MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

London Metropolitan University

ESOFT Metro Campus
London Metropolitan University ESOFT Metro Campus- Colombo
Academic Year 2021 – 2022

Marketing, Marketing Communications and Operations MN7182

Assignment: Individual Investigative Report

Table of Contents
1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................
4
2 Business Analysis ................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Company Overview ..........................................................................................................
4
2.2 The Business Environment ...............................................................................................
5
2.3 Micro Business Analysis for Arpico Supercenters .......................................................... 5
2.4 Macro Analysis of Arpico Supercenters .......................................................................... 7
3 Critical Appreciation of Marketing Communications to Reach and Influence the Target
Audiences ........................................................................................................................................
9

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 3.1 Market6ing Process and Operations Management of Arpico Supercenters .....................
9
3.2 The Marketing Process .....................................................................................................
9
3.3 The Marketing Mix ........................................................................................................
10
3.4 Marketing Communication ............................................................................................ 11
4 Operations Management to Develop and Design Products and Services that Meet the
Market
Requirements ................................................................................................................................ 14
4.1.1 4 V’s
Model ............................................................................................................ 14

4.1.2 The Value Chain

Analysis ...................................................................................... 15

4.1.3 Corporate Social Responsibility

(CSR) .................................................................. 17

4.2 Main Outcomes Derived from the Analysis ...................................................................

18
4.3 Primary information .......................................................................................................
19
5 Recommendations .................................................................................................................
19
5.1 The Business Way Forward ........................................................................................... 19
5.2 Lean Six Sigma ..............................................................................................................
20
5.3 Company’s STP Strategies in a Wide Angle ................................................................. 20
6 Statement of personal learning ..............................................................................................
21
7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................
22
8 Personal Reflective Statement ..............................................................................................
23
9 References .............................................................................................................................
25
Annexure- 1 .................................................................................................................................. 27

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List of figures

Figure 1: Arpico Supercenter ..........................................................................................................

5
Figure 2: PESTEL Analysis. ...........................................................................................................
7
Figure 3: Marketing Process ..........................................................................................................
9
Figure 4: Marketing Mix ...............................................................................................................
10
Figure 5: Marketing Communication ............................................................................................
12
Figure 6: 4 V's Model ................................................................................................................... 14
Figure 7: Porter's Value Chain ...................................................................................................... 16

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1 Introduction

This paper is focusing on restructuring marketing communications and STP strategies of Arpico
Supercenters to expand its business and assure its competitive position in the marketplace. The
importance of caring out adequate market researches is pointed out and advises the organization
to capture uncovered consumer segments. Furthermore, the study also encourages the
organization to reengineer the current process and adopt new technologies to implement new
market strategies such as promoting feasible mobile and web apps that help customers to keep on
their purchases during these volatile circumstances either.

2 Business Analysis

2.1 Company Overview

Arpico Supercenter is one of the visionary concepts developed by Richard Peiris Group a couple
of years ago to enhance its retail business island-wide. The current chain consists of 19
supercenters, 19 showrooms, and 22 daily outlets. Richard Peiris and Company has ensured 80
years of its Excellency by being one of the trustworthy blue-chip organizations in the country.
The organization has created 35000 career opportunities at different levels. Being one of the
strongest arms of the conglomerate, Arpico supercenters reach its audience with an array of
products and services such as FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods), financial services, and
value-added services.

The organization is fully customer-oriented and keeps on seeking advanced methods to enhance
the quality of the goods that they offer its versatile segments. The group owns plantations, and
agricultural centres to produce a variety of products under the “Arpico” brand name. The ice
cream and meat range of Arpico is gradually being developed and provides an example of
diversifying its business where consumer demand is high.

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 Figure 1: Arpico Supercenter

Source: Arpico Supercenter website, 2019

2.2 The Business Environment

The business environment consists of all external and internal forces that create influence the
direction of any business. The leadership of any given business can control certain factors
whereas the rest is always beyond the control of the business.

2.3 Micro Business Analysis for Arpico Supercenters

Micro factors can be divided into two segments- internal environment and task environment. The
internal factors are thoroughly under the control of the management but a task environment is a
place where compromises or negotiations can be taken place.

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 Internal Environment Task environment

Management Suppliers

Culture Labour markets

Employees Customers and stakeholders

Competitors

Management- The senior management and leadership of the organization is well educated and
experienced in various business sectors. The knowledge they bring in helps the employees to
develop individual skills under righteous guidance. The chairman of the company always
attempts to maintain a balanced culture inside the organization where even nationality is given
equal opportunity to be a part of Arpico.

Culture- The organization maintains an employee-friendly culture within and offers employees
ample training and guidance to develop their careers. Also, the diversity of employees possesses
different skills that are contributed to the progression of the organization.

Employees- Out of 35000 of its human capital, the organization has allocated a considerable
percentage of employees at the service of supercenters. These employees are often being given
adequate training to provide superior customer services at the stores. The organization also
focuses on maintaining a healthy work-life balance for its employees.

Suppliers- The organization has a sound rapport with all its suppliers to make sure its stores are
filled with essential to meet consumer necessities. In addition to that, the company has its tea and
rubber plantations with regional heads to make the supplier chain network even efficient and
create new job opportunities for rural people.

Labour markets- Due to the current pandemic situation the entire labour market has become
unstable. Many people have lost their jobs and the demand for any career opportunity exceeds
the quantity of availability. Hence the organization has sufficient chances to hire people
whenever it wishes to increase the employee capacity.

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Stakeholders- Arpico was able to preserve the credibility of its stakeholders by offering a
tremendous amount of 2.035Bn as dividends last year. The stakeholders are elated and carving to
gain continuous ROI in the coming years as well.

Competitors- The main competitors of Arpico supercenter are Cargills and Keels. Both the
organizations have acquired larger market shares of similar businesses than Arpico. Hence the
company has the challenge to discover more segments and implement relevant strategies to
expand the business.

2.4 Macro Analysis of Arpico Supercenters

These factors are both necessary and unavoidable. Despite internal company characteristics,
external influences can have a significant impact on strategic planning, long-term viability, and
corporate competitiveness. The external environment is constantly changing, resulting in VUCA
(Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) issues for businesses. PESTEL is among the
most common tools for determining the effects of external environmental influences.

Figure 2: PESTEL Analysis.

Source: Business To You, 2021

Political- The current instability of the Ceylon government has affected many businesses. The
taxes and imposed frequently. The corruption of certain political acts has created an unnecessary

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recession inside the country. Imports are limited and profit margins have been declined. This
kind of complexity denies organizations to meet remarkable revenue in the end. Hence the
current political crisis has become a humongous challenge for retail companies like Arpico
supercenter.

Economic- The growth of the economy keeps declining in Sri Lanka. Recession and inflation
have been increased during the last few months. This situation is not good to implement new
market strategies like NPD (new product development) as the buying power of the customers has
drastically gone down.

Socio-cultural- Sri Lanka has diversified cultures and norms. The attitudes and buying habits of
the people differ from one province to another. Hence a good market analysis would help the
organization to lounge the most appropriate products to the relevant segments at the correct time.

Technological- The organization frequently assesses its strategies and makes necessary changes
where required. The company has been introducing new products to the market and the
technology used is developed with the innovation. The organization owns highly equipped
warehouses and plantations with skilled operators and sophisticated technology.

Environmental- Deforestation has become a huge threat in Sri Lanka. Many environmental
organizations keep their eyes on how businesses are contributing negative results to the
environment. Arpico has many factories where emission is generated. Also, they have to use
large quantities of wood to make furniture. Arpico supercenters are different from other retail
store as they allow consumers to shop for other essentials such as furniture, electrical items,
plastic and rubber items, etc under the same roof. The organization is ISO certified but it should
always adhere to the rules imposed by the authorities and assure environmental pollution via the
factories is always monitored and minimized.

Legal- The company complies with the employee and consumer laws of Sri Lanka. It also
ensures manufacturing the furniture and tires are confined in a legitimate frame.

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3 Critical Appreciation of Marketing Communications to Reach and Influence
the Target Audiences

3.1 Market6ing Process and Operations Management of Arpico Supercenters

The marketing process is an integral part of the overall operations of a business which focuses on
making the customer feel accomplished (Christian, 2004). Many scholars have identified that the
marketing process contains five key elements which are amalgamated to assure customer
satisfaction and delight.

3.2 The Marketing Process

Figure 3: Marketing Process

Source: iEduNote, 2022

Every organization anticipates gaining a competitive advantage in the long run. As the first step
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of a big dream, the organizations must analyze the nature of the marketplace where they have to
conquer the competition and position their products and services at the top of buyers’ perception.
Then adequate strategies such as STP (segmenting, targeting, and positioning) need to be
implemented to filter the most potential consumer groups to buy the products. The marketing
mix would help assess the strategies and make relevant changes to ensure the consistency of
buyer habits. This ultimate target is to create a robust rapport with a trustworthy consumer group.

3.3 The Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is a set of tools that marketers use to identify the customer’s needs and
implement appropriate strategies to fulfil such necessities (Dibb and Simkin, 2004). The markers
must analyze the marketplace, consumer behaviour, and trends in the market to specify a
marketing mix.

Figure 4: Marketing Mix

Source: Galaxy Techno Space, 2021

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Product: Arpico supermarkets comprise a large array of goods and services. Instead of being a
typical FMCG store, the organization has value-added services such as banking, financial
services, furniture electrical items, bakery, and restaurants, etc. The organization expects to
attract different customer segments by being innovative in its operations. Arpico owns few tea
states and rubber estates as it contributes foreign exchanges to the state economy via exports.
Similarly, the organization gives local buyers also the same experience to shop so-called products
at the stores.

Price: The organization has different price ranges for its customers. But generally, most of the
Arpico supermarkets are located in urban areas and people have a common notion that the prices
are a bit higher than other retail stores which are somewhat proven. However, the leadership of
the organization states that the different price ranges make it everyone affordable to visit their
stores.

Place: Arpico supermarket chain consists of around 60 outlets islandwide. The organization
mainly focuses on catering to the upper-middle class with its giant stores located in urban areas.
In addition to that, the organization also has medium-sized retail stores in several suburbs to
fulfil the customer demand.

Promotion: Promotions are considered an essential strategy in marketing these days. Due to the
expanded poverty in Sri Lanka, people tend to purchase goods that are lower in price and higher
in quantity. Hence the organization including Arpico promote price discounts, buy-one-get-
onefree items, and credit card offers consolidated with leading banks to make consumers feel
better.

3.4 Marketing Communication

Marketing communication is recognized as the approaches and tactics used by businesses to

communicate messages about their products and services to existing and potential customers
distinctively and innovatively. The messaging communication is either direct or indirect, to
persuade people to purchase the items and services.

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 Figure 5: Marketing Communication

Source: Adebiyi, Rasheed, 2018

The fastest and most prominent method in marketing communication is advertising. Firms spend
millions on promoting their goods via electronic, print, and social media. Companies can hire an
advertising agency depending on their budgets. As a pioneer in retail selling, Arpico
supermarkets often come up with innovative presentations that educate their customers to adopt

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good food habits. The organization also engages in expanding its social media channels to inform
consumers about launching new products and other special events.

Personal selling is now considered an old-fashioned method denied by all leading organizations.

Sales promotions can be seen at many retail outlets during festive times. This is a common
strategy implemented by many organizations to attract huge amounts of consumers. Arpico
supermarkets have exceptional offers for its consumers during Christmas, New Year, and other
main festivals.

Many organizations use technology to inform customers about new promotions, goods, and
services, etc. This method is called “Direct Marketing” This tech approach is also executed to
obtain survey results of customer satisfaction.

The public relationship is the fifth vital feature found in marketing communication. Firms carry
out a variety of CSR projects to build new rapport with the communities. They help the helpless
in their hours of need. Arpico had recently held Covid19 awareness sessions throughout the
country to mingle with millions of people with its renowned brand name. The organization also
leads water cleaning projects and donations island-wide.

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4 Operations Management to Develop and Design Products and Services that
Meet the Market Requirements
4.1.1 4 V’s Model

Figure 6: 4 V's Model

Source: Bracciotti, Matteo, 2017

Volume- This tool is used to figure out how many people are interested in a given product or
service. This dimension, however, should not be utilized to determine the prospects of such.
Arpico has many outlets in different areas. The organization cannot forecast the entire consumer
behaviour on certain products by assessing the volume of one particular store. Hence this feature
provides basic insight for deep researches.

Variety- Arpico supermarkets have almost met this requirement as they have a variety of product

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portfolios and value-added services for the consumers.
Variation- Variation describes how the demand for a certain product gets changed within a
specific period. Due to the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka, the prices of many essential
goods are being increased often. This is a negative consequence for a large retail seller like
Arpico as there is a higher tendency of losing potential buyers.

Visibility- This feature allows customers to track their packages when they do online shopping.
Huge supermarket chains like Walmart use this kind of sophisticated technology to increase the
efficiency of their services. But none of Sri Lankan supermarkets is using such sophisticated
technology in their operations yet.

4.1.2 The Value Chain Analysis

Value chain expresses the interconnection between a firm’s primary and secondary activities that
thieve its competitive position (porter, 1998). Every business organization is highly goal-oriented
and keeps implementing innovative strategies to assure a sustainable competitive advantage in
the market competition (Prescott, 2001). Strategic planning of the organization performs a vital
responsibility in maintaining a strong rapport of the value chain activities.

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 Figure 7: Porter's Value Chain

Source: Business To You, 2019

Inbound Logistics: Arpico supercenters have a strong logistic system that includes massive
warehouses and an efficient distribution channel. The relevant teams visit from one village to
another to ensure that their warehouse is timely filled with sufficient essentials such as rice,
vegetables, fruits, dairy items, etc. The logistic team constantly assesses the processes to keep the
quality and freshness of the goods.

Operations: The organization has a variety of product lines sold under its name. Processed meat,
canned fruits, organic vegetables, dairy products are placed at the top of it. Arpico visits the
doorsteps of the farmers to purchase extremely quality products and convert them into relevant
outcomes without harming the nutrition facts.

Outbound Logistics: Company has an efficient distribution process from its warehouses to all
the outlets countrywide Also, this distribution channel also includes a delivery service for its
customers.

Marketing and Sales: The marketing team of the organization is frequently engaged in doing

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researches and producing innovative marketing strategies to address numerous segments. The
promotions and social media campaigns organized by the marketing team targets increasing
overall sales and provide any additional support to the sales force to perform their duties well at
the stores.

Services: Arpico has a contact centre that encourages consumers to present their intentions, pros
or cons of the goods and services, etc. The organization expects to provide a great after-sales
service and improve the quality of its products via customer surveys.

Procurement: The company has a strong procurement system that constantly engages with the
suppliers and assure the logistics are duly checked and maintained. The procurement team of
Arpico also finds new potential suppliers who bring innovation to the industry that allows
consumers to experience excellent products.
Technology: The organization keens on adopting evolving technology in its warehouses and
operational processes. This gives consumers opportunity to enjoy unique outcomes.

Human Resource: The HR team has a huge responsibility to recruit skilled employees whose
input matches the company’s culture. It’s important to maintain a mixed culture that includes
different languages, attitudes, skills, etc which gives employees to provide excellent services to
the customers.

Infrastructure: The company has a robust infrastructure that includes accountants, logistic
specialists, legal advisors, etc to reinforce continuous support and growth in its operations.

4.1.3 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The corporate world now a day is expected to behave socially responsibly to stay away from a
wide range of issues (Dahlsrud, 2008). The organizations involved in manufacturing can hardly
avoid environmental pollution. Hence these organizations outstandingly engage in doing CSR
projects such as reforestation, water cleaning projects, donations, etc to mitigate the harm to a
certain range.

Arpico as one of the renowned organizations in Sri Lanka always attempts to save the
environment while expanding its business. The organization contributes good deeds to both the

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environment and the community.
v Free Covid19 awareness programs. v Initiatives of cleaner
and safer drinking water. v Empowering communities to
purchase essential needs.
v Eye campaigns.
v Food security programs. v Reforestation programs.

4.2 Main Outcomes Derived from the Analysis

The analysis has so far investigated how Arpico implements different marketing and operational
strategies to enhance its businesses among different communities. Operating a mass retail store is
not an easy task at all. Being expanded in both rural and urban areas is also challenging when
establishing a common culture within. But the organization has been able to keep a healthy
balance gender-wise and avoid racial bias. Hence Arpico can be identified as an equal
opportunity provider in the industry. Furthermore, the organization also focuses on providing
value-added services such as banking financial, massive shopping experience, restaurants, etc
under the same roof. This is a good strategy from customers’ perspective as they can save time
and satisfies necessities without visiting numerous stores. The organization also engages in
exporting tea and rubber and Arpico tires have been born as a value-added service of the
organization.

As discussed in the first chapter Arpico supermarket chain only contains less than 50 stores
around the country. It’s comparatively a worse number among the competitors. Also, the
organization mainly targets the upper-middle class in the community which is relatively a
moderate quantity. Hence the organization needs to restructure its STP strategies and that will be
discussed further in the next chapters of the analysis.

4.3 Primary information

The primary information was collected by way of a questionnaire survey and set of questions
were asked from the consumers in both urban and rural areas which concludes that many rural

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consumers are reluctant to visit Arpico stores as they assume the prices are unfairly high
compared to Cargills Food City and Keells Super. Please refer Annexure 1.

Survey information are as follows

Sample size 50
Method email questionnaire

Geographic scope Both urban and rural areas

Market segment Middle income employees

5 Recommendations

5.1 The Business Way Forward

The success of every business depends on evolving strategies and duly executed fast-tracking
programs. Market penetration and preserving the strategic positions are somewhat critical these
days in every region due to the prevailing pandemic situation. One negative point highlighted
throughout this analysis is that the Arpico supermarket chain does not consist of sufficient outlets
across the entire country. The organization should focus on that and increase at least the
smallsized supermarkets in rural areas. Furthermore, the organization must also focus on
restructuring its STP strategies to identify more segments to be cratered. Due to this pandemic,
volatility has invaded the normal routines everywhere. Shops and stores have to be closed with
short notices. The company should reinforce its delivery system with more employees to provide
efficient service during such hard times. The store can be converted into temporally warehoused
and customers should be introduced to feasible mobile and web apps to order their essentials via
online platforms.

5.2 Lean Six Sigma

The common perspective found in any kind of business is to increase the bottom line. This has
been critical than ever you to the volatile circumstances around the globe. Many organizations

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had suffered without an evolving strategy the increases process performance while minimizing
the wastage and assuring customer satisfaction simultaneously (Ronald, 2010). Six Sigma is a
strategic tool invented by Bill Smith in the late 80s and has been adopted by many organizations
thereafter (Martha and Roger, 2010). The selected organization in this study is recommended to
implement

this strategy in its operation as its benefits both organizational and consumer goals at the same
time. In the previous section, the study concludes that the organization should expand its network
to gain more attraction from uncovered segments. When a business is getting expanded its
employee count and operational structure could be changed. Wastage is another problem that
organizations face when their businesses keep moving to the next levels. Lean Six Sigma
encourages the employees to minimize wastage while increasing their efficiency. This pragmatic
method is being used by many leaders as a “paradigm shift”. The strategy involves changing
processes tools, concepts, and many more. Adapting to such an advanced method under correct
leadership would motivate employees to develop their attitudes, efficiency, and positivity in
providing a great service to the customers. Hence, the analysis highly recommends Arpico
supermarket chain follow “Lean Six Sigma” when changing the internal strategies to cater to
more consumers in the marketplace.

5.3 Company’s STP Strategies in a Wide Angle

Consumers have a wide range of desires and interests: Take a look at the wide variety of products
available on grocery shelves. This selection is unique as a result of a variety of purchasing
strategies and fundamentals. These consequences have been derived from a wide range of
customer requirements and the benefits they are looking for in items (Dibb and Simkin, 1991).
Satisfying a large number of consumers with several products can be extremely critical. Hence,
firms use divergent sets of strategies to divide the consumers into several segments and cater to
them according to their preferences, buying habits, and purchasing power (Kotler et al., 2019).

Throughout this analysis, it’s been found that Arpico supermarkets mainly focus on catering to
the upper-middle class and above in the community. The organization does not even have 100

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outlets islandwide which can be seen as a poor marketing approach compared to its rivals such as
Cargills Food City and Keels Super. In Sri Lanka, the middle-class segment is larger than the
upper-middle class and above. Many potential segments can be found in that community and
cater to several goods according to their purchasing power.

Due to this reason the organization needs to revise and implement new STP strategies that
contain building medium and small-sized outlets in uncovered suburbs and rural areas. This
helps the organization to increase its revenue by adding more consumer segments to the
marketing process. Also, this would create several jobs that contribute to reducing the
unemployment rate in the community.

6 Statement of personal learning

This study had a wide overview on invigorating both the personal and career perspectives of the
individuals. From the beginning of the research, it emphasizes the significance of caring out
adequate market analysis including assessing the internal resources and strategizing so-called
resources to face external influences properly. Organizations contain different numbers of human
capital and those employees possess a variety of attitudes and skills in them. The input they
contribute has a vast impact on the bottom lines of the organizations. Decision-making is a vital
and game-changing attribute found in any business. Most of the time the leadership encourages
individuals to be resilient when making decisions to admit failures and quickly implement
contingency plans to recover from the possible failures. However, as mentioned earlier, the
individuals comprise of different capacities and attitudes when making particular decisions in
both their personal and career lives which may contain reckless and unwarranted assumptions at
certain times. As an example, one can forecast the future sales at a store just by looking at the
past performance of the same place. This study denies such conclusions and explains how a
proper business forecast needs to be done with relevant analysis. The study recommended the
selected organization restructure certain strategies like STP. It also educates the individuals to
implement sufficient researches to find the most appropriate solutions instead of getting
stagnated at unwarranted assumptions.

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Skills are required to implement new strategies. This research demonstrates the importance of a
skilled workforce to develop a firm’s strategies and explore innovative ideas, concepts to push
the business towards new markets and consumer segments. Due to the Covid19 pandemic, many
organizations had to shut down their business as they could not emerge new skills, innovative
business ideas, and unique approaches to maximize customer demand. Technology is the most
important tool in the current context to address the target audiences. The retail industry is also
one of the hardest to be survived without frequent tech advancements. Due to this pandemic
situation, people are reluctant to visit supermarkets and stores. Online shopping and delivery
have been prominent these days and organizations use different marketing strategies combined
with innovative and feasible technological tactics to fulfil consumer needs. Developing mobile
apps and colourful websites can be constantly seen these days and some retail supermarkets have
introduced self-service equipment that allows customers to avoid being in queues. The selected
business can enhance so-called facilities in its operations and employees should be given
appropriate training on how to deal with new technologies as they are the first contact whom
customers seek for information. Furthermore, the organization can also utilize the skills of the
employees to develop customer-friendly mobile and web applications to do their online
purchases and also encourage delivery staff to dedicate their efficiency to make the operation
faster. Throughout this study adopting new skills, technologies and implementing proper research
have been pointed and conveyed to be followed by the organization.

7 Conclusion

From the first chapter of this study, it has been emphasized the significance of caring out
sufficient researches before implementing any business strategy in launching new products or
services to the market. Organizations should be very keen on the changes in external
environments and inquisitive of the impact they can create on businesses. Due to several volatile
circumstances including the Covid19 pandemic and high recession in the country many
businesses have already been shut down as they were incapable to execute proper contingency
plans to survive the complexity in the marketplace. Marketing communication is highly essential
when a business intends to be taken forward to the next level. Advertising can change the whole
game instantly by being unique and creative. In this era, social media and other online platforms
have become prominent and have been used by each organization to attract many customers to

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their brands. Furthermore, the study has also focused on restructuring the STP (segmenting,
targeting, and positioning) strategies of the selected organization (Arpico) as it has not expanded
its business in many areas compared to the main two competitors. Due to certain distractions
made by the current pandemic, the several vital activities of the value chain (inbound logistics,
operations, and outbound logistics) of many organizations in the retail industry have been
suffered critically. This study has propped several recommendations for the selected company to
avoid being stagnated in so-called situations. Any organization can adopt advanced technologies
to reenergize its strategies and reinforce its competitive position in the market.

An organization needs to have skilled employee capital and visionary leadership to win the
market challenges. Many failures can be anticipated during the current pandemic situation and
the leadership needs to be resilient in implementing new strategies quickly. In the previous
chapters of this study, being unwarranted and making such assumptions have been precisely
analyzed and presented the repercussions of that. The study always focuses on utilizing the skills
and doing sufficient researches before expanding a business or introducing new products to the
market. These strategies can be adopted by any individual in his/her personnel life as well
because we must analyze every possibility and consequence that would come in return before
implementing any project in our personnel or career lives.

8 Personal Reflective Statement

MN7182 – Marketing, Marketing Communications and Operations has been a huge learning
curve for me. Being a Licensed Aircraft Engineer, I rarely get to witness and interact with the
marketing aspect of a product or service. This module has helped me in understating the core
fundamentals and values of marketing in general. This module has helped me in better
understating the marketing aspects of my organizations and how I can contribute to it in order to
gain a competitive edge in the field of aviation. PESTEL, SWOT Analysis, and Porter's Five
Forces are just a few of many methods used in this module to conduct a thorough market
analysis. The course also offered a thorough understanding of how to construct effective
marketing strategy using academic concepts and methods. The assignments covered in this

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module, aided in the critical analysis of the chosen product, market analysis, and consumer
habits, as well as the development of the appropriate segmentation, targeting, positioning, and
marketing mix. This assignment particularly, tested our ability to critically examine using
primary and secondary evidence to draw conclusions. Marketing communications assisted in
identifying the best channels for promoting a product, and digital marketing-related learning was
incredibly intriguing. Taking all this into account I soon will be able to impart this knowledge
into the betterment of the organization I work for. I could recollect some of the good products
and services my organization put forth but were not successfully taken to market owing to bad
marketing tactics and planning. I am now able to grasp how marketing is crucial for the future of
any organization. Overall, the module's learnings ensured that I would critically consider the
marketing strategies in place for my organization's products and services, that I would use the
knowledge learned and impart them to marketing activities of my organization and that I would
pay equal attention to the marketing component of product and service creation.

My learning style has changed from the time I embarked on this module. I have found out my
strengths and weaknesses in as far as learning is concerned. At first my understanding of
marketing was limited and I thought marketing was just about buying and selling only. However,
I now understand that Marketing involves other activities such as organization, distribution,
product promotion, pricing and advertising. My own perception about brands is that some people
associate brands with designer products or expensive goods and branding can be segmented to
suit the individual or group of people. I also now know that consumers are cautious about where
they want to buy the products and goods they need particularly where the supplying organization
or company is reputable. I have learned that it is important for a company or organization to
understand the consumer behavior of its customers and this knowledge can help the company to
identify the products and services that are in demand and the extent of demand of a product or
service could determine the pricing mechanism the company may employ. My perception of
marketing has changed as a result of this module and my learning style had been affected in a
positive way through out.

I would very sincerely like to thank my lecturer for being an excellent and inspirational lecturer
and a mentor in imparting this knowledge to us. Being a Licensed Aircraft Engineer, it is quite
difficult to grasp the ABC’s of marketing but the teaching styles that were used by my lecturer

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has made learning this module both interesting and fruitful.

9 References

Adebiyi, Rasheed. (2018). Perception and practice of integrated marketing communication

(IMC) among selected marketing communication companies in nigeria.

Arpico (2021) about us. Arpico [online]. Available from: https://arpicosupercentre.com/

[Accessed 02/01/2022].

Bracciotti, Matteo. (2017) Operational management study. MSc. Robert Gordon University
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Annexure- 1

Questionnaire

Age

Residence area

Question Answer

How often do you visit arpico stores?

How many members are there in your family?

What king of essential do you frequently purchase?

What is you closest arpico store?

Are you satisfied with the product and price ranges?

How do you rate arpico against other leading retail stores?

(1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest)

Do you enjoy the promotions offered by the organization?

How do you overall rate the accessibility and consumer satisfaction?

(1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest)

What king of essential do you frequently purchase?

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