Principles and Practices of Marketing PPM Assignment sample

Introduction Of Principles and Practices of Marketing - PPM Assignment Sample

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It seems that marketing has been one of the key components within an organisation on how to promote the various products and services within the market. This is important to be done as it shows what the several benefits are that can be attained by purchasing of the product or the service. This report will highlight what can be the different areas within the marketing mix that an organisation has used in order to position itself within the market and make sure that it is reinforced there. The last three years will be analysed of the chosen organisation so that there could be adequate understanding of marketing efforts are presented within the organisation.

Organisational Overview

 Whole Foods Market, Inc. was established within USA and has made its way into the markets of UK as there have been seven stores that have been added into it. This is a supermarket chain which offers a number of products that can be purchased both online and offline. There are also gift cards that are offered by the organisation though which it attracts various customers’ across UK. On the other hand there are also 3^rd party delivery partners that are involved in order to make sure that products can reach the customers and such a delivery partner is Deliveroo.

4 Marketing Mix Elements

Product

This part of the marketing mix shows how the products that are presented by an organisation help to attract customers. The product is the core of the marketing mix as it is the one that will be promoted on various platforms. It should be understood that it is the product that helps to solve an issue or raise an opportunity for the customers to embrace. It is through this that the organisation is able to increase its sales within the market and provide a better outline of how its products are better than the others that are present in the market or what are the various services that can be availed with the products (Thabit&Raewf, 2018).

On the case of Whole Foods UK, there are a number of products that can be looked at as it is indeed a supermarket that offers a variety of products accordingly. Though one of the measures that the supermarket has taken is that it offers more healthy products that any other supermarket within the area (Whole Foods Market, 2021). This has been a necessary measure that has been taken up by the supermarket as it does not sell foods that are not having any preservatives added or any artificial colouring and sugar added within them. This has been a healthy step that has been taken by the organisation.

It seems that within UK the trend of becoming healthy has taken a huge step forward through which there has been a proper understanding of what organisations within the market need to do. It has been reported that more than 72% of the shoppers that are present in UK are targeting a healthy food diet. There are about 43% of shoppers that are opting for organic food. From this it seems that the area of having healthy products presented within the supermarket was the correct choice for Whole Foods UK to be done (Wells, 2017).

Here, another product line that is offered by the supermarket is that of Engine 2 Plant-Strong products. These products are plant based products which show how much organic material is being used in them. The use of any artificial material does not seem to be present in them at all. Offering of such healthy and fresh products has helped to attract more customers and to capture a larger market area. This has also provided with a competitive edge to be increased within the market as major players like Tesco and Asda seem to be having a higher percentage of share within the market.

Place

This aspect of the marketing mix deals with the factor of what are the different places that can be looked at on what are the various areas that the product can be bought. This is utmost important because if the places of buying the products are limited then the organisation would not have a far reach within the market. The place also shows in what area of the country the stores of the organisation are located in the sense that physical stores are being set-up. This is important to be looked at as if the stores are being set out in areas where there is large crowd and making sure that the products are in accordance to their needs.

In case of Whole Food UK, there are seven stores that are present and all of them seem to be spread out in different parts of London. Mostly all of London is captured by this market in the sense of placing their stores. The most populated areas within London seem to be present in Central London and the East side of London. Out of 7 shops, the supermarket seems to have at least 4 of these in such areas. It is due to such a placement that has allowed a large amount of customers to be added to the supermarket. This factor of the marketing mix is linked to the above one as the placement of the stores have to be done where there is more of a population that are concerned about their health. This is because the products that are being offered are healthy hence need to be further developed for better use to occur (Trust for London, 2021).

The other area for buying of products that can be done is to use the website of the organisation. There are a number of products that can be availed within the website of the organisation and there are even orders that can placed according to the festival that is arriving. There have been products that have been presented according to Thanksgiving and even one can also avail products accordingly for Christmas as well (Whole Foods Market, 2021). This has given a different placement strategy through which there can be various areas that can be carried out for further understanding to be achieved.

It should be understood that the process for buying grocery online has increased and it is through this that it needs to be understood on what are the various areas that could help increasing further work to be done.

(Source: Tighe, 2021)

From the above chart it can be seen that the performance of online sales has increased since March 2020 as this was the time when COVID 19 seemed to be very active and there were a large number of cases that were reported and also the lockdown had been placed. It was during this time that there were a number of online services that were increased hence showing that the level of sales had increased. This is where the third party comes into play for Whole Food Uk which is Deliveroo. This organisation helps for delivery of grocery items for the supermarket hence creating a further reach within the market. This has allowed there to be better connections to be made with the customers as they will be able to have healthy products that should be presented as well. The level of flexibility that can be maintained through this helps to show what can be the various timings that can be catered to (Whole Foods Market, 2021).

Promotions

This factor is highly important within the marketing mix because it shows how the product would come into the notice of the customers. This is necessary to be done because the product has to be highlighted within the market so that there could be better outline of seeing how the customers can be attracted accordingly. This can include that there are various schemes that are involved within the organisation that can help customers to be further attracted to the products that are linked to the scheme. It should be understood that it is through promotions that the concept or the competitive edge that an organisation has can be shown through this for the customers (Lahtinen et al. 2020).

Whole Foods UK has highlighted on one of its areas being ‘Values Matter’ which has been the key area for promotion that can be seen. This has shown on what truly matters for the organisation and by this it has shown that there are healthy products that are being distributed by the organisation (Media, 2014). This also shows that the organisation is making sure to daily improve its food supply chain hence raising the standards for the industry itself. This has been an important aspect as it allows there would be better understanding of what can be the different areas for further development.

Focus is also being done on having advertisements being done on social media websites. This is important to be looked at as the percentage of people that are present on various social media websites are large. It is through this that there can be better attachment with the customers as it helps to develop a better understanding of what is being offered by the organisation.

(Source: Chaffey, 2021)

From the above it can be seen that there are a number of users that are present within social media. From this it can be seen that the use of digital marketing is necessary to be developed according to the work to be done. The use of digital marketing is done when an organisation uses online media channels to increase the awareness of its brands (Chaffey et al. 2019). This is important as it helps to identify the various areas that can be looked at so that there is a proper identification on what are the various modes of online services that can be made.

The rise of digital marketing can be seen as there have been many organisations that have adopted this because there has also been a rise within the technology aspect as well. It seems that the use of digital marketing has helped the supermarket to grow not only in USA but make sure that its presence if felt across the world as well.

Price

This factors within the marketing mix shows what are the various prices that are set out by the organisation as compared to the competition. This is important to be looked at because it highlights the fact on seeing why the customers should pay higher for such product rather than the competition. On the other hand, if the prices have been set low, then the quality of the products should be affected in any manner whatsoever.

In the case of the supermarket it seems that the prices which it has are higher than the rest of the supermarkets that are present in the market. Whole Foods UK is mostly concerned about the fact that it is offering quality of products as compared to the competition as it offers healthy products. This is where its generic strategy of broad differentiation comes into play. This strategy takes into account that the brand which is being built is different than the competitions that is present within the market. This has been adopted by the supermarket as it focuses on providing quality of products to the customers and making sure it’s healthy has also been a huge success factor also hence its prices seem to be higher than the competition that is present.

Marketing Efforts of Whole Foods UK (Theories)

The Communication Mix

This theory takes into account on what are the various ways that an organisation takes into account what are the different ways that can be used in order to communicate with the customers. This is important as in order to communicate with the customers it can be found out what they want and show whether the products that are wanted by them are up to the mark or not. The theory helps to show what are the various efforts that are put in the organisation so that there can be proper analysis of what can be the different areas for further development to be looked at (Andrews &Shimp, 2017).

There are different ways that communication can be done and it seems that by offering various events. There have been around 79 events that have been held by the supermarket as it seems that there is an all you can eat buffet that was presented and even an even through which it was able to show how its plant based products were productive than the artificial ones that are present in the market (Event Brite, 2021). This involves that there is direct communication that is made with the customers. Being able to have a face to face conversation allows there to be a better outline of whether the products being offered are being appreciated or it is just a waste of time. This form of communication also allows to understand the buying behaviour of the customer and also see what the other modes of communicationare that can be dealt with.

Segmentation, targeting, and Positioning Theory

This theory takes into account that there could be better analysis of what can be the different areas that marketing should be done. This shows what type of marketing can be done within the different stores that should be applied. It helps to understand the appeal of the market and what mode of marketing it should be used upon.

The supermarket has to adopt more of social media marketing to be done as the level of technology seems to be evolving more and more. This also involves that more focus should be on online shopping as it has become a major trend is to be followed. The supermarket is present on many social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. The Facebook page of the organisation shows how the products are bought in from the farms and are deemed to be healthy in nature (Facebook, 2021). This also helps to positioning to be developed as it shows that more of a health concept is being focused hence people who go do the gym and who are heath fitness enthusiast should be highly targeted. It seems that due to the pandemic that has occurred people have started to focus more on their health so that they do not get affected as easily. This has been a key area that needs to be implemented within the operations so that there can better development done (Dhiman et al. 2018).

The Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory

This theory takes into account in seeing whether the customer is satisfied by the product or not. This takes into account that there would be proper outline of what can be the various areas that can be looked on in order to make sure that satisfaction can be increased. The performance of the products that are present within the supermarket are necessary to be looked at as it seems that it is directly linked to the satisfaction levels of the customers. The customer understands that its expectation is linked to having a healthy diet and it seems that in London the target is being done for the middle and upper class as the products seem to be highly priced.

Evaluation

It seems that there are both beneficial parts that are present in the marketing of the supermarket and also there are some areas that call for further improvement to be done. One of the effective areas that can he highlighted are the events that are done by the organisation. These events help to connect with the customers on a personal level so that it can be understood what is wanted by them and whether the products offered by them are liked and if not what is the reason. This can be considered to be a one on one interview that can take place accordingly. This is linked to the product part of the marketing mix as the products are being focused upon here. There are target specific customers that are identified though this type of marketing as it helps to create a better outline of the focus that is being done here. New connections can also be developed during these events as it is through this that there will be new suppliers that can be added with it.

On the other hand the gap in marketing that is present is that the online presence done not seem to be too much. This is an areas that should be increased as more and more people are being dependent on online services. The young generation is also present on many social media websites and it seems that if these are targeted then further awareness about the products can be developed.

Conclusion

It can be seen that it is through marketing that there can be a better connection developed with the customers. Both the customers and the organisation can have an adequate understanding about each other through marketing. The supermarket will be able to show what the different areas are that can be looked at in order to identify how much of work related areas can be looked at. Building a reputation for the supermarket is done through marketing as showing that healthy and quality of products are available to the organisation can increase the amount of revenue. It will also help to increase the customer base if marketing is focused on.

References

Andrews, J. &Shimp, T. (2017) Advertising, Promotion, and other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications (10^th edition), South West

Chaffey, D. (2021) Global social media statistics research summary 2022. (Online) Smart Insights. Retrieved From: https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/ [Accessed on: 24 November 2021]

Chaffey, D. Ellis- Chadwick, F. (2019) Digital Marketing, Strategy, Implementation and Practice (7^th edition), Pearson

Dhiman, R., Chand, P. K., & Gupta, S. (2018). Behavioural aspects influencing decision to purchase apparels amongst young Indian consumers. FIIB Business Review, 7(3), 188-200.

Facebook, (2021). Whole Foods Market. (Online) Facebook. Retrieved From: https://www.facebook.com/wholefoodsUK/ [Accessed on: 24 November 2021]

Lahtinen, V., Dietrich, T., & Rundle-Thiele, S. (2020). Long live the marketing mix. Testing the effectiveness of the commercial marketing mix in a social marketing context. Journal of Social Marketing.

Media, (2014). Whole Foods Market® launches first-ever national brand campaign. (Online) Whole Foods Market. Retrieved From: https://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/whole-foods-market-launches-first-ever-national-brand-campaign [Accessed on: 24 November 2021]

Tighe, D. (2021). Online grocery shopping in the United Kingdom (UK) - statistics and facts. (Online) Statista. Retrieved From: https://www.statista.com/topics/3144/online-grocery-shopping-in-the-united-kingdom/

Thabit, T., &Raewf, M. (2018). The evaluation of marketing mix elements: A case study. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 4(4). [Accessed on: 24 November 2021]

Trust for London, (2021). London's geography and population. (Online) Trust For London. Retrieved From: https://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/data/geography-population/ [Accessed on: 24 November 2021]

Wells, L. (2017). UK shoppers increasingly buying healthy food, finds report. (Online) Talking Retail. Retrieved From: https://www.talkingretail.com/news/industry-news/uk-shoppers-increasingly-buying-healthy-food-finds-report-03-10-2017/ [Accessed on: 24 November 2021]

Whole Foods Market, (2021). Order Whole Foods Market gift card online. (Online) Whole Foods Market. Retrieved From: https://www.wholefoodsmarket.co.uk/[Accessed on: 24 November 2021]