Marketing

Marketing Planning

the process of choosing business objectives and how marketing will help you achieve them

Market Positioning

establishing a brand’s unique place in the consumer’s mind

Marketing Audit

a comprehensive analysis of internal and external factors that influence marketing performance and marketing decisions

Segmentation

splitting a population into groups of people with similar needs and characteristics

Geographic segmentation

dividing potential customers based on their geographic location

Demographic Segmentation

dividing consumers according to characteristics such as age, gender and occupation

Psychographic Segmentation

dividing the population according to lifestyle and personal interests.

Advantages of Segmentation

lets you identify gaps and opportunities in the market, lets you design products that cater to specific groups, increases efficiency, diversification risk is spread across many segments

Targeting

selecting the most appropriate segment for a marketing campaign

Product Positioning

distinguishing a brand from its competitors

Product Positioning Maps

visual representations of how various competitors might attempt to position their brands in the eyes of the consumer

Niche Market

a small part of a larger market. customers for niche markets have very specialised needs or wants that are different from the larger market

Mass Market

a market for goods that are produced in very large quantities

Advantages of Mass Marketing

large market, economies of scale

Disadvantages of Mass marketing

higher upfront cost, competition

Advantages of Niche Marketing

less competition, good for small businesses

Disadvantages of Niche Marketing

lower economies of scale, little growth potential

Unique Selling Point (USP)

the feature that marks a product or brand out from its competition

Types of USPs

product, promotion, place, people, physical environment, processing (efficient and quick service)

Sales Forecasting

a quantitative technique used by businesses to predict the levels of sales that they may expect in future years

Causal Model

A quantitative representation of real-world business dynamics, showing the causal relationship between an independent and dependent variable.

Time Series Analysis

A statistical technique used by businesses to identify trends in historical data, such as sales revenue figures of previous years recorded at proper intervals in the past.

Limitations of Sales Forecasting

new companies don’t have previous data, managers still need to remain flexible despite results

Market Research

gaining information on customers and competitors

Why do businesses carry out market research

identifying customer needs and wants, understanding changes in consumer behaviour, establishing what customers like,

Types of primary market research methods

surveys, interviews, observations, focus groups

Definition of a focus group

An interview conducted with a group of individuals, usually with similar characteristics.

Primary Market Research

Research (in a market) that involves creating new information that is gathered through surveys, interviews, observations, focus groups, camera studies or other methods.

Secondary Market Research

market research that involves using evidence gathered by others.

Types of secondary market researchq

market analyses, academic journals, government publications, media articles and online content

Limits of primary market research

can be expensive and time consuming, staff training costs, hard to find effective questions

Benefits of primary market research

Provides direct information about customers’ tastes and preferences, Provides information about reasons for purchases, Provides unique information that can give a competitive advantage

Uses of secondary market research

Provides information at lower cost than primary research, Provides broader contextual information about the whole economy, population or general trends; Published information is often already available

Limits of secondary market research

The business must rely on the research methods of others, Information that the business wants may not exist, Existing information may not be fit for the business’s purpose; it could relate to a different issue, different subject or different target market

Quantitative Market Research

collecting numerical data or information

Qualitative Research

collecting non-numerical data, such as opinions

Differences in collection methods of quantitative and qualitative data

sample size and number of questions asked

Sampling

A technique of selecting a subset of individuals from a given population to make some estimation or prediction of the population as a whole.

Random Sampling

A sampling method whereby everyone in the population has the same chance of being selected to take part in the research.

Quota Sampling

A sampling method that involves dividing the population into strata (layers) based on a given characteristic; a proportional sample is then taken from each stratum.

Convenience Sampling

A sampling method where the sample is made up of whoever is willing to take part in the research. It represents the population the least

Correlation

a statistical term outlining a relationship between two variables