Pearson BTEC Level 5
HNC/D Diploma in Business
Marketing Planning
Assessment
Date for Submission: 8th February 2018
(The submission portal will close at 14.00 GMT)
Set by: Alison Watson
Assignment Brief
As part of the formal assessment for the HNC/D programme you are required to submit an
assignment for each module. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the
programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting
assignments.
After completing the module, you should be able to:
LO1 – Compile Marketing Audits
LO2 – Understand the main barriers to marketing planning
LO3 – Formulate a marketing plan for a product or service
LO4 – Understand ethical issues in marketing
Scenario – Nintendo Switch
Refer to the following newspaper article, Nintendo’s website and wider reading and research to
answer the assignment questions.
http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/gaming/856067/Nintendo-Switch-sales-news-PS4-bestselling-
consoles-ever
http://www.nintendo.com/switch/
https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Nintendo-Switch/Nintendo-Switch-1148779.html
Reference
Dassanayake, D. 2017. Nintendo Switch News – PS4 Rival expected to be one of the best-selling
consoles ever. [Online]. The Express. Available from:
http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/gaming/856067/Nintendo-Switch-sales-news-PS4-bestselling-
consoles-ever. [Accessed 21 September 2017].
Assignment Question
As Marketing Manager of Nintendo, you are required to write a marketing plan to present to senior
management for a new modification or market for the Nintendo Switch. This is to ensure that
the PS4 does not overtake the Nintendo Switch in the current gaming environment. It is essential
that you underpin all sections with appropriate marketing theory to support your practical
examples and content. The structure of the marketing plan will be as follows:
– An executive summary –briefly summarise the main areas of the plan and the target market.
Explain why marketing planning is essential for strategic planning and factors that affect the
effective implementation of the marketing plan and how these have been taken into account
in your plan.
(Remember this is a summary so keep it fairly brief.) (AC 3.1, 3.2, 3.5)
– An introduction –give the purpose of the plan. Include a review of the organization in terms of
changing perspectives in marketing planning and an evaluation of the organizations current
capabilities for planning its future marketing activity. (AC 1.1, 1.2)
Task 1 – Situational analysis:
• Include an examination of techniques for organizational auditing and for analyzing external
factors that affect marketing. (AC1.3)
• Carry out organizational auditing and analysis of the external factors that affect marketing
planning within the organization. (Use the SWOT and PESTLE for this).(AC 1.4, 3.1)
Task 2 – Barrier to Marketing Planning
• Assess the barriers to marketing planning and examine how the organization can overcome
these.
(Use McDonalds Ten ‘S’ framework to help to resolve the barriers)
(AC 2.1,2.2)
Task 3 – Marketing Planning
• Objectives – Include the introduction of the new modification or market. (AC 3.1)
• Examine techniques for a new modification/market in the organization using the seven stages of
new product development. (AC3.3)
• Justify pricing policy, distribution and a communication mix for the new product. (AC 3.1,3.4)
Task 4 – Ethical Issues
• Explain possible ethical issues that might influence the plan and analyze ways to address
these. Consumer ethics such as false claims also needs analyzing with a brief plan on how
to deal with these issues. (AC 4.1, 4.2, 4.3)
– Budgets – keep this brief (sales and costs of marketing communications). (AC 3.1)
– Implementation – this will take the form of a chart and will include all activities including a
final activity of monitoring and evaluating performance. (AC 3.1)
Formative Feedback Opportunity:
In order to assist with your learning and to give you some early feedback you are encouraged to
submit a draft of your OUTLINE ANSWERS (i.e. not full answers – just a couple of sentences per
section to show what you intend / plan to include in your answers) to your tutor.
If you do decide to complete an OUTLINE DRAFT, then, in order to receive feedback, the
document must be emailed to the module tutor two weeks before submission.
This is optional and does not contribute to the grading for the module and whether you choose to
use this opportunity for early feedback or not you must still submit your answers to all assignment
questions on or before 08 February 2018.
The tutor’s email address can be found on the module front page on iLearn and you will receive
feedback within seven days. (awatson@arden.ac.uk)
Student Guidelines
1. You should write this assignment in a formal report format.
2. You must ensure that the submitted assignment is all your own work and that all sources used
are correctly attributed. Penalties apply to assignments which show evidence of academic unfair
practice. (See the Student Handbook which is in the Induction Area). Please also refer to the
‘Guide to Unfair Practice in Assessment’ on the module page on ilearn.
3. Guide to Harvard Referencing
http://moodle.bl.rdi.co.uk/guides/HarvardRef/AU_Harvard_Quick_Ref_Guide.pdf
Guide to Harvard Citation
http://moodle.bl.rdi.co.uk/guides/HarvardRef/AU_Guide_to_Harvard_Citation.pdf
You must use the AU Harvard Referencing method in your assignment.
4. You should use diagrams and tables of figures where appropriate ensuring to reference their
source using the AU Harvard Referencing method.
5. You are required to write your assignment within 3500 words in order for your research and
summarizing skills to be developed, and for effective time management. You are required to
ensure that the assignment addresses all of the assessment tasks. In the interests of good
academic practice, an assignment submitted with excessive word counts (i.e. more than 10%
in excess of the limit) will be returned to you. You will be given a maximum of 48 hours to edit
the work to reduce the word count to the permitted maximum. In the event that the submission
is still regarded as excessively long then, in line with advice received from Pearson, we will
be unable to accept it for marking and you will receive a Refer grade for Non-Submission.
The word count excludes the title page, reference list and appendices. Where assessment
questions have been reprinted from the assessment brief these will also be excluded from the word
count. ALL other printed words ARE included in the word count. Printed words include
those contained within charts and tables.
6. Your assignment should be submitted as a single document. For more information please see
the “Guide to Submitting an Assignment” document available on the module page on iLearn.
Recommended Additional Resources
EBSCO eBooks
Hart, S. J., Baker, M. J., 2008 The Marketing Book Sixth Edition Oxford, Elsevier
McDonald, M. Willson, H., 2011 Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them,
Seventh Edition Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann
My ilearn Library
Hollensen, S., 2010 Marketing Management: A Relationship Approach 2nd Edition London, Prentice
Hall
Wood, M., 2013 Essential Guide to Marketing Planning. 3rd edition. Pearson. UK
Journals and newspapers
The Financial Times and other daily newspapers which contain a business section and market
reports
Harvard Business Review
Journal of Marketing
Journal of Marketing Management
Journal of Services Marketing
Marketing Business
Websites
www.bized.ac.uk
www.businesslink.gov.uk
www.businessplans.org
www.cim.co.uk
www.ft.com
Assessment Criteria for Pass
To achieve a pass, you must meet all of the assessment criteria as stated
below. Failure to cover all of the assessment criteria will result in a referral
grade and you be required to re-submit your assignment.
Further guidance on completion of your assignment can be found in the
guidance notes which are posted on the group learning space by your
module tutor. For additional support please post questions onto the group
learning space, or email awatson@arden.ac.uk
Descriptive content will dominate at this level
Learning
Outcomes/
Assessment
Criteria & Related
Task
Criteria Met
(you may wish
to use this in
your preparation
for your
assignment
submission)
AC 1: be able to compile marketing
audits.
1.1 review changing perspectives in marketing planning
Introduction
1.2 evaluate an organisation’s capability for planning its future marketing
activity
Introduction
1.3 examine techniques for organisational auditing and for analysing
external factors that affect marketing planning
Task1
1.4 carry out organisational auditing and analysis of external factors that
affect marketing planning in a given situation
Task1
AC 2: Understand the main
barriers to marketing
planning
2.1 assess the main barriers to marketing planning
Task2
2.2 examine how organisations may overcome barriers to marketing
planning
Task2
AC 3: Be able to formulate a
marketing plan for a product
or service
3.1 write a marketing plan for a product or a service
Entire Report
3.2 explain why marketing planning is essential in the strategic planning
process for an organization
Executive
Summary
3.3 examine techniques for new product development Task3
3.4 justify recommendations for pricing policy, distribution and
communication mix
Task3
3.5 explain how factors affecting the effective implementation of the
marketing plan have been taken into account
Executive
Summary
AC 4: Understand ethical issues in
marketing
4.1 explain how ethical issues influence marketing planning
Task4
4.2 analyse examples of how organisations respond to
ethical issues
Task4
4.3 analyse examples of consumer ethics and the effect it has on
marketing planning.
Task4
Assessment Criteria for Merit
To achieve a Merit all of the Pass criteria need to be met, then the tutor
will assess whether you have met the Merit Criteria. Each of the Merit
criteria must have been met at least once within the assignment.
The following statements are examples of how a merit may be achieved, if
you do meet the Merit Criteria by showing you have reached this level in
other ways then credit will be awarded for this. You will need to meet M1,
M2, M3 at least once.
application & analysis will be evident at this level
Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solutions
• relevant theories have been applied for example when discussing
the changes in marketing perspectives for the organisation.
• substantial analysis is evident such as when applying auditing
techniques to the organisation.
M1
Select/design and apply appropriate methods/techniques
• there is a strong balance of theory to practice evident in the
report – the report is therefore less reliant on descriptive content
alone
• the techniques for new product development are purposeful and
fully justified within the context of the organisation.
M2
Present and communicate appropriate findings
• formal report format which is free from major error
• relevant language and terminology has been accurately used
• the work is fully referenced
M3
Assessment Criteria for Distinction
To achieve a Distinction, you have met all of the Pass and the Merit
criteria. Each of the Distinction criteria must be met at least once within
the assignment.
The following statements are examples of how a Distinction may be
achieved, if you do meet the Distinction Criteria by showing you have
reached this level in other ways then credit will be awarded for this. You
will need to meet D1, D2, D3 at least once.
analysis, evaluation & synthesis will be evident at this level
Use critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify valid
conclusions
• critical and evaluative thinking has been used to generate and
justify valid conclusions when assessing the barriers to marketing
planning within the organisation. Opinion is therefore supported
with evidence from the case study and theory.
D1
Take responsibility for managing and organising activities
• independence demonstrated for example in your research of the
organisation and marketing planning
• the assignment is completed fully to deadline
• a wide range of resources have been used
D2
Demonstrate convergent/lateral/creative thinking
• ideas are evaluated in the context of the organisation when
considering ethical issues
• capacity for innovation and creative thought has been used for the
marketing plan.
D3
