Marks and Spencer Marketing Strategy Case Study Sample

Headquartered in London, Marks and Spencer Group is a global retailer that sells clothes, food, and home products. In 1884 M&S was established by Thomas Spencer, and Michael Marks in Leeds, UK. currently, it has more than 959 stores across the UK, of which 615 stores sell only food items.

In the early 20th century, the Spencer Group gained by selling British goods. In 1974, M&S opened up a store in continental Europe that sold Asian food. Likewise, it also opened a store in Ireland in 1978. Spencer’s acquired Brooks Brothers, a US-based clothing company. It took over a US food chain called the Kings Super Markets.

In 2016, Spencer’s expanded their market and sold their products through the Dutch, French, Belgian, German and Austrian websites. By 2020, M&S got listed in the London Stock Exchange and a member of the FTSE 250 Index. Likewise, M&S also offers an online food delivery service with a partnership with Ocado. 

Mark & Spencer’s Mission

• M&S brand sustains based on their trust, quality, value, and innovation. It is their mission to make aspirational quality food and cloth items accessible to the customers. 

Mark & Spencer’s Vision

• M&S aims to set up a standard against which the customer can be measured, and show their concern for the environment, customers. It wants to make the working environment favorable for the customers. 

Key Objectives of Mark and Spencer’s

• Orientation of Taskforce: Higher expectations from the Spencer’s, so that they can contribute more to the company. There is a dire need for an effective management strategy like formulating a career path for the staff members. M&S needs to motivate, and retain a skilled task force to deliver improved performance, and conduct business transformations.
• Organizational Objective: M&S aims to regain its identity as a market leader in food and clothing. To do so, they need to translate their leadership into value and superior quality. 
• Sales objective: M&S believes that there is room for improving their sales per capita. Return per foot is the key sales objective to propel their business forward. 

Marks & Spencer organizational structure

M&S follows a basic organizational structure that limits management levels to the front-level members and administrative level. The objective of the organizational structure is to reduce bureaucracy and empowering employees to participate in the decision-making process. The presence of minimum management levels eases communication between the base-line staff and upper-level managers. 

Stringfellow states that this type of organizational structure facilitates easy problem solving and rapid productivity. A flat organizational structure assumes a pyramid shape. It is flatter, and broader in comparison to the traditional structure. It is because there are lesser management levels in between the bottom and top of the pyramid. 

flat organizational structure proves to be beneficial for the retail companies, as it becomes easy to leverage or outsource a segment of the decision-making process while maintaining the company integrity. M&S followed this sort of organizational structure as it helps to lower operational expenses, and speed up working. 

No doubt that it is a vast organization, so M&S needs to make thoughtful choices of structure for the growth of the company. 

Differentiation Strategy helps businesses to present unique features of products and/or services so that the customers get interested in buying them. It determines that a company’s market position is different from that of its competitors. It needs to improve the brand image through its business activities, and online market campaigns. after establishing the brand image, companies need to work on maintaining their brand reputation and visibility. 

Marketing Mix of M&S 

Marketing Mix includes five variables that the management team has to look after and control so that it can improve the customer experience. Those variables are also known as the 4 Ps of marketing that includes Price, Product, Place, Promotion, and People. 

Products delivered at M&S 

M&S strives to deliver eco-friendly products, so it works wholeheartedly towards achieving its objectives. The diverse product portfolio of M&S includes the following:

• Clothing for women like trousers, swimwear, sportswear, Jackets, and more
• Footwear for women like Slippers, boots, shoes
• Camisoles, nightdresses, bracelets and more
• Footwear for men like Shoes, slippers
• Items of clothing for men like customized shirts, formal shirts, and trousers, jackets
• ccessories for men like luggage, bags, and wallets
• Beauty products like Haircare, make-up, skincare, and toiletries
• Furniture like armchairs, love seats, dining table, and chairs
• Gift items like flowers, and wine bottles
• Food items 

M&S Pricing Strategy

• at the end of 2017, the net income and estimated worth of M&S were 115.7 million pounds and 10,622.0 million pounds respectively. 
• Its operating income was 690.6 million pounds. 

The company has its in-house costume designing and manufacturing team that designs clothes for men, women, and kids. The products have premium quality and vary from mid-range to high. 

Mark and Spencer have adopted a dynamic pricing policy. In the festive season, off-season, and seasonal time it offers discounts, and incentives to its customers. It has a two-way benefit. While the company sells off its old stocks, huge incentives help in making high sales.

M&S digital marketing & promotion 

The brand has thoughtfully chosen the marketing campaigns and broadcasted in the digital, visual, and print medium. It places ads in journals, hoardings, TV Channels, and billboards. It formulated endorsements featuring popular celebrities like Lisa Snowdown, Myleene Klass, and John Sergeant. It keeps on updating its website with product information, and promotional activities. 

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