The concept and practice of marketing is concerned with putting the customer first. The working definition of marketing used in this course expresses this idea neatly:

"The achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition."

We can think of marketing as a philosophy that underpins and drives the activities of an organisation. We can also regard it as a business function and process concerned with the set of activities necessary to obtain and service demand for an organisation's products.  All elements of marketing serve to determine the approach of organisations and ultimately their business performance.

In this course, we provide an overview of marketing by looking at the complexity of delivering an ever-changing set of products and services within a business context that is broad, subject to economic fluctuations and volatile consumer taste and demand. More specifically, we look at the philosophy of marketing and introduce marketing planning and the business context in which organisations operate - the marketing environment.

After participating in this course, you should be able to:

• define the marketing concept
• define marketing as a business orientation and as a business activity
• distinguish between different business orientations
• recognise the management issues involved in creating a market-driven organisation
• define what is meant by the marketing mix, and identify its key elements and the characteristics of an effective mix
• identify and describe the key stages in the marketing planning process
• identify key changes in the marketing environment, and how these may impact on marketing decisions.
  

Introduction

Objectives

The buyer-seller relationship

Marketing as an attitude of mind

Marketing creates customer value

Marketing approaches

The Marketing Mix

Marketing as a process

The marketing environment

The macro-environment

The micro-environment

Summary

Tutor-marked Question Paper

On completion of your course, you will receive two qualifications:

Qualification 1: Marketing (Byte Size) Certificate

Marketing (Byte Size) Certificate issued by Stonebridge Associated Colleges, entitling you to use the letters SAC Cert after your name.

Qualification 2: Level 1 Marketing (Byte Size) Award

This Course leads to an NCFE Level 1 Award Certificate for successful learners. That means that it is independantly accredited at a level of learning equivalent to level 1 on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (in which case GCSE's are at levels 1 and 2 and A Levels are at level 3). In accrediting the programme at level 1, NCFE attests that its learning outcomes are at an equivalent level to a level 1 national qualification.

This award has been designed by Stonebridge Associated Colleges to meet specific learners' or employers' requirements. Accreditation by NCFE is a guarantee of quality. It means that this learning programme has been scrutinised and approved by an independent panel of experienced educational professionals and is quality audited biannually by NCFE.

In order to offer our students the most convenient and flexible distance learning courses, Stonebridge Associated College offers you the option to study for your course via two methods:

• 1. Via the traditional paper-based method.
• 2. Through the online method via ElearnUK.

When you study through ElearnUK you can quickly access your course material online and submit all of your question papers to your tutor online, using your unique student account. You have access to all of your course material immediately, and when you submit question papers, your tutor sends you an email containing your results and feedback.

Please click on the logo below to view a few sample pages of the course materials we provide. Whilst this is only a few sample pages, we do hope that it will give you some idea of the quality of the materials we provide. If you have anymore queries in relation to the course materials, please feel free to contact one of our friendly course advisors who will be more than happy to deal with any queries that you may have.

Click to View

At the end of the course you will receive an award issued by Stonebridge Associated College, and also gain full awarding body accreditation for the course.

With this course you will have unlimited access to your own personal tutor who specialises in their field of study. It is your personal tutor's role to ensure that you receive constructive feedback and to deal with any queries you may have. You are more than welcome to telephone, fax or email your personal tutor.

You will also have access to a dedicated and friendly team of administrators and course advisors who offer sound and professional guidance and advice when you need it. This ensures that you will never feel neglected and that you will always succeed!

There is no experience or previous qualifications required for enrolment on this course. It is available to all students, of all academic backgrounds.

This is only an approximate figure and is dependant upon how much time you can dedicate to your studies and how well you grasp the learning concepts in the course material. Furthermore, at the end of each lesson there is a question paper that needs to be completed and returned to your tutor. You should allow at least 1 - 2 hours of study to complete each question paper.

The approximate amount of time required to complete the course is: 20 hrs.

Assessment Method

After each lesson there will be a question paper, which needs to be completed and submitted to your personal tutor for marking. This method of continual assessment ensures that your personal tutor can consistently monitor your progress and provide you with assistance throughout the duration of the course.

Textbook

You will need to read Chapters 1, 2 and 5. of Principles and Practice of Marketing, David Jobber, second edition, Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill (1998).

What's Included

• All study materials
• Study Guide
• Full Tutor and Admin support
• The course fee includes the awarding body registration and certification fee (valued at up to £30.00).

What is NCFE

NCFE is the UK's longest established awarding body, recognised as a highly professional and responsive organisation, committed to maintaining excellent customer service and a friendly approach.

NCFE is recognised as an awarding body by the qualification regulators ('regulators') for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The regulators are the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) in England, the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) in Wales and the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in Northern Ireland.

Accreditation by NCFE is a guarantee of quality. It means that a learning programme has been scrutinised and approved by an independent panel of experienced educational professionals and is quality audited biannually by NCFE. Learners successfully completing NCFE accredited programmes receive an externally accredited and nationally recognised NCFE certificate.

For more information on this award, click here

Below you will find a list of courses that previous students have taken to complement their course. We hope that this list will give you some idea of the types of progression courses we offer, or alternative course options that may be of interest to you.

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