OCR A-Level Business: marketing complete overview
A complete overview of the OCR A-Level Business marketing theme, covering marketing objectives and orientation, market research, segmentation, targeting and positioning, market metrics, the product life cycle and Boston matrix, the marketing mix, pricing strategies and elasticity, and digital and international marketing.
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Marketing is the theme that connects a business to its customers: setting objectives, researching the market, dividing it into segments, and building a mix of product, price, place and promotion that meets needs profitably. Because OCR examines the same themes in all three components, the marketing tools recur in a local, a UK and a global context. This overview maps the theme; each section links to a full dot-point answer.
Objectives, orientation and research
Marketing objectives flow from corporate objectives. A market-orientated firm designs what customers want; a product-orientated firm leads with the product. Primary and secondary research, and careful sampling, gather the data, though all research is an estimate.
Market analysis
Segmentation, targeting and positioning decide where to compete. Market size, growth and share measure the market (and sales can grow while share falls). The product life cycle and the Boston matrix manage products over time and across a portfolio.
The marketing mix
The four Ps (product, price, place, promotion), extended to seven for services, must be integrated so they reinforce one another. Branding, the USP and the design mix sit within product, and distribution channels within place.
Pricing and elasticity
Pricing strategies (cost-plus, penetration, skimming, competitive, psychological, loss-leader) are chosen against price elasticity of demand, competition, costs, the life cycle and positioning.
Digital and international marketing
Digital marketing (e-commerce, social media, data-driven targeting) is cheaper and better targeted but raises privacy issues. Going abroad forces a standardisation versus adaptation choice, usually resolved by glocalisation.
How to study this theme
- Learn the models and formulae. Market share, growth, the life cycle, the Boston matrix and PED are exam staples.
- Apply, do not list. Judge whether a firm's mix is integrated and fits its target.
- Drill the calculations. Market share, growth and PED must be automatic with units and a revenue interpretation.
- Revise from the official specification. Use the current OCR H431 document.
For the full specification, see OCR.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR A-Level Business (H431) specification — OCR (2015)