Task 1 The Importance of Marketing So that all members of the Department are clear about the importance of marketing to the success of an organisation you need to ensure they understand the concept of marketing and its strategic role. Using specific organisations, analyse the relationship between their marketing strategy and their vision, mission and business strategy (AC 1.1) Task 2 Building a Marketing Strategy Stage 1 - Analysis Before building a strategy, the marketing environment must be analysed. a) Evaluate the tools and techniques available for analysing key areas of the marketing environment (AC 1.2) and explain those which could be used to analyse the market environment in specific, identified business situations (AC 1.3) b) You will need to know about consumer and competitor behaviours. Some of this will be provided by research. Analyse the role of market research in business decision making (AC 1.4) Stage 2 – Planning Using one or more organisations and different business situations to illustrate your answers (AC2.6) c) critically analyse the relationship between marketing strategy, strategic market analysis, marketing goals and marketing actions (AC 2.1) d) explain how an overview of the their strategic position and an understanding of their competitors impact on marketing strategy (AC 2.2) e) critically analyse the links between growth strategies and the main types of strategic marketing objectives (AC 2.3) f) explain how marketing strategies l contribute to sustainable competitive advantage (AC 2.4) g) examine the factors that will influence consumer choice and behaviour (AC 2.5) Stage 3 - Segmentation h) Differentiate between market segmentation and product differentiation (AC3.1) i) Compare and contrast different targeting approaches (AC 3.2) j) Critically analyse the process and function of positioning (AC3.3) , applying your thoughts to a specific organisation Task 3 – Implementation and the marketing mix The marketing mix is the key tool used to guide implementation. With application to your selected organisation and business situations (used in the planning of your marketing strategy) you must: a) assess the role of the marketing mix in the implementation of your marketing strategy (AC 4.1) b) evaluate the role of product development and branding (AC 4.2) c) critically analyse the impact costing and pricing decisions have on competitive advantage (AC 4.3) d) critically analyse the role and purpose of marketing communication as part of the marketing mix (AC 4.4) e) explain how retailing and channel management, as part of the marketing mix, contribute to competitive advantage(AC 4.5) Task 4 Some of the members of the Marketing Department have come from the tertiary and public sectors and are less familiar with the manufacturing environment. a) Compare and contrast marketing strategies in commercial, not for profit organisations and the public sector (AC 5.1) and analyse the use of marketing techniques in each of the sectors (AC 5.2) b) Evaluate the impact of marketing on social and political change (AC 5.3)