MGT4022 Strategic Marketing Assessment Solution

MGT4022 Strategic Marketing Assessment Question:

What Is a Strategic Marketing Plan?

Answer:

Introduction and Organisational Overview

The competitive business environment in the organisations includes the essential need for the organisation to focus on marketing. It includes the requirement of the strategic marketing plan, the organisation through the use of strategic marketing plan can enhance the generation of awareness to the customers and it includes the need of the organisation to focus on the development of the customer base. The strategic marketing plan includes the setting of the objectives, focusing on analysing the internal and external environment of the organisation, application of the detailed marketing mix and focusing on tracking the progress. A marketing plan aims to enhance the profit and focus on growth. It includes the setting of marketing objectives and goals, defining the target audience, researching the marketing tactics and planning. The development of the time required and budget is also included in the strategic marketing plan.

The organisation through the use of a strategic marketing plan can gain the enhanced level of reach and access to the customers that are required to be retained. The higher level of customer retention and the strengthening of the competitive edge is ensured through the use of a strategic marketing plan. The organisation through the use of a strategic marketing plan can grow as it allows knowing the actions required for the achievement of the goals and targeting the prospects. The essential need to identify the customer needs, and the mix of channels to target the prospects are required to be considered in the strategic marketing plan.

Thus the information below includes the marketing plan for Amazon that is an e-commerce retail organisation providing the sales of the products related to home, fashion and grocery, etc. like books, and clothes. The organisation was founded in the year 1994 by Jeff Bezos and started as an online bookselling store. The organisation currently operates across the globe and provides different products and the services like Amazon Prime, AWS, etc. The report thus includes the focus on strategic marketing that will facilitate the organisation to enhance customer satisfaction and strengthen the competitive edge.

The report includes the following objectives:

• To know the essential need of strategic marketing plan
• To develop an effective strategic marketing plan
• To recommend the sound approaches that can facilitate the organisation to enhance the effectiveness of marketing

The investigation for the current report is done through the utilisation of the secondary data collected from the authentic websites, articles and available journals that will facilitate the completion of the report. The marketing function of the organisation is currently evaluated critically and it includes the focus towards the development of a strategic marketing plan by setting up the goals, analysing the environment. The application of the detailed marketing mix along with the budget and time for achievement of the objectives is also presented in-depth below. The sound recommendations to Amazon are also presented that will facilitate the organisation to enhance the productivity of the marketing and improve customer retention through strategic marketing.

Critical Discussion

The strategic marketing plan for the business is essentially required that includes the focus of the business towards the achievement of the objectives. The strategic marketing plan includes major importance in the organisation that the business is essentially required to consider. It includes the focus of the organisation words the strategic marketing plan as it facilitates to know and evaluate the current environment of the organisation. It provides the available resources and allows the organisation to focus on the identification of the risks and the opportunities present in the environment. It allows understanding the marketing in-depth and provides the businesses with better insights. The organisation through the use of planning and marketing activities can develop the marketing goals. The development of the marketing goals provides the professionals of the organisation with a roadmap for the achievement of the objectives (D'Agostino, 2018).

The strategic marketing plan includes the focus on the identification of the actions and the achievement of the objectives. The marketing goals are established that includes the focus on the performance and provide the roadmap towards success. It includes the focus on product development and allows the business to focus on the optimal prices. The distribution, promotions and other aspects are also effectively described. It includes the focus on the establishment of the distribution channels and provides improved communication with the customer base. The organisation through the effective marketing plan includes the aim to constantly remain in touch with the customers and provide the customers with an improved level of satisfaction. The need of the organisation to strengthen the competitive edge and retain the customers through the use of strategic marketing is also required to be considered (Benevides et al., 2018).

Strategic marketing allows the organisation to focus on the establishment of the goals that are feasible and it includes the focus on the identification of strategies that can facilitate the organisation to grow. The organisation through the effective use of marketing can enhance brand awareness and customer retention. Effective marketing allows organisations to enhance the product and services quality through effective feedback and reviews of customers. The organisation through the loyal group of customers and satisfied customers can improve productivity and profitability. The development of a strategic marketing plan requires the fundamental knowledge linked with marketing, digital strategies, understanding the customer behaviour and ensuring the sound availability of financial resources. The lack of availability of financial resources, digital strategies, and lack of understanding related to customer behaviour can impact the strategic marketing plan for the organisation (Smith et al., 2017).

Application of Theory

Strategic Marketing Plan

Objectives of Marketing Plan

The objectives of the marketing plan include the following:

• To Enhance the sales within two years
• To increase the customer base
• To strengthen the competitive edge and sustain the position as a market leader.

Marketing Audit

Currently, the organisation is utilising the modern and traditional modes of marketing that has facilitated the organisation to focus on the customers and enhance retention. It includes the focus of the organisation towards digital marketing and traditional marketing through newspapers, televisions, etc. The organisation previously has used social media marketing and search engine optimisation to enhance the focus towards the business growth and retention of the customers (Pignaton et al., 2020).

Market Audit is considered as the period checking of the marketing environment of the firm and assessing its current policies, goals and objectives (Eshleman et. al. 2017). Some of the instances of the marketing audit has been expressed through the example of the Alibaba and Wal-Mart which are key competitors of the Amazon.

The giants like Alibaba have been strongly showing up in the market with its leadership strength and vision. The marketing benefits to Alibaba are existing in the form of strategic partnerships formed. Hence, the partner firms also expand the host to the different geographical markets. The application of marketing plan on digitally launched platform would enable better marketing without any such joint efforts with other firms.

Alibaba being a string competitor for Amazon also shares great opportunity to take place in the cloud computing but the stiff competition from Amazon and regular innovation from its staff will create hazards for Alibaba to survive. Alibaba has experienced growing demands for the marketing services which can also be adopted by Amazon as a first mover advantage.

Next market research conducted to know the pros and cons in Walmart which is a leading firm in the global retail industry. Walmart is efficient to promote its effective supply chain which has excellent traceability technologies and mechanism. Amazon can also market its speedy and accurate delivery mechanism in the global terms which can be competitive to the tracking abilities by Walmart. It is noticed that customers appreciate faster deliveries along with the ability to trace their product also. Though the business model of Walmart is easy to imitate, there are low chances of maintaining rarity in the marketplace.

Market Research

Market research is referred to as the exploration of the potential consumer segments. Marketing plan focussed on the digital platform would be competing on the global level (Poll, 2017). The market research includes the focus on the current position and the trends in the market, currently, the market is focusing on the current trends. The identification of the competitive factors and the projections will allow the organisation to forecast the potential growth. The current market is majorly focusing on the enhanced. The market currently is focused on online shopping and using the internet for shopping purposes. The market is currently facing issues with delayed delivery and unavailability of same-day delivery. The organisation provides the same-day delivery options to some of the products and the prime members currently, the services are required to be provided for more products and to more consumers. It includes the essential need of the organisation to focus on bringing in differentiation in the services that allow the organisation to enhance customer satisfaction (Warrier et al., 2021).

Target Audience

The organisation is required to target upper class and middle-class consumers mainly of age 18 to 44 and it sells almost every product across the globe currently. Thus the target audience is only required to know about the internet and online shopping. The target audience for the current marketing plan is the customers who prefer to order on an urgent basis and need the delivery of the products within a day, these are generally the corporate workers and busy adults. Thus the organisation will target these prospects that prefer the fast delivery and need the products on the same day. The upper-class consumer base is a major target for the organisation (Johansson, 2021).

7ps of Marketing

Budget and Time

It includes the budget of 40 million approximately by the organisation for implementing the marketing plan and opening new fulfilment centres of Amazon. The organisation through the enhancement of the supply chain management and investing in logistics can improve the distribution. Also, the implementation of the strategic marketing plan requires an approximate period of 2 years by Amazon.

Gantt Chart

Sales forecast for anticipated revenue

The above graph includes the forecasting of the revenue generation by the end of year 2021, if organisation adopts the marketing plan provided effectively.

Evaluation

The use of KPIs is required to be done effectively that includes the focus towards setting up the benchmarks and working on the feedback. The organisation is required to focus on the collection of feedback and regularly resolve the issues that can allow the organisation to improve (Johansson, 2021).

Conclusion & Recommendations

The current report focuses on the achievement of the objectives of the strategic marketing plan; it includes the sound availability of the professionals, financial resources, and a great understanding of consumer behaviour. The information includes the setting of objectives and focusing on the market audit and research that allows knowing the current marketing techniques adopted by Amazon. It includes market research that provides the current trends and needs of the market. Further, the report focuses on the target audience and the development of the in-depth marketing mix plan that allows providing the effective use of marketing elements required to be done by Amazon. The plan further includes the focus on the budget and time required for the successful implementation of the marketing plan and the achievement of the objectives of the strategic marketing plan. The evaluation related to the improvements and regularly monitoring the growth of the marketing plan is required to be done by the organisation.

The organisation is mainly recommended to focus on bringing in differentiation and enhance the focus towards the improvements in the physical distribution, adopting the competitive pricing strategy, and providing differentiated one-day delivery services to the target audience. The use of the professionals of customer service and marketing is further recommended to Amazon that will allow the organisation to grow and enhance the effectiveness of marketing. The recommendation also includes the enhanced focus towards sustainability and bringing in environmentally friendly packaging and other business operations that will facilitate the organisation to fulfil CSR and focus on the building of a good reputation. Customer loyalty and retention can be enhanced through the utilisation of sustainable practices.

The organisation is recommended to implement the strategic marketing plan and bring in innovation regularly to retain the customers; the strengthening of the competitive edge by bringing in differentiation is also required to be considered by Amazon. The services are required to be enhanced and differentiated from the rest of the competing e-commerce platforms. The use of high-end technology and sound investments in the logistics to improve the supply chain management and the physical distribution is recommended to the organisation (Van?kov and Szczepa?ska, 2020).

The organisation is recommended to focus on the enhancement of the focus towards understanding the market needs and consumer behaviour that is high fluctuation and rapidly changing. The organisation is required to focus on the changing consumer needs and frequently adopt the new changes that will facilitate the organisation to bring in an enhanced level of differentiation and strengthen the competitive edge in the market. Amazon has the leading position in the market that is required to be sustained through competitive pricing and differentiated services. The organisation is required to bring in sustainability and enhance customer satisfaction through the use of effective customer services and advanced marketing. The website and application are also required to be updated timely and the organisation is recommended to focus on the enhancement of the user-friendly interface that allows the users to increase the shopping from Amazon and easily shop from Amazon.com (Das et al., 2021).

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References

Altay, B.C., Okumu?, A. and Mercangz, B.A., 2021. An intelligent approach for analyzing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on marketing mix elements (7Ps) of the on-demand grocery delivery service. Complex & Intelligent Systems, pp.1-12.

Amazon, 2021 [Online] [Accessed through] [Accessed on 23 October, 2021]

Benevides, S.L.M., de So Pedro Filho, F., Madeira, M.J.A., Sakuno, I.Y.T. and Arenhardt, V., 2018. Social Innovation by Tourism Strategy in the Western Amazon. International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Science, 5(3), p.237401.

D'Agostino, J.L., 2018. The Impact of E-commerce on Brands: An Analysis of Amazon and a Plan for the Future (Doctoral dissertation, University of Oregon).

Das, G., Jain, S.P., Maheswaran, D., Slotegraaf, R.J. and Srinivasan, R., 2021. Pandemics and marketing: insights, impacts, and research opportunities. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, pp.1-20.

De Pelsmacker, P., Van Tilburg, S. and Holthof, C., 2018. Digital marketing strategies, online reviews and hotel performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 72, pp.47-55.

Eshleman, J.D. and Lawson, B.P., 2017. Audit market structure and audit pricing. Accounting Horizons, 31(1), pp.57-81.

Johansson, J., 2021. Launching a Product to Amazon Marketplace: Selling at Amazon. com.

Linda, O. and Schwarzbach, P., 2021. A cross-case analysis of Swedish companies to investigate adaptations of the marketing mix to retain customers as a reaction to COVID-19.

Pignaton, A.P.F.M., Oliveira, M., Veroneze, G. and Pereira, M., 2020. A Risk Management Model Applicable To The Administration Of The Research, Development And Innovation (RD&I) Processes From Occidental Amazon. European Journal of Business and Management Research, 5(3).

Poll, H., 2017. MARKET RESEARCH.

Sabri, S.A. and Ali, A.S.N., 2021. Campuran Pemasaran 7P: Hubung Kait dengan Kepuasan Pelanggan terhadap Pembelian Atas Talian: 7Ps Marketing Mix: The Relationship with Customer Satisfaction towards Online Purchasing. Journal of Management and Muamalah, 11(1), pp.10-27.

Smith, A.D., Rupp, W.T. and Offodile, O.F., 2017. Amazon. com, Inc.: Retailing Giant to High-Tech Player?.

Van?kov, R. and Szczepa?ska-Woszczyna, K., 2020. Innovation of business and marketing plan of growth strategy and competitive advantage in exhibition industry. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 21.

Warrier, U., Singh, P., Jien, C.W., Kee, D.M.H., Yi, G.Z., Jiann, T.W., Liang, T.Y., Gopika, S.B., Nair, S., Nair, R.K. and Lokhande, S.D., 2021. Factors that Lead Amazon. com to A Successful Online Shopping Platform. International journal of Tourism and hospitality in Asia Pasific (IJTHAP), 4(1), pp.7-17.

Westwood, J., 2013. How to write a marketing plan. Kogan Page Publishers.

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