Marketing Strategy and Ethics
What this domain tests
Competitive analysis, strategy selection, and the ethical and legal boundaries of claims, endorsements and data use.
Core rules
- SWOT becomes strategy only when strengths are matched to opportunities and weaknesses defended against threats; an unlinked list earns little credit.
- Porter's five forces are supplier power, buyer power, threat of entry, threat of substitutes and rivalry. Attractiveness is judged at industry level.
- Generic strategies are cost leadership, differentiation and focus; being stuck in the middle is a risk, not a rule.
- VRIN requires value, rarity, inimitability and non-substitutability.
- Claims must be truthful, substantiated and not misleading, including implied claims. Puffery such as best coffee in town is opinion; clinically proven is a factual claim needing evidence. Endorsements need disclosure of material connections. Data use needs a lawful basis, purpose limitation and genuine consent.
Worked example
A dairy assesses a regional market: two retail buyers control 70% of volume, so buyer power is high; private label is strong, so substitutes are high; capital needs deter entrants; rivalry is price-led. Verdict: unattractive for a commodity player. The strategic response is to reduce buyer power through substantiated differentiation, or to focus on foodservice where switching costs are higher. Cost leadership is unavailable without scale.
Traps
Confusing legal with ethical; assuming puffery licenses any exaggeration; making sustainability claims without scope and verification; presenting five forces as a list without a conclusion; recommending growth without naming the profit mechanism.