Marketing Essentials Mark Davis Senior Examiner Exam briefing December 2013

Presentation title Key topics Recent changes to the assessment. Key and command words. Magic formula. Review recent assessments. What has worked well and not so well. How the mark scheme has been implemented. The future.

Presentation title From December 2012 there were some changes to the assessment - why change? Process needs to be refreshed, it’s over 4 years old. Progression to other units and levels. To reflect teaching style. Allow candidates to demonstrate underpinning knowledge. Assist in candidates’ time management. Allow candidates to demonstrate application of knowledge. Take out some of the complexity. Research and feedback.

Presentation title Changes to the assessment – what is not changing There will still be Part A and Part B. Part A – continues to have an emphasis on theory, underpinning knowledge and concepts. Part B – continues to have an emphasis on context, application of knowledge and evaluation. Part B – continues to look at presentation. The magic formula stays in place.

Presentation title Part A There are 5 tasks worth 8 marks each. Still based on underpinning knowledge. Tasks one and two will require 4 short answers. Tasks three, four and five will require more detailed responses. More opportunity to show knowledge. More time to provide information. Use of examples of your own choice. For example: Task 3 from December 2012 paper – a.Explain why a large retail chain store should act in an ethical and socially responsible manner. b.Outline how acting in a socially responsible manner can help to develop relations with the community and with customers.

Presentation title Part B No case study. Answers based on scenarios/business sectors. You often get to choose the organisation. Broken down into elements – knowledge/application/evaluation. Only three different formats required – report, , briefing paper. For example: Task 7 from June 2013 paper – You work for a multinational manufacturing company that produces steel components for the automotive industry. You have been asked by your manager to produce a briefing paper that: a.Provides an overview of the marketing planning process, briefly explaining how each element relates to the automotive industry business-to-business (B2B) sector b.Explains the major components contained within the marketing audit.

Presentation title The ‘Magic Formula’ Concept Evaluation 20% Application 30% Concept 40% Presentation 10%

Presentation title Command and key words Command words require you to do something. Analyse, compare, reasons, identify, describe or explain, for example: Task 2c from June 2013 paper – Briefly describe relationship marketing Key words give you the link to the subject or syllabus area you need to look at, for example the key word in task 2c in June 2013 was – relationship marketing - Briefly describe relationship marketing. Key words could be any area of the syllabus, for example –Loyalty, channels, price, orientation, exchange, objectives, adoption and so on.

Presentation title To look at examples Taking a number of tasks from recent examinations and looking at: What worked well in the answers provided? What did not work well in the candidates answers? How the marking scheme was implemented? Improvement for the future.

Presentation title Reviewing December 2012 exam - Part A Task 1 – Define the following terms: Internal environment, sales orientation, autocratic leadership and innovator. Some very good answers, that take care over time management. 2 marks per definition therefore limit to facts. Innovators are very seldom companies. Micro and internal environments are not the same, do not mix the two areas of the syllabus. Often these types of quick questions can be used as wake up or warm up questions within sessions or part of your revision plan.

Presentation title Reviewing June 2013 exam - Part A Task 3 – a.Explain, using an organisation of your choice, the importance of objectives. b.Identify TWO influences on objectives from that organisation’s point of view. Key and command words? – objectives, influences, explain and identify. Objectives are important because they give direction, consistency, motivate and offer the organisation some monitoring and control. Influences could be many and include management style, organisational structure, communication, finance, resources and of course external influence contained within PESTEL or similar models. 4 marks for each section, therefore look for 4 elements in context.

Presentation title Reviewing December 2012 exam - Part B Task 6 – You are the Marketing Assistant for a global not-for-profit (NFP) organisation and your manager is currently renewing its brand position. Using an organisation of your choice, write a briefing paper that: explains the concept of a brand. recommends how 7Ps of the marketing mix should be used to support this brand. Key and command words – explain, recommends, brand and marketing mix. Clear understanding of brand require, the intangible bundle of benefits. Clear knowledge of how NFP organisations function. Clear development of context, linking theory with the organisation.

Presentation title Reviewing December 2012 exam - Part B, Task 6 continued Basic underpinning knowledge of the 7 elements of the marketing mix. Context - put those 7 elements into NFP organisation. Recommendation for NFP and the marketing mix. The marketing mix still includes price for a NFP organisation. Underpinning knowledge - what is the product in NFP? Synergy is a fundamental part of the marketing mix. It is important to remember the key and command words once again, however in Part B it is also important to have that context – explain and recommend to a NFP organisation.

Presentation title Key messages - what was good General strengths of the candidates who achieved well, have been identified by the examining teams as – Answering the question asked of them, which enabled candidates to demonstrate a good understanding of the key concepts and theories. Having excellent underpinning knowledge which allowed candidates to do very well in part A tasks. Being specific about the information given. Having excellent time management skills, therefore answering all 8 tasks well, we can only mark the information provided. Understanding the scenario situations well and therefore using the correct context for their answers. Following the magic formula. Presenting the information in correct format.

Presentation title Key messages - what was not so good Format - briefing paper, , reports are different, there are 6 marks for the correct format, it is better to be marked from 100 than 94 marks overall. Lack of contextualisation in scenarios. Time management in Part A – too much for 2 marks. Not answering the question. Retail and supermarkets are the same thing. Introducing models that are not in the syllabus. Lack of underpinning depth of knowledge of brands, not for profit and the exchange model.

Presentation title Do not forget the simple things Format is still an important part of Part B, each scenario will give a different format to use: s, reports and briefing paper. Use appropriate examples when asked. Contextualise – Not for Profit, still make surplus. Diagrams when drawn well! – PLC for example, but when required. Underpinning knowledge is demonstrated when shown in context. Practise time management with the new style marks per minute. Read around the subject at least a broad sheet newspaper.

Presentation title Exam technique – time management Part A now has 5 tasks worth 8 marks. Part A 5 tasks approximately 12 minutes per answer. Part B remains 3 tasks of 20 marks. Part B approximately 30 minutes per answer. Overall remains at approximately 1.5 minutes per mark.

Presentation title Summary Read and use the information on the website the ‘Learning Zone’ for students and the ‘Tutor Zone’ for tutors that will include: The new style and information on format/presentation. Web reports about all recent examinations. Presentations about the examination. Practise – short answer tasks – lock in the theory. Good planning – Time/Marks. Make my team smile!