ZARA

Marketing Essentials
[Type the author name]
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................2

Overview of Zara...........................................................................................................................2

L01...................................................................................................................................................4

1.1 Demonstrating the Key Marketing Functions in the Context of Zara.........................4

1.2 Demonstrating the Roles of Marketing in the Wider Context of Zara........................6

1.3 Roles Marketing Environment in the Marketing Functions..........................................7

1.4 Interrelationships between the Marketing Department and Other Functional

Departments..............................................................................................................................8

L02.................................................................................................................................................10

2. Application Process of Marketing Mix in Marketing Planning in the Context of Zara

...................................................................................................................................................10

L03.................................................................................................................................................13

3. A Marketing Plan for Zara.................................................................................................13

Conclusion....................................................................................................................................19

References..............................................................................................................................20

1
Introduction
The marketing manager of any particular organisation has to act out of certain given
responsibilities which revolve around the given functions of marketing including planning
and implementations. From carrying out everyday marketing activities to exploring new
and unique promotional approach a marketing manager has his hands full. A unique
and comprehensive set of skills are expected to have possessed by a manager as he is
required to have efficient take on over planning and implementing market processes.
The marketing management team is supposed to have a relationship that is dynamic in
nature in relations with other functioning departments such as sales, manufacturing,
supply and value, chain analysis etc. The scope of a marketing team, as well as its size,
is transparently correlated with the size hence the capability of both financial and
internal capability of the respected organisation. A number of intricate strategic
functions are conducted by the marketing management team including the distinctive
identification of the level of saturation of the market, in the case being closely saturated
finding out ways in expanding it by selective identification of the needs and stimuli of
end users. The report will demonstrate marketing responsibilities and strategies in the
context of well-known multinational company Zara along with a comprehensive
marketing plan (Blythe, 2010).

Overview of Zara
Zara is widely known as a retail chain having a spree of stores numbering to two
thousand two hundred and fifty nine stores spreading around in over ninety six
countries. It has established itself to be a well-known and unique brand of clothing. The
unique approach about Zara that has made it so appealing to women all over the world
is its unique yet simple designs at a relatively cheaper price than other clothing brands
such as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren etc. Being trendy with today’s fashion world it
produces and sells accessories, swimwear, shoes, perfume along with clothing. It has
recently secured the place of being the largest apparel retailer of the whole world having
over twenty collections in a year. Zara operates implementing a policy that includes zero

2
advertising instead it increases availability by opening new stores. For them being
available attracts the potential buyers (Zara.com, 2020).

Date: 08/01/2020

To: Senior Manager, Zara, London, UK.

From: X, Marketing Manager, London, UK.

Subject: Assessing the marketing responsibilities and performance of Zara.

Dear Sir,

I, hereby, disclose that this particular report demonstrates a careful assessment of the
functions of marketing and the roles of them in improving the sales performance of retail
chain Zara. Along with that marketing mix and a number of marketing tactics have been
applied in the context of Zara. Based on the acquired data over the application of
marketing tools, a comprehensive marketing plan is being presented here.

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L01

1.1 Demonstrating the Key Marketing Functions in the Context of Zara

The required function of identifying the potential sources of attractive products for the
market and successfully appealing them to the target market is the primary objective of
marketing. The job of a marketing manager is not only distribution and promotion as
conceived by the traditional sense but also identifying recent trends and conducting
research (Still and Cundiff, 1986).

Figure 1: Marketing Functions (Blythe, 2010).

1. Buying and Selling

A channel for communication between the marketing research team to designers
including the assemblers should be such that it ensures a proper flow of information.
Zara has come a long way by maintaining a proper communication with their

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potential customers and designers and marketing performs that duty of buying as
well as selling.
2. Storing and transporting
The marketing team is also responsible for the proper storage arrangement of ready
goods if not raw materials. Then they transport the ready goods to the distributor or
own stores as per requirement.

3. Pointing out the client’s needs

Any demands regarding the upcoming trends of the clients need to be identified and
classified by the marketing team of Zara. This is a difficult task as the fashion world
is more trend-based and faces more shifting in demands as opposed to other
industries. In addition to that, Zara has achieved its brand value through its unique
collection keeping with the trend and needs constantly. This statement is evident by
their launch of more than twenty clothing collection in a year. The marketing team
surveys the clients record their expectations from the brands and works as a media
by passing down those data to the design and production department (Armstrong,
Kotler and Opresnik, 2016).

4. Standardizing and protecting the brand value

The marketing team of Zara by its organised functions attempt to maintain the
already established brand value and further wants to increase it. Zara has already
established itself as a trendy and affordable apparel retailer brand and it requires
continuous improvement in maintaining that brand image. As Zara is less focused on
advertising, it conducts by focusing on promotions, market surveys etc. (Zara.com,
2020).

5. Financing
Budgeting is a necessary component of any planning that needs implementation.
The marketing process has a set of functions including conducting a survey, SME,
digital marketing, promotion etc. that need financing. Proper allocation of available

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 marketing resources is a must in order to properly operate the process (Blythe,
2010).

6. Risk taking
The fashion industry as mentioned before is trendier, as a result, the demand shift
here is rapid and hard to anticipate. Trends come out and burn out within months.
The marketing team of Zara hence needs to be proactive and identify the trends
before their competitors do. Zara affords to provide at a lower retail price because of
their high economy of scale. The new and unique product if assembled by Zara in
their huge numbers of stores, it is most possible that they will saturate the market
before their competitors even launch the product.

7. Market information
The primary responsibility of the marketing team of Zara is market research. Zara’s
strategy for sustainable growth is increasing economies of scale by increased
production in a stable to low price range. Higher rate of sales requires higher client
approaches. The more efficient the marketing team is in attracting clients through
research the more Zara grows (Srivastava, 2012).

1.2 Demonstrating the Roles of Marketing in the Wider Context of Zara

Zara, being a global retailer, has to opt out to its marketing team for several functions
despite the facts that it has almost zero advertisement policy. The occupied functions of
their marketing team are being mentioned.

1.   Creating brand awareness:

Creating a brand image that is desirable by millions and has a worldwide appeal is
time consuming and difficult. So is maintaining that brand image and in some cases

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 developing it. Marketing team attracts the potential clients and serves products
according to their taste and maintains the brand image.

2. Internal communication:

From inbound logistics to the store management to validating customer satisfaction

marketing has its roles all over the functional designation of the organization.

3. Profit maximization:

Profit maximization is the primary and major objective of any organisation. Zara,
being an established brand also focuses on it by increasing economies of scales and
it is the duty of the marketing team is to increase the sales (Still and Cundiff, 1986).

4. Innovation

Intense marketing is imposed by an organisation with the objective of gaining proper

and fullest utilisation from innovation or in case of Zara a new fashion statement or
design approach. In case of Zara, the concern for the new design is not that severe
as it rarely focuses on high end products but tries to provide products at an
affordable price range, despite that, the marketing team is solely responsible for
reaching out a new design to consumers and create utility.

5. CSR

Through its business model, Zara wants to help the sustainable developments of the
society and the environments with which it interacts. This commitment to the
environment is a part of the Inditex group corporate social responsibility policy.

1.3 Roles Marketing Environment in the Marketing Functions

Zara, being a global apparel retailer which has operations laid over in more than one
hundred and fifty countries has to assess the political situation of almost every country.

7
Brexit most likely is not going to affect Zara as it has more than five hundred stores all
over Europe. But reportedly the political turmoil and its effects are more significant in
developing countries so Zara should be more aware of the stores in developing
countries such as India, Maldives etc. Increasing inflation rate in Europe due to the
economic recession can affect Zara’s profitability. Being in an industry solely depending
on people taste, value, culture Zara is more affected by this factor and has to be more
diversified in their collection in respect of the community. Technological advancements
should be used in being more efficient in product distribution as people are being more
wrapped up on online shopping, online reviews etc.

1.4 Interrelationships between the Marketing Department and Other

Functional Departments

An only function or department of an organization that contemporarily balances inter-

relationships with other existing and functioning departments such as finance, logistics,
human resource management, inbound logistics etc. is marketing (Blythe, 2010).

Inbound
Logistics

Human
Resource
Management
Marketing Finance

Research and
Development

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Figure 3: Interrelationship between marketing and other departments (self-made)

Marketing and Inbound logistics

By providing post sale service and final product to end users, marketing completes the
objective of inbound logistics. For this reason, marketing is the only department that
comes in real contact with customers and is the position to understand them. The
marketing team of Zara collects customer feedback and the logistic team uses the data
in buying items for collection.

Marketing and Finance

Budgeting is a necessary component of any planning that needs implementation. The

marketing process has a set of functions including conducting a survey, SME, digital
marketing, promotion etc. that need financing. Finance department grants the money for
the budget.

Marketing and Research and Development

The designers and data use customer feedback in making their designs so that they can
attract more customers (Blythe, 2010).

Marketing and Human Resource

The marketing staffs, distributors, managers are appointed and maintained by the
human resource management.

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L02

2. Application Process of Marketing Mix in Marketing Planning in the

Context of Zara

A coherent and balanced set of tools focusing on marketing functions assisting the
particular organisation in achieving their sales target by their proper application can be
called the marketing mix. 7Ps of the marketing mix is used in marketing planning
(Saidani and R Sudiarditha, 2019).

Figure 4: Marketing Mix (David, 2016)

Relative and realistic comparison between the marketing plan of Zara and H&M is being
demonstrated below.

Marketing Mix Comparison between in their application

Elements
Product The unique elements that are provided by any particular
organisation are their product. In the case of Zara, the products
are apparels including clothing, shoes, perfume etc. and the
products of H&M are high end clothing. Along with with that the

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 marketing team of Zara has to work with a more and diversified
range of products. On the other hand marketing team of H&M
will promote a number of collections of clothing and home
furnishings only.
Price Price in general terms refers to the exchange value of offered
services or products to the users. Pricing is a strategy as well
as should be an optimized amount covering the cost and
achieve the targeted profitability. Zara has a pricing strategy
that captures as many target groups of consumers as possible,
yet it can’t be designated as cheap. The products of Zara
range from five pounds to a thousand pounds. This level of
pricing helps Zara to obtain higher economy of scale (Saidani
and R Sudiarditha, 2019). On the other hand, H&M offers
clothing to men, women, children who are high end users and
opt for luxurious products.
Place The place can be described as a ground or certain space and
its environment where the operations of an organisation take
place by making itself available to any potential consumer. This
is the ground where a potential client is turned into a consumer
Zara has a spree of stores numbering to two thousand two
hundred and fifty nine stores spreading around in over ninety
six countries with an online presence through an official
website. Zara has its store in almost every ideal city all over the
world including many developing countries. On the contrary,
H&M has 4500 stores in over sixty two countries. The Asian
markets are a new addition for H&M.
Promotion Promotional activities spread the necessary information in
order to attract potential customers by building a strong
communication ground with them. Promotion is integral in both
creating and maintaining brand value. Zara in recent years has
opted for as less advertisement as possible. Most of their
promotional activities include discounts, coupons, clearance

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 sales etc. Some of their advertisements are usually on the
internet through digital marketing. On the other hand, H&M has
a lot invested in advertising. Beyoncé was the brand
ambassador of H&M. As of 2019, it backed out from Brazil
leather industry as a protest against Amazon fire (H&M, 2020).
People The element of people of the marketing mix particularly
focuses on a human resource perspective. The marketing
policy of appointing staffs, distributors and managers is a
complex but vital phenomenon. Zara operates with the help of
a number of distributors, franchises, staffs in their stores.
Reportedly the number of stuff in Zara is a whooping one
hundred and fifty thousand. On the other hand, the staffs of
H&M are 132 thousand in number (H&M, 2020).
Process The process implies the sequential and arranged operations
that an organisation conducts in order to reach its consumers.
It starts from logistic inbounds and ends in marketing in a value
chain supply. Zara has a group of designated designers and
contracts with a number of garment factories in over twelve
countries. They use shipping for distribution of final products.
H&M also has a similar process of merchandising.
Physical Evidence Physical evidence is the material component using which the
provided services are provided in a unique way. Zara follows
the fashion trends, modernizing decorations of stores, online
presence etc. The experience of roaming through a Zara store
is described as cosy and welcoming by their brand
ambassadors. H&M has modernized stores along with a
number of concept stores and a vagarious online presence
(Zara.com, 2020).

L03

3. A Marketing Plan for Zara

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In a generic marketing plan a general idea of interrelated functions of an organization
aiming at achieving pre-set targets mentioned in the mentioned statement (Babin,
2019). A marketing plan for the retail chain Zara is provided.

Background of Zara

The unique approach about Zara that has made it so appealing to women all over the
world is its unique yet simple designs at a relatively cheaper price than other clothing
brands. It has operations in over ninety six countries. Being trendy with today’s fashion
world it produces and sells accessories, swimwear, shoes along with clothing. It has
recently secured the place of being the largest apparel retailer of the whole world having
over twenty collections in a year. Zara operates implementing a policy that includes zero
advertising instead it increases availability by opening new stores. For them being
available attracts the potential buyers (Zara.com, 2020).

Mission Statement of Zara

Zara is aiming to become the largest retail chain in the world by increasing their sale
and outlet shops with a consumer friendly approach. By being the favourite choice of
customers of all groups Zara wants to reach consumers in all parts of the world with
utmost customer satisfaction and attraction.

Objectives of Zara

 Taking initiatives to open more than twenty outlets in a number of developing

countries, especially focusing on the Asian region.
 Focusing more on the high end users and catering for their needs too.
 Ensuring the utmost quality and adaptability of their products.

PESTEL Analysis

Environmental Application of them in the context of Zara

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 Factors
1. Political Factors Zara, being a global apparel retailer which has operations laid
over in more than one hundred and fifty countries has to
assess the political situation of almost every country. Brexit
most likely is not going to affect Zara as it has more than five
hundred stores all over Europe. But reportedly the political
turmoil and its effects are more significant in developing
countries so Zara should be more aware of the stores in
developing countries such as India, Maldives etc. (Dahan and
Peltekoglu, 2011).
2. Economic Factors Increasing inflation rate in Europe due to economic recession
can affect Zara’s profitability.
3. Social Factors Being in an industry solely depending on people taste, value,
culture Zara is more affected by this factor and has to be more
diversified in their collection in respect of the community.
4. Environmental Environmental factors have nowadays been major concerns
Factors as people are more cautious than ever. Any such activity that
can cause destruction to climate should be avoided by Brunel
University.
5. Technological Technological advancements should be used in being more
Factors efficient in product distribution as people are being more
wrapped up on online shopping, online reviews etc.
6. Legal Factors The laws of countries where Zara operates in must be
different and that is challenging especially where it operated
within franchising or licensing.

Porters Five Forces Analysis

The Threat of New Entrants Threat of Substitutes

Zara faces very low threat from new Zara also faces low threats from substitute
entries as the global market is exploited by as in apparel market the scope for a
H&M, GAP, Zara itself, making it hard to substitute is thin. Zara is already in an

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penetrate through the market. attractive position to be replaced by
anything else seems difficult.

Bargaining Power of Buyers Bargaining power suppliers

The bargaining power from the buyer is Zara’s suppliers also have a much low
low for Zara despite the buyer's easy barraging power as the suppliers depend
access to online materials and prices. But on Zara for their business solely.
being already established as the favourite
of fashion lovers its appeal unavoidable.

High Competitive Revelry: Despite all other forces being at their minimal Zara still
faces much competitive rivalry because of the existence of H&M, GAP.

SWOT Analysis

Internal Strengths: Weaknesses:

1. Wide range of availability to 1. Less scope for high end

consumers through a huge users because of less focus
number of outlets. on luxury products.
2. Increasing inclination to a website 2. Inclining to a minimal policy
and online sales along with of advertisement.
customary ways of sales. 3. Less focused on online sales
3. A strong brand image is known all thus falling behind in the
over the world. competition.
4. Strong financial background and 4. Opting for brand
stability (Dahan and Peltekoglu, ambassadors with minimal
2011). celebratory values.
. 5. Deficiency in the number of
staffs.

External Opportunities: Threats:

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 1. There still are a number of 1. High end merchandise and
developing countries especially in increasing attraction to them.
the Asian region for Zara to 2. The emergence of new
explore. legislation.
2. Potential for online marketing as 3. Zara is part of the index
well as e-commerce. group and external
3. The emergence of such ownership hampers the
technologies allowing the decision making process.
manufacturing process more 4. Increasing the rate of
prominent. competition from many
4. Consumers increasing online sales services.
affordability and growth in the
fashion industry.

STP analysis of Zara

The set of activities that works as a procedure of segmentation of the market, targeting
classes of consumers according to product attributes and positioning them according to
that in the market is called STP. The STP analysis of Zara is provided below.

Segmentation Targeting Positioning

Zara opts for both After segmentation in As part of positioning
geographic as well as accordance with people Zara has its stores set up
demographic affordability Range, Zara in every major city and
segmentation. focuses on potential town along with a busy
Geographic segmentation consumers who focuses street.
allows Zara to provide on getting attractive
products with traditional products at an affordable
designs. Demographic range.
segmentation allows Zara
to provide products to
people of all affordable
range (Lopez and Fan,
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2009).

Marketing mix analysis in the context Zara

The analysis has been demonstrated in the previous part.

Marketing Strategies in the context of Zara

PRODUCT
Market Share Market growth
Market (Market Penetration) (Product Development)

Share Clothing, Shoes, High end products such as

Perfume etc. designer clothes, shoes etc.

Market (Market Development) (Diversification)

MARKET
growth Products with traditional Related diversification in the field

designs, afghans, designer of Jewellery etc.

burkhas etc.

Marketing Budgeting made for Zara

The financial budget for Zara is 150 million pounds in the current financial period. An
evaluated budgeting plan is provided below

Account Names 2020(€ ‘000) 2021(€ ‘000) 2022 (€ ‘000)

Administrative Expense 750,000 800,000 1000,000

Selling & Marketing Expense

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 Print Media 85,000 80,000 80,000

Social Media 135,000 60,000 70,000

Website 70,000 90,000 80,000

SEO 120,000 110,000 150,000

Digital Marketing 185,000 190,000 180,000

Total 150,0000 170,0000 190,0000

Implementation of the plan

The implementation of the particular plan will be conducted using Zara’s strong brand
image and stable financial position. If the financing department is unable to provide the
budgeted amount, debt financing can be opted for. Along with that a bunch of new
designers from each geographic area should be appointed.

Control & review

Control is the most important part of the marketing plan. It foresees the implementation
of the plan by constantly reviewing and evaluating operations. It is an ongoing process.
The deviation of actual output and budgeted output should be minimized by the
marketing team.

Conclusion
The marketing management team is supposed to have a relationship that is dynamic in
nature in relations with other functioning departments such as sales, manufacturing,
supply and value, chain analysis etc. A number of intricate strategic functions are
conducted by the marketing management team including the distinctive identification of
the level of saturation of the market, in the case being closely saturated finding out ways
in expanding it by selective identification of the needs and stimuli of end users. Along
with that, the implementation of selected pricing strategy, being able to deal and

18
converge with other practical components are also functions included in their job
description. And Zara is an organisation which can use its strong brand recognition to
implement an ambitious marketing plan.

19
References

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Blythe, J. (2010). Marketing essentials. Oxford: Elsevier.

Brooksbank, R. (1991). Essential Characteristics for an Effective Marketing Plan.

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Dahan, G. and Peltekoglu, F. (2011). The Effects of Zara to the SMEs of an Emerging
Market. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 2(1), pp.1-10.

H&M. (2020). H&M offers fashion and quality at the best price. [online] Available at:
http://www.hm.com/ [Accessed 13 Jan. 2020].

Lopez, C. and Fan, Y. (2009). Internationalisation of the Spanish fashion brand Zara.
Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 13(2), pp.279-
296.

Saidani, B. and R Sudiarditha, I. (2019). Marketing Mix-7Ps: The Effect on Customer

Satisfaction. Jurnal Pendidikan Ekonomi Dan Bisnis (JPEB), 7(1), pp.72-86.

Srivastava, R. (2012). Shift of Marketing Mix to E-Marketing Mix: The Birth to New Era.
SSRN Electronic Journal.

Still, R. and Cundiff, E. (1986). Essentials of marketing. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:

Prentice-Hall.

Zara.com. (2020). ZARA Official Website. [online] Available at: https://www.zara.com/

[Accessed 12 Jan. 2020].

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