Marketing Communication Strategies of UK Supermarkets Case Study

Marketing Communication Strategies of UK Supermarkets - Case Study Example Essentially, the value of the customer must be prudently considered. Convenience substitutes place and cost (which includes time and energy) replaces price. Thus, communication replaces promotion (Ashcroft 2002, p.178). Knowing its external audience is a huge necessity for any organisation and to achieve this task, a firm must embark on an effective market research. So as to attain excellent communication, it is imperative to be conscious on which communications media the audience will respond to -- whether they read newspapers, magazines, leaflets, listen to the radio or watch television (what type or what programmes they specifically watch). In the case of supermarkets, for instance, they obtain information about their customers via loyalty card ideas, magazines and their websites. From the information gained, they target particular groups of shoppers. The process employed in the current study includes Primary Research and Secondary research. Primary research entailed the use of questionnaire survey and personal interviews. Meanwhile, with Secondary research, it included the Mintel database as well as newspapers, books, company information and internet search. Many of the information gathered are backed up by visuals like illustrations, charts and graphical representations. Likewise, in order to complete the brief report, the study also included watching television and taking notes from these commercials, getting inside the supermarkets themselves, watch how people react to the advertisements fed to them, talking with marketing agents and supermarket sales staff. Similarly, product reviews have also been read, consumer comments and blogs have been randomly considered so as to get insights and an overview of the whole chain and the entire supermarket-retailing system. Market Overview Today, supermarkets control food sales in developed countries and are swiftly escalating their international presence. At the same time, global mergers and acquisitions and cutthroat pricing schemes have focused market power in the hands of a few major retailers (see Appendix 1 for company growth) (Raworth 2004, p. 6). The late 1990s witnessed a spell of merger and acquisition activities as the supermarket segment speedily merged and strengthened to counter the 'Wal-Mart' intimidation. Currently, the UK food retailing industry is governed and strongly dictated by four key supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morrisons) who together account for over two-thirds of retail food sales (Fearney, Duffy and Hornibrook 2004, p. 2) and such consolidation of retailers has reinforced their control over suppliers. Today, the UK supermarket segment is still ruled by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons; these are the only chains that operate full-scale superstores of 40,000 square feet (3,700m) and sometimes go beyond. These so-called "Big 4" had a combined share of 75.3% of UK's grocery market realm (TNS Report, 2008). As it is, sector analysts foresee that it is not improbable

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES - Essay Example Air pollution has been further divided into indoor air pollution and outdoor air pollution. There are many causes of each of these types. Outdoor air pollution results due to the release of gases from the industries into the air. This results in contaminating the air. This is also true for the emissions from motor vehicles. Furthermore, the usage of insecticides and pesticides also serves to add contaminants to the air. Accidents in nuclear power plants may also result in the release of toxic gases which may pollute the air. Indoor air pollution results due to the burning of coal, oil and wood in the houses. It mainly implies for the rural areas of the developing nations of the world. Cigarette smoking is another factor which leads to the addition of harmful gases to the atmosphere (Park 2007). Air pollution is a serious global issue that needs to be tackled. Different methods and ways have been devised to overcome this problem. The World Health Organization has presented with differ ent solutions that need to be put into action to overcome air pollution.