Primark and Oxfam free essay sample

This report is based on the marketing techniques/ skills of Primark and Oxfam based on their products/services. Before we can understand the effectiveness of the marketing techniques, we have investigated both companies and carried research by looking through different sources. Sources include; internet research, company website, advertisements which we evaluated on www. youtube. com for Oxfam. Additional sources include the BTEC Level 3 Business Book1, which was used to look up techniques such as; survival strategies and brand awareness. We have also used resources such as PowerPoint Presentations from The Times 100, Business Case Studies. In this report you will find some information on the company itself and how they market themselves which we have put into sections in a specific order to show how we came to the conclusion of how effective we think their marketing skills are. We have provided evidence of our research and transferred relevant data into charts. Oxfam Company Purpose: Oxfam is a voluntary charity organisation. Oxfam’s main objective is to reach out to poor countries and help civilians manage their own lives from the sources Oxfam provide. Oxfam market themselves through their website and television commercials. This helps them get more attention from people and persuade them to donate to Oxfam. Oxfam also use direct mail. Oxfam also market through a sales orientated approach. For example direct sales. Marketing Strategies: Oxfam’s marketing strategies for growth is market penetration as they want to attract new customers to increase their share in the market. Marketing Objective: Oxfam’s marketing objective is to raise awareness of poverty in less economically developed and famine countries. On the subject of raising awareness we found out that Oxfam establish ethical trading. Oxfam state on their website that they help communities to fight against businesses who put lives of civilians at risk. Oxfam speak of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis challenging rights in India based on developing cheaper medication. We have made a screen shot of this particular section under ‘proof of research’ below. Company Product/ Service: Oxfam have a charity shop selling many products from clothes to books. Oxfam also have charity projects which take place throughout the year fulfilling their company purpose. This involves them providing aid to many countries around Africa and Asia. Oxfam supply the countries with physical resources allowing the poor communities to start a new life and make a living by providing them with some of the following; civilians making a living by growing and trading crops, providing service in clinics set up by Oxfam and supervising schools made for the homeless and orphan children. However the services based on growing and trading crops are limited due to climate change. Climate change can destroy the service of helping civilians grow crops in many geographical zones. This can clearly create a loss for Oxfam and change the way Oxfam manage this service. We did not find any sources linking us to the difficulty it causes Oxfam apart from the PDF file provided by Oxfam. The section of this file was headlined ‘Helping communities to adapt to climate change ’ and the figures provided on the situations Oxfam identified were based on years 2011-2012. Most situations are based on flooding and we have analysed this section of the file by using the figures to help us understand how Oxfam will deal with this situations to stay successful. We have provided a graph containing the exact figures and have used the evidence to link it with Oxfam’s loss and gain in the business industry. The graph is below, headlined under ‘charts and graphs’. Oxfam also helps rebuild homes for those who have been affected by natural disasters, with that Oxfam have provided them with food and clean water supplies. These services are ongoing and have been going on for 70 years and have made Oxfam one of the largest charity organisations in the UK. Marketing Techniques: Marketing techniques are techniques that a company uses to expand in the industry or to achieve its company purpose. Growth strategies such as market development help charities like Oxfam expand. Growth strategies, four departments based on Ignor Ansoff’s theory (1957): Market Penetration Product Development Market Development Diversification Market development is when a company is using an existing product but is marketing it in a new market such as other countries. This increases popularity for the service and the company. For example, Oxfam have now taken their service to more LEDC countries and have expanded their service though nothing in their service has changed. Oxfam also use another technique known as diversification. Diversification is when a company introduces a new product/ service to a new market but does not relate it to the existing product. The product is completely new. For example, Oxfam have now tried to gain popularity to give them the opportunity to raise more money. To achieve this, Oxfam have held charity concerts and festivals. This is diversification as it is completely different from the service Oxfam provide. Market Orientating: The Focus of Their Marketing Every company has a reason behind why they market the product/service in a certain way. Oxfam’s reason behind their marketing is to be able to raise more money and to complete more projects in order to do that Oxfam have to make their charity well known to be able to cover all costs. Promotional Material/Techniques: Oxfam’s best marketing technique is through advertising poverty and their charity projects on television advertisements, social networking sites and radio commercials. This is one of their survival strategies to keep them functioning as a charity and allowing them to reach out to more countries. Oxfam approaches wealthy members of the community and those who would donate to charities to put an end to poverty and destruction caused by natural disasters. Oxfam aims at the sensitive side of the viewers to create an upsetting emotion through the illusions in their adverts. The viewers are shown civilians struggling to reach day to day needs and Oxfam show how painful it is for them to do so by showing a shot of their tears in their eyes which represents hardship and pain. Then they move on to showing how Oxfam’s aid has healed the needy community through helping them maintain their own lives and make a living. This is another skill used by charities to gain more donations by showing how much improvement they can make. For some charities like Oxfam this has made a great impact as it helps them carry out more projects as it is a form of prompting the organisation. Oxfam survives through volunteers taking part and helping them with their projects and the purpose of promoting themselves is to gain as much help as they can. Oxfam rely strongly upon the money raised and given from the public and it is one of the essential factors they rely on to survive as a charity. Marketing effectiveness Oxfam’s marketing skills are more effective as they have been successful for 70 years and are well known for a charity. This report has based Oxfam’s marketing effectiveness on the PDF file found on the Oxfam website which stated the income and expenditures based on projects, community support on raising money and other additional costs involved within the organisation. This PDF file shows how strategic Oxfam are with the income and expenditures as they themselves as a charity organisation have analysed all the departments of their income and expenditures. As we analysed the file we found figures showing how much profit (including success in progression within each project) Oxfam have made. This gave us the understanding that this financial increase has given Oxfam the opportunity to expand the charity organisation, allowing them to hold festivals and music concerts alongside with the number of charity shops they have around the UK. We think that this is the way Oxfam make themselves recognizable in order for them to become better known in the country and among many communities. Further on with the investigation, we investigated Oxfam’s Trading Income and Fundraising Income which we have made a similar replica of the graphs we researched on the PDF file below titled under ‘charts and tables’. Primark Company Purpose: Primark is a private retailing company started in Ireland to the United Kingdom and now in some countries in Europe. Primark’s purpose is to sell fashionable clothes for a cheaper price. Marketing Strategies: Primark’s marketing strategies for growth is market development as they want to attract new customers to increase sales leaving themselves at medium risk. Marketing Objective: Primark’s marketing objective is to standout in the retailing market with their low prices as the advantage to rise above their competitors. To meet their objectives Primark do this by producing their clothes in third world countries and by buying in bulk amounts to succeed financially. Company Product/ Service: Primark have many products based on fashion and design. They sell fashionable clothes; designs of which have been seen on the catwalks, made to suit all ages. Primark also have a section for jewellery and a minimal section for cosmetic products. Primark’s products are not as competitive as the price due to the cheap quality but they are not always predictable and create products in good quality which is unique to them. Marketing Techniques: Primark uses different marketing techniques to Oxfam. Primark use survival strategies to keep the company running. Survival strategies are when a company introduces new Items and ideas to survive as a business, such as; lowering their prices or giving customers gift vouchers when customers purchase an item. This may not be used by the company; it’s a strategy they could call up. For example, Primark keep most of their prices very low and have various ranges of clothes and offers to increase their chances of being more competitive amongst other high street shops. As well as keeping their prices low, Primark also develop their clothes in cheaper material to allow the company to make a great amount of profit. This way the company continues to survive in the market. Other survival strategy such as branding is used by Primark. Examples of branding: Items that Primark brand are: jackets, jeans shoes with different Primark brand names. Other example of branding, some sports brands such as Adidas hold a high reputation as they are seen promoting and sponsoring sports teams. Adidas and other sports brand usually advertise their brand by using celebrities to influence consumers into buying and wearing the particular brand. The brand becomes of high reputation to the consumers so it becomes something consumers wear and promote without realising they are promoting the brand. Consumer’s also have choices of merchandises to buy with the brand logo on which also helps the company to survive as it is being promoted. Market Orientating: The Focus of Their Marketing Primark want to continue to survive as retailers of the designer but affordable fashion wear. Primark market their products through their customers as Primark depend on them to promote their products. This has been working for Primark, and could them on of the bestselling retailers in the future as their brand will be more recognized than their price. This could give Primark the opportunity to upgrade their designs and price of their item, becoming a retailer of high quality clothing. Another focus of Primark’s marketing is that they can too design clothes as other expensive high street retailers. Promotional Material/Techniques: Primark do not advertise themselves through television or radio commercials which are making it harder for us to investigate and analyse the company alone. However we used a website known as ‘The Times 100, Business Case Studies’ which provided us with a PowerPoint. Primark’s aim is to promote brand awareness by putting their company logo on billboards and singling themselves out by prompting their prices as being cheap but saying their clothes are fashionable. However Primark do promote themselves through social networking sites such as Facebook where they post their latest trends and designs. Promoting a company on social network site can make them more successful as the use of technology and the use of social networking has increased and for Primark it is the best way for them to create publicity. Primark are also the most discussed Retail Company in the community and there for are always gaining loads of customers and great creditability from customers too. Ethical Trading: Primark have been establishing workers rights including rights of women in factories, mainly focusing on their health in factories. Primark’s concern for workers health and rights was developed after they had been reported of using child labour; no that it made Primark make changes but they still explained themselves on their website. Primark have not shown any live evidence such as, to prove that they no longer use under aged children to create their products but increase their price on products. For Primark it could be a way to say they have put an end to child labour and are now part of fair trade. As before, when they were using child labour, their prices were lower.