Marketing

What Marketing covers

Marketing is examined in Unit 2, Business Functions, and again in Unit 4, which assesses the whole A level content. It covers market orientation, product orientation and asset-led marketing, the marketing mix, product and the product portfolio, branding, USP and differentiation, the product life cycle, extension strategies, the product life cycle and cash flow, the Boston matrix, pricing strategies, choosing the right pricing strategy, promotion: above the line and below the line, place and distribution channels, the marketing mix in different contexts and global marketing and new technology in marketing.

The 14 subtopics

Each one has its own page. WJEC AS Business students sit this topic in the first year.

• Market orientation, product orientation and asset-led marketingMarket orientation, product orientation and asset-led marketing.Open →
• The marketing mixThe elements of the marketing mix, including the extra elements for services such as people, process and physical evidence, and why they must fit together.Open →
• Product and the product portfolioProduct portfolio, product range and product cannibalisation.Open →
• Branding, USP and differentiationUnique selling point, product differentiation and effect of strong brand loyalty on price elasticity of demand.Open →
• The product life cycleProduct life cycle, what happens to sales during the introduction stage and maturity stage.Open →
• Extension strategiesExtension strategy, four extension strategies a business can use and extension by finding a new market.Open →
• The product life cycle and cash flowProduct's cash flow during the development stage, cash flow at the introduction stage and cash flow during the growth stage.Open →
• The Boston matrixBoston matrix and cash cow.Open →
• Pricing strategiesPricing strategy, penetration pricing and price skimming.Open →
• Choosing the right pricing strategyRecall questions on matching price to the stage of the life cycle, to the strength of competition and to what the customer will bear, and on when a low price signals poor quality.Open →
• Promotion: above the line and below the lineAbove the line promotion, below the line promotion and difference between informative and persuasive advertising.Open →
• Place and distribution channelsParties that can appear in a distribution channel, direct distribution channel and one-level distribution channel.Open →
• The marketing mix in different contexts and global marketingHow the marketing mix changes for different businesses and markets, global brands and standardised or adapted strategies, and Welsh food products whose names carry legal protection.Open →
• New technology in marketingDigital marketing, viral marketing and search engine optimisation.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Marketing further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Market orientation vs Asset-led marketing

  Market orientation: an approach in which a business bases its decisions on the needs and wants of customers, identified through research, rather than on what it would prefer to make. Asset-led marketing: An approach in which a business bases its decisions on the strengths it already possesses, such as its brand name, expertise or technology, matched to a need it can meet.

• Penetration pricing vs Price skimming

  Penetration pricing: launching deliberately cheaply in order to win market share quickly, intending to charge more once a customer base is established. Price skimming: Launching high to earn large margins from the customers who want the product first, followed by reductions as the market widens.

• Above the line vs Below the line

  Above the line: paid advertising placed in independent mass media such as television, radio, cinema, the press and billboards, which the business does not control. Below the line: Promotional activity the business runs and controls itself, such as sales promotions, direct mail, personal selling, sponsorship and merchandising.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is meant by market orientation?

   Model answer

   Market orientation is an approach in which a business bases its decisions on the needs and wants of customers, identified through market research, rather than on what it would prefer to make.

2. 2

   What is meant by product orientation?

   Model answer

   Product orientation is an approach in which a business concentrates on designing and making a product it believes in, and then looks for customers who will buy it.

3. 3

   Define asset-led marketing.

   Model answer

   Asset-led marketing bases marketing decisions on the strengths a business already possesses, such as its brand name, expertise or technology, matched to a need in the market.

4. 4

   Give two advantages of being market orientated.

   Model answer

   A market orientated business is more likely to sell what customers actually want, so sales and loyalty are higher, and the risk of a new product failing at launch is much lower.

5. 5

   Give two drawbacks of a market orientated approach.

   Model answer

   Continuous market research is expensive, and research reveals what customers want now rather than what they will want later, so genuinely original ideas can be missed.

6. 6

   Why might a pharmaceutical firm developing a new treatment be product orientated?

   Model answer

   The science leads the development, customers cannot describe a treatment that does not yet exist, and the product must be proved to work before any demand for it can be measured.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Marketing revision questions

Is Marketing examined at AS in WJEC Business?

Yes. It sits in AS Unit 2, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.

What does Marketing cover in WJEC AS-Level Business?

14 subtopics: market orientation, product orientation and asset-led marketing, the marketing mix, product and the product portfolio, branding, usp and differentiation, the product life cycle, extension strategies, the product life cycle and cash flow, the boston matrix, pricing strategies, choosing the right pricing strategy, promotion: above the line and below the line, place and distribution channels, the marketing mix in different contexts and global marketing and new technology in marketing. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Marketing organised?

By the WJEC 601-5238-2 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.