Professional Certificate in
Marketing
Assessing the Marketing Environment
Senior Examiner Assessment Review Report March 2011
© The Chartered Institute of Marketing 2011
Senior Examiner Assessment Review Report
UNIT NAME:
Assessing the Marketing Environment
AWARD NAME:
Professional Certificate in Marketing
DATE:
March 2011
Background to the paper:
This assessment was based on a case study of the confectioner, Cadbury. A fascinating
history of the business was brought right up to date with details of the recent hostile takeover
by American food giant, Kraft. The case was issued to candidates four weeks in advance of
the exam. Candidates were asked to prepare and submit a four-page SWOT and PESTEL
analysis that they could refer to during the exam. A clean copy of the case study was
supplied at the exam. The format of tasks was five short questions in Part A and three long
questions in Part B and candidates had to complete all questions. Each of the Part B tasks
was split in to two elements.
The case was designed to be appropriate to candidates in and beyond the UK. Cadbury has
a strong presence in European markets and a growing presence in emerging markets. The
depth of information given in the case was comprehensive and the process of developing a
SWOT and PESTEL analysis ahead of the exam gave candidates the opportunity to get to
know the case material very well. This should have enabled them to discuss aspects of the
case in relation to the elements within this syllabus. The tasks set were all clearly related to
syllabus elements.
In a break with tradition, this was a repeat of the case study used for this assessment in
December 2010. The UK suffered from extreme weather conditions in December and a
significant number of candidates were unable to get to exam centres. The case was
therefore repeated but a new examination paper was written.
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Comments on how the marking scheme was applied in terms of:
o Concept, Application and Evaluation
o Syllabus coverage
o Use of command words and the extent to which answers reflected what was
required
o The relative weighting of each part of a question/task and an indication of what
aspects of the question/task required most care and attention
o What differentiated the A, B, C, or D grades
Overall the breakdown of the marking scheme for this unit is as follows.
Concept
Application
Evaluation
Format
40%
30%
20%
10%
Syllabus Coverage:
The syllabus weighting for this unit is:
The nature of the organisation
The micro environment
15%
30%
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The macro environment
Undertaking a marketing audit
40%
15%
All areas of the above syllabus breakdown were in the exam. The nature of this type of
assessment and the variety of cases that will appear means that the syllabus breakdown as
above is for guidance and may not be exactly replicated within each exam paper. The most
important point that candidates should note is that the macro and micro environment together
account for 70% of the syllabus.
It is also important to point out that the nature of this exam and the case study approach
means that candidates should not expect a fixed format to the questions eg, Task Three will
not always focus on the form of organisation and Task Six will not always focus on
stakeholders.
Command Words:
Candidates need to carefully consider the command words used within each task. Eg,
Define ... the following terms (Task One)
Identify ...to natural environmental challenges (Task Five)
Describe ... two competitive advantages (Task Three)
Explain ... the concept of consumerism (Task Four)
Evaluate ... how this relationship may influence future success (Task Seven)
Analyse ...Cadbury’s strengths & weaknesses (Task Six)
Recommend ... to key actions (Task Five)
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The mark scheme will award marks for the required responses. If asked to define then an indepth analysis is not required. If asked to evaluate then it is not enough to simply describe.
Relative Weighting of Tasks
Part A tasks generally had a greater emphasis on theory. For example in Task Four, four
marks were awarded for explaining the concept of consumerism.
Part B tasks gave candidates the opportunity to develop application and evaluation in relation
to the case. The Part B tasks were split into two elements with the respective marks clearly
noted. This is to aid candidates in allocating appropriate time for the elements within the
tasks.
Marks for format and presentation were only awarded in the Part B, report format questions.
These were relatively easy to achieve by using a report style introduction to Part B and
making good use of headings, sub-heading, bullet points, charts, diagrams or tables to give
answers a clear structure and clear meaning. This paper allocated a total of six format marks
and this can make a substantial difference to the candidate’s ability to achieve a pass, or their
target grade. This recognises the value of professional written presentation skills in the
workplace.
Grade Differentiation:
A grade candidates will generally have evidenced the following:
 Completed all tasks
 Completed all elements within each task eg, defining and explaining all four terms in Task
One.
 Demonstrated an excellent knowledge of the theory within the syllabus for this unit
 Demonstrated a strong understanding of the case material and an ability to develop this
with clarity and depth, as required by the tasks
 Used appropriate format and presentation in Part B. Throughout the paper, written clearly
and concisely, using effective report format to ensure that all points are covered
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Submitted a SWOT and PESTEL analysis that demonstrated thorough knowledge and
understanding of the marketing environment relating to the case. Likely to have made
good use of this analysis to inform their answers.
B grade candidates will generally have evidenced the following:
 Completed all tasks
 Completed all or most elements within tasks eg, defining and explaining at least three
terms in Task One
 Demonstrated a good knowledge of the theory within the syllabus for this unit
 Demonstrated a good understanding of the case material and an ability to develop this
with clarity and some depth, as required by the questions
 Used appropriate format and presentation in Part B and written concisely throughout
 Submitted a SWOT and PESTEL analysis that demonstrates a good knowledge and
understanding of the marketing environment relating to the case.
C grade candidates will generally have evidenced the following:
 Completed all or most tasks
 Completed all or most elements within tasks eg, defining and explaining at least two
terms for Task One
 Demonstrated an adequate knowledge of the theory within the syllabus for this unit
 Demonstrated an adequate understanding of the case material although may have shown
a limited ability to develop this with clarity and depth
 Format of Part B answers is adequate.
 Submitted a SWOT and PESTEL analysis that demonstrates an adequate knowledge and
understanding of the marketing environment relating to the case.
D grade candidates will generally have evidenced the following:
 Completed most tasks
 Completed most or some elements within tasks, eg, may have defined and explained
fewer than two of the terms in Task One
 Demonstrated a weak knowledge of the theory within the syllabus for this unit
 Demonstrated a weak or limited understanding of the case material and a limited ability to
contextualise.
 Format of Part B answers may be poor.
 Submitted a SWOT and PESTEL analysis or used that analysis in a way that
demonstrates some gaps in knowledge and understanding of the marketing environment
relating to the case.
Other points
The marking scheme is specific in terms of guiding examiners to award marks appropriately
in proportion to the elements of each task and examiners are given guidance on key points
that candidates may include in their answers. However, in most of the tasks, there is no
prescriptive list of elements or factors that candidates must include. Eg, Task Three asks
candidates to describe competitive advantages and there was no prerequisite list of those
that must be included. What was more important is that the advantages were described
clearly in relation to a large multi-national in the confectionery sector.
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Examiners will also reward candidates demonstrating innovative approaches and good use of
initiative eg, in Task Seven – candidates would be well rewarded for astute observations on
power and interest of stakeholders and innovative evaluation of stakeholder relationships.
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A general overview of how the assessment was tackled, including a statistical analysis
on the assessment as a whole.
The overall pass rate for this paper was 71.92%
On the whole therefore, the performance of this cohort was very strong. The repetition of the
case study was not in any way responsible for this strong performance. Candidates were
presented with a completely new set of tasks and there was no advantage to those
candidates who may have seen the case ahead of the December session.
Successful candidates exhibited a well-structured approach and maintained a clear focus on
the case and on the tasks. The candidates that performed well demonstrated a good
knowledge of the syllabus for this level and an ability to respond confidently to the issues
presented by the tasks, demonstrating a thorough understanding of the case material
provided and of the wider marketing environment.
In general, failing candidates demonstrated gaps in syllabus knowledge, a failure to address
the tasks clearly and a failure to respond to the command words used (analyse, describe,
evaluate etc). The examining team felt that any poor performance in this exam was
generally for the following reasons:
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Not responding to the task eg, in Task Seven Part (b) – failing to evaluate the relationship
with stakeholders in relation to the future success of the organisation.
Candidates seeming to have limited wider awareness of current issues, eg, in Task Eight,
a very limited description of the changing technological environment.
There was some evidence of gaps in syllabus knowledge. Eg, lack of clear understanding
of core vs. emerging markets.
Swathes of descriptive information that repeats the case information, particularly in
relation to descriptions of Cadbury’s historical heritage in Task Two.
A small number of candidates continue to allocate time poorly – often evident with one or
more tasks omitted altogether.
Failing to format answers in Part B – this is particularly frustrating if the six format marks
could have brought a D paper to a C paper.
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
Many of the above reinforce the importance of practising this type of assessment, perhaps
using past papers. The ability to review and analyse case material and relate it clearly to
an organisation’s marketing environment is a skill that is valuable in today’s fast-changing
marketing work place.
Finally, the mystery of failure. It is entirely possible for candidates to demonstrate reasonable
theoretical knowledge and attempt all questions but still fail (probably a D). This is usually
because, throughout the paper, they are failing to develop answers in sufficient detail or
depth, listing very few points in the Part B questions, being too descriptive in terms of
repeating case material or dwelling on theory or failing to focus on the task.
Having said that – the majority of candidates passed and this cohort was generally well
prepared, able to express theories and concepts well and use relevant and justified case
material to respond to the tasks. This is a similar pass rate to that achieved in March 2010
and this trend suggests that candidates have had quality teaching and time to embed
theoretical learning with a well developed awareness of how the marketing environment
impacts on marketing within the organisation.
Comments Task by Task:
Task One
Define the following terms and briefly explain their significance to Cadbury:
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Brand leaders
Fragmented market
Barriers to entry
Emerging markets
Candidates can, of course, approach the tasks within this exam in any order. Some seem
to be more comfortable starting with the Part B 20 mark tasks. However, Task One is
intended as a warm up question and it does seem to serve well in getting candidates into
the flow of the tasks. This was a high scoring question in Part A.
It is important not to spend too much time – each term is only worth two marks and some
candidates write as much as a whole page on each term, when a couple of well written
sentences would do.
Some candidates had difficulty in explaining the term ‘Barriers to Entry’ and some
candidates described fragmented market in terms of the sub-sectors of product rather
than the make up of the competitive environment.
An IPod may be a brand leader in their market, but this answer did not win the candidate
any marks, as it did not explain the significance of the term to Cadbury. A small number
of candidates seemed to miss this requirement of the task.
A grade candidates will have given a clear definition for each term and a concise
explanation of the significance of each one to Cadbury.
D/E grades tended to give weak definitions and limited contextualisation of Cadbury.
Excerpt from an A grade paper...
(Barriers to Entry)...refers to financial or other barriers that act to prevent other companies
from entering the market...
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Task Two
Describe how Cadbury’s history and heritage may have influenced its business
activities prior to the Kraft takeover.
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The case included a lot of information about the organisation’s history and heritage. Key
to success in this task was being able to draw out key points from this eg, Quaker, family
history, ethics, quality... and to describe how these influenced business activities in terms
of products, markets, staff, advertising etc.
This was not a particularly well handled task with many candidates giving very descriptive
information that failed to link the history and heritage with the business activities.
A grade candidates will have described a range of key factors from the history and
heritage and related these well to business activities prior to takeover
D/E grades may have focused on limited elements of the history and heritage, but it is
more likely that they will have failed to link these elements to the business activities.
Excerpt from an A grade paper...
Corporate Social Responsibility (and its foundation in Quaker values) forms a large part of
Cadbury’s identity and has influenced its employee relationships...
Task Three
Describe TWO competitive advantages that a large multinational might have in this
sector compared with a Small or Medium sized Enterprise (SME).
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This task’s relevance was highlighted within the case as the confectionery market was
described as fragmented, despite the hold of the major producers and, overall, candidates
performed well in this task.
Many candidates were able to describe a number of plausible advantages with economies
of scale, access to finance to enter new markets and funds to finance high profile
campaigns.
Full marks were dependent on some reference to SMEs as well as the large
multinationals
A grade candidates will have identified two competitive advantages and related these well
to the confectionery market
D/E grades may have given only one advantage, or those given would lack any context to
the confectionery industry or comparison with SMEs.
Excerpt from an A grade paper:
Multinationals have an advantage in terms of economies of scale that SMEs do not have.
This allows them production efficiencies, associated cost minimisation and optimisation of
profits...
Task Four
Explain the concept of consumerism and identify how this has influenced Cadbury’s
marketing.
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This was the lowest marked task in Part A of the paper (the eight-mark tasks). This is
despite the marking team taking a very open approach to interpretation of either
consumerism as the general growth in consumption levels across both the developed
world and in emerging economies, or consumer strength and consumer protection.
Where candidates performed badly, they were generally unable to explain the concept in
either of these terms and simply described the social environment shaping general trends.
Very few candidates across the paper missed out whole tasks but, where this did happen;
this was the task that was missed out the most.
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For those that were able to identify a concept, there was then the challenge of how this
influenced marketing and many candidates struggled with this. Appealing to high
purchase levels, meeting consumers demands for information and recognising consumer
power were all relevant points that gained marks
A grade candidates were able to identify the concept of consumerism and relate it well to
an element of marketing.
D/E grade will have described the concept poorly and/or failed to relate it well to
marketing.
Excerpt from A grade paper
...Cadbury is appealing to the high-consumption nature of today’s markets with more
opportunities to buy, more variety of packaging to suit different occasions from snacking to
indulgence...
Task Five
Identify TWO natural environmental challenges facing Cadbury and recommend TWO
key actions for future environmental sustainability.
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On the whole, this was answered well and achieved good marks.
Most candidates were able to identify two challenges and most chose to relate their
recommended actions to overcoming these challenges. Some chose unrelated actions
and were not penalised for doing so.
Where poor or average marks were achieved, this was because of very limited
explanation of the context of the challenge. Using less packaging relates to an
environmental challenge of limited resources (paper/oil) and problems of litter and waste
disposal or recycling. Using less packaging is not in itself the natural environmental
challenge – it is the solution.
Some candidates referred to global pollution or climate change – a key challenge for all
industries and one that suggested a strong awareness of the big issues in the macro
environment.
Too many candidates simply repeated case material, recommending only what the
organisation is already doing.
Some did not understand the focus on the natural environment and gave generic macro
environmental challenges such as obesity or the recession.
A grade candidates will have identified two challenges and made two good
recommendations for action
D/E grades may have identified two challenges and two actions but they may have been
repetitive or lacking in any depth or justification.
Except from an A grade paper...
(Recommendation)... that Cadbury work with pressure groups and environmental protection
groups to investigate alternative packaging materials and evaluate their respective
environmental impacts.
Task Six
a. Describe the types of information that Cadbury’s should investigate when carrying
out a detailed competitor analysis. (10 marks)
b. Analyse Cadbury’s strengths and weaknesses, post-takeover, in relation to
opportunities in its core markets. (10 marks)
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Some candidates gave an excellent response to Part A and usually this was achieved by
taking a very straightforward approach to the task eg, defining who competitors are and
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listing lots of types of information about their activities, from product ranges, markets,
promotional tools, and brands.
Some candidates feel in desperate need of a model and used Porter’s Five Forces. It is
not in the syllabus for this unit and therefore does not in itself gain any marks. More
problematic is that in most cases it did not help candidates to identify the types of
information as required by the task.
Full marks were dependent on a good context to competitor analysis, with reference to the
value of the information.
Part B of this task was generally well tackled but some candidates lost valuable marks by
failing to address their analysis to the post-takeover period and to core markets. This lack
of focus sometimes meant they were simply repeating information from their SWOT,
rather than using their analysis to respond to the task.
A grade candidates will have given a wide range of information for part a. and a strong
analysis with a good focus on core markets, post-takeover.
D/E grade may have given very limited types of information required for a competitor
analysis and/or a lack of analysis of strengths and weaknesses (or no reference to core
markets).
Except from an A grade paper:
(types of information)...sales volume by segment, location and channel, market shares,
prices, discounts, credit terms, goals, capabilities and strategies, stakeholder relations...
Task Seven
a. Identify Cadbury’s stakeholders and briefly analyse their power and interest. (12
marks)
b. Identify the relationship that Cadbury as with TWO of the stakeholder groups and
evaluate how this relationship may influence future success. (8 marks)
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Candidates are usually very comfortable tackling tasks about stakeholders and in Part A.
of this task, good marks were achieved with this being the highest scoring task in Part B
of the paper.
A tabular format often helped candidates to present a balance of information on the power
and interest of the stakeholder groups identified.
Mendelow’s matrix did not in itself accrue marks however there is evidence of it being well
used by candidates to introduce and set the context for their answers.
Full marks were dependent on identifying five stakeholders and most candidates did
identify at least five.
Poorer performance was generally as a result of lack of detail on power and interest. Too
many candidates responded in a descriptive way without any reference to power or
interest, or indeed without even mentioning power and interest.
Part B of the task was less well addressed, mainly because of a repetition of power and
interest, rather that a focus on how the relationship may influence future success. Good
candidates will tend to choose two differing stakeholders enabling them to explore a range
of relationship issues (as opposed to selecting eg, managers and employees as the two
stakeholders).
A grade candidates will have identified five stakeholders, analysed their power and
interest and evaluated the relationship for two with good reference to future success.
D/E grade may have identified fewer than four stakeholders but it is more likely that their
analysis is weak or absent. Relationships will lack evaluation or any relation to future
success.
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Excerpt from an A grade paper...
Cadbury’s relationship with staff is key to future success...the employee relationship has been
severely undermined and could be further damaged by loss of morale resulting in higher staff
turnover and the associated expenses of recruitment and training.
Task Eight
a. Describe the changing technological environment and analyse the impact that
these changes may have on Cadbury’s marketing. (10 marks)
b. Describe the methods that Cadbury could use to undertake an analysis of
environmental trends in the UK market. (10 marks)
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This was the poorest scoring task in Part B and time management was evidently the most
significant cause. However, candidates did not perform particularly well in terms of
content of this task.
Part A was generally fairly well answered but the majority of candidates limited their
response to the impact on marketing communications, with very few referring to how
technology has influenced other areas such as information, stock management,
production technology or transportation technology. This restricted candidates from
achieving optimum marks. This is despite the fact that they often had a good range of
technological factors mentioned in their PESTEL analysis.
A historical focus was also limiting with candidates repeating case material, particularly in
relation to how technology has shaped marketing communications.
Part B was often rushed and as a result lacked context to the case or focus on trends.
Candidates mentioned a wide range of methods that included environmental scanning,
trend extrapolation, Delphi, Scenario building and all were valid. It was difficult to award
many marks for simple descriptions of qualitative and quantitative methods without any
context or explanation.
A grade candidates will have given a good description of the changing technological
environment and detail implications for marketing. The trend methodology will be clearly
described and well related to the task context.
D/E grades may have given a limited and promotional-only focused response to part a.
and a concept-heavy response to Part B with little context to the case.
Excerpt from an A grade paper…
Almost daily use of email by a large proportion of the population…increasing use of the
internet for automated operations and financial transactions allowing for operational
efficiencies…automated production technology…social media as a strong force for driving
change.
Feedback on the academic quality of the cohort(s) that has just been examined and the
quality of the teaching, as judged by the results
This paper had a good pass rate with over 8% achieving A grade.
Strengths and good practice:
 This was a paper that seemed to highlight very well those candidates that clearly
understand all parts of the syllabus and how they work together to shape the business
environment and the opportunities and threats facing the organisation.
 Most candidates planned their time well, completing all questions and allocating time
appropriately based on the marks awarded for each task. It is recommended to start with
Task One, but candidates must be careful to avoid spending too much time on this task.
 More complex tasks sometimes had evidence of rough planning, perhaps in a simple
mind-map. This seems to help candidates to focus on key points relating to the task.
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References to the appended SWOT and PESTEL analysis worked well with evidence of
candidates making good use of this material to prompt answers, particularly for tasks five,
six and eight. Strong papers often have a simple and easy to refer to analysis.
Theory only represents 40% of marks at this level. The style of questioning is such that
Part A tasks have a higher element of theory than the Part B tasks. Good answers to Part
B tasks tended to refer to theory at an appropriate depth then relate that theory
confidently to the case.
Some of the candidates formatted their answers well and so ensured that all elements
within each Part B task were clearly presented. This particularly refers to the stakeholder
power and interest in Task Six, which lent itself to a tabular format.
There were some excellent A grade papers with modest word counts. However, each
word and sentence contributes to the answer.
Common mistakes:
 Candidates continue to waste valuable time repeating points from the case without
developing the analysis or evaluation requested by the task. Examiners will not award
marks for simply repeating case material without analysis or explanation. This applied
particularly to Tasks Two and Five in this paper.
 Historical focus was relevant only in Task Two. Some candidates lost marks in Tasks
Four, Six and Eight by not focusing on the current marketing environment.
 Not reading the task. This related to command words such as describe or evaluate.
However, in this paper it also relates more particularly to being sure what you are being
asked to evaluate or explain. Marks were lost by not focusing on core markets in tasks
Six(b) or future success in Task Seven (b).
 Marks are awarded for format and presentation in the Part B questions. Despite this, a
small number of candidates responded to the tasks in essay style with no formatting
whatsoever. There are often a high proportion of candidates hovering close to the 50%
mark and good formatting can clearly make a difference between pass or fail. The worst
example of poor presentation is when tasks are not numbered and content is rambling
thus resulting in examiners facing a real challenge to decide which task the candidate is
attempting to answer!
 Time management has improved enormously since the introduction of the syllabus in
2008, but some candidates do still run out of time towards the end of the paper.
 A fundamental misunderstanding of terms micro and macro. This is sometimes apparent
in the analysis and did impact on some responses to Task Eight and less so to Task Five.
 Not a common mistake, but some papers had annotations on the analysis. It is not clear if
this is added to the analysis before the exam or part of the response to the task. If the
latter, then it will not accrue marks. It is important that candidates include work to be
marked within the exam answer book.
 There is no requirement for a lengthy introduction to Part B. Just report style heading and
a list of contents. Wasting time on detailed introductions or conclusions for the whole of
Part B can waste valuable time.
Commentary as to whether recommendations made in previous years have been
properly followed up
Good use of the pre-prepared analysis is evident and time management is certainly
improving. Failing candidates will often produce an analysis that is either very limited, or
extremely detailed, suggesting little ownership of the work. Analyses may very probably be
prepared in class, but there is little point in candidates arriving for the exam with an analysis
that they do not really understand.
Poor format and presentation does remain a significant issue. Most candidates do use a
report style heading but some do not make any use of sub-headings, paragraphs, bullet
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points or underlining. It can sometimes even be unclear which task they are writing about.
The examining team are meticulous and will read every word, but they will not award format
marks when the answers have been poorly presented.
To summarise the expectation for full format marks are:
 Report style introduction to Part B. The listing of contents is good but detailed
introductions or executive summaries and conclusions are not required
 Numbering and/or headings that clearly identify the exam tasks (do not introduce a
different numbering system, it is best to stick to the task numbers)
 Bullet points or sub-headings to make individual points distinct
 Any abbreviations introduced
 Use of tables, diagrams or charts, if appropriate
 Good business English – ‘if you like’ and ‘come in handy’ are not terms you would expect
to find in a business report
 Good spelling – too many examples to list here but, suffice to say that very poor spelling
could compromise a mark
 Do not write in the margin please as it is very frustrating for the examiner trying to find a
space to annotate.
It is good to note that most candidates are now starting each task on a fresh page. This is
really quite important. Sadly, if the content is rambling, it can actually be quite hard for
examiners to know which task the candidate is attempting.
Guidance about how candidates can avoid making similar errors and strategies for
improving performance
In order of priority:
 Invest time in preparing a SWOT and PESTEL, these should be useful tools that can help
you in the exam. They should also be tools that are personal to you (never easy working
with someone else’s tools!) Keep the analysis simple and use it as a prompt. If it is
packed with complicated detail it may be of little use to you in the exam. Do not respond
to a task by saying ‘see appendix’ without any elaboration. Be clear about what the key
points are that you want to refer to in response to the task?
 Know the syllabus, understand its structure and particularly the micro and macro
environments, which together represent 70% of the marks for this paper. Each paper
cannot cover all elements of the syllabus but you should be prepared for any. Read
supporting texts (but be aware that anything not in the syllabus will not, in itself, accrue
marks).
 Candidates are encouraged to complete this unit after Marketing Information and
Research. If this is not possible or practical, then ensure that you understand the
fundamentals or research but more particularly the secondary sources of information that
relate to the marketing environment.
 Read the tasks carefully and be absolutely sure what is being asked of you. Underline the
command words in the task and if you are asked to describe, then it is not enough to just
identify, and if you are asked to evaluate, it is not enough just to describe
 Put yourself in the marketing role described and consider how you could best make a
positive contribution to the organisation in relation to the given task. Some candidates
were clearly challenged when asked to consider the information required for carrying out a
detailed competitor analysis. Do not panic as a bit of common sense should help
candidates to come up with a list. Examiners will always reward content that is plausible,
possible, realistic and justified.
 Be worldly wise and ensure that you read papers, discuss issues in class, and reflect on
your own role as a consumer and how you might relate to this organisation. There is a
great deal to be learnt by assessing the marketing environment of any organisation, large
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or small, and candidates should be encouraged to discuss and assess the marketing
environment of organisations that are known to them.
Practise the case study and exam approach. Read a past case, prepare a SWOT and
PESTEL, go through points from the syllabus and relate these to particular areas of the
case, try the tasks under exam conditions, then reflect carefully on the Assessment
Review Report for that paper. This should give you a good feel of what is required for this
assessment and the pitfalls to avoid
Go for full format marks – Use a report style heading for Part B (one heading for Part B
rather than one for each task is fine) and use headings, sub-headings, bullet points and
underlining to break up your report and highlight key points. Try to write legibly and
concisely. Format marks are there to be had so do not waste them. Business language is
an important part of presentation and a surprising number of candidates could not spell
confectionery! Just as frustrating is the use of sloppy language which would not generally
be tolerated in the workplace such as ‘thro’’, ‘let’s face it’ and ‘coz’ are just a few
examples. The use of etc. in an exam serves little purpose other than to advise the
examiner that there is probably more to say but…… not sure what.
Suggestions of possible alternative approaches to tackling a task or parts of a task
while making it clear that it is not the only way
Use tables if these help you to ensure that you cover all elements of a task eg, power and
interest of stakeholders in Task Six.
Definitions are not always asked for but if you give them the examiner will know with
confidence that you understand the term. It may also help you to quickly focus on the task.
Eg, what is the technological environment, how is it changing, what is an SME, what is a
competitive advantage?
Use common sense – candidates may not immediately know how to respond to a task but
must not panic. They should imagine themselves in the offices at Cadbury/Kraft, what could
they suggest, how could they complete the tasks?
Recommendations for how performance can be improved in future assessments
For D/E grade candidates:
It may be that your paper has failed because you have missed one or more questions or
answered one or more questions wrongly, demonstrating poor knowledge or poor
understanding of the task. However, if you feel that you answered all questions and did not
have any major errors then it is likely that your paper has failed because of one or more of the
following reasons:




You did not answer in sufficient depth. Think particularly of the command words of
analyse, evaluate and recommend.
Detail, if a question is worth ten marks and your answer is short (less than 100 words or
fewer than 2-3 points made) the chances are that you have not gone into enough detail or
referred to enough points.
Range – eg, when asked to describe the changing technological environment in Task
Eight, it would be limiting to focus on one area eg, marketing communications.
You may have repeated lots of information from the case. The true value of the
assessment is about the skills you could contribute to the workplace. The ability to
contribute to marketing decision making means making astute observations, offering
positive suggestions or proposing practical approaches that support performance in the
market place.
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For F/U grade candidates:
 Be very sure of the difference between micro and macro as very poor papers often
demonstrate a poor understanding of this key concept.
 Read quality press to understand marketing environment issues facing organisations in
your area (public sector, private sector and voluntary sector)
 Investigate other known organisations and analyse issues and trends in their marketing
environment. Consider the extent to which the organisation can control any of these
issues. What information about the macro or micro environment can inform their decision
making? The marketing environment applies to a corner shop on any street in the world,
just as much as it does to multinationals. Walk those streets and stop and think about the
factors that are affecting those businesses.
 Review syllabus content and ensure that your learning is covering all areas. Then relate
syllabus areas to known organisations or case study organisations – considering how it
impacts on them. Take note of the syllabus weighting - 70% of weighting related to macro
and micro environment.
 Refer to past cases. Read the cases, complete an analysis and then tackle the tasks.
Clarification about any syllabus or assessment changes
No changes have been made to this syllabus.
No changes are being made to the assessment format; however, it is important to note that
the mark-split for Part B tasks may vary.
Possible future assessment themes
This assessment will always include five short and three long tasks and the long tasks will
generally be split into two elements. The syllabus for Assessing the Marketing Environment is
wide ranging and it is impossible to predict which elements may arise in exam questions. The
tasks will always be wholly influenced by the case material.
Cases are identified well in advance, so some information within the case may seem out of
date. However, as the marketing environment is ever-changing, CIM may change the case;
amend the case material and the shift emphasis of the assessment at quite a late stage in the
assessment preparation process. For this reason, CIM cannot guide tutors and candidates
on future assessment themes.
Candidates are NOT expected to study up to date information around the case organisation
but a good awareness of contemporary macro environmental issues will be very beneficial.
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