T/615/2693 Strategic Marketing - ATHE Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management

Learning outcome 1: Understand the principles of strategic marketing
Learning outcome 2: Understand how to carry out a strategic marketing analysis
Learning outcome 3: Understand the role of customer behaviour in marketing strategies
Learning outcome 4. Understand how to develop an implementable strategic marketing plan
Learning outcome 5. Understand how to create a marketing strategy to meet business objectives

Indicative Content

1. Understand the principles of strategic marketing Role of strategic marketing
• Definitions of marketing strategy, its role in the organisation and how it underpins marketing planning and activities; concept of product and customer in different organisations; resources and implementation and monitoring, control

Corporate strategy and marketing strategy

• Corporate strategy; linking marketing strategy to corporate mission and vision; defining the business and conducting a situation audit meeting corporate objective with marketing strategy; corporate social responsibility; marketing

Development of a marketing strategy
• Analysis of the environment; setting objectives; dynamic strategy - flexibility for change Way in which strategies can contribute to competitive advantage
• Segmentation; targeting and positioning; relationship strategies; product innovation and development; principles of branding; service marketing; pricing and distribution; E-marketing
2. Understand how to carry out a strategic marketing analysis Internal environmental analysis
• Resource-based, performance, value chain, functional

External environmental analysis
• Macro environment; micro environment; competitor analysis; wider external factors including government

Integration
• Fit between internal and external environment
3. Understand the role of customer behaviour in marketing strategies Marketing research
• Defining the need with respect to consumer behaviour; data collection, organisation and
interpretation; primary and secondary research; methodologies

Customer/consumer behaviour
• Definitions of customers and consumers; concept of consumer behaviour; buyer behaviour and factors affecting it; B2B and B2C; concept of customer loyalty

Customer behaviour analysis
• Principles of relationship marketing and its use; concepts of customer retention and customer relationship management

Psychology of consumer behaviour

• Models: Pareto efficiency, Black Box model; stages of the buying process; purchasing decisions; demographics; culture; psychographics
4. Understand how to develop an implementable marketing plan Marketing audit
• Identify current competitive position (leader, follower, challenger, nicher, defensive);
coherence with existing business strategies and plans; their cost-effectiveness; marketing and communication methodologies, SWOT analysis

Strategy formulation
• Information requirements; setting SMART objectives, success and evaluation criteria; identify strategic alternatives and establish specific courses of action

Implementation
• Identify alternative marketing action plans relating to the marketing mix and communication plans.

Monitoring systems
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and marketing metrics; milestones; response mechanisms; budget monitoring

Contingency planning
• Nature of possible events; risk identification and assessment; response strategies; impact of changes to plans
5. Understand how to create a marketing strategy to meet business objectives Requirements
• Strategic marketing planning process; planning models and stages; gap analysis techniques and uses; concepts of social responsibility, societal and ethical marketing and their strategic impact

Alignment
• Strategies for achieving coherence with corporate strategies and plans; who should be consulted

Internal/external environment
• Use of tools and techniques to achieve coherence with the environment; market entry strategies: reseller, distributor, sales outsourcing; market entry timing: wave, waterfall, sprinkler

Competitive forces
• Forces: threat of substitute products, power of customers, power of suppliers, potential for new competitors, current competitors; nature and scale of their likely impact