ZOHAIB HASSAN

10489125
HE BUSINESS
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
BA (HONS)

Proposal

Title: To Explore the Marketing Strategy of British Gas and its

Effectiveness

1. Introduction
According to Reid and Bojanic (2009, p.8) the term marketing
encompasses merging, integrating, controlling supervision of all
companys or organisations efforts that have a bearing on sales. It is
clear that the term marketing is made up of different activities. The UKs
Charters Institute of Marketing (2016) has defined marketing as a process
involving activities such as recognising, anticipating and fulfilling
consumer demands in a profitable manner. Cohen (2012) argued that if
businesses take time to understand the demands and expectations of
their targeted consumer segments and then develop a product then their
product is highly likely to be accepted by its target population. As per the
UKs Chartered Institute of Marketing (2016) marketing involves
continuous recognition of consumer expectations both at the present and
in future. Therefore, businesses must try hard to develop products that
suit the needs of their target market so that profits could be made to run
the business successfully and develop more products for customers. The
American Marketing Association (2015) has identified that marketing takes
place in a dynamic environment that is prone to the changes in the
external environment such increase in competitions, entrant of new
businesses, rapid fluctuations in consumer demands and changes in the
financial stability of the region. All these factors can affect the outcomes
of a businesss marketing strategy. It is identified that businesses have to
recognise the right growth opportunities by carefully researching the
needs of their target market, as this approach will enable the business to
rightfully target the audience and attain a competitive edge over their
rivals. If the customers like the product or services, then the market share
of the company will increase, leading to an increment in profitability that
will support the organisations growth in future.
The organisation chosen for this research report is British Gas. The
research projects involve the exploration of its services and about the
marketing strategies of the company. How the company sells its products
and provide the services and keep its position at the top of the list above
the all other energy providers. British Gas is presently serving around 12
million homes in the United Kingdom. British Gas is one of the big six
energy supplier dominating gas and electricity in the United Kingdom
among the others as, EDF Energy, E. ON UK, npower, Scottish Power, and
SSE (British Gas Annual Report, 2015). British Gas is a limited company
and is a subsidiary of Centrica. The main products of the company include
gas, electricity, boiler and central heating, plumbing and draining
services, renewable energy and other home appliance services (British
Gas Annual Report, 2016). To distribute these services, British Gas needs
high talent staff. It employs more than 9,000 trained gas engineers to

install and continue central heating and gas appliances (British Gas
Annual Report, 2015).
British Gas has a simple vision that is to deepen the relationship with its
customers by giving them the desirable values for their money, better
services and innovation (British Gas Annual Report, 2014) British Gas has
aimed to be the number one choice for energy and to serve today in the
smarter homes as well as businesses tomorrow. British Gas looks after its
customers need, provide dedicated products, along with 24 hour
customer services (British Gas Annual Report, 2015). It has a purpose to
help the people today and save the energy for tomorrow. British Gas is the
UKs top leading suppliers providing energy to 11 million people and
900,000 around the country (British Gas, 2016).
British Gas set out on a journey back to the great in 2008 starting with a
comprehensive re-evaluation of its tactic to marketing and putting the
customer at the heart of this brand revitalization (British Gas Annual
Report, 2010). A new organising thought was established based on the
insight: Your home is your world. Count on British Gas to look after it
(British Gas Annual Report, 2010). A number of activities, including
becoming the principal partner of British swimming and environmental
programmes, were adopted as part of this renewal strategy, not only did
this lead to the increase in the amount of customers claiming British Gas
as their first choice of energy supplier rising to an all-time high, but 2009
saw the first extensive growth in customer numbers in seven years. Its
been 200 years that British Gas spent powering Britain evolving gas, light,
Coke Company in 1812 to become the leading provider of the energy. A
well-established team culture has always been a part of British Gas, which
promotes complete engagement of the members of the organisation. The
marketing team at British Gas is made up of the Head of Marketing
Strategy, British Gas and planners from their creative partner, media, PR
and Digital Agencies (British Gas Annual Report, 2015). They regularly
meet to set strategy and solve more tactical business issues and briefs.
Its an effective team that sets the goals for the company, develops
strategy for the company and resolve all of the issues relating to the
customers need and keeping in mind the position and standards of the
company. The company has pledged to look after the needs of its
customers and been providing the customers with its services while
keeping the cost in mind (British Gas Annual Report, 204). In line with
these findings, the aim and objectives of the study are as follows:
1.1. Aims
To explore the marketing strategy of British Gas and its effectiveness
1.2. Objectives
The objectives of this study are as follows:
a) To understand the effectiveness of different marketing strategies
through literature review.
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b) To assess the effectiveness of the marketing strategy adopted by

British Gas.
c) To assess the effectiveness of their evaluation measures for their
marketing activities and produce a set of recommendations for
British Gas to improve its marketing strategy.
2. Literature Review
Researchers have identified that through strategic marketing businesses
can success in their field of interest. The basic concept of marketing
involves understanding the needs and wants of customers, providing them
with products and services, communicating with them effectively and
making good relationship with them (Aaker and Mcloughlin, 2010).
Marketing is directly related with the strategic approach of an organisation
to attain long term benefits leading to a sustainable competitive
advantage. The organisations are required to make an effective use of its
resources to ensure consumer needs are met together with the
expectations of the stakeholders (Beall, 2010). In todays world the rising
competition and increasing penetration of new markets, compels
businesses to find new and effective ways to promote their products and
services in order to develop internal/external market. For businesses
looking for successful and long term contribution to the market, it is
crucial to organise their marketing activities effectively; therefore, they
must adopt a proficient marketing strategy to take them to the heights
they desire to attain (Gilligan and Wilson, 2012). Selecting an effective
marketing strategy is not an easy task, as it requires continuous
monitoring. The planning of marketing strategy, assessment and
monitoring are the major tasks for an organisation that can be challenging
as a result of the fluctuating consumer demands (West Ford and Ibrahim,
2015). In order to attain the marketing aim/objectives set by the
organisation for itself, it not only important to develop a purposeful
assessment, but also an exceptional control strategy. This is because
having effective marketing, assessment and control strategies enables the
organisation to adjust its activities in accordance with the changes in
consumer and/or market demands to keep up with the expected results
for the company in such turbulent environment. British Gas is a number
one gas company, providing the people with its efficient and valuable
services, leaving a vast impression on the customers mind for a long
time. British Gas has a one simple purpose for the entire company, is
about two things, the way it cares for customers, people and communities
where they live, and the significant role it plays in the fabric of society
where they live and for their future (British Gas Annual Report, 2016).
British Gas has defined a new marketing strategy to make sure that it
attracts and retain valuable customers with innovative and exciting
products and services that meet their needs and exceeds expectations
better than any other competitors. Its all through the customer segments,
product development, customer relationship, brand and retail marketing,
the commercial and marketing team are leading the way (British Gas
Annual Report, 2015). However, no information is available about the
assessment and control measures in place by the organisation to
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continuously monitor the effectiveness of their marketing strategy. For this

reason, this project is an attempt to understand the marketing strategy of
British Gas, its assessment and control strategies that have led to the
success of the organisation over the decades.
As per British Gas their new marketing strategy will set them apart from
competitors making the services the number one choice for the tenants
through embedding an in-depth understanding of their needs. It also
makes sure It lives up to the promise of looking after your world in case
of the homeowners as they see their house as an investment and central
part of their lives (British Gas Annual Report, 2015). British Gas has also
understood the different needs of landlords compare to tenants and
homeowners, and their relationship to the property as their main concern
is to make their tenants happy, giving them hassle free experience and
giving them the value for their money. It is also responsible for the
communications for the customers, through different channels, from TV,
press and Radio or the Bill. For this purpose, it has divided, the team into
three major categories: to differentiate the brand (Brand Marketing), to
sell products (Retail Marketing), to build positive relationship with
customers (Customer Relationship Marketing).
British Gas has also
worked in many sections of the life it has improved diversity, targeted
advertising, removal of bias, and also focus on attributes and attitudes,
employee engagement (British Gas Annual Report, 2014).
The brand British Gas is a strong brand and has created working
opportunities for people over 900,000 young people and people from
under-represented groups. An initiative by the organisation to change
perceptions among school children that engineering is only a career for
white men has remained successful for example, independent research
on the Its a Gas workshops in schools reveals that after delivery of the
workshops, 51% of girls said they would consider a career in engineering
(British Gas Annual Report, 2015). The company has developed strong
working relationships with a number of women and BME groups. The
company has won a number of awards from a diverse range of
organisations, including Personnel Today, Employers Forum on Age,
Women in Science and Engineering and Opportunity Now in recognition of
its work and its achievements (British Gas Annual Report, 2015).It will be
interesting to investigate how the company has managed to uphold their
position in the market over the decades and effectiveness of their
marketing strategy in this highly competitive business environment.
3. Methodology
3.1. Research Design
In accordance with the aim and objectives of this research report, a
qualitative research design has been elected that will facilitate the
collection of both primary and secondary data to fully understand the
topic understudy. As British Gas is elected for this research project;
therefore, a case study approach has been adopted, which complements
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the selection strategy. The benefits of undertaking a case study is that

supports the researcher in working in a natural environment, which
requires no changes at all. In addition, the researcher is able to attain indepth information that is of good quality (Saunders et al., 2012). The
drawbacks of this approach include problems in generalising the findings
to a broader setting (Saunders et al., 2012).
3.2. Primary research
Researchers have identified that primary research method is a factual,
first-hand account of the study written by a person who is part of the
study. It basically involves the collation of data by the researcher. It can be
performed through different ways, including by questionnaires, one to one
interview, by telephone calls, observations or surveys and also by focus
group. It also allows the researchers to get engaged in the market field to
have the information about the behaviour of consumers towards the
products. The analyser should realise what he is going to discover by
survey before the primary research. And what is he going to conduct. The
analyser should also keep this in mind whats the best of research, either
observations or interviews. If, the researcher decides to take interviews,
then its totally depended on the questionnaires being set up. The data
collected by the primary research methods are of two types, i.e.
quantitative data and qualitative data. Quantitative data consists of
surveys and observations include personnel, interviews, mail, and
telephone calls. While qualitative data consists of focus groups (human
observation, case study). The advantages of collating primary data
include high response rate, great flexibility, demonstration of items, timely
data, body language can emphasize better response, no interviewer
favouritism, applicable, accurate and reliable. However, there are some
disadvantage of collating primary data as well, for example the approach
is not cost effective, it can difficult for the researcher to get access of the
target sample and the technique is time consuming (Zikmund et al.,
2013). Semi-structured interviews are chosen over structured and nonstructured interviews, as they offer high flexibility that facilitates free
flowing of information between an interviewer and interviewee (Zikmund
et al., 2013).
3.3. Secondary research
It is a research method in which the information is taken from the
available resources or already published information is used (Sekaran and
Bougie, 2011). As nowadays all the information is easily taken from the
internet, while it was hard to collect information from the books in the old
era. There are a number of advantages of collecting secondary data, for
example, it is an inexpensive approach and data is easily accessible. On
the other hand, there are a number of drawbacks associated with this
approach. Firstly, the approach is time consuming. Secondly, data can be
outdated and such data is inapplicable. In order to attain the aim and
objectives of this research study the annual report of British Gas will be
studied, together with books and articles on marketing. Although, the
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information can be easily accessed from the comfort of home or from the
library, there is a high risk of getting confused, as a huge amount of data
is present.
The access to secondary data is available through the internet and from
the library. A contact as established with the manager of British Gas and
the aim of the study were explained. He was explained that their
participation is of great value. A return phone call affirmed the
participation of 4 managers through telephone interview. The researcher
inquired, if at least 5 could participate, but they informed that informed
that others were busy with their work schedules. All the participants will
be asked the same questions and verbal consents will be taken before the
start of the interview. The advantage of conducting an interview over the
phone is that it makes it easier for the researcher to the members of the
target population that cannot be met face-to-face, due to the difference in
the location of the interviewer and the interviewee (Silver, Stevens and
Wrenn, 2013). However, there are some limitations associated with
telephone interviews, for example, the researcher cannot see who is
he/she talking to; therefore, can miss the non-verbal cues (Silver, Stevens
and Wrenn, 2013).
3.4. Sampling
As this study looks at the appropriateness and effectiveness of the
marketing strategy/strategies at British Gas; therefore, managers of the
company are elected as the target population for this particular study. The
managers are selected as they are aware of the current marketing
strategies used by the company. They have the knowledge about the
impact of marketing strategies for the business growth and consumer
base. Probability sampling technique suited the aim and objectives of the
study, and also the decision to select managers as the target population.
Non-probability sampling technique was avoided, as not all the employees
of the organisation, may not have the required information (Zikmund et
al., 2013).
3.5. Reliability of Data and Ethical Considerations
It is vital to maintain the reliability data throughout the research study,
which is defined as the accurateness of the data collated for the study
(Saunders et al., 2012). The reliability of the data obtained for this study
will be maintained by using the articles and studies that are from reliable
sources. Data will be analysed in a step-wise manner to ensure all the
information is read and effectively incorporated in the findings of the
study. This approach will allow the research to uphold the trustworthiness
of this study.
As far as the ethical liabilities are concerned, the participation will be
voluntary and verbal consents will be taken, as mentioned earlier. The
participating managers will be provided will all the information, duration of
the interview, time and day. The interviews will be taken as per their
comfortability. They will not face any stress by being a part of this study
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and can withdraw at any time from the study. The researcher does not
require any personal information, anonymity of participants will be upheld,
as the data will only be used for research purposes by the researcher.
4. Gannt Chart
Tasks

FebMarc
h
Write and Submit Proposal X
Results and Feedback on X
Proposal
Write
Introduction
and
Literature Review
Collect Data and Write
Methodology
and
see
Supervisor to get Feedback
Write Analysis, Discussion
and Conclusion, followed
by the Submission of
Dissertation

April

May

June

July

References
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London: John Wiley & Sons.
American
Marketing
Association.,
2015.
Available
https://www.ama.org/AboutAMA/Pages/Definition-of-Marketing.aspx
[Accessed 22 Jul 2016].

at:

Beall, A., 2010. Strategic Market Research. New York: iUniverse.

British Gas Annual Report., 2015. Available at: http://www.britishgas.co.uk/
[ Accessed 22 Jul 2016].
British Gas Annual Report., 2014. Available at: http://www.britishgas.co.uk/
[ Accessed 22 Jul 2016].
British Gas Annual Report, 2010. Available at: http://www.britishgas.co.uk/
[Accessed 22 Jul 2016].
Cohen, W. (2012) Drucker on Marketing. London: McGraw Hill Professional.
Gilligan, C. and Wilson, R., 2012. Strategic Marketing Planning. London:
Routledge.
Reid, R. and Bojanic, D., 2009. Hospitality Marketing Management.
London: John Wiley & Sons.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A., 2012.
Business Students. London: Prentice Hall.
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Research Methods for

Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R., 2011. Research Methods for Business: A Skill
Building Approach. London: John Wiley & Sons.
Silver, L., Stevens, R. and Wrenn, B., 2013. The Essentials of Marketing
Research. London: Routledge.
UKs Chartered Institute of Marketing., 2016. Available at: www.cim.co.uk
[Accessed 22 Jul 2016].
West, D., Ford, J. and Ibrahim, E., 2015. Strategic Marketing: Creating
Competitive Advantages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zikmund, W., Babin, B. and Carr, J., 2013. Business Research Methods.
USA: Cengage.