Unit 4 Marketing
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4.1 Introduction to marketing
• Distinguish market orientation and product orientation • Market orientation starts with customer needs; product orientation starts with product capabilities
• Calculate and interpret market share • Market share measures a business's sales as a proportion of total market sales
• Calculate and interpret market growth • Market growth measures change in market size over time
• Evaluate importance of market share and market leadership • Market leadership can bring brand power, economies of scale, influence, and strategic advantage
4.2 Marketing planning
4.2.1Role of marketing planning
• Analyse the role of marketing planning • Marketing planning aligns research, objectives, strategy, budget, and marketing mix decisions
4.2.2STP and position maps
• Apply segmentation, targeting, target market, positioning, and position maps • STP helps businesses choose customers and communicate differentiated value
4.2.3Niche and mass markets
• Distinguish niche market and mass market • Niche markets focus on narrow segments; mass markets target broad demand
4.2.4Unique selling point
• Analyse importance of having a unique selling point or proposition (USP) • USP helps differentiate a product or business from competitors
4.2.5Differentiation
• Evaluate how organizations can differentiate themselves and their products from competitors • Differentiation may use branding, quality, design, service, innovation, price, or distribution
4.3 Sales forecasting
• Evaluate benefits and limitations of sales forecasting • Forecasting supports planning but is limited by data quality, market uncertainty, and changing consumer behaviour
4.4 Market research
• Evaluate why and how organizations carry out market research • Market research reduces uncertainty and supports marketing decisions
• Apply surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observations • Primary research collects new data for a specific business purpose
• Apply market analyses, academic journals, government publications, media articles, and online content • Secondary research uses existing data from internal or external sources
• Distinguish qualitative and quantitative research • Qualitative research explores opinions and reasons; quantitative research measures numerical patterns
• Apply quota, random, and convenience sampling • Sampling method affects representativeness, cost, speed, and bias
4.5 The seven Ps of the marketing mix
• Analyse the relationship between product life cycle, product portfolio, and marketing mix • Evaluate extension strategies • Analyse the relationship between product life cycle, investment, profit, and cash flow
• Apply branding awareness, development, loyalty, and value • Analyse the importance of branding • Branding affects recognition, trust, differentiation, loyalty, and pricing power
• Evaluate cost-plus or mark-up pricing, penetration pricing, loss leader, predatory pricing, and premium pricing • Pricing method suitability depends on objectives, costs, competition, demand, positioning, and product life cycle
• Evaluate dynamic pricing, competitive pricing, contribution pricing, and price elasticity of demand • HL pricing methods require deeper analysis of responsiveness, contribution, competitors, and changing market conditions
• Apply above the line, below the line, and through the line promotion • Evaluate social media marketing as a promotional strategy
• Evaluate importance of different distribution channels • Distribution channel choice affects reach, control, cost, convenience, and customer experience
• Evaluate importance of employee-customer relationships in marketing a service and cultural variation in these relationships • People shape service quality, brand image, trust, and customer satisfaction
• Evaluate importance of delivery processes in marketing a service and changes in these processes • Processes affect consistency, efficiency, service quality, and customer experience
• Evaluate importance of tangible physical evidence in marketing a service • Physical evidence supports customer confidence when services are intangible
• Evaluate appropriate marketing mixes for particular products or businesses • Effective marketing mixes align with target market, positioning, objectives, competition, and resources
4.6 International marketing
• Evaluate opportunities and threats posed by entering and operating internationally • Opportunities include larger markets, growth, economies of scale, and diversification • Threats include cultural differences, legal constraints, exchange rates, competition, logistics, and political risk