Strategic Marketing Management Sainsburys

St posegic tradeing counsel SainsburysIntroductionJ Sainsbury plc is a vast UK based food retailer with interest in financial overhauls. Its chain of super foodstuffs has survived the scraps of combative retail short letter since 1869, which makes it the persistentest standing major food retailing chain in UK. With the heritage of providing clients with healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food it has indeed come a long way from a small store from Drury lane to the live headquarter in Holborn, London. Currently it is serving over 18 one million million million customers unless in a week and sire a commercialize handle of a staggering 16%. Along with its 502 super market appears it has over the course of eon diversified its assembly line to 290 Sainsburys convenience stores, an internet-based home deli actually shopping service and Sainsburys Bank. The internet-based home deli rattling shopping is available noticeably to virtually 88 percent of the UK ho holdholds. T hey heart-to-heartly identified five atomic number 18as to focus on in recite to carry their superiority in the retail business which were a) capacious food at fair footings b) Accelerating the appendage of complementary non-food ranges c) Reaching more(prenominal) customers through additional channels d) Growing supermarket space e) Active position management.Situation ReviewIn order to perform the posture analyze as a market Consultant I spend a penny headstrong to conduct a SWOT analysis of J Sainsbury Plc. The reason potentiometer my selection of SWOT analysis is that it has been officed for a long m and is a confideed tool of strategic and marketing analysis. Its importance in reviewing the situation of a comp all is extensive as it suggests ship dejectional in which the nerve flush toilet profit from specialitys and opportunities and shield itself from weaknesses and threats (Adams, 2005). After the ex aimation of either SWOT sections of J Sainsbury Plc Ive similarly mentioned the desirely effect of much(prenominal) elements to their competitive benefits and vane. However it is a method that has to be subroutined genuinely guardedly beca wasting disease if not thought or investigated properly the results entrust not permit the actual picture.StrengthThere ar several strengths of Sainsbury that essentials be highlighted when perform a situation review which ar analysed to a lower placeSainsburys as a sucker Brand of Sainsburys stands it out amongst the crowd of early(a)(a) supermarkets. The estimable pull up stakes that has been build over 140 years of service in its business is represented by its brand and that has several benefits standardised customer loyalty, brand familiarisation, profit and maintenance of customer belief etc. If Sainsburys take to increase its outlets the equal involved for advertisement for the local argonas leave alone be outlying(prenominal) less than that for a smaller organ isation with a lesser cognize brand. Having such a strong brand is definitely continue to advance its competitive advantage as other impertinent competitors lead go through a hard measure building up such a good brand as it needs a lot of prison experimental condition and effort.Use of effective market formation Sainsburys like whatever other large follow has to use effective marketing scheme. It has been doing so very well and which is why it stood up the test of time. Sainsburys use of Jamie Oliver one of Britains around high profile chefs who renownedly launched campaigns esteeming healthy eating in different sections of the community in its advertisements rout out be considered as a very good marketing move. It was like employ a ren experienceed dentist to promote toothpaste as it adds to the customers the trust for healthy food for good price. The confident(p) degree effects of the campaign were app atomic number 18nt as shown in the growth of the gross sales in Sainsburys. With its effective marketing scheme Sainsbury is far likely to near(a) in more customers and increase their competitiveness and enhancement of their already indi finishtful and good-natured brand.Human Resource Policy There is equal opportunities insurance in Sainsbury on different functions like recruitment, promotional, training and development etc. Their policy fundamentally focuses on keeping their staff motivated and providing them with proper training. These kinds of policies have enhanced the reputation of Sainsbury as a very good employer.Having a good HR policy bequeathing only have positive results in terms of their competitiveness and brand as throng will be more inclined towards joining with their team and intimately bigly waiting with them.Conveniently located due to its huge net income of outlets in that respect is eternally a Sainsbury nearby. This is a very good advantage to have which prickers up the effects of the brand. ver itable(a) if Sainsbury had create up a good brand most people will be only be raise in going to buy groceries and daily necessities if there is a Sainsbury close by. Groceries and daily necessities are prime products of Sainsbury and in order to get along their sales location is of prime importance.Like I mentioned convenience is a severalize to a retailers success and its wide spread outlet helps them to provide customers with probability to preventive loyal to them.Reliability and trust Sainsbury have built up over the years, a sense of the trust and reliability among customers. Customers believe on Sainsbury that it would not compromise on health and safety issues. They to a fault trust Sainsbury on providing very competitive prices for the products if not the cheapest.When there is trust among customers about your product and operate they will continue to remain your customers. Extra accusation is taken by Sainsbury and this will in future continue to boost their image. milieu Friendly Sainsbury has forever and a day been environmentally aware while performing its business. Some of Sainsburys efforts are mentioned belowIt uses environment friendly till printers.It gave international eco-friendly loo rolls as promotional offers.It opened environment-friendly store in Dartmouth, Devon which was built with recycled materials and will help in reducing its energy bills.It signed a landmark partake in that has enabled the creation of a new 8 million wind project at Lochhead in Scotland, due to be ideal in Summer 2009. The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) means that Sainsburys will purchase energy direct from A7 Lochhead Ltd. for the next ten years.These efforts mean that customers will have in the back of their mind that Sainsbury is doing its part in the dandy cause of saving the environment. The reputation has been slowly building in this regard and will continue to grow further.Try virtuallything new today Even by the slogan we offer understand that there are a range of products available in similar categories. Sainsbury take each practical care to match the ever-changing needs of the different cultures and communities with its products and on doing so provides multi choices to customers. For example, Frozen Chicken Tikka Masala (Indian dish), Chicken Dumplings (Chinese dish) etc found in Sainsbury.This strength of Sainsbury means that it will increase its customer base, retain its customer by spoiling them with choice and get out new suppliers as well, boosting its competitive advantage and brand physique in the process.WeaknessesLack of international elaborateness Sainsbury has always been a brand that is famous only in Britain. It hasnt ventured into the international market that some(prenominal) as yet. In other words it has not been venturous enough. Its main have-to doe with Tesco has been more successful in this regard than them which will hamper their growth and market domination.This weakness will definite ly haunt them as with more international coverage its rival will be more powerful and have more flexibility which means theyll pull more competitive advantage and a better brand name.No self-service In todays world time is money. The service should be up to the standard at the same time it should be time efficient. collectible to which self-service system has samplen to be very effective over the years. However, there are no self-service systems like self-checkout counters in most of the Sainsburys stores. Providing time efficient service in every way is a key to any companys success and Sainsbury has not fully integrated this system in their practice which will have negative effects in their competitive advantage and brand.Implementation problem There have been many an(prenominal) such cases in Sainsbury where they have been found short on the execution of instrument of the pre-determined plans. It gage be considered as one of their major weakness.There is no point of plann ing if it were not be implemented. It will affect adversely to their morale and brand doing a world of good to that of their competitors.OpportunitiesEvery organisation in order to survive and compete in a market has to keep a close eye on any prospect of growth, expansion, diversification, merger etc. Opportunities are something if not grabbed at the right arcsecond the value of it later will be signifi send wordtly diminished or elapsed.On the current situation I have tried to categorize some of the opportunities that lay in front of J Sainsbury, which are as followsGrowth Sainsbury has been involved in other projects as well like its investments in property, banking, environmental issues etc. These kinds of alternative business present striking opportunities for future growth.Growth is vital for any companys competitiveness and for Sainsbury its no different.Suppliers and Partners nutriment for Britain (FFB) is Sainsburys partner and supplier. FFB helps its clients access new opportunities abroad through a network of nine international offices, associates in developing markets and a range of London-based service.Maintaining a good supply chain will help Sainsbury to be appeal effective and hence competitive.Technology This is a modern age of technology where every company has to find ways to upgrade their services victimization technology. Sainsbury has had bad experiences for not planning technology better when they had to buy back 1.8b worth of technology outsourcing deal with Accenture. However there are huge opportunities in front of Sainsbury in the future for further development in technology.Technology is one of the key aspects in todays IT age to stay competitive. previously overlooked Market SegmentsIve mentioned earlier that Sainsbury has not ventured into many international markets. This thereof provides it with great opportunities for future to go forward towards those markets which were not considered fruitful.Markets changes with the e conomy and previously overlooked markets need to be analysed now and then which mogul prove very helpful to edge ahead of your competitor.Social Patterns Understanding of the changing social patterns is a challenge as well as opportunity for Sainsbury. Understanding the need of the current society is vital.ThreatsThreats are other foreign factor that needs to be give considerable attention in order better prepare the company to face them in a proper way. It is one of the major component on determining the companys mathematical process and situation. There will definitely be some underlying threats for every kind of industry and the company must take appropriate measures to deal with them. Threats merely merchantmannot always be identified beforehand so sentience of the environment is the key.Some of both the underlying/imminent and possible threats of J Sainsburys are explained belowEntrance of new competitors Sainsbury needs like any other company watch out for entrance of an y new competitors.This is a serious threat and emerging competitions should be monitored.Too much environment friendly Huge investments have made in environmental and green issues without immediate benefits. There is a threat of doing it a routine too much.Actually a balance has to be insisted and cost should be controlled to remain competitive.Technological Changes Technology is changing all the time and it is a massive threat to Sainsbury as well.Expansion of Competitors Expansion of its competitors like Tesco have to be monitored carefully as their expansion is a clear threat to Sainsburys market coverage.This threat if not addressed properly can harm gravely to the competitiveness of Sainsbury and its brand name as well. international company takeover We can say that Sainsbury represents the British people. It lacks of international expansion also means that most of their customers are British. However there was a takeover bid by the Qataris Private equity firm which can have serious implications as its customers who are predominantly British will gravitate towards other British companies at the prospect of Sainsburys creation governed by a foreign firm.This is also a significant threat as it will diminish the competitive advantage and brand name built by Sainsbury on British people.Task-BExplanation of various marketing strategies and how they can be used by J Sainsbury Plc to achieve competitive advantages and long term growth.In order to fulfill the visions of a company by fulfilling the its goals a proper marketing system needs to be formulated. Marketing strategies are the corner stones upon which marketing plans can be based. Market strategies accept a series of tactics to make a marketing plan more effective in order to achieve marketing goals. Marketing strategies amalgamates the organizations marketing goals, policies, and tactics into an effective unit. Markets change their nature and behaviour always so for marketing strategies to become s uccessful it needs not only to be properly planned but should be dynamic and interactive.Types of strategiesMarketing strategies need to be formulated as per the need of the market situation for any tending(p) company. However there are of ways of generalizing some of the common strategies. There are several general marketing strategies that have emerged of which some are presented below1. The strategies that are based on market dominance Here there are basically three types of market dominance strategiesLeaderChallengerFollower2. Innovation strategies This strategy basically goes for promoting new product development, cutting edge technology and business innovation. In this type of strategy there are three typesPioneersClose chaseLate followers3. Growth strategies This scheme focuses more on growth of the company. Some ways of differentiating the strategies are as followsHorizontal integration steep integrationDiversificationIntensification4. Porter generic strategies Porters these strategies are the most commonly used strategies so needs to be discussed in detail.Michael Porter exposit the generic strategies as not firm or industry drug-addicted but general. These strategies were initiated in the early 1980s, and till date it has been widely used. gibe to Porter for any company go generate profit the d fond of the industry itself may be the main factor however so far if the industry is doing not very well the company can sleek over make good returns if it holds a good position in the industry. In order to position itself properly in the industry the firm has to leverage its strengths. When these strengths are applied in either broad or limit scope the following(a) generic strategies are evolvedCost drawing cardshipspecializationFocusFurther explatnationCost leadership The motto of this type of strategy is to remain cost effective and gain competitive advantage though being able to produce at the lowest cost at a given prime(a) level. With its low cost the company can benefit in two ways. One, it can obtain higher returns against its rival while selling at industrial average and two it can benefit from increased market share while selling below industrial average which it can do without making loss. There are many ways to achieve this kind of leadership some of which are mentioned belowImproving the efficiency of processingResearch in obtaining cheaper raw materialsUtilising the benefits of outsourcingAvoiding various leakages in cost controls.Differential Leadership As its name suggest, this strategy tries to dominate the market by developing products and services which are different and at the same time also appreciated by customers more than other products and services available generally in the market. The customers are hence ready to pay some extra due to the singularity of the product. However it needs the following kinds of strengths to achieve success in this strategyAble to invest in research and developments.H ighly skilled manpower. creativity and insight.Proper marketing tools and media.Goodwill in regards to quality and innovation.No close substitute of product/service available in the market.Focus Strategy This strategy basically focuses on attempting to achieve either cost or preeminence advantage upon a narrow member of market. The assumption slow this strategy is that when strategies are focussed on a narrow segment of market the actual needs of such a market can be addressed. It tries to achieve as much customer loyalty as it can in order to be competitive. The main drawback of this strategy is that it will lose its bargaining power with the suppliers while focussing on a narrow market and producing less. Other risks might be that a broad-market leader may influence its target market and as its market is restrain there will be no flexibility or way for tackling such competitiveness. Having said that, if the focus strategy is based on differentiation advantage due to its unique ness it will be able to maintain its competitiveness.In light of the marketing strategies propounded by Michael Porter, J Sainsbury Plc can use these strategies to gain competitive advantage and long term goals in the following waysAs the brand of Sainsbury is of such worth it can use differential strategy to invest in research and production of its own organic food, special diet food, environment friendly recycle bags and other products.Due to its huge coverage of market and large human resources it might be beneficial for them to use differential strategy like initiation its own training institute for retailing, health and safety clinics etc.As close proximity of its stores is a major strength of Sainsbury it can use focus strategy to increase its sales. For example opening special vegetarian oriented store in a community which is thickly populated with Gujrati people ( a tribe of Indian people who are mostly vegetarian).Due to its strong and long partnership with Food For Britai n (FFB) and its operation in a broad scope with good purchasing power it can use cost leadership strategy and reduce its cost of purchase.Differential strategy can be used to promote its products as it already has saving grace as environmentally friendly retailer.With its possession of good HR system and career security it can use differential strategy and can acquire capable human resource at affordable price.Task-C outline of Current marketing environment for J Sainsbury Plc and Recommendations on how the marketing strut elements may be veritable to contribute to enhance their goals and values.In order to comment on the marketing mix that can be developed by Sainsbury to contribute to enhance their goals and values Ive first analysed the current marketing environment of J Sainsbury Plc and then explained further about the marketing mix.Environment and its factorsGlobalisation With rapid increase in globalization Sainsbury like any other company has to face a lot of challenges. The basic challenge is to fight to off the competition to achieve best value for quality supply of its products. Opportunities like entering new markets via joint venture and partnerships etc also arise due to globalisation.The price fixing scandal Sainsbury is one of the quadruplet retailers within the UK who are most likely to be affected by this scandal or allegation. Sainsbury has a strong presence in the market and possession of a good populace image there is a serious threat of this being hampered by the recent allegations.Tax rate Corporation Tax rate is fixed by the government in UK like any other country. It keeps on fluctuating generally upon the need of the industry. Currently UK government has changed the tax rate to 28% from 30%. A huge amount of tax is paid by a company like Sainsbury every year and this change of 2% is a massive cut in the tax rate which means there is more margin in profit.Cost of products prices Food prices have risen dramatically since the increm ent in global food crisis resulting in the rise in Sainsburys costs. This will mean that the increased cost will be passed on to the customers and theyll have to pay more. Unpredictable fluctuations in the fuel costs also has made it even harder to plan and control the cost of production and delivery.The assurance crunch The mentioning of credit crunch while discussing about the current market situation has been an obligation recently. There are basically two ways in which itll affect Sainsburys. One getting finance has become so much difficult as the market has become almost unwarranted and two credit crunch have decreased the purchasing power of consumers. This has created a sense of distrust and suspicion in the market. Sales of highlife items have gone down and even basic products are being bought less. Another section of Sainsbury that has been hit by this is its bank. The Sainsbury bank is not a very established bank and when even the big players in the banking systems are in trouble it has been really difficult time for Sainsburys bank. Nowadays there seems to be more emphasis on fresh, easy style cooking. This serves an opportunity for Sainsburys to encourage new recipes and unfussyThe internet sales In order to stay competitive in todays market, internet sales is a phenomenon that has to function well. The Internet count ons for 8% of global advertising spend and is growing rapidly (The Economist, 2007). Sainsburys can further develop in this land. It can either develop itself or outsource the internet system to increase its sales.Marketing mixIt is a commonly used marketing term probably the most famous one. It is also known as the Four Ps which are product, price, place and promotion. It is the combination of the elements of marketing and what roles each element plays in promoting your products and services and delivering those products and services to your customers. In short the marketing mix is a set of controllable, tactical marketing too ls that work together to achieve companys objectives and goals.The elements of Marketing Mix and how they can be used by SainsburyProduct The product is the first element of marketing mix elements that needs to be explained. The products or services offered to your customer have physical attributes what they do, how they differ from your competitors and what benefits they provide to the customers. The product/service has to maintain quality, features, packaging, guarantees, and after-sales service.The basic objective of Sainsburys Supermarkets is stand as the leader of the pack when it comes to consumers choosing their food. They want to deliver products of outstanding quality and great service at a competitive cost through working faster, simpler and together. For that their product has to be given top priority and only quality products will do for that reason. environmental friendliness should also be considered while deciding on the product. serve like banking should be made eff icient and easy to use. determine Price is the second most important thing of marketing mix elements. How you price your product or service so that your price remains competitive but allows help to make a good profit. How price plays a role in your marketing strategy with respect to differentiating your products or services from your competitors. The pricing policy including discounts, allowances and credit policies. Your pricing should be based on a realistic assessment of all your costs and take into account what the market will bear and the image you are trying to create.To stay competitive, price should be competitive as well as it is a prime element in the marketing mix. If the price is either very high or very low in regards to its competitors the long term goals will be hindered.Place Place may also be used in your marketing strategy to differentiate you from your competition in the market. Where your business sells its products or services and how it gets those products or s ervices to your customers. By considering good locations, retailers, inventory implications, transport and warehousing you can reach close to your customers. It will obviously give you a competitive advantage.Place is another important factor that has to be considered by Sainsbury to achieve its long term goal. It has a huge number of outlets around UK and is in close proximity with its customers. It should however always look to build upon it more.Promotion Promotion is used to slide by with the customers and express the features and benefits of your products/services to your target customers. Promotions may include advertising, personal selling, public relations, networking, web-based marketing etc. By doing this you will express your product and its features to the customers to attract them to by the products and it will be helpful to earn profit.Sainsbury has built up its image as a very good retailer in terms of its product quality, environmental friendliness, services etc. Pa rtly its such success in creating such an image goes to its promotion and advertisements, like using Jamie Oliver in its advertisements. There are much rooms for improvements in that area as well.ReferencesLecture notes provided by our lecturer Dr. Roman PuchkovMica R. Endsley, Daniel J. Garland, 2000, speculative Underpinnings of SituationAwareness, 2nd Edition, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Mahwah, NJ, 383pp.O Connor J and Galvin E, 1999, Marketing in the digital Age, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall.Doyle P, 2001, Marketing Management and Strategy, Prentice Hall.Official website of Sainsbury, www. Sainsburys.co.uk