Business · Topic 2: Building a business
Making marketing decisions
The decisions a growing business makes about each element of its marketing mix - product, price, promotion and place - and how it combines them to build a competitive advantage.
Lessons
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1
Product
A successful product balances its function, its looks and its cost. Every product also goes through a life cycle - and businesses use extension strategies and…
6 terms -
2
Price
Businesses choose a pricing strategy - penetration, skimming, cost-plus, competitive or promotional - depending on their costs, their competitors, their target…
7 terms -
3
Promotion
Businesses promote their products through advertising, sponsorship, sales promotions, public relations and branding - and increasingly through targeted online…
8 terms -
4
Place
Place is how a product gets from the business that makes it to the customer who buys it - through retailers, e-tailers and intermediaries such as wholesalers…
7 terms -
5
Using the marketing mix to make business decisions
The four Ps are not separate decisions. A change in one affects the others, and when they work together they give a business a competitive advantage its rivals…
4 terms
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- Product.pptx Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Product - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Product - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Price.pptx Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Price - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Price - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Promotion.pptx Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Promotion - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Promotion - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Place.pptx Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Place - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Place - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Using the marketing mix to make business decisions.pptx Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Using the marketing mix to make business decisions - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
- Using the marketing mix to make business decisions - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 28 September 2026. View
Key terms in this chapter
All 32, gathered from every lesson.
- Design mix
- The balance of function, aesthetics and cost in a product's design.
- Function
- How well a product works.
- Aesthetics
- How a product appeals to the senses.
- Product life cycle
- The stages a product goes through: development, introduction, growth, maturity and decline.
- Extension strategy
- An action taken to extend the life of a product before it declines.
- Product differentiation
- Making a product different from competitors' products.
- Pricing strategy
- The method a business uses to set the price of a product.
- Penetration pricing
- A low launch price to gain market share quickly.
- Price skimming
- A high launch price that is lowered over time.
- Cost-plus pricing
- Adding a percentage mark-up to the cost of a product.
- Competitive pricing
- Setting a price similar to competitors'.
- Promotional pricing
- Temporarily reducing prices to boost sales.
- Mark-up
- The percentage added to cost to set the price.
- Promotion
- Communicating with customers to persuade them to buy.
- Advertising
- Paid-for communication through media such as TV, print, billboards and online.
- Sponsorship
- Paying to link a brand with an event, team or programme.
- Sales promotion
- A short-term offer to boost sales, such as a discount or free gift.
- Public relations (PR)
- Gaining positive media coverage without paying for it directly.
- Branding
- Giving a product a recognisable name, logo and image.
- Viral advertising
- Promotion that spreads as customers share it online.
- Targeted advertising
- Online adverts shown only to people who match the target market.
- Place
- How and where customers can buy a product.
- Distribution channel
- The route a product takes from producer to customer.
- Intermediary
- A business between the producer and the customer, such as a wholesaler or retailer.
- Wholesaler
- A business that buys in bulk from producers and sells smaller quantities to retailers.
- Retailer
- A business that sells to the final customer.
- E-tailer
- A retailer that sells online.
- Multi-channel distribution
- Selling through several channels at once.
- Marketing mix
- The combination of product, price, promotion and place.
- Integrated marketing mix
- A mix where all four Ps fit together for the same target market.
- Competitive advantage
- Anything that makes a business more attractive to customers than its rivals.
- Positioning
- How a business wants customers to see its product compared with competitors'.