OCR Nationals
Model Assignment
Issued January 2011
OCR Level 3 Nationals in Business
Unit 5: Marketing for business
Last updated: 13/01/11
The scheme codes for these qualifications are:
OCR Level 3 National Certificate in Business
OCR Level 3 National Diploma in Business
OCR Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Business
03635
03636
03637
The QCA Accreditation Number for this unit is:
Unit 5: Marketing for business
R/105/1395
This OCR model assignment remains live for the life of these qualifications.
Please note:
This OCR model assignment may be used to provide evidence for the unit above.
Alternatively, centres may wish to adapt this assignment or devise their own assignment for
the purposes of assessment. It is the centre’s responsibility to ensure that any adaptations
made to this assignment allow candidates to meet all the assessment objectives and
provide sufficient opportunity for candidates to demonstrate achievement across the full
range of grades.
ALL THESE MATERIALS MAY BE PHOTOCOPIED. Any photocopying will be done under the
terms of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 solely for the purposes of assessment.
© OCR 2011
OCR Level 3 Nationals in Business
Contents
Page number(s)
CANDIDATE INFORMATION
(This section must be photocopied for each candidate)
General information for candidates
This section provides candidates with general information on completion of
the assignment in a question and answer format.
4
Scenario
This section contains the scenario which candidates will need to be familiar
with in order to complete the tasks.
5
Tasks
This section contains all the tasks candidates must complete before
submission for assessment.
6
Candidate checklist
This checklist is provided to assist candidates in ensuring that they have
completed and submitted evidence for all tasks.
7
TUTOR INFORMATION
Guidance for centres
This section provides general guidance to centre staff on the preparation
and completion of the assignment.
Notes for tutors
This section provides additional guidance and support to centre staff for
each task. It is not intended for use by candidates.
2
9-10
11-12
Model Assignment – Issued January 2011
Unit 5- Marketing for business
Model Assignment: Candidate Information
OCR Level 3 Nationals in Business
Unit 5: Marketing for business
Model Assignment – Issued January 2011
Unit 5- Marketing for business
3
OCR Level 3 Nationals in Business
General Information for Candidates
Q
Do I have to pass this assignment?
A
Yes. You must pass this assignment to achieve the full qualification.
Q
What help will I get?
A
Your tutor will help you when completing the OCR model assignment and will make sure that
you know what resources/facilities you need and are allowed to use.
Q
What if I don’t understand something?
A
It is your responsibility to read the assignment carefully and make sure you understand what
you need to do and what you should hand in. If you are not sure, check with your tutor.
Q
Can I copy other people’s work?
A
No. The work that you produce must be your own work and you may be asked to sign a
declaration to say that the work is your own. You should never copy the work of other candidates
or allow others to copy your work. Any information that you use from other sources, eg books,
newspapers, professional journals, the internet, must be clearly identified and not presented as
your own work.
Q
Can I work in a group?
A
Yes. However, if you work in a group at any stage you must still produce work that shows
your individual contribution.
Q
How should I present my work?
A
You can present your work in a variety of ways, eg hand-written, word-processed, on video.
However, what you choose should be appropriate to the task(s). For some work, eg presentations,
coaching sessions, role-play, work experience, you will need to provide proof that you completed
the task(s). A witness statement or observation sheet could be used for this. If you are unsure,
check with your tutor.
Q
When I have finished, what do I need to hand in?
A
You need to hand in the work that you have completed for each task. Do not include any
draft work or handouts unless these are asked for. When you hand in your work make sure that it
is labelled, titled and in the correct order for assessing.
Q
How will my work be assessed?
A
Your work will be marked by an assessor in your centre. The assessor will mark the work
using the assessment objectives and the grade descriptors in the qualification specification.
4
Model Assignment – Issued January 2011
Unit 5- Marketing for business
OCR Level 3 Nationals in Business
Scenario
Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division
You are a graduate management trainee at Microsoft. You found details of the company when you
were doing Internet research for your OCR National Marketing assignment on the company website https://careers.microsoft.com/careers/en/gb/professions.aspx. You have been placed within
the marketing department of the ‘Entertainment and Devices’ division of the organisation.
The console business is a competitive oligopolistic market and your manager has asked you to
conduct some research and produce an analysis of the company’s competitive environment. You
will then produce some detailed marketing proposals for the future of ‘gaming’ within the
organisation.
You need to impress your manager to ensure that you get promoted and help the organisation stay
ahead of the competition.
Model Assignment – Issued January 2011
Unit 5- Marketing for business
5
OCR Level 3 Nationals in Business
Tasks
Task 1: Marketing concepts and current position
(AO1, 2 and 3)
In order to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of marketing principles and models,
and reassure your manager that you know what you are talking about, you need to write a report
which includes an explanation of the following:
•
•
•
•
Marketing mix
‐
In particular explaining how each element is interdependent.
Research methods
Microsoft uses its new graduate recruits to get a fresh perspective on the business and
current strategies. Your manager wants your opinion of the current marketing strategy of the
X-Box 360 console (or its equivalent eg X-Box 720, 1080) and associated products.
‐
Design a research plan (using primary and secondary research) which Microsoft could
use to inform its marketing plans.
‐
Carry out the research and use your findings to support the ‘Marketing Audit’; the
application of the ‘Marketing Models’ to Microsoft’s gaming products/services; and your
proposals for a marketing mix plan.
Marketing audit
‐
Carry out a SWOT and PEST analysis for the ‘Entertainment and Devices’ Division of
Microsoft.
‐
Explain “segmentation” and segmentation techniques, and describe how the market for
‘gaming’ is segmented.
‐
Describe the current branding strategy which you can observe and explain which
consumers Microsoft is targeting.
Marketing models
‐
Explain the Product Life Cycle and the Boston Matrix relating each to Microsoft’s
current ‘gaming’ product portfolio.
‐
Explain Ansoff’s Matrix in relation to Microsoft’s ‘gaming’ products and use it to suggest
the potential future direction of the organisation.
Task 2: Presentation: marketing mix proposal
(AO4, 5 and 6)
Your manager was so impressed with your analysis of the current position of the business that you
will be making a presentation to the ‘Microsoft UK’ board recommending and justifying a specific
detailed marketing mix plan for your product(s)/service(s).
To persuade the board you will need to justify your ideas by demonstrating extensive knowledge
and understanding of the critical success factors for a promotional campaign (eg. the message,
who it is aimed at, budgeting, timing, etc). In order for your recommendations to be persuasive,
they should be based on evidence.
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Model Assignment – Issued January 2011
Unit 5- Marketing for business
OCR Nationals
Model Assignment: Candidate Checklist
OCR Level 3 Nationals in Business
Unit 5: Marketing for Business
CANDIDATE NAME:
For Task 1 have you completed:
Completed (9)
Ref/Page
number(s)
Completed (9)
Ref/Page
number(s)
The ‘Marketing Concepts and Current position’ report?
For Task 2 have you carried out:
The ‘Marketing Mix Proposal’ presentation?
Model Assignment – Issued January 2011
Unit 5- Marketing for business
7
Model Assignment: Tutor Information
OCR Level 2 Nationals in Business
Unit 4: Communication in business
8
Model Assignment – Issued January 2011
Unit 5- Marketing for business
OCR Level 3 Nationals in Business
Guidance For Centres
1
General
1.1
OCR model assignments are issued free to centres on approval and are available to
download from our website: www.ocr.org.uk.
1.2
Centres may choose to:
•
•
•
1.3
2
3
use OCR model assignments for formal summative assessment of candidates
tailor OCR model assignments for formal summative assessment of candidates
use OCR model assignments as a benchmark for devising their own assignment.
This assignment has been designed to meet the full assessment requirements of the
unit. Candidates will need to take part in a planned learning programme that covers
the underpinning knowledge and skills of the unit.
Before carrying out the assignment
2.1
Candidates should be provided with a copy of the Candidate Information section of this
booklet.
2.2
Candidates may carry out preparations prior to undertaking the tasks; there is no time
limit for this.
When completing the assignment
3.1
Candidates should be allowed sufficient time to complete all of the tasks. The amount of
time may vary depending on the nature of the tasks and the ability of individual
candidates. It is suggested that evidence is produced in several sessions.
3.2
Each candidate must produce individual and authentic evidence for each task within the
assignment.
3.3
Centre staff may give support and guidance to candidates. This support and guidance
should focus on checking that candidates understand what is expected of them. It is not
acceptable for tutors to provide model answers or to work through answers in detail.
3.4
Candidates may use information from any relevant source to help them with producing
evidence for the tasks.
3.5
It is acknowledged that candidates in their responses may refer to situations in the
scenario but as the scenario is fictitious this does not break any rules of confidentiality.
However, candidates must be guided on the use of information from other sources to
ensure that confidentiality is maintained at all times.
Model Assignment – Issued January 2011
Unit 5- Marketing for business
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OCR Level 3 Nationals in Business
4
5
6
After completing the assignment
4.1
Candidates’ evidence is assessed by the centre’s assessor against the qualification
specification contained in the Centre Handbook. When grading candidates' work centres
must use the grading descriptors in the unit. For further information about assessment
please refer to the section on Assessment and Moderation in the Centre Handbook.
4.2
Assessors’ decisions should be quality assured across the centre through internal
moderation. For further information about internal moderation please refer to the section
on Assessment and Moderation in the Centre Handbook.
Presentation of work
5.1
Candidates may use the Candidate Checklist provided to ensure that they submit
evidence for ALL tasks. They can do this by using the Candidate Checklist as a
contents page inserting references/page numbers in the boxes provided.
5.2
Centres may wish to discourage candidates from excessive use of plastic wallets for
presentation of their evidence as this may hinder the assessment process. Instead
centres may wish to encourage candidates to present their work so that it is easily
accessible, eg spiral bound, stapled booklet, treasury tag.
Acceptable evidence
6.1
7
10
For guidance on generation and collection of evidence please refer to the section on
Assessment and Moderation in the Centre Handbook.
Reworking the assignment
7.1
If candidates do not meet the minimum PASS requirements for the assessment
objectives, further work will be required.
7.2
Tutors may give feedback to candidates to support and guide them in producing
evidence to the required standard.
Model Assignment – Issued January 2011
Unit 5- Marketing for business
Notes For Tutors
Introduction to the Tasks
The tasks have been designed to enable candidates to demonstrate their knowledge and
understanding of what marketing is, and the skills to apply marketing models to a specific business
context. Based on a detailed set of plans for a selected product/service candidates will make
specific recommendations on how an existing or new set of products or services can promoted and
priced.
The tasks have been designed so that all of the assessment objectives in Unit 5 are addressed.
These guidance notes should be used in conjunction with the unit specification and Centre
Handbook.
The tasks are based around the context of Microsoft’s ‘Entertainment and Devices’ Division, which
is responsible for the gaming products with which students will be familiar. Microsoft provides
significant details of its philosophy, plans and strategies on its websites, which are easily
accessible to students and teachers. As website content inevitably changes over time, tutors can
provide candidates with up to date web links. Alternatively, candidates could be encouraged to
research the organisation as a group activity. All tasks require that knowledge and understanding
is applied to the context of Microsoft, its products and its competitor’s products.
The Tasks
Task 1:
The marketing concepts report
Assessment Objectives 1, 2 and 3 are assessed in this task.
This task requires candidates to put themselves in the position of a graduate management trainee
at Microsoft. The candidate has found company details while conducting research for their
Marketing in business assignment on the company web-site
https://careers.microsoft.com/careers/en/gb/professions.aspx. The scenario involves the candidate
being placed within the marketing department of the ‘Entertainment and Devices Division’ of the
organisation.
The task requires candidates to demonstrate their understanding of marketing concepts. Their
analysis needs to relate to the console business and include a wide range of examples (to meet
the distinction criteria.)
They need to write a report which includes an explanation of the following marketing concepts and
principles:
•
Marketing mix
In particular explaining how each element is interdependent.
•
Research methods
Model Assignment – Issued September 2006
Unit 3 – Business communications
11
OCR Level 3 Nationals in Business
•
•
Candidates need to design a research plan (which uses primary and secondary research
methods) and carry out this research. They must use their findings to support the ‘Marketing
Audit; the application of the ‘Marketing Models’ to Microsoft’s gaming products/services; and
their proposals for a marketing mix plan.
Marketing audit
‐
Candidates must carry out a SWOT and PEST analysis for the ‘Entertainment and
Devices’ Division of Microsoft.
‐
Explain segmentation and segmentation techniques, and describe how the market for
‘gaming’ is segmented.
‐
Describe the current branding strategy which they can observe and explain the types of
consumers which Microsoft is targeting.
Marketing models
‐
Explain the Product Life Cycle and the Boston Matrix relating each to Microsoft’s
current ‘gaming’ product portfolio.
‐
Explain Ansoff’s Matrix in relation to Microsoft’s ‘gaming’ products and use it to suggest
the potential future direction of the organisation.
Task 2: Marketing mix proposal
Candidates will need to develop a comprehensive marketing mix plan based on a specific
product/service. The marketing mix plan will be both relevant and realistic to this
product(s)/service(s).
The marketing mix plan should include a:
•
•
•
•
full description of the characteristics of the product(s)/service(s) being proposed
full explanation of the types of pricing strategy that could be used for the
product(s)/service(s) being proposed (eg. competitive, skimming, etc, and other factors which
will need to be considered in pricing.)
full explanation how the product(s)/service(s) will get to market
full explanation of the types of promotional campaigns which could be used (eg. to
encourage sales, develop brand identity, etc.).
Each recommendation should be clear and fully justified using research and marketing theory, but
it is not necessary for candidates to change all elements of the marketing mix for the
product/services which they have selected.
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Model Assignment – Issued January 2011
Unit 5 – Marketing for business