Marketing mix

What the syllabus asks of you

• Product: The limitations and benefits of developing new products
• Product: Brand image; impact on sales and customer loyalty
• Product: The role of packaging
• Product: The product life cycle: main stages and extension strategies; draw and interpret a product life cycle diagram
• Product: How stages of the product life cycle can influence marketing decisions, e.g. promotion and pricing decisions
• Price: Pricing methods (benefits and limitations of different methods), e.g. cost plus, competitive, penetration, skimming, and promotional
• Price: Recommend and justify an appropriate pricing method in given circumstances
• Price: 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 assessed)
• Place – distribution channels: Advantages and disadvantages of different channels, e.g. use of wholesalers, retailers or direct to consumers
• Place – distribution channels: Recommend and justify an appropriate distribution channel in given circumstances
• Promotion: The aims of promotion
• Promotion: Different forms of promotion and how they influence sales, e.g. advertising, sales promotion
• Promotion: The need for cost-effectiveness in spending the marketing budget on promotion
• Technology and the marketing mix: Define and explain the concept of e-commerce
• Technology and the marketing mix: The opportunities and threats of e-commerce to business and consumers
• Technology and the marketing mix: Use of the internet and social media networks for promotion