A Level Section 3: Marketing
Section 3 summary
In this section we take a more strategic view of marketing
than at AS Level. We consider the process involved in
planning marketing whereas the AS content focused more
on the implementation. Effective marketing planning
involves understanding the market and its trends as well
as the strengths and weaknesses of the business itself to
set appropriate objectives, to set a budget and to develop a
marketing strategy. What markets does the business want to
sell in? What products does it want to offer? Where does it
want to position itself?
We also consider influences on the marketing plan such
as the elasticity of demand. The marketing decisions made
depend on the sensitivity of demand to prices and income
and other variables. This sensitivity will affect what prices
are set, who is targeted and what is offered. Students need to
be able to analyse what factors influence a marketing plan,
why producing a plan is useful and the key elements of a
plan. At the same time they need to be aware of the problems
of implementing plans and why plans can go wrong.
In order to plan effectively marketing managers will want
to be looking ahead. What matters is not just what is
happening in markets today but what will be happening in
the future. This involves reviewing existing products that the
business offers and how this product range needs to develop
over time. Managers will be considering product ideas
and evaluating these in the context of market conditions.
Students will need to analyse the influences on new product
Cambridge International AS and A Level Business Teacher’s CD © Andrew Gillespie & Malcolm Surridge 2016
development and the factors influencing a new product’s
success. Looking ahead will involve the forecasting of sales;
this is vital in deciding how marketing may evolve but also
because of the importance of sales estimates to planning
elsewhere in the business – for example, the capacity of the
business, the staffi ng requirements and the profit and cash-
flow position of the business. Students need to know how to
forecast and the significance and value of a sales forecast.
One particular aspect of marketing that has become
increasingly important in recent years is international
marketing. With markets more open these days, greater
globalisation and the increased ease of reaching international
customers through online promotion and selling,
international marketing has become ever more important.
In this section we therefore consider the advantages and
problems of targeting international markets. Students need
to consider why international markets offer important
opportunities for businesses, how businesses can enter
markets but also the reasons why they might fail.
Throughout this section students must consider who the
business is targeting, how it intends to compete, what
will determine its competitiveness and how its approach
might change over time as conditions change. Effective
marketing requires an understanding of the external
environment and how this changes as well as the internal
environment and how this influences how the business
should and could compete.
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