Question :
The purpose of this report is to evaluate effectiveness of marketing practices within ASDA in order to build direct and positive relationship with target customers. This analysis will assist in identifying practices that can assist in building customer loyalty.
- Provide an overview over industry outline, market positioning and present USP of ASDA.
- Construct marketing audit of ASDA and analyze market attractiveness.
- Determine competitor analysis by considering three main industry players.
- Discuss new marketing mix actions that can assist in filling market gaps.
Answer :
INTRODUCTION
Marketing management is an important essential part of each and every business with effective strategies that can assist in increasing performance and profitability. Marketing activities are responsible to promote products and services in order to attract more and more customers.
The present report is in context to ASDA, one of the largest food retailers within United Kingdom. The company sells a wide range of products, food items and apparel; it also identifies ASDA's position within market along with a brief marketing audit. The report will also analyse three main competitors of the industry along with various marketing artistes used by an organisation to sustain position in the market.
TASK 1 : BACKGROUND STATEMENT
ASDA's mission is to be the best-valued retailer in Britain that satisfies needs of the customers every day. It is a private limited company headquartered at Leeds; it shares a common business culture with its parent company Walmart. The organization was established in the year 1965 when the supermarket Asquith family merged with associated diaries company of Yorkshire owned by ASDA. The cited organisation expanded in South of England during 19870's and 1980's and acquired Allied carpets; it has 61 large Gateway supermarkets and other businesses. It became a subsidiary of the American retail giant Walmart after a £6.7 billion takeover in 1999 and it was the second largest supermarket chain in 2003 – 2014 on the basis of market share.
ASDA Supermarkets was another division established in the year 2009 and initially there were only 26 small-scale supermarkets and currently, it is operating around 400 stores all around the world. The organization has more than 1, 60, 000 employees working in various stores and segments of the company. Presently, ASDA is the second largest retail chain in the country (Mason and et.al, 2017).
The history started in the 1920's, when the Asquith family owned a butchers shop at Knottingley, West Yorkshire. There were two brothers in the family, Peter and Fred who took over the business as founders of ASDA. At the same time, another company known as Craven Diaries Ltd was established with the support of West riding dairy farmers. In the year 1965, both the companies merged in order to establish associated Diaries and Farms Stores Ltd.
ASDA's main activities include apparel, retailing of food, general merchandise and other services. Their strategic goals are to offer high quality products, reduce costs and exceed consumer demands. The organization also have an additional sustainability goals developed in order to decrease environmental impact and reduce cost of operations, whereas at the same time ASDA's parent company Walmart is focusing on opportunities offered by e-commerce market. The organisation provides various options to its customers to purchase products as well as services easily such as online marketing or shopping and delivery of goods and services. ASDA have created a growth strategy, including enhancing customer reach online and physically with decreased overall cost of operations. The cited organization focus on implementing various new strategies such as introducing new products and services in the market along with innovative technologies
At present, ASDA have more than 500 offices all over United Kingdom, from supermarkets to super-centres. This wide range of shopping facilities is developed in order to meet needs or demands of customers at various levels. The company also designed a New Green Corporate Logo which was capitalized as ASDA. The organization designed and established new Eco-friendly stores with attractive colours and structure. It also overtook a supermarket chain known as Netto, UK in the year 2010 which cost around £778 million. This deal offered the organization with small sized stores that got linked with the supermarket division develop in the year 2009, most of the Netto stores were only one fifth of the stores established by ASDA. Due to this reason it sold more than 50 Netto stores according to the office of fair trading policies. The cited organizations has a lot of competitors in the market that influence it to change and develop various new and innovative strategies that could help in sustaining the market position.
TASK 2 : MARKETING AUDIT AND OUTLINED MARKET ATTRACTIVENESS
ASDA is one of the fastest growing retailers in United Kingdom which is selling its products and services at the lowest price in the market since 11 years. With respect to a division of Walmart, it has revenues of around $32 billion in the year January 2010, which was 8.2% less than compared to 2009.
Its vision and mission statement together suggests that ASDA aims at being the best value retailer within UK by only satisfying its customers but ensure that it provides the lowest priced products and services (Le andKarlsson, 2017). The company operates its stores in global market which is highly competitive as there are huge numbers of substitutes available. The company focuses on offering wide range of products and service to their customers to attract customers from each and every segments, age and culture globally. The company is the retailer for food and non-food products and offers various products such as toys, apparel, food along with services such as home delivery, insurance etc. ASDA owns a leading clothing brand in UK named as George which is the Fourth Largest Retail Clothing Company in UK.
Examination of methods used by ASDA in developing marketing strategies
Proper marketing begins with considered, all around taught technique related with showcasing. The progression of marketing strategy ought to be conceivable in the path communicated as under:
1. Making compelling system out of publicizing: For making advancing methodology it is basic to choose the targets and make progression of more grounded reputation with respect to the thing (Kowalkowski and et.al, 2017).
2. Recognizing verification of the progressive targets: Identification of the business destinations is basic while making market method. This is convincing in describing the set concentrations for supporting them.
3. Communicating the advancing goals: in view of business targets specific course of action of advertising destinations are portrayed. Such is convincing in stirring the gathering in setting the benchmark for achievement of the accomplishment.
4. Research accessible: This is seen as basic bit of the showcasing technique. This fuses get-together of information concerning the market that consolidates its size, advancement, social examples and likewise financial.
5. Profile of the potential customers: the usage of measurable studying is being finished with a particular true objective to devise customer profile that is being target and affirmation of their needs.
6. Profile of competitors: As a bit of advancing procedure it is basic for ASDA to make contenders profile through confirmation of thing, stock system, publicizing techniques and furthermore esteeming.
7. Change of procedures for supporting promoting destinations: It is essential to make kind of frameworks that can pull in the target market and hold them for longer navigate of time
8. Use of 7 Ps of advancing: For progression of promoting procedure it is basic to impact confirmation of the vital publicizing to mix with the utilization of 7 P's of advertising.
9. Testing of the considerations: For picking the techniques there is need to do online research and test musings and approach on customers and staff and study the particular work.
Examination of decisions and choices that are created at corporate level
Inside the essential pyramid of the affiliation, corporate technique is at the pinnacle of the pyramid. The genuine decisions of the firm are being taken at this level. Ansoff framework help with making confirmation of the publicizing technique which business needs to get. If the business needs extending the offer inside the present market of the present thing then it can grasp the strategy towards diminishing the thing esteem with the objective that people can get it. Certain conditions firm needs to visit new market close by the thing to improve the market. The organization needs to settle on introduction of the new thing in existing business division. At any rate at certain motivation behind time the business needs to keep running with additional breakthrough exhibit through progression of new thing. Each one of the decisions that are major are being taken at corporate level (Lambert and et.al, 2017).
As to pass on advancing survey in ASDA, data has been collected from basic and discretionary sources. In such way, particular books, journals, magazines, appropriations, etc mechanical assemblies has been studied which focuses around needed results and results in ponder path at workplace. In light of assessment, it has been seen that association has effective restricted time devices that gets huge zones of the market. It is the best way to deal with focus around extending pay and advantage too. Corporate and furthermore advertising methodology frequently blend or cover as a reason, distinction to predominant reasoning, essential complement of advancing incorporates some portion of key organizing towards change, assessing and thing transport. The two thought isolate in situation when corporate approach has lesser to do with the progression of thing notice advantage and also bargains. In any case they are phenomenally drawn in with advantage making. Corporate framework essentially lay emphasis on advantage. Despite this it incorporates arrangement of the business structure, lessened in the red for upgrading the advantage report of the affiliation, development of the thing or organization line towards extending benefits or decreasing dependence on single thing, joining with or purchasing other thing for generation of economies of scale. Advance it furthermore incorporates access to innovation and overhauling the volume of offers, reducing of cost of overhead all together improve the net income.
On the other hand promoting strategy is considered as the plan that fuse making or offers of the thing. They turn around the advancing mix.