Table of contents

Brief summary for the organization. Role of strategic marketing in the organization The process involved in strategic marketing Link between strategic marketing and corporate strategy Ansoffs model for growth in the organization Role of segmentation, targeting and positioning in the organization. Importance of relationship marketing and its implementation in the organization. Conclusion. References

Wilkinson is a prime example of a business that has responded to changing customer need throughout its history. Its one of U.K long established retailers of wide range of food, home, garden, office, health and beauty products. First Wilkinson store was opened in 1930s in charnwood street ,After the second war in 1950s saw a rise in the use of labor-saving devices and DIY Wilkinson responded by making this type of product the focus of its sales, In 1960s customer wanted more convenience shopping Wilkinson started selling groceries and super market goods and created the (Wilko-Brand). In 1980s Wilkinson extended its range of low-cost product to include quality clothing,toys,toiletries and perfumes, In1995s it opened a central distribution centre in workshop serving stores in the north of England ,In 2004 a new distribution centre opened in Wales ,In 2005 Wilkinson launched its internet shopping services offering 800,000 product lines for sales online. Currently have more than 300 stores which carry average of 25,000 products lines 40% of these are Wilko brand Company target is to grow and to have over 500 stores by 2012.

Strategic marketing it links the organization with the environment and views marketing as a responsibility of the entire business than a specialized function (Carven&Piercy, 2009) Its the process of analyzing external environment, internal factors, identification and selecting a strategy so that the organization can achieve its long term goals and visions. It appears in Wilkinson as our marketing strategy is to grow a business needs to give consumer what they want at a price they are satisfied with when they want it and make a profit to the company. Its importance in our organization appears in the following; A) We are a prime example of a business that has responded to changing customer needs throughout its history. b) Provide horizontal and vertical communication and coordination system through targeting university students. c) Over two years it conducted extensive market research this has helped it create a marketing strategy designed to continue growing by targeting a new market segment the student population to reach 500 stores by 2012.

In Wilkinson we work on strategic management process which involves four main steps: A) Analysis B) Planning C) Implementation D) Control We begin with complete analysis for the company situation to find attractive opportunities and to avoid environmental threats and to make analysis for company strengths and weaknesses (SWOT Analysis) which appear in the following in our organization *Strengths: Wilkinson has long term trustability since 1930 so it has very long background with many customers. Wilkinson growth place in the 30 top retailers in the U.K. *Weaknesses: far distances from some places and universities. *Opportunities: new customer segment which is key potential for growth in the student sector which make on it primary market research using questionnaire from students across the U.K and secondary researches using government and university admission data the statistics revealed that there were three million potential student customer they had combined annual spend of around 9 billion per year .this research confirmed that the choice of focusing on the student market as a mean of growth was valid. *Threats: facing increasing challenges from competitors such as super market sector. In our organization we have clear plan to grow to give consumer what they want at a price they are satisfied with when they want it and to make a profit to the company.

Then we implement our strategic marketing plan to grow through our marketing campaign we involved 60 universities in research using questionnaire to student initially in year 2 and 3 of arrange of universities and then to fresher(new students)through the university and colleges admission service. This ensured the widest range of students was included to eliminate bias. It also give wide range of responses from this initial group, student were a second set of questions .participants were rewarded with Amazon voucher to encourage a good take up .the research focused on two areas: A) Student awareness of the Wilkinson brand& b) Reasons why students were currently not using the store regularly. Then we make control for the process to measure and evaluate our strategic plan to know what would inspire students to shop at Wilkinson store more and more and what factors would help to attract non customers. the process provide significant primary information to analyze the effects of the campaign using questionnaire collected from the first year under graduate to gather qualitative data in addition obtaining quantitative data from various other sources including: Redemption rates; how many people used the discount voucher when buying. Sales analysis; how much extra business did the store handled. Foot fall in store analysis; how many extra people went into stores. This information helped to develop plan for future marketing campaigns.

It identified motivation factors for the student audience which would help to encourage future purchase key factors included product being cheaper than competitors and easy access to stores. 23%students questioned gave distance from university as a reason for not regularly visiting the store. The layout of the store was another major problem affecting repeated visits. Taking these findings in future planning of store location and layout. Researching students opinion after the campaign showed that: Awareness brand had significantly risen from 77% to 95% of those interviewed this brought it in line with Morrison supermarket, a key competitor. 17% of students who received a goody bag at freshers fairs used the 15% discount voucher a further 58% intended to use the voucher. The campaign had either got students to enter the Wilkinson stores or increase their intention to visit the store. Of particular importance to Wilkinson was that the campaign had made the company more appealing to 67% of students interviewed this fulfilled one of the main objectives of the campaign and was reinforced by figures from existing students. Prior to the campaign 13% shopped at Wilkinson at least once a month after the campaign this had risen to 33%.

In order to achieve our corporate objective to increase our stores from 300 stores to 500 stores by 2012 we put our marketing

strategy to grow in U.K by giving the customer what they want at a price they are satisfied with when they want it and make a profit for the company this achieved by applying our values to pull together, build trust ,show we care our customers and shaping our future to reach our vision to be better ,be closer and belong. In order to achieve our market objective to grow which aligned with our corporate strategy we choose ansoffs model to grow which divided in to 4 categories: Market penetration: to increase market share of existing product in the same market. Product development: introduction of new product in the same market. Market development: new market for existing products.

Diversification: introduction of new product in new market

In our organization we choose market development due to competitive edge for our products at the same time its of a moderate risk.

We work in our organization on process of segmentation, targeting and positioning to achieve our goals through the following steps. We start by segmentation which means dividing the market in to distinctive groups of buyers with different needs characteristics or behaviors who might require separate product or marketing mix. There are many ways to be used in segmentation Geographical segmentation;region,population,density,climate,.etc Buyer behavior variables Usage rate, benefit sough, brand loyalty, life style etc Demographic ;
Age, sex, family size, occupation, social classetc

We select to work on demographic segmentation according to the age as its the most popular bases for segmentation one reason is that consumer needs, wants and usage rates often very closely with demographic variables another cause is that demographic variables are easier to measure than most other types of variable. We make it by making primary research and secondary research primary research(also called filled research)involve collecting data first hand this can take many forms the main ones being interview,questionnaire,panels and observation. Secondary research also called desk research involve collecting data which already exists this includes using information from reports, publications, internet research and company files. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of primary research are that it is recent, relevant and designed specifically for the companys intended strategy.

The main disadvantage is it is more expensive than secondary research and can be biased if not planned well. Secondary research is relatively cheap can be undertaken quickly and so enable decision-making sooner. However secondary research can go out of date and may not be entirely relevant to the business needs. In Wilkinson we undertook primary market research using questionnaire from students across the UK and secondary using government and university admissions data. The statistics revealed that there were three millions potential student customers. They had a combined annual spend of around 9 billion per year. This research confirmed that the choice of focusing on student sector as a means of growth was valid. So we targeted this sector of student segment as we involved 60 universities in the research ,using questionnaire distributed to students initially in year 2 and 3 of a range of universities and

then to freshers(new students)through the university and colleges admission service. This ensured the widest range of students was included to eliminate bias it also gave a wide range of responses from this initial group students were asked a second set of questions.particpiants were rewarded with Amazon vouchers to encourage a good take-up. We worked on positioning our product as there are many types of positioning:

Value Positioning Some companies use value positioning strategies. They price their products at or below industry averages, Value positioning in marketing appeals to consumers who are sensitive to price changes. The value positioning strategy tends to work well during recessions or slower economic periods.

 Quality Positioning Some businesses also may assume a quality positioning stance in the market. This means they focus on offering the highest quality products possible. This type of strategy is common with companies that have superior engineering departments. A smaller company may be a leader in a particular type of technology. Hence, it naturally uses quality as its core competency. Many entrepreneurs in technical industries position themselves as quality leaders. Small business owners usually price their products above industry averages when using quality positioning strategies. The reason is that they need to recoup the extra costs associated with product research, engineering and production. Demographics-Related Positioning Sometimes also use various demographics such as age and gender for positioning in marketing. The company's advertising messages may center on special nutritional requirements of older Americans. Similarly, other

companies employ gender-related positioning strategies. Their products may be targeted predominately toward men or women. For example, some companies target women with their cigarettes and beverages. Competitive Positioning Some companies also may use competitive positioning strategies. The objective of a competitive positioning strategy is to reposition the competition in the minds of consumers,. This type of positioning is common when there are two strong competitors in an industry. A company may use comparative advertising to demonstrate that its brands are superior. Hence, it attempts to alter the image a competitor wishes to portray and put itself in that top position. Business owners often use competitive positioning strategies as counterstrategies. In Wilkinson we work on value positioning by giving the customer what they want at a price they can offer so that put

in their minds we are the most economic price with a good efficacy. Finally our relationship marketing is main way for success as during our history we are a prime example for a business that has responded to changing customer needs and work on it as a corner stone for growth and to keep on this growth we work on customer retention as we care about gaining new customers by targeting student segment and we work on increasing wilko brand loyalty on this segment to achieve our customer retention strategy we work also on this segment by direct mail flyer to home also being present at fresher fairs and giving free goody bags with sample product directly to students and through web banner. By working on relationship marketing and through our marketing campaign reflect on increasing awareness of Wilkinson brand from 77% to 95% this brought it in line with Marison super market which is key competitor for Wilkinson.

We concluded that Wilkinson marketing strategy began with its corporate aim to grow and increase stores across UK to reach 500 hundreds store by end of 2012 it was facing increased competition from supermarkets and needed to identify an area to focus on To pursue a growth strategy Wilkinson used market research to identify new target customers this enabled it to prepare marketing strategies to fit the audience. Primary and secondary research was used to find out customers views regarding its brand. Data indicated the student market segment was a significant area to focus on to achieve market development. A marketing campaign using data from a follow-up survey was put in place. The campaign showed significant increased in students levels of awareness about Wilkinson and its products.

It encouraged them either to shop more or try Wilkinson for the first time. The campaign helped to achieve many of the business aims creating increase brand awareness and repeat visits. It also helped to inform the companys future strategies for growth market research gathered will help to formulate future plans for new stores. These will be in line with Wilkinson commitment to providing communities with affordable products across the country.

References Wilkinson plus ,visions and values, Wilkinson plus [web page] (2012) <http://corporate.wilkinsonplus.com/story.asp?id=21>, accessed 1 December. 2012.
12-www.thetimes100.co.uk 3-Rick suttle,Demand media-examples of positioning in marketing-small business<http://small.business.chron.com/examples-positioning-marketing25824.html,accessed 20Dec.2012 4-IAARS modules of strategic marketing 5- Philip

Kotler et al.,(ed.) ,Principles Of Marketing (edn.,second

European Edition, 1999).