Research paper on Principles and Practice of Marketing Sainsbury’s

Introduction of Principles and Practice of Marketing Sainsbury’s

            It is a fact that for-profit companies look to increase their revenues and profits by increasing the number of sales. In different industries, the companies offer range of products and services, but it all depends on the choice of customer that which company they will choose for purchasing products and services. But the important thing to keep in mind is that customers make their decisions on the basis of various influences, and one of the influential elements is the marketing and promotional strategy of a company that how they attract their potential customers. If a company wants to achieve higher sales ratio and earn more profits, then they will have to be proactive in their promotional mix strategies. The companies have to market potential and most significant benefits of their products and services so that customers get attracted. The companies have to come up with a right message at a right place to make sure that their target audience receives the message with its full potential, and makes decisions accordingly.

            A company has to understand the fact that even a high-quality product with great features cannot go viral itself, and fact of the matter is that company has to makes sure that customer does get information about such products. The customers must be informed about a particular product that it has high quality and it stand out from other competitive products. The promotional mix strategy is the tool, which connects customers and a company, as company does offer its variety of products with targeted approach through the promotion strategy. The promotional mix strategy should have necessary elements to capture the attention of customers. First of all, a company should analyze that which group of customers has the potential to buy a certain product. Then second step is to inform them about the product being marketed, and influence them through different means so that they get ready to buy the product. The companies can adopt different promotional mix to market the product like they can go for PR activity, advertising, personal selling, direct marketing or sales promotion etc. It is important to make sure that message composed for each marketing channel is unique and has great appeal to attract customers towards the product (Anastasia, 2015). In this task, the case study of Sainsbury’s will be analyzed to see that how this giant of the UK supermarket has achieved so much success through promotional mix strategies over the period of time.

Case Study of Sainsbury’s Supermarket

            There are many giants in the supermarket business of United Kingdom, and one of the major players is Sainsbury’s. According to stats releases in 2017, it was revealed that Sainsbury’s is the second largest supermarket with market share of 15.8% in UK. Tesco holding the first position with market share of 27.8%. Other major competitors and top players in the supermarket business are Asda, Lidl, Mosrrisons, Aldi, Waitrose, Ocadeo, and Iceland etc. The stats have also revealed the fact that sales growth made by UK’s supermarket is at its best in last five years’ time and trend is likely to continue in the future as well (BBC NEWS, 2017). So, in this paper, Sainsbury’s case study has been taken as an example to analyze that how they have reached this 2^nd top position, and what promotional mix strategies were used by them to keep growing with the passage of time. They are throwing serious challenges to its competitors like Tesco, and marketing strategy will be reviewed that how Sainsbury’s is able to do so in practical terms.

Sainsbury’s Promotional Mix Strategies of Principles and Practice of Marketing

            Sainsbury’s started its operations back in 1869 as company was founded by John James Sainsbury. Since then, company has achieved so much success as well as they have also faced so many issues, but regardless of each situation, they are now one of the top supermarkets in UK (Sainsbury's, 2019). It is necessary to mention here that the number of supermarkets for the company is 600, along with 800 state of the art convenience stores. The company is also handling 250000 orders on weekly basis through its online sales. It shows the success and volume of the company that it is working on such a large scale (Sainsburys.co.uk, 2019). It is essential to look at its marketing mix with real world strategies that how they have been able to sustain their success and growth:

Product Strategy of Sainsbury’s

            It is a fact that the most integral and significant part of any business is its products & services. Their success or failure is based on this aspect that what range and kind of products they are offering to their existing and potential customers. The company has range of more than 30000 best products and out of this number, 20% products are branded by Sainsbury’s itself. They have focused to provide a great range and variety of food and retail products in their supermarkets, and they are continuously increasing this range with latest trends. The company has understood the needs and wants of its customers and that’s why they are always willing to add any kind of products so that their customers feel convenience with the shopping experience at Sainsbury’s. The company is offering following great products with high quality and affordable prices. They offer range of fruits as well as vegetables such as fresh salads, fresh herbs, prepared salads, frozen fruits & vegetables, and alternatives for carbs. They also provide organic food products for their customers as well (Bhasin, 2018)

            The company also provides wonderful variety in terms of meat and fish such as sausages, Ham, chicken, cooked meat, pork, fish & seafood, mince, turkey, beef, lamb, duck, Yorkshire gravy as well as many other cooked items. They also provided range of chilled products in their stores such as desserts, soup, olives, ready meals, pizza, garlic bread, cooked meat, salads, pate, fresh pasties & sausages, and fruit juices. The other great thing about Sainsbury’s is that they not only provide food items related to grocery items, but they also provide variety of products related to dairy and bakery. In dairy products, the company offers milk, eggs, cheese, yogurts, butter & spreads, cream as well as pasty. The range of bakery items includes bread, cakes, buns, wraps, rolls, cookies, meal sides, and doughnuts etc. They also allow customers to purchase great variety of beer and champagne, and wine. The other variety of products include baby products, health & beauty products as well as household products (Bhasin, 2018)

Place Strategy of Sainsbury’s

            It is important thing for any company to consider that how they will be placed in the market in terms of their location and availability for the customers. Sainsbury’s has known that if they have to go big in supermarkets business of UK, they have to increase their number of stores across UK so that customers can easily access their physical stores. That’s why they are operating with a strategy, where they have more than 800 convenience stores as well as more than 600 supermarkets across UK. They have also understood the fact that online shopping trends are increasing with the passage of time, so companies have to make sure that they have good presence in online space. That’s why now company also offers range of products through its online store so that customers can buy products in the comfort of their homes. It is amazing to know that more than 250000 online orders are handled by the company on weekly basis. The company also came with a great idea in 2017 that in few areas of London, more than 1 million customers would be able to get delivery jus in 1-hour time. It was a wonderful initiative by the company to boost its place strategy with right mix of tools. Moreover, company also operates café in its supermarkets for the convenience of its customers (David, 2018).

Price Strategy of Sainsbury’s 

            The company has always focused to provide best products to its customers with lowest possible prices. They changed their pricing strategy in 2011 by introducing Brand Match scheme; which means that branded products of many companies will be provided on lower rates. This strategy was launched by the company to deal with its intense competition with Tesco and Asda. The scheme explained that if customers would get lower price of any brand at Tesco and Asda, then they will get a coupon to mitigate the difference of prices at Sainsbury's. The scheme also came with great drop in prices of matching brands with its competitors (Knapman, 2011). This strategy proved to be a successful strategy for the company, and that’s why it was continued until 2016. The company ended this strategy and started investing in a strategy, where many products came with more cuts in prices. Since then company is providing lower prices for everyday products at its supermarket and convenience stores (Butler, 2016)

Promotion Strategy  of Sainsbury’s

            The company has used a great mix of strategy in terms of promoting and marketing its products across different platforms. They have come up with great strategic options to make sure that they draw the attention of customers and enhance the brand name in the competitive business of supermarkets. They come up with a promotion strategy, which not only focuses on digital platforms, but it also goes with the traditional mass media like TV and newspaper ads. The company also uses many celebrities from different fields to endorse its products. The first example of celebrity endorsement is the football star David Beckham. They also use sales promotion strategies to increase their sale and promote products to vast range of potential customers (MBASkool, n.d.). David Beckham was the brand ambassador of the company, but in 2014, he was replaced by another football star from Liverpool named Daniel Sturridge. It shows that company has always been proactive in selecting famous celebrities in different period of times (Ghosh, 2014).

            In its digital marketing strategy, the company has put its great focus on content to be delivered to its target audience. They understood the fact that content is very important to appeal and attract customers, so they are making it as heart of their marketing strategy. In 2013, they came up with an idea of TV show with ad-funding and name of the show was “What's Cooking” (Chapman, 2013). 

Source: http://drum.co.uk/archives/work/whats-cooking-from-the-sainsburys-kitchen

            The other great example of their promotion strategy is the sales promotion strategy. A strategy was launched with the name “Nectar reward card” and customers were offered to use Nectar card to get points on each shopping experience at their stores (MBASkool, n.d.)

Source: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/get-ideas/delivery-and-guides/welcome-to-nectar/join-nectar

            In 2015, the company opted for a brilliant ad campaign for its Christmas season campaign. An ad was launched with short feature film named “Mog’s Christmas Calamity”, which used the idea of storytelling to get an emotional appeal from customers. The ad sparked so much interest from the audience (Gilliland, 2017)

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuRn2S7iPNU

            So, these are few examples from its variety of ads and campaigns with regards to its promotional strategy to market products to customers.

Conclusion on Principles and Practice of Marketing Sainsbury’s

            It can be said in the end after looking at promotional mix strategy of Sainsbury’s that company has been able to adopt latest trends from the market and it has sparked the interest and attention of customers, because they continuously updated their strategy. They knew that how they have to remain proactive in their marketing strategy so that they can gain more market share by increasing sales and profits.

Introduction of Principles and Practice of Marketing Sainsbury’s

            The retail companies use range of marketing strategies to ensure that they have enough variety and diversity in their marketing approach to attract as much customers as possible. The companies keep reviewing their marketing strategies time to time along with evaluation marketing strategies of their competitors so that they can come up with a strategy, which keeps them ahead of the competition. In first of this paper, promotional marketing mix strategy was analyzed in detail adopted by Sainsbury’s supermarket in UK. It was reviewed that what kind of products are being used by the company at what places, and what pricing strategy is adopted along with its promotional activities. Different promotional activities and ads were identified for the company in previous part. Now it is important to look at this promotional mix strategy by keeping two important marketing mix strategies in view; first above the line (ATL) & below the line (BTL), and second is push & pull marketing strategy.

Above the Line & Below the Line Marketing Strategy of Sainsbury’s

            Before analyzing Sainsbury’s marketing strategy with framework of ATL and BTL, it is first understanding the strategy itself by differentiating between the two terms. This term has its origin from 1954, when it was first used by the Proctor and Gamble Company. When use of mass media is done by the company to advertise its products, it means that they are using above the line (ATL) strategy and some of the important examples of this strategy are print media, electronic media, radio and internet. On the other hand, when one to one method is used to sell and promote company’s product, and traditional media platforms are not used in this regard, then such strategy is called below the line (BTL). Some of the major examples of this strategy are banners, placards, point of sale promotion, stickers, pamphlets as well as handbills. The company can also provide demos of the product at various public places. It means that no traditional media channel is used in this strategy, whereas customers are directly contacted by the marketing activity. The companies use these strategies by looking at the needs in various aspects. For instance, if a company wants to reach rural audience, where reach of internet and TV is not so widespread, then below the line strategy is the best option in this situation. In normal circumstances, above the line is a go to strategy for majority of businesses (Manral, 2011)

            In previous task, different ads and campaigns of Sainsbury’s were described, so now it is important to review them one by one, and conclude whether they used the essence of ATL and BTL. There were various examples of above the line marketing strategy. For instance, the company used TV ads as well as short feature film through online platform to promote its products in different periods of time. It means that they strongly believed in using above the line strategy as their main marketing and promotional strategy. Their ad funded show on TV about cooking is another example of using above the line strategy. However, it was not the only strategy used by Sainsbury’s as they also used below the line strategy in various instances. The major example for this strategy was Nectar reward card campaign. This campaign was a sales promotion strategy to directly engage with customers and asking them to take desired action so that they can earn free points, and company can earn more sales. It can be said that Sainsbury’s effectively used above the line & below the line strategy to promote its products across UK.

Push and Pull Marketing Strategy of Sainsbury’s

            It is important to understand the difference between push and pull promotion strategy so that Sainsbury’s promotion strategy is reviewed by keeping this strategy in the context. In push marketing, a company tries to directly reach its customers, and products are actually pushed to reach customers so that they may make their purchasing decision. There are various examples, which are associated with push marketing such as sending direct mails to customers, distributing pamphlets, door to door bases sales promotion, display of products in various places, trade & road shows, as well as electronic media ads. On the other hand, pull strategy is bit different from push strategy, because in this strategy the customers are pulled rather pushed towards the products. It is also considered inbound marketing technique. Different platforms can be used for pull marketing like a company can use social media marketing to pull the attention and advertise the product. Once the attention of customer is gained through this strategy, then they are provided the information that where they can come and buy certain product. The referrals or pay per click method is another major example pull marketing strategy, where customers are forced to make certain actions to get considerable benefits. This strategy is known to be a best one to increase awareness of the customers (Robertson, 2019)

            It is time to review Sainsbury’s marketing and promotional strategy, where they used push and pull marketing tactics. In terms of push marketing, the situation is very much clear because company has used range of electronic media ads such as ads regarding their Christmas campaign, as well as short film is another good example for push marketing. On the other hand, their cooking show along with brand endorsement from David Beckham and other football star is another way of showing push marketing strategy. As compared to that the pull marketing strategy is also evident by the short feature film, which was published online on social media platforms like YouTube. This film was to attract and aware customers about the company and its objectives in a way that customers are pulled towards the company and forced to buy products they need. Looking at push and pull strategy of Sainsbury’s, it can be concluded that company has made considerable efforts to use mix of this important strategy, and that’s why they have been able to gain so much success in UK’s retail and supermarket business.

References of Principles and Practice of Marketing Sainsbury’s.

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