Marketing audit approach - IKEAMarketing audit overview“What is a marketing audit? Quite simply, it is a detailed analysis of the elements that constitute or influence a company's efforts to profitably market its products, today and in the future, when both the market and the products may undergo radical changes” (John, Alexander , & Theodore, 1969). Marketing audit helps to understand the fundamentals of a company's marketing planning process. The audit is not only conducted in the planning phase, but also during the various phases up to the implementation of the marketing plan. OrganizationThe organization selected for the marketing audit is the IKEA Group. As part of Phoenix University's marketing course, the author of this document (hereinafter referred to as the "author") will review IKEA's marketing process and provide an audit report at the end of the course. Approach to Marketing Audit This document aims to provide an approach to the marketing audit process and will also detail the steps that need to be performed to achieve the same result. The final project document will have an executive summary, which provides a summary of the purpose of the marketing audit, key findings, key takeaways, conclusions and recommendations. This is a high-level summary and can be presented to the company's top management. It is critical that the author ensures that the summary does not contain conflicting information with the detailed audit. Company Overview The first step of the marketing audit is to understand the company's vision, products, and marketing strategy. Regarding the IKEA Group, information can be obtained from the student information website provided by the IKEA Group. Analyzing the Marketing Environment The next part of the audit process is to understand the business environmental aspects of the company. As part of the marketing audit project, the author will analyze and provide detailed information on the following key environmental aspects Customers Demographics Markets. Each category will be analyzed using the IKEA student information website, the IKEA Group corporate website, and University of Phoenix library resources. and magazine articles. The key questions the author will answer are: Customers: need to evaluate and understand the nature of IKEA customers, for example customer needs and how to satisfy them perception of the IKEA brand what customers “like” and how IKEA can provide “value” to its customers What is “buyer decision making” and consumer behavior? The nature of market segmentation, target and position of IKEA. Demographics: need to evaluate and understand average consumer ages, population levels and gender. How technology has played a role in marketing?