Comparing and Contrasting Marketing Activity - Essay Example

Comparing and Contrasting Marketing Activity Table of Contents Introduction 3 Market and the Organisations 4 Target s and Positioning 6 Products 7 Pricing 8 Communication 9 Distribution 11 Conclusion 13 References 14 Bibliography 16 Introduction The only word that is presumed to be constant in the present world of today is the word ‘change’. With the massive developments in the fields of information technology and communication process, the terms and the tricks of the trade are fast changing. The impacts of influential factor of globalization have further facilitated the need of change. It has been observed by the experts of the industry that the process of change is a continuous one and it is the most important factor for a corporation or a company to ensure sustainable development. The important observation that the experts make is that the reach of the end customers of today has increased by huge extent, thanks to the factors like globalisation and liberalisation. The international geographical border are almost non – existent in terms of trade and finance and the revolution brought in by inter – net has enable citizens to purchase goods or services within a few clicks of the computer mouse from any part of the world. The other important thing has been the information flow. The end consumers are informed like never before and it is this factor that distinguishes between the identical products and services. There is little doubt that marketing is the life blood of business. However good the product or service might be, if it cannot be sold in the market and revenue earned; every effort falls flat. The process of marketing is truly a dynamic one and depends largely on each and every minute changes in the buying behaviour or the related environment of the target group of customers. Today, with the boom in the service sector, the impact of marketing activities are more felt. The report analyses various activities of a marketing process namely product mix, positioning, price mix, communications and distribution of two segments i.e. high - street fashion and convenience foods. In other words, the report focuses upon the marketing mix of the two segments that operate in the similar market. Market and the Organisations The report basically deals with the market of the United Kingdom i.e. the economies of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The economy of United Kingdom is one of the most affluent among the world economies, being the sixth largest economy in the world and the third largest in the whole of Europe. The chosen companies for the report in this market segment are the famous fashion brand ‘Paul Smith’ and the leading convenient food store ‘Spar’. Both the companies are catering to the markets of the United Kingdom for quite a long time now and have well – defined place into the markets and their users. The high street fashion brand ‘Paul Smith’ was established by Paul Smith himself, with active support of his ‘then’ girl friend and ‘now’ wife Pualine Denyer, in the year of 1970 at Nottingham. It was in the year of 1976, the group first launched its menswear collection at Paris. The group has focused on traditional and classic clothing but never had they missed an upcoming trend. The group has a considerable market share in the whole of United Kingdom and according to the website, today, they have twelve different segments namely Paul Smith, Paul Smith Women, PS by Paul Smith, Paul Smith Jeans, Paul Smith London, R. Newbold (only in Japan), Paul Smith Accessories, Paul Smith Shoes, Paul Smith Fragrance, Paul Smith Watches, Paul Smith Pens and Paul Smith furniture and ‘things’. The group has fourteen stores in England and more than two hundred in Japan. The showrooms and shops of the company are found at England, France, Italy, the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Kuwait, U.A.E and Japan (Paul Smith, n.d.). The other chosen company, Spar, is famous for its convenience foods. It was established in the year of 1932 in Holland by Mr. Adriaan van Well. The company is one of the largest international retail marketers of food products. The group operates in 33 countries and has more than 13,600 stores. The group claims itself to be the largest convenience store group of United Kingdom having a turnover of more than £ 2.7 billion (Spar, n.d.). Target Customers and Positioning An effective marketing plan commences with deciding over the target segment of the market. There is no point in targeting the entire economy at a go. In such a case, there are chances that the organisation might not be able to focus on any of the segments. The crux of the matter in having a target group of customer is that the group should be able to align themselves with the product or services that is on offer. Targeting customers can be under various segments like demographic, psychographic, physiographic or on the basis of the incomes and earnings. Positioning of the product is directly related with the target group. The logic remains same as the companies intend to present their offerings to the target groups in the most credible and convenient way so that the possibilities of those getting sold are highest. Paul Smith has always targeted a niche market of men with features like tall and slim. The group has undoubtedly initiated much risk as it categorically hinted that it does not want to be recognized as just another fashion brand. But then, it has been their positioning strategy. The group positioned itself as the flag bearers of traditional, high quality, contemporary and quirky fashion. With stylish surrounding, the group tries to be more personal and customized to the prospective clients (Croc & Co, n.d.). The retail food chain, Spar, which also caters to the market of whole lot of other products, tend to position itself to the busy office – goers or professionals. The target market of any convenience food stores are those group of persons who do not have enough time at their home to prepare food. The busy couples or the bachelors and college goers are basically targeted by the group. Facing heavy competition from Sainsbury and Tesco, the group has repositioned itself with viral games and internet marketing. Off late, the group is found to be spending considerable sum in advertisements. Products Products or the services of the companies are the most important assets for them. It is the quality of the products and the services that are on constant scrutiny by the outside world. There is no point in spending millions of US Dollars or Great Britain Pounds for the promotion or advertising if the quality of the products or services on offer is not up to the desired level of quality. In order to have continuous flow of sales, the companies should also aim to have different sorts of products for different market segments. Such wide spectrum of product range would assist the companies to diversify and mitigate the risk of product differentiation as because of sudden change in the tastes and preferences of the customers, the products can become obsolete at any time. The other important aspect in terms of products and services is that the companies should allocate adequate funds for continuous research and development to upgrade the products so that it remains in line with the latest trends. The convenience food store, Spar has basically four different segments for food namely ‘food and drink’, ‘Spar wine’, own brand products and recipes. The group particularly focuses upon the own brand products which according to the company, conveys the message to the outer world that they provide due emphasis upon the quality of their products. Apart from the own brands, the company also sales whole lot of products from other brands of repute. The group has divided the product ranges into three heads namely ‘Our Very Own’, ‘Standard’ and ‘Extra Value’ (Spar, n.d.). The high street fashion store, Paul Smith has segmentations of their products on the basis of men and women. Also, the group offers wide ranges of spectacles, bespoke, fragrance and Albemarle Street. Among the men’s collection, the group offers Paul Smith, Paul Smith London and PS Paul Smith. In the women segment, it has Paul Smith, Paul Smith Black and Paul X (Paul Smith, n.d.). The product ranges of the two companies are totally different as because they operate in different segments of the market and customer needs. Pricing The pricing is the second most important factor of marketing process, just after the product. Pricing is also regarded as the second ‘P’ of an effective marketing mix. Pricing of a product can be of various types. Basically, it takes the forms of premium pricing, standard pricing and budget pricing. When the company wants its good to be purchased only by the high net worth clients, they render the products to be of premium pricing. The standard pricing is primarily the normal version while the budget pricing refers to the prices of those products that are to be offered to the lower income groups. The pricing of the products of Paul Smith products has been selective. The company offers a wide range of prices in its product line. The prices depend upon the category of the products selected. The tops of women have been within the range of £ 50 to £ 100 approximately where as the skirts are in between £ 125 to £ 250. In the men’s section, the jeans range about £ 100 to £ 150 where as the T – Shirts are generally above £ 50. In the section of formal shirts, Paul Smith again has varied pricings and the products range from £ 90 to £ 150 (Paul Smith, n.d.). The pricing of Spar is much different from that of Paul Smith. The retail food outlet offers competitive pricing as it faces tremendous competition from the rival brands like Tesco and Sainsbury in the market of United Kingdom. Yet, Spar was able to increase the sales figure in to the market along with the market share and that has been possible only because of the pricing methodology adopted by the company. The comparison of the prices of the two chosen companies again depict that both are much different. The difference in the pricing strategy is felt, though they operate in the same market of United Kingdom, as because the target groups of customers are much different. Also, the product ranges are not the same. While Spar operates in the highly competitive retail segment, Paul Smith has its own brand and caters to the fashion world. Communication The communication models of the organizations have experienced paradigm shift in the present era. It has happened basically because of the revolution in information and technology. The companies all across the globe are striving hard to reach to the customers with customized solutions. The enormous flow of information has made the customers more selective than ever and it is the proper communication methods used by the companies that facilitate the sale of a product. Both the companies, Spar and Paul Smith, have been using unique communication methods to reach their respective group of customers. The traditional methods like that of press releases, advertisements and sales promotion are still exercised by the companies. Along with those methodologies, the companies are banking much upon the unconventional methods like that of internet and corporate social responsibilities. The companies of the modern day, Spar as well as Paul Smith are using the technology as the chief catalyst for marketing purposes of the products of the companies. The entire array of products is offered on internet and the customers can choose the products of their choice sitting at their homes or convenient places. The other major concept in the present world has been corporate social responsibility. Analysing the strategies of the companies, it has been assessed that both the companies are engaged in certain schemes that intend to reduce the social cost. The methods initiated toward the corporate social responsibilities directly contributes in favour of marketing of the products as those methods creates a positive impact among the minds of the prospective customers and the clients feel a sense of pride and belongingness to remain attached with the company. Therefore, it can be said that though both the companies cater to a much different markets but when it comes to the segment of promotion or communication, both of the chosen companies opt for modern technologies. Distribution The distribution channels or the ‘Place’ is the forth ‘P’ of the traditional marketing mix as proposed by Philip Kotler. This vital factor of marketing addresses the problem of reaching the customers, both prospective as well as existing. The main point of contention for an efficient distribution channel is to provide convenient positions to the customers so that they can get hold of the products of their likings at ease. It is one of the important factors for the successful completion of the process of marketing because without effective methods of distribution, the entire effort goes in vain. Having high quality product at competitive price with many promotional offers cannot reap benefits if the product does not have dedicated distribution channels so that the customers can find those at the time of requirement. Paul Smith has presence in number of countries namely England, Italy, France, the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, U.A.E and Japan. Not only that, the company has twelve dedicated segments of different categories of products to provide customised solution to the buyers. The group has around fourteen stores in United Kingdom and more than two hundred in Japan. Therefore, it can be said that the company has quite elaborate distribution channel to reach to the customers. Spar has been a leading company in the segment of retail. It has presence in 33 countries and operates through 13,600 stores. The company has been the leading convenience food store in the United Kingdom competing with the brands like Tesco and Sainsbury. The group basically operates through well dedicated channels of retailers. In order to encourage more of the young entrepreneurs to be the retailers of Spar, the company provides various attractive schemes to them. The distribution strategies of the two companies namely Spar and Paul Smith are similar in terms of online marketing. Both the companies try to take maximum advantage of internet and modern means of technology as the means of distribution in order to reach to the customers in convenient ways. Conclusion The analysis of the various marketing factors, popularly known as the four ‘P’s of marketing, reveal that there are certain similarities in the strategies adopted by the two leading companies of United Kingdom. Though the companies, Paul Smith and Spar caters in to widely dispersed product segments, yet the similarities are observed in the fields of promotion and distribution as both the companies bank upon the modern methods of technology. The contrasting results of the analysis are depicted in the categories of products and the prices. It can be said without much hesitation that the overall marketing activity for both of the companies depend upon the same structure. References Croc & Co, No Date. Paul Smith Men Cloths. Paul Smith. [Online] Available at: http://www.crocandco.co.uk/Paul-Smith-100.htm [Accessed March 05, 2010]. Paul Smith, No Date. History. Company. [Online] Available at: http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/company/ [Accessed March 05, 2010]. Paul Smith, No Date. Shop Online. Type. [Online] Available at: http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/shop/paul-smith-shirts-380/category.html?filter=true&pageNo=1&type=com.othercommerce.paulsmith.shop.model.ProductTag-L-38 [Accessed March 05, 2010]. 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