How does marketing communications support the marketing and business strategies of an organization?

Answer 1

Communication plays a vital role in any part of the business. In the increasingly competitive environment of business in the UK, the need for effective communication is demanding for achieving competitive advantage in the target market. Marketing communication is the process of communicating the marketing strategies and their implications throughout the organization in order to increase the ability of the organization to become proactive to a situation in the target market as argued by Philip Kotler (1988) . Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003) further argue that marketing communication not only corresponds to the communication of the marketing strategies and the marketing plan by the top level management to the operational team but also to encourage the interaction between the employees and implement their ideas that will be effective in achieving higher level of sales in the target market. This is mainly because of the fact that marketing is no longer considered as a separate part of the business and the dawn of the twenty-first century with the growth of conglomerates across the globe, organizations have realised that the marketing process itself should be integrated with the entire business of the organization and should embrace the business strategies which is possible only through the effective marketing communication throughout the organization. In this essay a critical analysis on the benefits of marketing communication to the marketing and business strategies of an organization are discussed. The analysis focuses upon five major elements of the business of any organization that contribute to the effective deployment of the marketing and business strategies namely Resource allocation, Human Resource Management, Cost Reduction, Performance, and Supply Chain Management.

2: Resource AllocationImplementation of a marketing plan always demands the allocation of the appropriate resource not only for the purpose of marketing but also for the manufacturing of the products or the development of the services that are being marketed to the customers in the target market. Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003) further argue that the resource allocation is one of the critical elements that contribute to the success of the nay marketing campaign. In retail sector scenario where the marketing is an essential part for the communication of the product details effectively to the customers, the effective allocation of the resources to manufacture the products that is being promoted so as to meet the customer demands is the key for increasing the sales of the product lines desired.

Resource allocation is also an essential element for the successful implementation of the marketing plan because of the fact that the availability of the resources and their efficient procurement at a cost that could meet the promotion sales of a product is essential for the success of the marketing plan because of the fact that the promotion campaign of a product or the launch of a new product in the target market can prove profitable only through the effective allocation of the resources both the raw material for production as well as the machinery and human power to produce the product in order to achieve optimum level of production which will increase the sales of the products. This can be accomplished only through the streamlined and effective communication of the marketing plan and the necessary information to the production team of the organization in order to effectively allocate the resources to increase the sales as well as meet the demand of the customers as argued by Eric J Carson and Fisher J Robert (2005) . This is mainly because of the fact that the effective resource allocation not only streamlines the manufacturing process but actually enables the business operations right from the product design up to the labelling of the finished goods to respond to any change in the target thus increasing the productivity and the effective use of resources.

Human Resource Management

Human Resource is an in expendable resource as argued by Dennis Adcock (2000) . This is mainly because of the fact that not only that the employees are treated as resources but their actual participation in the business at all levels of operation and management is results in the effective manufacturing of the goods and services and the increase in sales of the products so conceived by the top level management. Furthermore, the fact that the interaction of the employees in the operational level and the value to their ideas on streamlining the production process in case of products and implementing new methods of customer service and developing relationship with the customers in case of service marketing not only increases the involvement of the staff in the deployment of the business strategies of the organization but also increases the level of confidence among the customers about the products or services promoted by the organization thus increasing the sales as well as gaining customer relationship for long-term business development. This is synonymous to the argument of Philip Kotler (1988) that retaining an existing customer is worthier than searching for new customers.

The fact that the staff in the organization also reflect upon the organization's overall mission and its view on serving the customers in the target market further increases the requirement of effective communication of the marketing plan and the strategies since the marketing mix to achieve a certain promotion or the launch of a new product/service in a target market (new or existing) can be accomplished not only through the effective deployment of the resources but also with the efforts of the staff involved at all levels of the organization.

Cost ReductionIt is intriguing to note that the organizations not only strive to increase their revenue through the increase in sales but also through the effective management of the costs and reducing unwanted costs as argued by Gary Geissler and Steve Edison (2005) . This is mainly because of the increase in the awareness that the cost reduction is a major element in increasing the productivity of the organization. The increase in the deployment of the processes like the batch processing and mass production through the deployment of advanced methods of production justifies that the organizations are increasingly striving to reduce the costs associated with the production or procurement of the goods rather than only concentrating upon reducing the price. Gary Geissler and Steve Edison (2005) further argue that this is mainly because of the increasing level of saturation in the competition through reducing the price of the goods in the target market. Retail sector for example where the competition is intense based upon the price, the proper communication of the market situation is critical for increasing the sales as well as reducing the storage space. The increase in the use of the shop floor through reducing the storage space by implementing real-time sale and distribution system to accurately identify the demand is a given store at TESCO Plc has not only increased its sales but also drastically reduced the costs associated with the procurement and storage of the goods since the time up to which a specific item is in the storage area of a TESCO store is not more than 48 hours which justifies that the effective and prompt communication of the market situation is essential for the effective deployment of the strategies in order to gain competitive advantage through increasing sales and reducing costs.

Performance

Performance of an organization is the key factor that is used for assessing the company's performance by the external world. Apparently, the performance is measured against the financial results and the corporate governance of the organization as argued by Naras V Eechambadi (2005) . Furthermore he argues that the performance of an organization is attributed by the effective communication within the organization not only the company policies but mainly the market trends and related information throughout the organization. This is because of the fact that the information so communicated on the market not only increases the awareness of the staff involved both at operational level and strategic level but also increase the ability to interpret the market situation by the organization as a whole rather than the team in the marketing department who cannot always perceive the overall market situation as well as the position of the organization with respect to the production and management. This will not only increase the sales for the organization but also enhance the overall performance of the organization, which is imperative for the organization's position in the target market for achieving leadership in the market.

Supply chain Management

Supply chain management is the backbone of an organization's successful implementation of any marketing promotion as argued by David A. Griffith et al (2005) . The supply chain is apparently the process of managing the distribution of the goods from the supplier to the retailer, which can be effectively accomplished to meet the market requirement only though the effective communication of the market situation and reflect upon the market trends. As argued before the strive for the organizations to reduce the costs through increasing the shop floor for sales and reducing the storage space can be accomplished only through the deployment of online supply chain management (i.e.) a live supply chain management system to meet the requirements of the stores in a retail sector organization on a day-to-day basis. The strive of Marks and Spencer Plc to integrate its suppliers with the organization's overall supply chain has not only increased the sales but also reduced the costs associated with the sales which justifies the effectiveness of marketing communication.

Conclusion

Thus from the above arguments it is clear that the marketing communication is essential for not only increasing the sales but also for increasing the overall financial performance of the organization through cost reduction and effective supply chain management. Hence to conclude this report it is clear that marketing communication is essential for accomplishing the marketing and business strategies of an organization.