BCS Written Marketing key terms

The coordinated set of controllable tools a firm uses to influence demand, usually grouped as product, price, place and promotion, extended in services marketing with people, process and physical evidence.

The act of obtaining a desired offering from someone by giving something in return, forming the core condition that makes marketing activity possible between two willing parties.

The difference between the total benefits a buyer receives from an offering and the total costs of obtaining it, judged against available alternatives and competing offers.

A buyer's post-purchase judgement of how well perceived performance matched prior expectations, where falling short creates dissatisfaction and exceeding expectations creates delight.

The actors and forces outside marketing management that affect the firm's ability to build and maintain successful relationships, split into micro and macro layers.

A scanning framework that classifies macro-environmental influences into political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors so that opportunities and threats can be identified.

Any person or group that serves as a point of comparison for an individual in forming values, attitudes or purchase behaviour, whether membership-based or aspirational.

The staged sequence a buyer passes through, typically need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post-purchase behaviour, with stages skipped in routine purchases.

What buyers do after a purchase, including satisfaction or dissonance, repeat buying, complaint behaviour and word of mouth, all of which shape later marketing efforts.

A narrow product-centred view in which a firm defines itself by what it makes rather than by the customer needs it satisfies, leaving it vulnerable to substitute offerings.

The systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing problem facing the organisation, conducted for a defined decision at hand.

The ongoing structure of people, equipment and procedures that gathers, sorts, analyses and distributes information to marketing decision makers on a continuing basis.

Information already collected for some earlier purpose and available for reuse, offering speed and low cost but usually requiring checks of relevance, accuracy and currency.

Selecting a subset of a population to represent the whole in research, using probability methods for statistical inference or non-probability methods for convenience and judgement.

The craft of wording, ordering and formatting questions so respondents understand them consistently and answer truthfully, avoiding leading, double-barrelled and ambiguous items.

Estimating future sales or market demand using judgemental methods, market surveys, time-series analysis or causal models, then converting estimates into plans and targets.

Dividing a heterogeneous market into groups of buyers with similar needs or responses, so that each group can be served with a tailored offer and message.

Evaluating the attractiveness of each segment and choosing which ones the firm will serve, considering segment size, growth, competition and fit with company resources.

Designing the offer and image so that it occupies a distinct, valued place in the target customer's mind relative to competing brands.

A visual technique that plots brands on dimensions customers use to compare them, revealing gaps, crowding and repositioning opportunities within a category.

The pattern of sales and profit change across a product's life, commonly described as introduction, growth, maturity and decline, each requiring different marketing responses.

The staged process of generating ideas, screening, developing and testing concepts, business analysis, product development, market testing and commercialisation before a launch.

An early filter in new product development that drops ideas inconsistent with company strategy, resources or market fit before costly concept testing begins.

The added value a brand name gives to an offering, reflected in customer awareness, perceived quality, associations and loyalty, and in the prices the market will bear.

Launching a new product under an existing brand name to borrow its recognition and credibility, which risks diluting the parent brand if the new item fails.

The percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price, showing how sensitive buyers are to price movements for a given offering.

Setting a high initial price to capture buyers with low price sensitivity before lowering it over time, recovering development cost quickly but attracting competitors.

Setting a low introductory price to win share and volume quickly, relying on elastic demand and scale economies, at the risk of thin margins and a cheap image.

Calculating the sales volume at which total revenue equals total cost, showing the minimum output needed before a price or cost structure yields profit.

Adding a standard markup to unit cost to set price, which is simple and defensible but ignores demand, competitor prices and perceived customer value.

The set of interdependent organisations that move a product from producer to consumer, adding time, place and possession utility while sharing risk and information.

Disagreement among channel members over goals, roles, margins or territory, which may be vertical between levels or horizontal between firms at the same level.

Planning and controlling the physical flow of materials and finished goods, plus related information, so that orders are met at acceptable cost and service level.

Coordinating every promotional tool and message source so that audiences receive a consistent, clear and compelling message about the brand across all touchpoints.

The blend of advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling and direct or digital marketing a firm uses to pursue its communication objectives.

The extent to which an advertisement achieves its communication and sales goals, assessed through pre-testing, post-testing, recall, attitude change or response measures.

A structured summary of internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats, used to match a firm's capabilities to the conditions revealed by environmental scanning.

A written document setting out target markets, objectives, strategy, marketing mix actions, budgets and controls for a defined planning period and product or market scope.

Measuring actual marketing performance against planned standards, diagnosing variances and taking corrective action, covering annual plans, profitability, efficiency and strategy.

A comprehensive, systematic and periodic review of a firm's marketing environment, objectives, strategies and activities, intended to spot problems and opportunities afresh.