Words: 1586
Explain the relevance of the Marketing Concept to the 21st Century business of your choice?

This essay will explain the relevance of the Marketing Concept to the 21st century business the Body Shop International plc. As well this will observe how Anita Roddick successfully adapted marketing concept to the Body Shop by creating satisfied happy customers and company goal achievement.
There have been a growing number of companies over the years which influenced the increasing density of the business, different marketing concept have used to boost the businesses. Many of authors have found different ways to customise marketing concepts and one of the earliest famous people suggested, that the defining characteristic “the marketing concept holds that achieving organisational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions better than competitors do” (Kotler and Armstrong 2010, p.34)
The above term shows that without customers, there is no sale. Without satisfied customers, there is no profit. Without delighted customers, there is no repeat business, as “companies achieve their profit and other objectives by satisfying (even delighting) customers” (Jobber 2007, p. 4)
To apply this concept, three conditions should be met: 1. Company activities should be focused upon providing customer satisfaction rather than, for example, producer convenience.

2. The achievement of customer satisfaction relies on integrated effort. The belief that customer needs are central to the operation of a company should run right through all departments.

3. For integrated effort to come about, management must believe that corporate goals can be achieved through satisfied customers. (Jobber, 2007)
The Body Shop International plc is known as Body Shop. It was founded in 1976 by the late British environmental and human rights campaigner Dame Anita Roddick. The Body Shop started life as a small outfit in Brighton selling just 25 products. Now the range consists of over 1200 products and there are more than 2500 stores worldwide. The company employs over 4000 employees. (Chester, 2011) The Body Shop is now part of the largest French cosmetics the L’Oreal corporate group. (Milmo, 2006)
The Company has always believed a business is not about making profit, worldwide growth and recognition. Even more than that because, The Body Shop is about different relationships types such as human, employee, customer, human to environment and human to animals. However, The Body Shop market and everyone else goes all around and it is very important the Company listens to employees what they have to say and involving them in all the decision-making processes.
The Body Shop has successfully created a niche market, which is composed of more socially aware and environmentally conscious consumers that are out in the market looking for new and original products.
“Customers expect a degree of benefit from purchasing or using a product or service. However, they may actually want something more” (Hooley et al. 2012, p.23). The Body Shop has maintained its value over the years through the use of its natural ingredient from a wide range of product from Body scrubs, shampoo, make up, moisturises etc. The Body Shop customers’ can be proud being not only beautiful but also promoting nature. The most unique fact about the Body Shop is that, the company uses only vegetable based materials for its products. It is also against Animal testing-which means a company has to comply with the very strict requirements of the Humane Cosmetics Standard. This standard was set by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) and is regarded as the highest standard for animal welfare in the cosmetics industry. They audit the Body Shop regularly to ensure a company comply. The Body Shop also every two years must check policies and compliances to ensure a company is adhering to the latest animal-welfare guidelines. Second, supports community trade, a body shop has 25 Community Fair Trade suppliers and still looking more and more of them. Third a company is running an activate Self Esteem which is philosophy that looking good stems directly from feeling good. Where legislation allows, a Body Shop encourages employees to learn new skills through Learning is of Value to Everyone (LOVE) initiative. By funding a range of training courses, events and health treatments, a company aims to enhance staff's sense of well being. Finally Defend Human Rights this is awareness of the issues and taboos surrounding HIV and AIDS. In the last two years a Body Shop helped raise £1.1m for the Staying Alive Foundation, a grassroots youth–awareness project which aims to educate at-risk communities on safe sex, HIV and living with AIDS.
Body Shop deserves respect for putting human values above a quick buck. (Glennie, 2010) Thus it is completely following the concept of Societal Marketing. (Jobber and Fahy, 2006)
According to this “the way to gain customers and keep them coming back is to spend money on their experience in the store,” The Body Shop tries to fallow this rule by “providing the customer with something to do – touch, read, listen, feel” (The Globe and Mail, 2012) Also, creating the store atmosphere inside, the shelves are groaning with special offers and some colourful and eye-catching displays “projects its environmentally caring image through window display exterior of its shops, and through window displays that focus on environmental issues” (Jobber and Fahy 2006, p. 312)
The Body shop offers free delivery on all items over £20 it also provides its customer with more way to shop by giving them an opportunity to become a consultant and get first-hand information as new products are available. Also it provides user friendly website and very affordable products.
The Body Shop introduced the first customer loyalty scheme in 1999. It allowed shoppers to donate the money collected through purchases to charity instead of swapping them for products. Customers were getting one stamp for every £10 they spend. After collecting five stamps the customer receives a voucher for £2.50 which can either be spent in store or donated to one of the retailer's chosen charities. (Marketing Week, 1999)
Now, The Body Shop is successfully using its loyalty card-Love your body. This card “builds profiles of its customers so that it can generate a map of how an individual thinks, works and more importantly shops.” (Hooley et al. 2012, p 92) This gives a package of benefits including 10% off all purchases for a year, up to £20 of free products and a birthday gift. Shop has encouraged the loyalty of their consumers and broadened their market base. The Love Your Body loyalty program has brought together 860,000 members from the United States of America, 500,000 from the United Kingdom, and more than 160,000 across four countries in Europe. The program is successful, Love Your Body was recently launched in Canada and Singapore, and will be extended to Hong Kong and other European markets. (The Body Shop Values Report, 2011) Mission and Vision Statements, Goals, and Objectives as a world-renowned company, The Body Shop International prides itself as a company that makes a difference. Part of their mission is to devote their time, energy, and effort to the quest for changes in the society and the environment.
The Company continuously provides to the consumers with a one of a kind experience, by offering excellent customer service in the shop by well trained and qualified shop consultants. The customers can expect to get informal and detail advice about wide range of high-quality and great value products. A company provides an environment that will not only entice the customers but inform and inspire them as well, and by operating in such a way that strong commitment to society and the environment will not be short-changed, but rather improve. Increasing demand for natural products, ethical business, growing demand for natural cosmetic products, are just a few main factors why The Body shop is working so hard to meet customers’ needs in the cosmetic industry. Body Shop continues to work very well in all aspects, even that other organisations in the industry not doing so well. The takeover by L‘Oreal may not have gone down well with the public, but Body Shop proved the strong believe about their ideology and processes. The Body Shop moves forward by achieving goals and creating many other products to make customers happy. The Business will stay at the same position for a long time because customers will want to come back all the time.

References
Chester, A. 2011. A brief history of The Body Shop. The Guardians [online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/fashion-blog/2011/nov/21/brief-history-of-body-shop [Accessed on 13th February 2013].
Day, J. 1999. Body Shop rolls out loyalty card. The Marketing Week [online]. Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/body-shop-rolls-out-loyalty-card/2045227.article [Accessed on 22nd February 2013].
Delap, L. 2012. At the Body Shop, it's an experience with the world. The Globe and Mail [online]. Available at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/property-report/at-the-body-shop-its-an-experience-with-the-world/article4217870/ [Accessed on 22nd February 2013].
Hooley, G., Piercy, N.F. and Nicoulaud, B. (2012) Marketing Strategy & Competitive Positioning. 5th ed. Harlow: Pearson.
Jobber, D. (2007) Principles and Practice of Marketing. 5th ed. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education.
Jobber, D. and Fahy, J. (2006) Foundations of Marketing. 2nd ed. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2010) Principles of Marketing. 13th ed. London: Pearson.
Milmo, C. 2006. Body Shop's popularity plunges after L'Oreal sale. The Independent [online]. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/body-shops-popularity-plunges-after-loreal-sale-473599.html [Accessed on 21st February 2013].
The Body Shop. 2011. The Body Shop striving to be a good force for good. London: Bostock and Pollitt.

Bibliography
Dibb, S., Simkin, L., Pride, W.M. and Ferrel, O.C. (2012) Marketing: Concepts & Strategies. 6th ed. Hampshire: Cengage Learning.