Marketing Principles and Practice
Scenario
You are employed as a manager in a medium size business which is a limited company and has ambitions to expand. The Managing Director (MD) of the organisation is not a marketing professional and does not have a good understanding of the role of marketing in business. He knows from your CV that you have studied marketing principles and practice and he is keen to use your understanding and skills. At a meeting with the MD you are asked to complete the following tasks.
Task 1
Your first task is to help him understand the role of marketing in business. You need to explain to the MD what marketing is and the role it plays in the achievement of business objectives. You have decided to produce a file which addresses each of the topics listed below. You will present the file at your next meeting with the MD. In your file you will include:
- an analysis of the role of marketing in the achievement of business objectives (AC1.1)
- an analysis of the external factors influencing marketing in business (AC1.2)
- an assessment of the role of marketing in not for profit organisations (AC1.3)
Merit Task
To achieve a Merit, you must add to your file an analysis of how a marketing strategy supports the sales function in businesses. (AC1M1)
Task 2
Following a successful meeting with the MD, who was delighted with the file and your analyses, you have been asked to prepare a presentation for the Board of Directors, so they understand the principles of marketing. This will show how marketing will equip the management of the business with more effective tools. The MD wishes to see the materials before they are used at the Board Meeting. He has also made it clear that, as the Board members are involved with other activities outside of the business and are busy, the presentation must include slides and an accompanying handout that they can read following the meeting. The presentation and handout must cover the following.
- an analysis of the different elements of the marketing process (AC2.1)
- an explanation of the methods of segmenting markets (AC2.2)
- an analysis of the principles of digital marketing. (AC2.3)
Merit Task
To achieve a Merit, the presentation and handout must include an evaluation of the benefits of segmenting markets. (AC2M1)
Distinction Task
To achieve a Distinction, the presentation and handout must include an analysis of the challenges businesses face to market effectively. (AC2D1)
Task 3
Your work and the meeting which followed could not have gone better! The Managing Director has revised your job description and given you particular responsibility for marketing the business. He has allocated three employees to assist you. The employees are new to marketing, so you decide to produce a training pack for them to help them understand how they might apply different marketing methods. In the pack you should:
- analyse different methods of researching a market (AC3.1)
- evaluate the use of the different channels for digital marketing (AC3.2)
Distinction Task
To achieve a Distinction, the training pack must include a proposal for ways in which the current challenges for digital marketing could be overcome or mitigated. (AC3D1).
Task 4
The Board of Directors is delighted that marketing is now a key function in the business and there is a marketing expert of your calibre, who can advise them on how marketing could revolutionise the business! You have been asked to develop a marketing plan for a specific product or service. This plan must include the following sections:
- The proposed strategic objectives for the plan (AC4.1)
- A determination of target market/s for the selected product or service (AC4.2)
- A consideration of factors which will be relevant to the implementation of the plan. (AC4.3