Marketing Communication Strategies of UK Supermarkets Case Study

Marketing Communication Strategies of UK Supermarkets - Case Study ExampleEssentially, the value of the customer essential be prudently considered. Convenience substitutes place and terms (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 explore. So as to attain excellent communication, it is imperative to be conscious on which communications media the audience leave 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 nigh 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 include s 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 ar 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 fetching 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-retail system.Market OverviewToday, supermarkets control food sales in developed countries and are swiftly escalating their inte rnational 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 built their control over suppliers. Today, the UK supermarket segment is still ruled by Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morrisons these are the only chains that operate full-scale superstores of 40,000 square feet (3,700m) and sometimes go beyond. These alleged(prenominal) Big 4 had a combined share of 75.3% of UKs grocery market realm (TNS Report, 2008). As it is, sector analysts foresee that it is not improbable