Consumerism and Marketing Essay -- Marketing Retail

Simply Food use their brand image to capitalize on holiday celebrations such as Christmas and New Years. Authoritative performance plays a key role in their increased sales during these periods; people across the United Kingdom await a traditional Christmas meal in their homes (Data Monitor, 2010). These consumers are lured by the Simply Food elegant image and therefore psychologically they link the Simply Food meal to the festivity of the season. Tesco have discounted many products and extended their finest range in the run up to the 2010 Christmas period. As a consumer this gives a reason to sacrifice the ideal worthy product for a less superior one. From a personal perspective, it makes me more in inclined to consider shopping for my meal at Tesco’s for Christmas. However, there are conditions in my case, the meals must be cheaper, and should be comparable to Simply Food for quality. As an individual who frequently shops at Tesco, I would further be rewarded for my loyalty, in the form of attaining more ‘club card points’ on my loyalty card. I have been a Tesco loyalty ‘club card’ holder for nearly a year now building up my points with every purchase at the retailer. My research required that I visit Simply Food to see what benefits I would receive by shopping with them. To my disappointment a staff members informed me that Simply Food did not have a similar scheme to Tesco unless a credit card was taken out through them. I was left feeling utterly mad and disappointed. Tesco have managed to apply and implement a co-creation of value through their use of a loyalty program. The supermarket chain has directed their aim at business-to-customer initiatives which is an example of relationship marketing – in essence, profit and the ... ...ent. Works Cited Aslam M., 2006. Are you selling the right colour? A cross-cultural review of colour as a marketing cue. Journal of Marketing Communications. Vol. 12, pp15-30. Billings, S., 2008. Design Week Magazine. Vol. 23, Issue 20. Borgerson, J and Schroeder, J., 2005. Identity in marketing communications: an ethics of visual representation. Marketing communications: new approaches, technologies, and styles. Data Monitor, 2008. Marks & Spencer Simply Food case study, pp1-11. Data Monitor, 2010. Market Watch: Food. Company Watch: Tesco, pp 88-93. Hilton, M. 2003. Consumerism in Twentieth-Century Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ‘Marketable entity’ – Lecture Slide Presentation 11.10.2010 P17. Venkatesh, A. 1992. Postmodernism, consumer culture and the society of the spectacle. Advances in Consumer Research. Vol. 19, pp199-202.