Role Or Importance Of Marketing Management In Business

 In this regards, Coca-Cola is being taken under consideration. It was founded in the year 1886 and is one of the leading manufacturing company and distributor of non-alcoholic beverages. They have around 230 brands and the firm is being headquartered in Atlanta, USA. The effectiveness and profitability of the firm is attached with its strong competitive position as well as their share in the market (Boutzikas, 2000). The report will also focus on how planning is done in regards with marketing and how segmentation, targeting and positioning is done. The later part of the report will evaluate the role of the marketing mix in the implementation of marketing strategy and various impacts of costing and pricing decisions on competitive advantage.            

TASK - 1 

Role or importance of marketing 

As per Kotler, strategic planning is nothing but a detailed process of developing as well as maintaining a possible fit amid the objectives, skills and resources of the firm and its altering marketing opportunities. In other words, strategy is a long term plan of the firm for accomplishing the objectives. Today's market is very dynamic, as different organizations are manufacturing different products and services so as to satisfy their valuable customers. Strategic marketing will support Coca-Cola in developing products and services as per the alterations taking place in the market. The needs and demands of the customers alter frequently and because of some internal and external factors, the business environment also keeps on changing. Thus, in all these situations, strategic marketing focuses on performing better in the altering situations rather than increasing its sales so that it can have an effect on their clients for longer period of time (Chen and Liu, 2004).   

Relationship of marketing strategy and vision, mission and business strategy 

The vision, mission and business strategy of Coca-Cola is same as any other strategy which is devised at the very basic level of the firm. The main vision and mission of the firm is to maximize their profits along with maintaining long term sustainability in the beverage industry. They want to refresh the world and want to create value by making a difference in the place where all people live. Marketing strategy and business strategy are both important for the firm. Corporate and marketing strategy both coincide with each other, as marketing strategy also encompasses strategic planning aspects of developing, pricing, promotion and distribution of the products and service. Corporate strategy i.e. vision, mission, business strategy are more focused towards earning profitability rather than developing a product or a service. It helps the firm by providing direction. On the other hand, marketing strategy takes consists of formulation of plans related to manufacturing or selling of products (Lee and Carter, 2005). It generally revolves around price, promotion, place and product. It is quite important at the executive level to monitor that whether the marketing strategy of the company is moving along with the mission and vision of the firm or not. Corporate strategy actually guides the marketing strategy. For example, Burberry, a clothing chain has purchased Primark in order to capture all types of customers. This is a corporate strategy of the organization. The marketing department of the firm made a suggestion not to merge these two brands rather they should be operated separately otherwise it will damage the brand. Therefore, it can be said that there is close relationship between marketing strategy and corporate strategy of the organizations.  

TASK - 2

STAGE - 1 (ANALYSIS)

Tools and techniques available for analyzing the marketing environment

Each and every business cannot make sound decisions without studying or analyzing the market. It is very much important to evaluate the marketing environment in which the operations are being carried out. The changing demands and needs of the customers should be assessed for achieving higher sales target and for fulfilling the objectives of the firm. The marketing environment of Coca-Cola consists of three major elements i.e. internal, micro and macro-environment. The macro-environment is beyond the control of the company and includes factors such as economic, social, political etc. This can be analyzed by making use of PESTLE analysis. The internal environment on the other hand is concerned with the Five M's i.e. men, machine, money, material and market (Lancaster and et.al., 2008). This can be evaluated through SWOT analysis. Finally, micro-environment consists of the individuals who are quite close to the organization such as customers, suppliers, competitors, marketing agencies etc. This can be assessed by adopting porter's five force analysis. Thus, these are the various tools that can be used for analyzing the marketing environment of a company.   

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Analyzing marketing environment in order to launch new product 

Coca-Cola a beverage manufacturing firm wants to launch new brands in the market. To begin the process, it is very much important for the firm to analyze their internal marketing environment, which can be done by making use of SWOT analysis:

The role of market research in business decision making

Focusing in relation with market research, it is simply a process of gathering information and data about products, market trends, needs and demands of the customers. It is quite useful for the firm that desires to open a new business or brand in the market. For the purpose of capturing the market successfully, Coca-Cola can also study the market as well as the demand of the new brand launch in the market. Through this, the firm will be able to acquire knowledge in regards to the recent trends, demands, and behavior of consumers in varied parts of the world. Conducting market research will help the firm in analyzing the taste of the consumers and market trends, helps in anticipating future changes, updates about the new technologies, and many more (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). Further, there are two types of market research i.e. primary and secondary. The former one can be performed by taking direct opinions and feedbacks from different sources and secondary research can be done by third party such as research agencies, regional councils, yellow pages, government departments etc.

STAGE - 2 (PLANNING) 

Relationship between marketing strategy, strategic market analysis, marketing goals and marketing actions

The strategic market analysis is a tool that helps in evaluating the environment in which the business operates. With this analysis, firm decides which type of marketing strategy they need to be adopted. Marketing strategy helps in informing the consumers about the products and services. On the other hand, marketing plan and action plan is also related with each other. It is a complete marketing plan with series of recommendation in relation with the pro-active marketing of the business. All these terms are inter-related with each other. For instance, for launching a new brand in the market, Coco Cola is required to first set the marketing goals, i.e. brand awareness, recognition, reputation, Google search ranking, followers counts and search engine optimization. On the basis of these goals, marketing action plans is decided and strategies are developed by conducting the market analysis. Thus, it can be said that all these terms are related with each other. A wrong decision or action will have influence on all the aspects (Patterson, 2010).   

How strategic position and an understanding of competitors impact on marketing strategy

Marketing strategy of any business concerns changes as per the level of growth and number of competitors in the given market. In addition to this, for the small business, the influences on marketing strategy generally come in the internal and external groups such as price, human resources, culture of the firm, technology, economy and competitors. If the company is well aware about its strategic position i.e. its stakeholders, internal competencies, external environment than the marketing strategy becomes tenable. However, sometimes the influence of the external environment is so powerful like economic slowdown or depression and spending of the customers reduce than the original marketing strategy needs to be revised as its becomes untenable. For illustration, the major competitor of Coca-Cola is Pepsi and thus, the firm is required understand the price they are offering in the market and to whom. The company wants to earn profits and thus, marketing strategy will establish high performing product in new brand to a niche segment before the competitors (Baker, 2000).   

Links amid growth strategies and strategic marketing objectives 

There are many organizations that become very cautious while making marketing decisions but there are many businesses as well that are not so careful when it comes to marketing strategy. Firms rushes to implement marketing objectives and tactics and ignores the growth strategies of the firm. In the current case, Coca-Cola has adopted the diversification strategy, as they want to launch new brand where product is also new and market is also new. In order to support this strategic option, marketing strategy, goals and objectives are quite necessary. The objectives of marketing must reflect the strategic approach of Coca-Cola for example, building brand awareness, increasing sales, increase in market share, enhancing customer relations etc.    

Contribution of marketing strategies in sustainable competitive advantage

Any business can create competitive advantage by offering quality services and better value to the customers in comparison to their competitors. At the time of annual planning process, the management along with the marketing department develops a marketing plan including marketing strategies and tactics to maximize the revenue that is obtained from this advantage only (Aung and et.al., 2001). For achieving long-term success there is a need of sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing strategy helps in achieving this advantage by aligning products as per the needs of the customers, crafting clear message, expanding the distribution channel, attacking new markets and focusing on the services of the customers.    

Examine the factors that will influence consumer choice and behavior

There are many factors that influence the choice and behavior of the customers and these are being defined underneath:

• Age and lifecycle of the customers
• Financial and economic stability
• People from different cultural and social belief
• Motivation and needs of the people
• Perception and situation around the people
• Attitude and belief of the customers (Jagersma and Pieter, 2006)
• Occupation of the customers also influence the type of products and services to be consumed
• Role and status in the society

STAGE - 3 (IMPLEMENTATION) 

Difference between market segmentation and product differentiation

Comparing different targeting approaches

When the market segment is being decided by the firm, the next step is deciding how to approach these segments. There are many types of targeting approaches. The very first is differentiated marketing, where company manufactures different products with different marketing mix and the products are being produced for satisfying the small segments. The second is an undifferentiated product, in this the firm manufactures only one product and target all the customers with one marketing mix only. It is quite useful when the company wants to persuade wide audience. Another one is concentrated marketing, it is also known as niche marketing. Under this, specific product features like price range, product design, production quality etc. is being focused by the firm (Porter, 2008). It is useful for small firms which generally have few resources. Last but not least is micro marketing, which is one of the narrowest methods of targeting a market. This method is helpful for small business who desire to build, grow and sustain own brand.   

Process and function of positioning

Positioning is being regarded as an important facet for launching the product and firm in the market. It helps in creating an image of the product of firm in the intellect of the target customer. In addition to this, the firm who wants implement their marketing strategy effectively, positioning is very vital for them. The process of positioning involves the following steps:

• Determining the competitors
• Identifying when the products of the competitors are purchased
• Recognizing the position of the competitors in the market
• Evaluating the customer (Nijssen, 2009)
• Making the decisions related to positioning
• Monitoring the positioning process

TASK - 3

Role of the marketing mix in the implementation of your marketing strategy

There are basically four elements in marketing mix i.e. product, price, place and promotion. Product is the main element in the marketing strategy. Coca-Cola is launching a new brand i.e. Diet coke in the market, which includes many products such as diet coke caffeine, Citrus Zest, cherry, lime etc. Place is also important for every brand. If the firm wants to sell their product then it is important to place the product where the customer segment of the firm falls. Pricing on the other hand is the most vital part of the marketing strategy. Coca-Cola has adopted skimming pricing and competitive pricing strategy. Furthermore, the firm has adopted aggressive promotional policy and has targeted heath conscious people. In order to get the desired results from marketing campaign, it is significant for the firm to pay attention on all these aspects of marketing mix (Grime and Smith, 2005).  

Role of product development and branding

Talking in reference with the product development, it refers to the process of developing an entirely new product or adding some features in the existing product line. New product development in any form is very essential for the success of the business. It is a fact that if the firm will not innovate, they cannot grow. Further, the needs and demands of the customers changes and thus, developing new product with changing needs is essential for growth. On the other hand, branding is also a key to any firm. It helps in achieving competitive advantage, provides economic value and stable asset. Branding also supports in setting expectations of the customers. Thus, it can be said that it is the promise being made by the firm to the customers.  

Impact of costing and pricing decisions on competitive advantage

Costing as well as pricing decisions plays a crucial role when talking in terms of competitive advantage. The main challenge for each and every business is to achieve a competitive advantage. For instance, if the firm is lowest cost producer in the industry, which can be achieved with large scale of production, the firm can achieve a competitive edge in the market. Similarly, a company can become the market leader by minimizing the prices of the product in comparison with their competitors but should keep their quality at optimum level (Wood, 2000). A wrong strategy and decision in relation with costing and pricing will ruin the competitive position of the firm in the market.

Role and purpose of marketing communication as part of the marketing mix

Speaking in relation with the marketing communication, it generally supports in developing awareness of the brand among the customers by translating the information of the product into the perception of the customers. As a part of a marketing mix, marketing communication has quite important role to play such as:

• Helps in delivering the message of the firm all across the channels
• Creates brand awareness among the perception of the customers
• Delivers the best message to the target audience by adopting several means such as social media, emails, newsletter, community event and many more (Johnson and Scholes, 2005)

Contribution of retailing and channel management in achieving competitive advantage

Throwing light in relation with the marketing mix, the process of moving products from producer to its intended users is known as place. If the firm makes use of right place then they can increase their amount of sales for long period of time. It is very important to manage the channels of distribution for achieving success. There are many intermediaries such as retailers, wholesalers, agents, distributors whose involvement depends upon the type of products to be sold. These distribution channels help in faster deliveries of the products. Additionally, these intermediaries are experts and thus, they can perform task better (Porter, 2004). They also help in rendering useful information about the products to the costumers and end users. Therefore, a right channel of distribution can help the firm in gaining competitive advantage.     

TASK - 4

Marketing strategies in commercial, not for profit organizations and the public sector

Use of marketing techniques in each of the sectors

Impact of marketing on social and political change

Talking about the social change, it is quite big umbrella that includes social and civic outcomes because of increasing awareness and comprehension, participation of people, change in attitude, creation of public will etc. marketing has significantly influenced the way people think about the products and at the community level. Marketing has helped a lot in changing the mindset of people, creating positivity in the society as a whole. On the other hand, the political landscape has also changed because of marketing especially through internet. In political campaigns, social media is now a serious factor, as it changes the way people think about the issues (Kotler and Roberto, 2002).

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CONCLUSION 

Consequently, it can be said that the heart of each and every business lies in its techniques related to marketing. Marketing management helps in simplifying the functions as well as operations that are related to the distribution of products and services.

You may also like: Retail Marketing Plan That Brings Growth and Success for an Organisation

REFERENCES

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• Bean, J. and Hussey, L., 2007. Marketing Public Sector Services. London: HB Publications.
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