Marks & Spencer Marketing Strategies and Factors behind Those Strategies - Coursework Example

Marks & Spencer Marks & Spencer is one of UK largest retail store which functions in different areas like clothing, and footwear and has over 450 stores in UK. The company also has a presence world over by having its stores in 30 countries. The company has worked on the policy of selling products under its own brand name which has helped the company to ensure strong brand name. The company in the late 90’s faced a sudden downfall as the company was unable to change with the changing trends in the fashion industry but the steps that the management has taken will ensure that Marks & Spencer is able to regain a foothold in the UK market and establish itself as a bigger brand than it was before. Factors that led to the downfall of Marks & Spencer There were different factors which together resulted in the downfall of Marks & Spencer. These factors were both internal and external factors which made the business suffer and resulted in changes in the strategies so that the business could sustain its path of growth. The internal and external factors which resulted in the downfall of the business is as Internal Factors The inability of the management of Marks & Spencer to understand the changing market situation was one factor which resulted in the downfall of the business. Marks & Spencer was unable to understand the manner in which the fashion industry was changing. The company concentrated on the same concepts and looked towards similar products. The market was filled with newer and better products which were trendier and fashionable. This was one of the prime reasons for the downfall of the business and made the business look towards different policies to make changes in the manner the business was growing. The business also suffered due to another factor was the manner in which the advertisements were created. The advertisements instead of creating a positive impact resulted in a negative image which made the consumers move away from their products. The advertising especially of their underwear is one example in that direction. The fact that the company didn’t take advertisements seriously diluted their brand image and created a false impression in the minds of the common man. Another factor which led to the downfall of Marks & Spencer was the fact that the management didn’t concentrate on the clothing business as it did on the womens wear business. This back fired for Marks & Spencer as it was unable to understand the customers’ wants and designed products which were outdated. This resulted in a financial loss for the business and the company was unable to manage its daily finances easily and found it difficult to make major changes in the manner the business was performing. External Factors The rapidly changing fashion industry made it difficult for the players to keep up the pace with which the fashion industry was developing. The development of new and fashionable products at a rate faster than the one at which it was adopted made it difficult for Marks & Spencer to match the changing pace. The fact that the fashion and clothing indutry was developing new products every day and identifying those which would have helped to keep with the pace at which the industry was changing made it difficult for Marks & Spencer to ensure similar business. Rapidly changing technology and development of new and better designs which made the products looked beautiful was another reason which resulted in the downfall of Marks & Spencer. The company was unable to deal with the rapidly changing technology due to the integration of border and world economies working together ensured better technology which Marks & Spencer was not able to depict in their product was another reason which led to the downfall of the company. Main Area of Concern Marks & Spencer was faced with situations where it was important that the company looked towards identifying the major areas that they need to concentrate on so that they are able to improve the manner in which business is carried out and the company is able to move on a path where they are able to sustain growth and profits for longer period of time. The main area of concern for Marks & Spencer was to make changes in its strategies by looking towards understanding the changing demands in the market. The company needed to understand the changing technology on this front and has to look towards reducing the structure level that was present in the management so that decisions were faster and the company is able to keep with the changing trends in the industry. Working and developing strategies which concentrate on this areas will help Marks & Spencer to ensure that they are able to keep with the changing business scenario and develop products according to the customer wants. This will help Marks & Spencer to ensure that they are able to stand ahead of their competitors and develop a mechanism which help their business to grow. UK Retail Industry The UK retail industry has grown both in volume and size and is represented by both the organized and the unorganized sector. The rate at which the retail industry has boomed in UK had provided the liberty and opportunity for players from all directions to look towards this market. This can be analyzed by the fact that out of the total number of enterprises 11% constituted only of retailers highlighting the high proportionate rate in the total market. A close look at the retailers shows that the retail market is spread mostly uniform over the entire country which has helped in contributing towards the growth of the economy and constitutes around £246.3 billion towards the economy. This is a huge contribution towards the economy considering the vast growing population which has fuelled the demand for retail products. In comparison to other world countries it is witnessed that in UK more than one third of the business occurs through shops. This has further helped in improving the living condition of the people as it has helped to provide employment to over 2.8 million people. This has helped the local population have a source of livelihood and has thereby influenced the market in such a manner that the retail industry has been able to sustain high growth rates. The UK retail industry has also ensured that the players have a good margin which has made more and more people look towards this option. This has given the industry the required boom and has helped different players like Marks & Spencer to be able to create a niche market through which they will be able ensure that they are able to give the business the required push and get good returns on their investment. Thus, the manner in which the retail industry has grown in UK has ensured that the business is able to look towards different areas and has ensured foreign investments in this direction which has further developed the market and has helped the different players to be able to use the market conditions and develop a market for their individual brands. Marks & Spencer Position Marks & Spencer was going strong in the retailing sector in the beginning as the company looked towards understanding the customer requirements and made changes according to the market conditions. The time when the UK retail sector was booming Marks & Spencer found it easy to sustain their business and had different opportunities to grow their business It was during the late 90’s when Marks & Spencer started to feel the heat as the business was unable to match the changing business environment. The fact that Marks & Spencer didn’t change with the changing business scenario was one major hurdle in their path. The company was unable to make changes in the clothing, food and home furnishing business as a result of which the business was unable to change and resulted in the decline of the business. Marks & Spencer had a time when their business was flourishing at an astonishing pace but the inability of the management to make changes in their business surroundings and arena resulted in a downfall for their business. Marks & Spencer was unable to catch with the pace at which the industry trends were changing. This resulted in a scenario where the business which was growing at a rapid pace faced different hurdles due to which the business went in a downturn and experienced difficulties in matching with the customer wants. It can be said that the policies of the management were not matched with the changing business environment which resulted in Marks & Spencer loosing their market share and lost their strong hold which the company had in the market. Marks & Spencer marketing strategies and factors behind those strategies Marks & Spencer looked towards developing strategies so that the company was able to work on the different aspect of the business and improve the manner in which decisions are taken so that the business is able to ensure better accuracy and match with the changing business scenario. This strategies were derived by different factors and made the management look into different directions so that the business is able to sustain the changes in a better way. Marks & Spencer looked towards major ramification in their business and looked towards dividing their total business into different lines based on the business the company was in. This resulted in the creation of retail, financial services properties and others. Dividing the business into different lines ensured that Marks & Spencer was able to take faster decisions and reduce the hierarchical chain that the business was other wise facing. This helped to ensure that the business was able to take faster decision. Dividing the business into different lines also ensured that the management was able to understand the customer wants and develop individual strategies for each line based on the business requirements. This will facilitate Marks & Spencer to ensure that they are able to facilitate an environment where the business is able to forecast the future and develop better strategies so that the smaller areas which were previously ignored are looked after and the business is able to increase their market share. Marks & Spencer also looked towards increased autonomy and decision making power to the marketing executives. This was based on the premise that allowing them the liberty will help Marks & Spencer to ensure that they are able to understand the customer requirements better and based on it takes decisions. This will ensure that the decisions are as per the changing business environment and Marks & Spencer will be able to provide better services to its customers. This made Marks & Spencer look towards understanding the local typologies for their overseas business. This made Marks & Spencer to hire and recruit people based on the local conditions and looked towards identifying their needs. This helped Marks & Spencer to ensure that their entire business was not affected it a certain area faced certain risk. This coupled with the diversification of the business into different lines helped to diversify the risk and will ensure that the business is able to manage their finances easily. This will thereby help Marks & Spencer to ensure better services. Marks & Spencer as a result gave more powers to the regional managers and store people. They were able to take decisions on matter which were important and helped the business to ensure that the financials were managed in the most efficient manner. Working on the different aspect and diversifying the roles of different personnel by entrusting them with more responsibilities helped the business to be ahead of their competitors. Marks & Spencer also looked towards a complete change over by ensuring that the company was more consumer oriented and looked towards making major changes at fast pace so that customers wants were satisfied. This will help the business to identify the wants and requirements of the customers and will thereby help to change their outlook towards the brand. Thus, the manner in which the business looked towards major changes will ensure that Marks & Spencer is able to react positively to the market changes and create a brand which is bigger than it was before. Read More