Introduction
Opportunities to address current consumer needs and promote specific categories of goods and services may be achieved successfully not only due to effective business models but also adequate marketing programs. One of the main principles of product promotion and maintaining customer loyalty is to support brand value through appropriate development strategies. In conditions of high competition and dynamic trends, marketing and communication tools may be utilized as crucial components that help strengthen the business and attract the audience due to highly targeted impact mechanisms. As a valuation venture, Tesco will be considered, the British brand that is the country’s largest retail chain. The company was founded in 1924, although a few years earlier, its founders began their trading activities in London (Our history, 2020). For almost a hundred years of existence, the corporation has become one of the leaders of not only the British but also the global market. Based on the assessment of marketing and communication tools and the review of relevant promotional tactics applied by Tesco, the current branding practices will be evaluated, and the analysis of enhancing brand equity will be conducted.
Literature Review
The impact on consumers through effective marketing mechanisms is one of the key principles of modern advertising. Creating brand value by using a customer-oriented approach and offering relevant goods and services allows expanding the scope of business and maintaining a high level of commercial communication. Chang, Wang and Arnett (2018) note that branding as a business development tactic is one of the most effective drivers for successful entrepreneurial activity in the context of a client acquisition strategy. In addition, the authors argue that branding is not only a development algorithm; this marketing process includes a set of measures that are designed to influence productivity and create conditions for the promotion of goods or services in the market (Chang, Wang and Arnett, 2018). By evaluating current academic sources, the most significant branding implications for different stakeholders will be considered, and engaging marketing communication tools will be evaluated as one of the valuable practices for enhancing business resilience.
Significance of Branding to Consumers and Organisations
Various forms of branding that exist today allow organizing a sustainable business process and engaging new customers constantly. For instance, according to Johnson (2017), personal branding opens up opportunities for promoting an individual image among the target audience and influences the rating of all goods and services sold positively. Organizations, in turn, can apply this approach no less efficiently. Barnes (2017) argues that some authentic approaches, for example, the personalization of production or the uniqueness of design, help attract a wide client base. Organizations can make substantial gains if adequate brand equity strategies are in place. Product personification, as one of the successful marketing approaches, contributes to creating a valuable image that has weight in a competitive environment. As Al-Hajla et al. (2018) state, specific approaches to attracting the target audience, for instance, through religious motivators, allow organizations to maintain customer interest through a sustainable communication system. Thus, business companies can benefit significantly if they implement reasonable branding strategies.
For consumers, unique branding practices that modern organizations promote also have value. Gregurec (2017) states that in many cases, emotional affection for a particular brand develops, which keeps customers and, at the same time, serves as a sustainable means of profit for sellers. As a result, the attachment to a specific brand eliminates the need for consumers to look for goods or services of a certain category in a wide range of sellers’ offers. Kim and Sullivan (2019) confirm the importance of emotional branding and note that purchasers tend to intentionally seek products to maintain emotional relationships, and the unique characteristics of specific goods or services are incentives that attract clients. Thus, both organizations and customers can benefit from adequate branding strategies, and the importance of adequate mechanisms to strengthen certain trademarks in the market lies in the long-term interaction of the seller and the buyer.
Marketing Communication Tools
Addressing Brand Values and Enhancing Brand Equity
The market transformation caused by the emergence of new mechanisms of interaction with the target audience has identified the characteristic instruments that contribute to promoting goods and services among consumers. Moravcikova and Kliestikova (2017) argue that such tools, in particular, social media marketing, have a positive effect on expanding the customer base and simplifying the interaction between sellers and buyers. In addition, due to such instruments, offers can be personified, which is an additional incentive for individuals to pay attention to specific goods or services. Taiminen (2016), in turn, notes that social media marketing is not only a promotional mechanism but also a tool for collecting valuable data about potential consumers, which allows creating unique offers and enhancing the brand value. For instance, according to Sadek and Tantawi (2017), travel operators derive substantial benefits by creating an individual image of tourist destinations. Therefore, modern marketing techniques are highly effective as drivers of sustainable sales.
The promotion of goods and services in the online environment is considered the most advanced and productive form of marketing. As Garczarek-Bąk (2016) notes, in addition to the ease of implementation, this mechanism of advertising does not require significant costs and, at the same time, helps attract the attention of a large number of Internet users. According to Štrach (2018), the personalization of advertisements that sellers promote provides an opportunity to maintain a high level of customer loyalty, which, in turn, is a significant aspect of creating brand value. In addition, as Sawmong (2018) remarks, brand loyalty is enhanced if constant communication is maintained. Therefore, today, most marketing offers are distributed in the virtual space due to the convenience of this method and the possibility of influencing the target audience effectively.
Analysis of Tesco’s Branding
Tesco Corporation has a significant degree of influence on the modern British market and holds a high position in the ranking of world retailers implements programs to interact with the target audience effectively. In accordance with the company’s development plan, the client is the basis of any marketing interventions, and customer satisfaction is a priority (Our history, 2020). At the same time, in order to maintain a stable interest in its products, Tesco applies adequate methods of brand promotion, which also affects the organization’s work positively.
Communicating Brand Values
Tesco’s authority is sustainable in order to maintain a stable interest in its products, engage new customers, and retain regular buyers. However, in order to prevent the loss of market positions due to high competition, the necessary measures are taken by the retailer’s management to address brand values. For this purpose, appropriate marketing communication tools are used as the instruments of influence on the target audience. One of the most convenient practices is social media marketing when the company places specific offers and information about loyalty programs on the Internet. Hökelekli, Lamey and Verboven (2017) provide an example of Tesco’s strategy to deal with competitors by alerting customers to lower prices for sought-after goods, which aims to minimize different discounters revenue. Another method that Morgan, Tallontire and Foxon (2017) mention is advertising, which is expressed in attracting public attention to acute social problems, in particular, the importance of green production, and how to solve them. Such principles of communicating brand values give Tesco’s management an opportunity to maintain high positions in the domestic and global market and increase the corporate credibility among consumers.
Another principle of enhancing Tesco’s brand equity is offering catalogs to the target audience. According to Shin, Kim and Kim (2020), this method allows the retailer to notify potential consumers about the range of their products and, at the same time, makes it possible to compare specific products with those of other manufacturers. The authors give an example of the Chinese market and note that the indicator of Tesco’s perceived quality is significantly higher than that of many local brands due to the organization’s ability to demonstrate its benefits effectively (Shin, Kim and Kim, 2020). This tactical solution, which is also a marketing communication tool, strengthens customer confidence and, consequently, enhances brand value.
Tesco’s Marketing Communication Tools
Effectiveness and Value
One of the most significant and objective results of applying relevant marketing communication tools by Tesco is the actual profit of the company. Jones and Comfort (2019, p. 68) provide British retailers’ earnings data in 2017-2018 and argue that Tesco, with its £38.7 billion, is in the lead, ahead of its closest pursuer by more than £10 billion. For the corporation that specializes in the sale of food and industrial consumer goods, this result is extremely high. Barnes (2017) notes the value of the social context of marketing practices promoted by Tesco’s leaders and notes that appropriate algorithms for interacting with the target audience through influencing the interests of consumers increase the brand equity. Therefore, the retailer’s development strategy is reasonable and adequate in relation to the application of convenient marketing techniques.
Maintaining customer loyalty is another significant implication of the use of effective marketing communication tools. According to Ibrahim, Alkhawlani and Al-shaghdari (2017), the strength of the Tesco brand grows as the number of Internet users increases since digital communication methods and, in particular, social media advertising, are the most productive types of goods promotion. Its recognition in the world confirms that from a wide list of retailers operating in the international market, Tesco is one of the most reliable, and the constant growth of customer base is directly proportional to consumer confidence. This achievement is of high importance as the result of high-performance work since the introduction of product advertising on social media.
As a result of applying the aforementioned approaches to increase its brand equity, Tesco has expanded the sphere of influence significantly and become a retailer that can regulate market trends and act as a flagship in this industry. Innovations and new projects offered by the management of the corporation, for instance, advertising campaigns with several objectives (engaging consumers and reducing the influence of competitors), are implemented through effective marketing tools. As Shin, Kim and Kim (2020) note, one of Tesco’s key business development strategies is continuous expansion. As a result, productive activities in the virtual environment bring essential implications and allow maintaining the high prestige of the retailer in the international arena.
Conclusion
The evaluation of marketing communication tools and brand equity promotion methods applied by Tesco makes it possible to assert the sustainability and importance of the retailer’s work in attracting the target audience and maintaining a leading position in its industry. Advertising on social media is the most effective mechanism of interacting with consumers, but some other practices are also promoted, for instance, the offers of catalogs with the existing bonus programs. Due to the review of relevant academic sources, one can conclude that Tesco’s measures, both in the domestic and international markets, are consistent with modern approaches to strengthening the business and maintaining customer interest in the products sold.
The research conducted proves the value of evaluating marketing tools used in the business environment to achieve high market positions and confirms the importance of strategies to increase brand value as principles utilized to expand the sphere of influence. The analysis of Tesco’s activities makes it possible to assess the range of objectives that may be implemented in order to overcome high competition and introduce relevant methods of interaction with the target audience. The nature of the approaches and practices promoted by the retailer’s management is of high importance to ensure close interaction between the organization and consumers.
The given data may be considered valuable information in the context of managerial implications. Both Tesco leaders and other retailers’ heads can use the findings and implement appropriate marketing communication strategies to interact with their target audience in practice. The existing trends, in particular, the prevalence of digital advertising, determine the nature of solutions that governing boards should apply to increase the value of specific brands. Following sustainable and effective principles of product promotion can ensure the stable growth of enterprises in the market and, consequently, provide recognition to managers.
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