ASDA Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps)

Published in Services category by MBA Skool Team

Marketing Strategy of ASDA analyzes the brand with the marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). These business strategies, based on ASDA marketing mix, help the brand succeed in the market. Let us start the ASDA Marketing Strategy & Mix to understand its product, pricing, advertising & distribution strategies:

ASDA Product Strategy:

The product strategy and mix in ASDA marketing strategy can be explained as follows:

Asda stores are one of the leading retail chains in the world. The range of services that Asda is into is unique as well as varied. Other than the supermarket retail business which is core, it offers a mobile phone company based on EE network, financial services amongst others. All these are a part of the product strategy in Asda marketing mix. It has for the longest time followed the pricing policy and promotions which some critics believe should have been brand building instead.

In 2015 it opened its 600th store most of which are already 50 years old. Ranging from grocery stores, to selling electronics, clothing etc, Asda is into retail selling as well as the online space. It also offers doorstep service for delivery of merchandises and boasts of 30000 products in the largest of its stores.


Image: geograph


ASDA Price/Pricing Strategy:

Below is the pricing strategy in ASDA marketing strategy:

Asda has a wide portfolio. With a low price strategy as key to sell huge volumes of products, Asda clearly believes in price over perception.

With several year end, end of season, Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving and other occasional discounts and sales, Asda records good growth by playing the price strategy. Even its promotions are mostly around the incredible value for money store that Asda offers. Having understood its target group clearly and not compromising on quality for the sake of getting costs lower, Asda has proved to be hugely popular and consequently successful. This gives an insight in the pricing strategy in the marketing mix of Asda.

ASDA Place & Distribution Strategy:

Following is the distribution strategy in the ASDA marketing mix:

Asda has got its presence in several places. Following a ‘Simple and Fresh’ approach to store formats, Asda then moved to the Walmart style after its acquisition with 3 zones of simplistic shopping but spread over an almost 20% bigger space. Following a niche store technique for greater profitably in the long term, Asda does not believe in following the locals tore technique. With its plans to over 100 stores which are non food in the 5 years starting 2010 was very ambitious. In UK, some of the biggest hypermarkets are the Asda Walmart Supercentres, some having a sales area of more than 90000 square feet.

The non food supermarkets however are slightly smaller.


ASDA Promotion & Advertising Strategy:

The promotional and advertising strategy in the ASDA marketing strategy is as follows:

Asda has always believed in the price war kind of pricing strategy, focussing on discounts and schemes as promotions. But Asda also understands the need to move buyer perception that the acronym CBY meaning Chosen by you attempts to change. Asda believed that due to its ownership under the Walmart Group, the consumers always believed that Asda was only about value pricing. It was attempted to make people realize how Asda I also about quality as much as it is about price. The idea behind CYB was also to send across the message that thorough testing processes are followed to meet the consumers needs more precisely. It also banks on its association with the prestigious ‘Leith’s cookery school of fine food and wine’ allowing it to price its upmarket label “extra Special’ by Asda at a a premium price. Featuring 4 out of the 6 yellow logos of Walmart sparks, Asda’s new logo launched in 2015 is very eye catching and helps position its brand well.


Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of Asda.


Physical Evidence:

Asda’s strength lies in the sheer size, location and number of its stores, whicha re divided into the following categories. The Supermarket Division, which caters to the small store segment , was formed in 2009 and were acquired from in 2010 Cooperative Group.

Its general merchandise store is called Asda Living which is linked to the Compass group operating coffee shops. Their main business however is of the retail of homewares, health and beauty products, electronics, toys and clothing.


People:

Asda focuses on its 180,000+ employees as well as millions of customers. The people strategy employed by Asda ranges from all round training of staff for high quality customer services imparting them skills on being friendly and helpful as well as imparting high technical skills. Delivery is key to Asda’s prompt services and therefore it spends heavily on the training and development of its people involved in delivery.


Process:

Asda was originally only a food seller. Later it moved to the retail of other household goods such as kitchenware. It also moved to the selling of meat items with 4 sub brands, selling poultry product. Asda money, the financial services wing of Asda, is into the business of insurance, travel money bordeux. In the supermarket and superchains departments, Asda commands a substantial market share. Hence, this covers the marketing mix of Asda stores.


About ASDA:

With its headquarters in Leeds, West Yorkshire, Asda Stores was founded in 1965 when Associated Diaries of Yorkshire merged with the Asquith family (supermarket owners). After such companies as Allied Carpets, Gateway Supermarkets and MFI during the 80s and 90s. A 6 billion dollar takeover in 1999 by Walmart made it into a subsidiary of the retail giant, one of the largest in terms of market share of supermarket chains.

Having retained its original management team even after the takeover, Asda submits only full year accounts to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, remaining relatively autonomous. George, its own range of clothing was launched in 1990 in the superstore estate and replaced the 70s and 80s clothing labels of Asda after being marketed as a premium quality clothing for fashion and reasonable prices.

This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

Browse marketing strategy and 4Ps analysis of more brands similar to ASDA. The Marketing Strategy & Mix section covers 4Ps and 7Ps of more than 800 brands in 2 categories.

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The names and other brand information used in the Marketing Strategy & Mix section are properties of their respective companies. The companies are not associated with MBA Skool in any way.

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