3.1 Marketing, competition and the customer

3.1.1 The role of marketing:

• Identifying customer needs
• Satisfying customer needs
• Maintaining customer loyalty; building customer relationships

3.1.2 Market changes:

• Why customer/consumer spending patterns may change
• The power and importance of changing customer needs
• Why some markets have become more competitive
• How business can respond to changing spending patterns and increased competition

3.1.3 Concepts of niche marketing and mass marketing:

• Benefits and limitations of each approach to marketing

3.1.4 How and why market segmentation is undertaken:

• How markets can be segmented, e.g. according to age, socio-economic grouping, location, gender
• Potential benefits of segmentation to business
• Recommend and justify an appropriate method of segmentation in given circumstances

3.2 Market research

3.2.1 The role of market research and methods used:

• Market-oriented businesses (uses of market research information to a business)
• Primary research and secondary research (benefits and limitations of each)
• Methods of primary research, e.g. postal questionnaire, online survey, interviews, focus groups; the need for sampling
• Factors influencing the accuracy of market research data

3.2.2 Presentation and use of market research results:

• Analyse market research data shown in the form of graphs, charts and diagrams: draw simple conclusions from such data

3.3 Marketing mix

3.3.1 Product:

• The costs and benefits of developing new products
• Brand image – impact on sales and customer loyalty
• The role of packaging
• The product life cycle: main stages and extension strategies; draw and interpret a product life cycle diagram
• How stages of the product life cycle can influence marketing decisions, e.g. promotion and pricing decisions

3.3.2 Price:

• Pricing methods: cost plus, competitive, penetration, skimming and promotional; their benefits and limitations
• Recommend and justify an appropriate pricing method in given circumstances
• Understand the significance of price elasticity: difference between price elastic demand and price inelastic demand; importance of the concept in pricing decisions (knowledge of the formula and calculations of PED will not be examined)

3.3.3 Place – distribution channels:

• Advantages and disadvantages of different channels
• Recommend and justify an appropriate distribution channel in given circumstances

3.3.4 Promotion:

• The aims of promotion
• Different forms of promotion and how they influence sales, e.g. advertising, sales promotion
• The importance of the marketing budget in making promotion decisions; need for cost effectiveness in spending the marketing budget

3.3.5 Technology and the marketing mix:

• Define and explain the concept of e-commerce
• The opportunities and threats of e-commerce to business and consumers
• Use of the internet and social networks for promotion

3.4 Marketing strategy

3.4.1 Justify marketing strategies appropriate to a given situation:

• Importance of different elements of the marketing mix in influencing consumer decisions in given circumstances
• Recommend and justify an appropriate marketing strategy in given circumstances

3.4.2 The nature and impact of legal controls related to marketing:

• Impact of legal controls on marketing strategy, e.g. misleading promotion, faulty and dangerous goods

3.4.3 The opportunities and problems of entering new markets abroad:

• Growth potential of new markets in other countries
• Problems of entering foreign markets, e.g. cultural differences and lack of knowledge
• Benefits and limitations of methods to overcome such problems, e.g. joint ventures