Comparative Analysis of the Marketing Communications Mix - Essay Example

Executive Summary Tesco, Sainsbury as well as Costcutter are three of the most important organizations working in the supermarket sector as they havesignificant presence all over the country. Working in the same industry, they almost face the same industry and sectoral dynamics thus pushing them to imitate each other's strategies where marketing or other. The marketing communication mix activities which are considered as most important as they can greatly increase the chances of the companies to increase their sales and generate substantial degree of goodwill. These three companies do not differ much as for as their strategies for marketing communication mix is concerned as most of the them employ the same strategies with slight variations in the way they are being implemented. Tesco being the leading superstore in the country enjoy little bit of more success in terms of its marketing communication mix activities however Sainsbury's is also somewhat successful in its efforts too however costcutter seems to be lacking in many areas as it has still a long way to travel in order to ensure that it has proper strategies in place which can properly put in against the competition like Tesco and Sainsbury's. What is most important is the fact that being an undifferentiated industry, the strategies are more or less same. Introduction "The Marketing Communications Mix is the specific mix of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations a company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives."(Dolak, 2008). Thus Marketing communication mix is a group of tactical elements which give rise to the overall marketing communication mix of an enterprise. These tactical elements include advertising, personal selling, sales promotion as well as public relations. In its essence, a marketing communication mix is the second name of one of the P's of marketing i.e. Promotion and it is a group of activities which give rise to the overall promotional mix of the organization. In order to effectively set the marketing communication mix, it is very important for the organizations to take into account various factors since each of the elements of the mix has its relevant strengths and weaknesses therefore their use and design should be effective in order to achieve the maximum results. It is also important to note that each element of marketing communication mix may be used according to the product life cycle if we consider a marketing communication mix of a product only however when we take into the account the whole organization and view the marketing communication mix of that organization, we must consider the fact that marketing communication mix strategies may significantly vary with each organization according to the life cycle stage of the organization. However for the organizations such as super market stores, it becomes more complicated because these stores do not necessarily sell one product or service therefore it becomes more complicated when dealing with the marketing communication mix issues of chain stores. This report will study and analyze the marketing communication mix of three of the most important players in the super market i.e. Tesco, Sainsbury's and costcutter. The chief aim of this report is to present a comparative analysis of the marketing communication mix strategies of these three companies. Marketing Communication Mix This section of the report will present the present marketing communication mix strategies being adopted by three important organizations working in the super market. The following section will present a comparative analysis of the marketing communication mix of the three given companies. Advertising Tesco has been considered the largest superstore in UK having comprehensively taken over the Sainsbury's. The core belief of the company that is "to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty" suggest that the company value most its interaction with its customers and advertising strategies, being one of the most penetrating means of reaching to the customers is in-line with the core beliefs of the company. The basic purpose or thrust of Tesco's advertising campaign has always been focused on the fact that no one tries harder for customer suggesting the company's advertising strategies has largely been focused on creating value for its customers. Most of the advertising is has been in-store as the company has been focusing on image advertising being placed inside their stores. However the recent innovation in this regard has been the fact that Tesco has been able to successfully market through mobile advertising. The banner advertising which it has been delivering through a dedicated WAP portal has been success for the company as it has been able to tap into a new market niche in terms of the female house hold budget owners.( http://www.viooli.com,2008). On the other hand, the advertising efforts of Sainsbury's has been based on the fact its advertising efforts mostly targeted at the consumers while they are in shopping mode i.e. in-house advertising thus trying to capture the point of sales and points of purchase opportunities by clearly targeting the customers to involve into impulse buying through advertising that is largely based in its stores. However the advertising campaign of the costcutter is slightly different as compared to the both of the above mentioned organizations. Being a relatively new firm in the market, it focuses largely on the aggressive advertising efforts focused mainly on diversified sources such as sports events, media as well as other personal means of advertising. "In 2007, Costcutter has increased its TV advertising campaigns which have included advertising in the Coronation Street break for the first time. This ensures that millions of customers are made aware of the fantastic offers available. Angela Barber said: "Our campaigns have been so successful that they are now an established part of our marketing strategy. The adverts not only inform customers of what we have to offer, but they also stimulate a lot of interest from retailers who are looking to join a symbol group." An additional TV campaign has been added for a two-week period in June and these adverts will be seen by an estimated 10 million viewers."(Costcutter, 2007). Thus the efforts of Tesco and Sainsbury has been focused on placing targeted advertising to the customers when they are in shopping mode so that impulse buying can be stimulated however in case of costcutter, it is bit difficult because it is a relatively new player in the market as well as small in size as compared to Tesco and Sainsbury therefore it requires more advertising efforts to get a brand recognition before associating itself with the in-house advertising only as done by Tesco and Sainsbury. It is also important to note that Sainsbury's and Tesco has reached the maturity stage of their life cycle where their priorities and options may have been different as compared to Costcutter therefore there is a signifncant difference in their approach for advertising. Personal Selling It is hard to sell personally in the retail business as most of the times; customers tend to visit the stores to make their buying. With the advent of superstores, the shopping at the large superstores became a much bigger experience and the shoppers were delighted by those organizations by offering a unique shopping experience. However with the advent of information technology, personal selling within the domain of retailers also emerged. Tesco has an online store with the facility of the purchasing online and being delivered on the doorstep of the buyer. In this way, Tesco has been able to increase market share and increased its exposure to the non-conventional method of sales for retailers. Further to this, Tesco has been able to gather the customer data and developed its loyalty card through which the customized deals packages in the form of small hand-in dropped or mailed to customer homes are mailed. Similarly Sainsbury's has also an online grocessory store where shoppers can buy thus providing them an opportunity to buy online. This also give opportunity to the firms like Sainsbury to cross sell also since Sainsbury's as well as Tesco are following a brick and mortar model of marketing where both of them have not only maintained their physical presence in the market in the shape of stores but also through the opening up of online stores so that buyers can also be diverted to their stores to make purchases. However cost cutter has not such facility to offer to their customers to buy through their online store. What is important to mention here is the fact that though personal selling may not directly be possible by the retailers as the quantum of shopping made by the consumers may not allow them to remain cost effective to offer personal selling facilities directly to the consumers however what is most important here is the fact that these companies have been able to create an opportunity for themselves to offer personal selling experience to the consumers through offering online stores which can customize the purchasing of the consumers and stuff they buy are directly delivered to their doorsteps. The success of such effort may be hard to measure as it not all the firms specify the sales made online however the presence of the online grocessory stores in itself are ample proof to suggest that the firms are successfully managing personal selling efforts.1 It is important to note that a good personal selling program may be hard to find in a retail setup as most of the large retailers prefer to have a self service rather than offering a personal selling option as for as their physical stores are concerned. It is because of this reason, it is argued that the online shopping provide a better opportunity for the firms to match the personal needs of the shoppers with that of the resources of the firms by offering customized solutions in the form of the stuff required by the customers - In this case grocessories. It is also important to note that for the firms like Tesco and Sainsbury, personal selling may not be a viable option because given the brand name and reputation they enjoy coupled with the in-house advertising provide them a good method of selling their products without knocking at the doors of their customers.(www.tutor2u.net,2008). The main difference between the approaches of these three companies is the fact that they work in a market where personal selling seldom works however according to their life cycles and the advances in the information technology they have been able to improve upon their personal selling. Sales Promotion Sales promotion activities are probably the most important and critical activities that are performed by these organizations. The trends in the retail industry suggest that the focus is on the low prices and on discounts as the customers expect to buy cheaper at these stores. Tesco over the period of time has been able to develop the largest loyalty card in the world. Its Club Card is now considered as one of the most esteemed loyalty cards in the world with more than 7 million cardholders. These cards not only ensure the customer retention but also suggest that the company has a very strong orientation towards customer management. The Club Card coupled with other computer based coupons, discount schemes as well as other promotional activities provide Tesco a better marketing position as compared to Sainsbury which initially rejected the idea of launching the loyalty card however given the success of the Club Card, they launched their own card too. Sainsbury has a very different approach towards the sales promotion activities especially in terms of its loyalty card scheme. It once offered to link its loyalty card with the 12 leading brands in UK in order to broaden the range of benefits being offered to the cardholders. It has more than 13 million cardholders who are enjoying various sales promotional activities offered through its loyalty card.(Sainsbury's, 1998). Recently it has improved upon their efforts to generate more sales promotion by joining the Nectar Loyalty card, a loyalty scheme which is joined by Sainsbury, BP as well as American Express. However this step by the company has also generated a significant degree of criticism also in its initial period. However the same is not the case now as Sainsbury's has been able to generate as much as 30% of its profits from its promotional activities especially its buy one get one free kind of schemes which it has increased in recent past in order to boost its sales volumes.(Walsh,2008). However, Costcutter has no such loyalty schemes however it stresses upon the low prices. It is important to note that one of the most important means of sales promotions for the firms in this sector is the fact these stores offer low prices therefore sales promotions are mostly related with the low prices and discounts however these efforts are duly corroborated by the issuance of loyalty cards in order to ensure that the customers are retained through offering various rewards points to them and other incentives not only at the respective stores but at other brand stores also. Public relations Public relations are one of the critical areas of success for the modern businesses as the efforts have been made to bring in sustainable businesses which can ensure that the environment is protected as well as ethical business practices are being adopted. Further, public relations can also prove one of the most important methods for the organizations to generate goodwill. Tesco is one of the leading supporters of cancer research in the country and was the lead fundraiser in 2002 in which it helped generated 22% of the total GBP 17 Million funds for the cause.(corporatewatch,2008). Apart from that Tesco is also engaged into substantial efforts being placed in the education sector as it was instrumental behind the Computers for School scheme in which it has targeted children to make their brands as research have suggested that the early recognition of brands in the minds of children create significant loyalty when they grow up as adults therefore Tesco is cashing in that effort to market its brand.(corporatewatch,2008). Sainsbury's has also been involved in supporting the research on genetic engineering. Its Sainsbury Laboratory is actively involved in the research being conducted on the various topics of genetic engineering. Thus there is also a focus on the promotion of education activities. Apart from that the company also has in place a scheme for recycling the cloths of the customers and in such contributing to the environment. Costcutter does not seem to have any public relations efforts in practice by the company. Conclusion Tesco as well as Sainsbury's and costcutter works in same industry which is largely undifferentiated and sell items which are not directly being produced by them but bought and sold by these organization. Given the fact that they work in the same business environment, their marketing communication mix activities are mostly the same as they tend to differentiated less than the industry practices. However the activities may provide different results to these companies. References 1. Dolak, Dave. (2008). The Marketing Communications (Promotion) Mix. Available: http://www.davedolak.com/promix.htm. Last accessed 31 July 2008. 2. http://www.viooli.com. (2008). Tesco: Mobile advertising works. Available: http://www.viooli.com/blog/tesco-mobile-advertising-works/. Last accessed 31 July 2008. 3. costcutter. (2007). Costcutter: News. Available: http://www.costcutter.co.uk/newsarchdet.phpRECORD_INDEX(newz)=19. Last accessed 31 July 2008. 4. Tutor2u.net. (2008). Personal Selling. Available: http://tutor2u.net/business/marketing/promotion_personalselling.asp. Last accessed 31 July 2008. 5. J Sainsbury's Plc. (1998). Sainsbury's adds high street leaders to its leading reward card. Available: http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.aspPageID=322&subsection=news_releases&Year=1998&NewsID=171. Last accessed 31 July 2008 6. Walsh, Fiona. (2008). * Business * J Sainsbury 3pm BST update Sainsbury's profits hit 488m . Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/may/14/jsainsbury.retail. Last accessed 31 July 2008 7. Corporate Watch. (2004). TESCO A Corporate Profile . Available: http://archive.corporatewatch.org.uk/profiles/tesco/tesco3.htm. Last accessed 31 July 2008. Read More