“Old Marketing is Dead; New Marketing Wins “
This statement is based on Chapter 3 of Nigel Piercy’s

book “Market-Led Strategic Change” – the course

text.
Sainsbury’s is a company that has just reported a 5.3%

increase in under-lying pre-tax profit to March 2014,

(The Financial Times, May 2014). This is contrary to

key competitors such as Tesco and Morrisons’ who

are both reporting falls in profitability and market share.
You are required to produce a report by conducting a

marketing audit of Sainsbury’s current position and then

outline the key reasons for its success based largely on

the content that we covered in Chapter 4:
• The concept and importance of value-

based marketing
Your answer should reflect the practical considerations

that an organization faces in the real-world which is a

central tenet of Piercy’s approach. For this reason you

may want to introduce concepts from other parts of the

course.
To achieve the above requires looking at the marketing

strategy implemented over the last ten years by the

outgoing Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s Justin King.

The company has successfully resolved a number of

key marketing issues during this time and is, according

to market analyst Bernstein offering “quality food for

the masses”. Its positioning as thus is different to Tesco.
Your report should contain incisive insight into the

status of the current grocery retail market, the key

dynamics driving it and where it is heading strategically

and how Sainsbury’s has successfully adapted its

marketing in relation to those changes. In addition, how

the issues put forward and discussed during the course

have impacted upon Sainsbury’s current position in the

UK and how Justin King has arrived at a successful

marketing/value proposition in today highly competitive

UK Grocery market.
Your report should conclude with firm and clear

statements on what the key factors are that have

contributed towards Sainsbury’s UK marketing

strategy and how they have – and are -creating value

for customers.
Remember: critical appraisal is essential. I am looking

for demonstration of genuine marketing insight and

understanding in relation to the real-life issues faced by

a leading organisation and how marketing can create

value going forward. Use of core marketing concepts

to facilitate explanation would greatly assist with this.