June 2014 QCF Study Tips: Strategic Marketing Management

In conjunction with this Study Tips article, please see the Important Advice for June
2014 QCF Exam Candidates on the Members Area of the ABE website, which contains
essential information for the upcoming June 2014 QCF ABE examinations, as well as
links to other useful student support materials to supplement your learning.

The purpose of this article is to help you prepare for the Strategic Marketing Management
(SMM) examination. Following this advice carefully should substantially improve your
chances of passing the examination.

To pass an examination at Level 6 you are required to demonstrate methods and skills to
address complex problems. It requires an understanding of different perspectives,
approaches or schools of thought and the theories that underpin them. Most importantly
you must be able to demonstrate an ability to critically evaluate, analyse and interpret
complex information, concepts and ideas and evaluate actions, methods and their
implications. You must show you have knowledge and understanding of the entire SMM
syllabus and demonstrate an ability to turn theory into practical application.

Passing this examination requires considerable study. I recommend that you study the
syllabus in detail and ensure that you have sufficient knowledge and understanding to
answer any question related to the learning outcomes, the assessment criteria and the
indicative content. In order to direct your study you should work closely through the lecture
guide and make full use of the study manual (available to download for free from the QCF
Study Manuals page on the QCF Resources section of the Members Area of the ABE
Website), marketing text books (please see the recommended reading list for Marketing
Management, also available in the QCF Resources section), journals and the numerous
marketing websites that can be found. Reading around the subject is very important.

The SMM syllabus has SIX Learning outcomes and it is a requirement of Ofqual, the UK
regulatory body, that you PASS EVERY LEARNING OUTCOME. If you fail to demonstrate
an acceptable level of knowledge and understanding of any of the learning outcomes you
cannot achieve a pass. This means that you must manage your time in the examination very
carefully. If you run out of time and only answer five out of the six learning outcomes or fail to
answer any question you will automatically fail the paper.

There follows the six learning outcomes and the key areas that you must cover in order to
meet the assessment criteria. You could be examined on any of these areas.

Learning Outcome 1: Understand the broad concepts and processes of strategic

development and marketing planning and the associated theoretical models and
frameworks.

Marketing strategy involves planning and decision-making with the aim of selecting and
pursuing marketing opportunities to achieve competitive advantage. It consists of making
decisions on the businesss marketing expenditure, the marketing mix and the expected
environmental and competitive conditions. It is the means by which marketing objectives
are achieved. Make sure that you can clearly define marketing strategy, marketing
objectives and strategic and tactical marketing.
 The world is changing fast and planning cycles are shortening so organisations need to
be flexible and review their strategy frequently. Strategy development requires detailed
analysis of the competitive market place, so make sure you know how to undertake
competitor analysis.
Ensure you understand that strategic marketing places an emphasis on achieving long-
term marketing aims and objectives and that tactical marketing moves marketing from
the strategic to the operational level and involves designing and implementing plans for
the short term.
Be familiar with a well-known staged planning model (e.g. McDonald, Kotler, Fifield et
al) and fully understand the various stages. Be prepared to answer questions related to
any of the stages.
Be familiar with Gap Analysis - understand why it is used and differences between
desired future and likely future.
Understand the key strategic tools and models associated with strategic marketing
development and be able to explain how they are used to aid strategic decision-making.
(Porter, Ansoff, PIMS, BCG, Product Portfolio Analysis, Shell Directional Policy Matrix,
ABC Sales Contribution Analysis, etc.).
Be fully aware of the importance of corporate social responsibility and societal, ethical
and green marketing and their impact on strategic marketing. Have a list of organisations
who handle these issues both well and badly. Those who, for instance, lost competitive
advantage through unethical behaviour (e.g. Enron, BP, Desani, the UK banks etc).
Be aware of the arguments for and against corporate social responsibility (CSR) from a
strategic marketing perspective.
Understand business orientations sales, marketing, product, and production. Relate
them to specific business organisations. Explain the importance of marketing orientation
and how it can be improved both internally and externally.
Be prepared for questions related to internal marketing. You could be asked to create an
internal marketing plan.
Ensure that you understand customer and shareholder value and be able to explain
value based marketing.

Learning Outcome 2: Understand the importance of strategic marketing analysis and

research and how todays global, dynamic and highly competitive business
environment influences the process of strategic development and marketing
planning.

In todays highly competitive and dynamic environment markets change rapidly so

strategic plans must be kept up to date; this requires frequent monitoring. You must be
aware of the key environmental factors that impact on organisations (PEST and
competition) and be able to apply and evaluate Porters Five Forces framework. Make
sure you relate your answers to contemporary issues such as technology, self-
regulation, customer power, environmental issues, etc.
Understand the importance of evaluating the internal environment and the needs of the
various stakeholders. You should be able to critically review the organisations
resources, capabilities and current market position. You could be required to undertake a
SWOT analysis and use the results to aid decision-making.
 Appraise how the information is collected, analysed and distributed. Evaluate the
importance of environmental scanning and analysis. You need to be able to describe and
explain a Marketing Information System and the five steps in the market research plan.
You may be required to develop a research plan.
Technology is providing faster ways of collecting and analysing information. Be aware of
the new areas of marketing research - internet searches, online surveys, computer
assisted interviewing, social media, etc.

Learning Outcome 3: Understand how organisations determine their strategic

direction and know how to identify and evaluate the various ways in which this can be
achieved.

Understand vision, mission, goals and objectives and relate them to an organisation of
choice. You could be asked to critically evaluate them so think through the advantages
and disadvantages of each beforehand.
Understand hierarchy of plans and the various types of plans that you are likely to come
across (the corporate plan, the strategic plan, functional plans, contingency plans and
short, medium and long term plans).
Be able to discuss and evaluate the various strategic options an organisation may
consider in order to achieve its desired strategic direction. Be able to evaluate the
numerous models/frameworks that exist to help decision-making. (Ansoff, Porter, BCG,
GE matrix etc).
Financial and non-financial factors must be taken into account when considering future
options. Financial factors include return on capital, payback, cash flow valuation, EVA,
profitability, shareholder value etc. Non-financial factors include market share, sales
volume, market image etc. Make sure you are familiar with these terms.

Learning Outcome 4: Understand how to implement, measure and control strategic

marketing plans.

Explain the concepts of segmentation, targeting and positioning in various business

situations. Remember segmentation is the sub-dividing of a market into homogeneous
sub-sets of customers. Targeting is all about deciding which market segment a business
should prioritise for its sales and marketing effort and positioning refers to the place that
the product/service holds in the minds of the target audience.
Understand the product life cycle and its implication for managing the marketing mix. Be
prepared to show it diagrammatically and explain and evaluate each component. Not
everybody accepts that the product life cycle is a valid concept today so make sure you
could critically evaluate it if asked.
Evaluate the buying process in the B2B and B2C markets. Make sure you know the
differences and be prepared to relate your answer to a specific context or an
organisation of your choice.
Appraise the components of the marketing mix and be able to demonstrate its
application in practice. Remember marketing strategy involves selecting the
opportunities to pursue, analysing the target market and implementing it through the
marketing mix. In particular you need to understand:
o How to modify existing products and create new ones.
 o The new product development (NPD) process and how to undertake an
innovation audit.
o The role and tools of communications (promotion) including how technology is
creating new tools and methods of evaluation.
o Standardisation and adaption and the benefits of each.
o The importance of service quality and the key service quality models.
o The role of pricing in strategic marketing and the various pricing strategies.
o The channels of distribution and the major influences that technology has on
distribution.
Understand the purpose of branding and how it can benefit an organisation domestically
and internationally. Be prepared to answer questions on branding strategies, how brands
can be developed and how brands are valued.
Explain how to measure and evaluate the results of marketing strategies and plans and
how to take corrective action, if necessary, to ensure that the marketing objectives are
achieved.
Be able to create marketing budgets, activity plans and Gantt charts.
Understand the balanced score card approach and its use in a practical business
situation.
Understand the importance of working closely with other business functions when
developing and implementing marketing strategy.
Develop strategies to improve cross-functional working and co-operation.
Understand and be able to critically evaluate the various organisational structures that
may be adopted to aid the implementation of the strategic marketing plan.

Learning Outcome 5: Understand how strategic marketing can be applied to a range

of business contexts including the small to medium-sized sector.

Understand the differences between large and small businesses and the relative
characteristics of each. Be able to explain that some SME characteristics provide some
competitive advantages over large organisations.
Explain how businesses can grow internationally and how technology has particularly
helped the growth of SMEs.
It is quite likely that you will have to answer questions from a wide range of business
contexts or be asked to choose your own context. Make sure that you understand the
various business contexts, these include: domestic, regional, global, for-profit, not-for-
profit, public or private companies, limited companies, partnerships, sole traders,
organisations in different stages of the PLC, organisations that are B2B or, B2C.

Learning Outcome 6: Understand the impact that technological advances have on

strategic marketing and be able to incorporate such advances into strategic
marketing plans.

Technology is impacting on strategic marketing practice and you must keep up to date
with advancements. Much is happening in the areas of information gathering, e-
marketing, new media, JIT, etc.
 Assess how technology influences strategic marketing (e.g. information dissemination,
file transference, internal and external communications, product display, customer
relationship, stock holding, search and browser activities, etc).
Evaluate how technology can help marketers gain competitive advantage and/or reduce
competitive disadvantage. (e.g. better/faster knowledge, cost reductions, better
payments systems, tighter regulations, opportunities to trade internationally via the
internet a particular benefit to many small businesses), 1-2-1 marketing via the
internet, etc.

Correct interpretation of command words is critical at Level 6. You must identify the
command word in each question and do exactly what the command word says. For more
information on what command words are asking from you, please see the QCF
Examination Guidance for ABE students and colleges on the Members Area of the ABE
website.

Another area of concern is where students fail to answer every part of the question. Some of
the more frequent omissions include not using a business context or context of choice, not
supporting arguments or discussions with appropriate examples and not critically evaluating
a quotation or statement when asked to do so. Failure to answer every part of the question
will lead to the loss of potential marks and this could be the difference between a pass and a
fail.

I have already mentioned time management. This is critical because failure to answer a
question will automatically lead to a fail. Please be warned. It is vital that you allocate
sufficient time to each question - an indicative time guide for each question is shown on the
question paper to help you. Keep your answers relatively brief and to the point. Lengthy
answers are not required. Remember you must pass all six learning outcomes, so make
sure you produce six complete answers.

In conclusion my key tips for this examination are:

Make sure you study the full syllabus.

Practice examination techniques. Ideally undertake a mock examination under
examination conditions.
Manage your time you must answer every question.
Address the command words accurately.
Dont waste time rewriting the question but do spend time structuring the answer.
Where a context is provided or requested, you must use that context in your answer.
Where a question asks for a specific number of responses (e.g. Identify and explain
FOUR advantages) provide the required number.
Where examples are requested provide them. Make sure they are contemporary and
related to the question.
Make sure the examiner can read the script. If they cant read it they cant give it a
mark.
Keep up to date with current trends in marketing. This can be done quite easily by
visiting relevant web sites.
 Finally, leave a few minutes at the end of the exam to read through your paper to see
if you can improve any of your answers. A few more marks might make all the
difference!