MOD003507 Marketing | Brand Strategy of Marks and Spencer
Answer:
Background
M&S firm is a UK based organization that has the great brand image of quality and reliability, with the support of high quality product and trained staff. The M&S has a strong business value which supports the brand image and portrays M&S as a trustful entity. M&S has implemented some strong strategies in the few key areas of retailing, which have proven to be extremely successful time and again. Marks & Spencer's products are sold with a motive that customers receive the desired quality, value and service. The key is to keep the loyalty and trust of the all the customers. They prefer classical fashion clothes and are also planning to subdivide the products in diverse lifestyles. M&S organization Direct (online and directory shopping) has easily improved in the customer convenience and service aspect, by helping companies reach new generations of shoppers. The management team is supported by the development of strict inventory control systems and high standard specifications (GRZESIAK, 2015). The relationship with the suppliers is a unique model, of true long-term partnerships and involves commitments to help suppliers improve. They have introduced the "Top 100 Profile and manager Breakfast Club", in order to allow employees and managers to get together more often. This increases the information and communication flow between different departments, from the conference room to the workshop. The company has invested in this specific department to ensure that all employees are trained for the high demands M&S customers expect, and they provide links to their major policies and explain how employees lift their concerns (Rogers, 2018). A good example for this is a recent "success-oriented" development plan based on brand value. This is planned to help senior-level leaders to develop themselves and lead teams as well as organizations to drive its business towards success (Araujo, 2016). This is a key component of the M&S's future personnel strategy. Success is the ability of a company to outperform competitors. M&S has achieved great success in market share and profits. Therefore, we can think that the company surpasses its rivals with respect to market shares as well as profits. This is achieved through different methods. The organization's maturity, strategy, value chain philosophy and control are crucial to its business success. The service and product differentiation strategy are the main feature of M&S. The growth or development of the product “St. Michael” as well as its creation like a British manufacturing quality mark are crucial to the company and at a reasonable price. By offering or providing a warm cooperation service and ensuring excellent shopping comfort and convenience, M&S stands out from other high-end retailers (Vizard, 2018).
1.Introduction
A well-defined as well as properly implemented brand strategy also affects all the aspects of business as well as is directly linked to customer needs, emotions and the competitive environment. First, explain the largest misconception about the brand strategy: Organization’s brand is not a product, not a logo, website and name. In fact, the brand is more than that, it seems to be unattainable, but it is a tough-to-pin-down emotion that energizes the powerhouse and mid-range brands. Of course, business knows what they deliver to customers. It's easy to start conversations with new possibilities because they quickly understand what you understand. There is no consistent visual or impact of the products and company in the market, but generally organization’s think it is positive. "Every brand has promised, but in a marketplace where customer confidence is low and the efficiency of the budget is high, not only to create a world that separates a brand from another, but if there is a definite purpose (Vizard, 2018).
Brand recognition
For the last 125 years, M&S has been trusted by its customers to provide quality food, clothing, and household products. M&S has grown from a Penny market stall to become one of the leading retailers of UK with more than twenty-one million customers in the UK only and a global expansion with more than 78,000 employees, of which 2,000 suppliers form the cornerstone of the whole business and M&S will continue to provide quality, value, innovation, and trust. M&S had previously stated that the main key to success in a food sector is to find its brand goals and thus, had been working hard to replicate them in clothing. Nevertheless, M&S announced a unique or new comprehensive merchandise strategy around "make every moment special" (Lucarelli, 2018).
Brand identity
After a 12-month review by the brand Newell & Sorrell, this week M&S launched a new brand identity, hoping it could be revived. After months of speculation about brand changes, new signage will be introduced in the UK's 297 stores from summer. Max and Spencer's name represent the brand and appear on all labels, packaging, and literature, and St. Michael's name becomes 'St. Michael's promise'. The words, “Our commitment to quality, service, and value leadership standards” will appear on the packaging. The famous M&S handbags adjust from dark to light green, and Marks & Spencer's names are displayed in the new Optima font's "stack" logo (Florek & Kavaratzis, 2014).
Brand positioning
The decision to divide marketing responsibilities into two business units may seem like a step backward for a retailer with such a strong brand, but it should be able to shift it more quickly and focus more on customers, which are important things. In the past few years, M&S had been bringing advertisements for management's two businesses - clothing and home, and food - and in a reorganization of management; the strategy has changed quite dramatically. M&S want to promote a “common attitude” that has nothing to do with consumers. Regardless of age or population, he wants to position himself as an “inclusive brand (Lieven, Grohmann, Herrmann, Landwehr & van Tilburg, 2014).”
Brand personality
M&S has been in existence since 1884 and for more than a century, the group has changed our views and feelings about the UK retail world. Although M&S faced some obstacles at the time, it also showed us the power of a brand that adheres to its values and aligns with its corporate image while continuing to evolve. As one of the UK's first high-end brands, M&S survived recessions, public relations nightmares, and droughts, and they still have a strong presence on the High Streets in the UK. There are more than 300 stores in the UK alone (Farjam & Hongyi, 2015). The latest logo highlights the core ideas of the M&S brand development over the years. Although the "value first" core philosophy is still crucial to the company's personality, this value must evolve as customers re-evaluate what is "special" and important to them. For example, the recent "Spend some money" campaign has recently become a substitute for the "only M&S" slogan to show that the company is now paying more attention to the needs of its customers and the entire planet (Farjam & Hongyi, 2015).
Brand affinity
Establishing a brand's affinity with consumers is certainly possible, but it is important to realize that implementing it requires some strategies and planning, not something forced or created. First, try to use the power of social networking. Listen to opinions of online communities, listen to people's comments on your brand, and try to interact with them on a personal level. A better understanding of the concerns of M&S customers also gives its customers the opportunity to provide a higher level of customer service. There is a lot of evidence that costumer's perception of the brand has improved and that it can handle online complaints or problems in a timely and effective manner (Farjam & Hongyi, 2015). Brand affinity is the lasting and valuable one in customer relationships and relies on a belief that customers and M&S share general values. This is the highest and most durable type of customer trustworthiness that can create unshakeable trust in this relationship. When customers think that M&S supports the value they are admiring, then brand affinity is at the strongest level. Customers who have demonstrated an affinity with the brand buy more, purchase more, and complain less than all other types of customers.
Effectiveness of Marks & Spencer current branding strategy
The importance of brand equity for marketing at least 30 years in marketing literature is considered an intangible asset to the company's performance. The brand equity has proven to be loyal and influential of the company's economic value. Client commitment to brand equity management, and in particular, has shown that a strong commitment will bring competitive advantage, such as low marketing costs and attracting new customers. The potential for customer commitment is to choose the brand-endorse brand-concept (Hussein Ill, 2012). For M&S aesthetic advantages, the brand policy must express the effect of the brand on sensory solutions. Use the brand to look at the beauty aspect associated with consumption. M&S's aesthetic advantages are designed to satisfy the needs of the interior aesthetic. In general, brand equity is defined by the brand's unique marketing effectiveness. For example, if a product or service does not have a name in it, then brand equity is obvious because its brand name does not produce any results of the product or services. There are many factors affecting M&S brand equity in which the company's strategic insights and how effectively M&S can execute the implementation of your chosen policies. However, one of the main drivers of brand equity is customer commitment to the brand. What is limited to the M&S brand for the customer influences Mind's revenue and stability and growth of profits, which protects the company from competitive threats? While the direct impact of the functional brand on commitment is important, the impact of emotional and emotional attachments is not important, i.e., functional brands strongly predict the actual engagement over emotional attachments. Functional benefits are the basic and basic description of product categories. Feeling of sensation and emotional attachment affect the customer's commitment (Oliveira, Catano, and Kollo, 2017). The direct impact of emotional attachment on commitment is important. However, the direct result of the sensory experience of engagement is not important. That is why; the commitment to the customer is a strong indicator of the emotional attachment than the awareness experience (Ahmad and Thirugraj, 2015). The company soon became a household brand name, with a strong corporate image and trusted to provide excellent “value for money" (Fan, 2014). This makes it stand-out from others and is therefore more productive. Simon Max recognizes the market demand for quality products at a reasonable price. He believes that most British suppliers can arrange these products, and he quickly established closely ties with its faith suppliers. This association is very important. It is incorporated into the company's core principles. Suppliers must provide high quality and high quality products, which helps provide M&S with a large manufacturing product line that customers can trust. 'Locked' suppliers, exclusive distribution, own retail stores, an effective internal network services as well as strong aftermarket support mean that M&S has a powerful vertical integration system that can control its value chain. M&S's achievements are not only attributed to the company itself, but any company’s success, creativity, hard work, and market demand all need some luck. In the end of the 1980s, Michael Max did not continue to work in a penny bazaar, or Simon Max had no idea of how to advance the business before the United States, so that the company could not achieve the possibility of success. M&S is very effective because it occupies the retail market and nobody else owns it. It is effective and maintains high standards in product quality and customer transactions while maintaining a reasonable price. M&S managers are committed to the company's beliefs and have established close ties with UK suppliers (Hoque, 2016).
2.M&S's experimental involvement in market internationalization began in the 1940s, but compared to most of the service companies, the company started exporting its overseas St Michael brand abroad. In 1955, the company exported goods worth $ 1146,000. Early interstate of the company is mainly due to domestic reasons. Internally, the company started to understand that it is full of the domestic market, and this expansion needs to be done. Outside, some members of the Labor Party have proposed to nationalize the country's leading retailers. Therefore, internationalization is seen as a tool for diversity. There are some international franchise relations in the export business. St Michael brand importers who are familiar with the country's brand facility; they have also purchased the business models in M & S (Guzman, Velhausu, and Pappu, 2017).
Standardization and adaptation models
Standardization includes the use of the same products, the same price, the advertisement and placement of M&S. The basic ratio of globalization methods is strengthening globalization; there is the homogeneity of the customer's demand and demand. Standardization can focus on M & S brands. Main competitive advantage and all markets allow the development of consistent and robust brands. Accessing new markets, it is necessary to make policy-based decisions related to the standardization of all aspects of the marketing mix with policy-level management, changing the various aspects of products and services so that the needs of international market customers. On the one hand, standardization is an important expense, but is closely related to some factors, each related to market disparities, on the other hand, adaptation strategies can be applied to address differences related to each individual market; however, there is an additional cost of optimization, which requires M & S related The price of products and services can affect competitiveness (GRZESIAK, 2015).
Marketing Mix
Promotion: M&S basically try to avoid ads and rely on word of mouth. The word of mouth is powerful, non money-making, the company uses advertising in only a few cases, and for example when M & S launches new products or retail formats, or when brands are less popular, such as in-store acquaintances in Paris. M&S's media spending was around 4.7 million pounds, while the other 10 leading retailers were 18.8 million pounds. The company's entire advertising portfolio is also known as a marketing communications portfolio, which includes specific advertisements, advertising, public relations, personal sales and direct marketing tools (Hooks, 2016). Customers understand how to value customers and build customer relationships. It is also necessary to adjust or certify advertisements. This means creating ads that work in diverse countries as well as in cultures or creating different ads in every country. When M&S decides to categorize ads, it creates effective advertising messages for sellers globally. Advertising standardization means that all countries in the world will use the same promotional remedies without any kind of change (Splilom, 2014). When M&S decides to certify advertising information, they can decrease costs; however do not fail to remember that customers from all nations are different. Advertisements may be influenced by advertising language, religion, laws, economic differences, moreover the media availability. For all these reasons, it is necessary to adapt promotion strategies.
Place: There are two basic forms of M&S stores. The first form is the general merchandise where the basement is dedicated to the food and other traders only provide food. The average shop area is 35,000 to 40,000 square feet and the inaccessible area is at least 100,000 square feet. In recent years, the company is actively growing its storefront area; M & S is trying to find its stores on the main streets of major cities, claiming that "it is important to build important objects in the capital city or major cities, such as Germany's Rhine-Ruhr area. Due to the large variations in channel distribution of countries, different sales channels and divisions Adjustment or standardization of distribution channels depends on many factors, which means that customers, cultures, and products are distributed. Distribution channels are part of the international marketing mix and may have a more optimizer (Gezirska and Town, 2018).
Price: Mark and Spencer used a better pricing plan from the very beginning. Initially Michael Marks put all his items or products on one side of the store and gave a slogan to the store, "Do not ask for the price" and sell every product in Penny. In this case, the company must choose between validation and adaptability, adaptation or standard decision depends on the various factors. Companies to determine which methods is most effective Care must be taken for these components (SEO, 2016). In fact, consumer preferences or competitive conditions are factors that are differentiating because shortcomings are a factor in encouraging standard transportation costs or improving communication. Standardized pricing means that the headquarters determines the fixed price which is applicable to all international markets, what are the above factors? Even when companies in the B2B market are less cost-sensitive, standard authentication is more than BCC market. When companies adopt this strategy, they are less risky because they did not try to respond to local conditions and did not try to increase profits (Biliji and Ojjul, 2015)
Products: Products of the company are divided into three different categories: General trade, Food as well as Financial services. The company is currently offering new bistro-style food and is launching juice plus coffee bars in few of the stores. Finally, M&S sells its financial services such as store personal loan, credit card, individual equity plans, life insurance and unit trusts. Companies are required to provide products that are more profitable customers to create a strong competitive advantage as well as customer loyalty. Furthermore, the products must be culturally compatible. The company's success will depend on the company's marketing strategy which the firm will adopt. The choice to select one of these is depended the on business objectives and is based on cultural differences. However, this product is one of the simplest certified marketing mixing the components (Hooks, 2016). Product standardization is a method that allows companies to export their markets to the global market without any major change due to the international market's taste and demand parity. In industrial products, standardization of product is more used than the products and services of the customer, because these latest products need to adapt to the culture of the country. Companies need to determine the degree of product optimization. If they cannot improve the product in a specific market, then this can be a big issue or a problem and this might lead to disaster. According to the local market and culture, products that can be converted into product design, brand name, packaging, product color etc.
Conclusion
This study concludes that it is essential for M&S to be striving to take advantage of both strategies standardization, as well as, adaptation through maintaining an adequate balance between the two. To remain competitive in international marketing standardization and adaption strategies help M&S as both will help in achieving advantages of markets, economies of scale. Although international marketing is increasingly important, companies must survive and continue to thrive in a rapidly changing environment and increase profitability. Researchers are more concerned with domestic knowledge issues than with international marketing. However, various factors such as economies of scale, competitive strikes, and government incentives have caused companies to move into international markets. First, the price and location elements of the marketing mix are the most suitable elements. Second, the product concept, color, and packaging in the product structure are all adaptable, while the labels and brand names are standardized. Third, the marketing elements of the marketing mix are the most standardized elements. It also concluded that brand strategy has a positive and significant impact on organizational performance, and customer service likewise has a positive and noteworthy effect on the organizational performance. The introduction of client or customer services into a relationship between brand as well as organizational performance has reduced the impact of the brand on organizational performance. Therefore, there is a partial agency. It is recommended that companies improve brand activities and strengthen customer service activities to improve organizational performance.
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