stakeholders. Marketing objectives influence the operations of the marketers. Appropriate objectives will therefore ensure that the marketers employ appropriate strategies that safeguard the particular goals. The three objectives above are measurable and have specific time scales. Additionally, they are achievable, measurable and realistic. This way, the marketers can easily monitor their actions and return as they employ specific marketing activities and anticipate specific returns. Question 4, a: The two most appropriate marketing strategies Sainsbury can use in enhancing its profitability is the use of social media in engaging its clients. Social media offers an appropriate interactive platform that enables the marketers to interact with their clients thus monitoring the performance of their brads in the market. Through the social media, the company can easily carry out appropriate market researches and analysis thus monitoring the performance of its brands. Another equally successful marketing strategy is social responsive investing. Sainsbury can readily begin sponsoring specific projects within the country. Such may include renovation and cleanliness of streets and management of street gardens. Such will position the business strategically among the environmentally conscious shoppers in the country. Such is an effective way of appealing to the target customers thus enhancing the profitability of the company. Question 4, b: The two strategies above are the most appropriate for Sainsbury since they are cost effective. They are cheap ways of marketing but promise major returns for the marketers since they guarantee the desired increase in the company’s market share. Social responsive investing is not as expensive as many other media campaigns. Despite such relative cost, the success of such projects is always extensive. The projects often position he companies appropriately in the society. By investing in the improvement of the environment for example, most of the elite consumers in the country will acknowledge the projects thus become loyal customers of the store. Furthermore, numerous other non-governmental originations and conservationists operating in the country will acknowledge the effort thus form loyal partnerships with the store besides the probable acknowledgements most of which often have financial rewards. The same applies in the use of social media. The social networks such as Facebook and twitter are cheap and easy to operate. They guarantee effective platforms to carry out market researches thus manipulate their operations appropriately. Question 5: he five fundamental marketing actions the management of Sainsbury must carry out include market research, market analysis, media adverts, a project of social responsive and expanding the capacities and branches of the store. The five activities will not only portray Sainsbury profitability but also depict the success of the marketing strategies. Market researches and analyses are essential activities that should inform the subsequent marketing activities a marketer undertakes. Through such systematic studies, the marketers make informed marketing decisions that guarantee the success of the chain store. Additionally, media adverts are appropriate ways of enhancing the reputation of a product. Sainsbury must therefore employ numerous media in raising the customers’ awareness of the target customers. The company can use billboards, television and radio among other effective media in increasing the customer awareness on the existence of both the store and its numerous products. Supermarkets have cheaper marketing media in the form of packaging material. The company must therefore use the packaging material to advertise both itself and its numerous products thus ensuring that it becomes a household name within the United Kingdom (Zarrella, 2010). The same applies for social responsive investing. The company must identify an appropriate project that will impact he lives of the populace thus earn the store esteemed customers. 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