M&S

Marketing Principles

Marketing Principle

Introduction

This assignment sheds light on the basic principles and fundamentals of marketing. Primarily, it discusses the elements sued in the marketing process and looks at the marketing process from various perspectives. Furthermore, in order to apply the fundamentals of the principles pertaining to marketing we have used Marks & Spencer's. We have selected M&S and have analyzed its SWOT analysis, environment, segmentation basis, positioning strategies and the targeting that they currently use. Various environmental factors, which affect M&S's business are also discussed in detail.

Discussion

The Process of Marketing

Marketing has a different meaning to different people. That is why there is a plethora of definitions which define this terminology. However, marketing is a process which involves the creation, distribution, promotion, pricing of goods and services, facilitating ideas to keep the consumers satisfied and taking necessary actions to ensure that a favorable relationship is maintained with the stakeholders under this dynamic environment of the modern world (Sandhusen, 1994, pp. 4). However, according to American Marketing Association (2007), marketing can be described as an activity. Communication, set of institution, processes for creation, delivering, exchanging offerings that have a value for clients, the customers and the entire society as a whole.

Marketing is indeed one of the most integral parts of business activity. It is estimated that around $250 billion is spent annually on advertising by companies around the world (Pride & Ferrell, 2011, pp. 9). Marketing, in my understanding, is a process which starts from exploring the customer needs. The needs of a customer can be any unfulfilled wish that needs to catered; however, how it would be fulfilled would depend upon the way the marketer position their product.

It is imperative that a customer's need is fulfilled because this need fulfillment is what forms the basis of the entire marketing process. However, the customer only buys the product when they know that they are getting a good value for their money (Carpenter, et. al., 2005, pp. 47). Customer value can be described as the perceived utility of consuming the product or service that consumers think they will achieve. Only once this utility is achieve, and the consumer believes that the value they will receive is worth the monetary value of the product, then they are satisfied with the purchase; otherwise dissatisfaction sets in. The process through which marketing helps satisfy the needs of customers is by the process of exchange. This is where one person receives a product or a service in return for a monetary value. However, over the years the concepts of marketing has evolved. Firstly, marketers tend to create a want amidst their consumers through various forms of advertisements, now the consumers have technology at their disposal; they tend to undergo an intensive research before they buy any product. This has changed the entire ideology of marketing for the marketers. Now, they tend to focus more on the social media and internet, apart from advertising on the television or radio. This is how the concept of marketing has ...