Above-the-line promotion

A form of promotion that is undertaken by a business by paying for communication with consumers

Advertising elasticity

Measures the responsiveness of demand for a product following a change in the advertising spending on it

Agent

Business with authority to act on behalf of another firm

Asset-led marketing

An approach to marketing that bases strategy on the firm’s existing strengths and assets

Below-the-line promotion

Promotion that is not a directly paid for means of communication but based on short-term incentives to purchase

Boston Matrix

A method of analysing the product portfolio of a business in terms of market share and market growth

Brand

An identifying symbol, name, image or trademark that distinguishes a product from its competitors

Brand awareness

Extent to which a brand is recognised by potential customers and is correctly associated with a particular product

Brand development

Measures the infiltration of a product’s sales, usually per thousand population

Brand loyalty

The faithfulness of consumers to a particular brand as shown by their repeat purchases irrespective of the marketing pressure from competing brands

Channel of distribution

The chain of intermediaries a product passes through from producer to final consumer

Cluster Sampling

Using one or a number of specific groups to draw samples from and not selecting from the whole population

Company or Corporate Branding

The company name is applied to products and this becomes the brand name

Competition-based pricing

A firm will base its price upon the price set by its competitors

Consumer durables

Manufactured products that can be re-used and are expected to have a reasonably long life

Consumer Markets

Markets for goods and services bought by the final user of them

Consumer profile

A quantified picture of consumers of a firm’s product, showing proportions of ages groups, gender etc

Contribution-cost pricing

Setting prices based on the variable costs of making a product in order to make a contribution towards fixed costs and profit

Co-ordinated Marketing Mix

Key marketing decisions complement each other and work together to give customers a consistent message about the product

Corporate image

Consumer perception of the company behind a brand

Cost-plus pricing

Adding a fixed mark-up for profit to the unit price of a product

Cross elasticity

Measures the responsiveness of demand for a product following the change in price of another product

Cyclical variations

Variations in sales occurring over periods of time of much more than a year

E-commerce

The buying and selling of goods and services on the internet

Extension strategies

Marketing plans that extend the maturity stage of the product before a brand new one is needed

Family (Umbrella) branding

A marketing strategy that involves selling several related products under one brand name

Full-cost pricing

Setting a price by calculating a unit cost for the product and then adding a fixed profit mark-up

Going-rate pricing

The price charged is based upon a study of the conditions that prevail in a certain market and the prices charged by major competitors

Global localisation

Adapting the marketing mix including differentiated products, to meet national and regional cultures

Income elasticity

Measures the responsiveness of demand for a product following a change in consumers’ incomes

Industrial Markets

Markets for goods and services bought by businesses to be used in the production process of other products

International marketing

Selling products in markets other than the original domestic market

Loss leader

Product sold at a very low price to encourage consumers to buy other products

Manufacturers’ brands

Producers establish the brand image of a product or a family of products, often under the company’s name

Marginal-cost price

Basing the price on the extra cost of making one additional unit of output

Marketing

The management task which attempts to identify the needs of the consumer

Market Size

The total level of sales of all producers within a market share

Market growth

The percentage change in the total size of a market over a period of time

Market orientation

An outward-looking approach basing product decisions on consumer demand

Market research

Process of collecting, recording and analysing data about customers, competitors and the market

Market Segment

A sub-group of a whole market in which consumers have similar characteristics

Market Segmentation

Identifying different segments within a market and targeting different products or services at them

Market share

The percentage of sales in the total market sold by one business

Market skimming

Setting a high price for a new product when a firm has a unique or highly differentiated product with low price elasticity of demand

Marketing Mix

The key decisions that must be taken in the effective marketing of a product

Marketing Audit

A regular review of the cost and effectiveness of a marketing plan including an analysis of internal and external influences

Marketing objectives

The goals set for the marketing department to help the business achieve its overall objectives

Marketing plan

A detailed report on an organisation’s marketing strategy

Marketing planning

The process of formulating appropriate strategies and preparing marketing activities to meet marketing objectives

Marketing strategy

Long-term plan established for achieving marketing objectives

Own-label branding

Retailers create their own brand name and identity for a range of products

Pan-global Marketing

Adopting a standardised product across the globe as if the whole world were a single market-selling the same goods in the same way everywhere

Penetration pricing

Setting a relatively low price often supported by strong promotion in order to achieve a high volume of sales

Predatory pricing

Deliberately undercutting competitors’ prices in order to try to force them out of the market

Price elasticity of demand

Measures the responsiveness of demand following a change in price

Price leadership

One dominant firm in a market sets a price and other firms simply charge a price based upon that set by the market leader

Primary research

The collection of first hand data that are directly related to a firm’s needs

Product

The end result of the production process sold on the market to satisfy a customer need

Product branding

Each individual product in a portfolio is given its own unique identity and brand image

Product line

A set of related products sold by a business

Product mix

The variety of product lines that a business produces or a retailer stocks

Product orientation

An inward-looking approach that focuses on making products that can be made – or have been made for a long time

Product range

All of the types of products made by a business

Promotion

The use of advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, direct mail, trade fairs, sponsorship and PR to inform and persuade consumers to buy

Promotion mix

The combination of promotional techniques that a firm uses to communicate the benefits of its products to customers

Psychological pricing

Setting prices that take account of customers’ perception of value of the product

Quantitative research

Research that leads to numerical results that can be presented and analysed

Qualitative research

Research into the indepth motivations behind consumer buying behaviour or opinions

Quota Sampling

Gathering data from a group chosen out of a specific sub-group

Random Sampling

Every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected

Random variations

May occur at any time and will cause unusual and unpredicted sales figures

Sales forecasting

Predicting future sales levels and sales trends

Sales promotion

Incentives such as special offers directed at consumers or retailers to achieve short-term sales increases and repeat purchases by consumers

Sample

Group of people taking part in a market research survey

Sampling error

Errors in research caused by using a sample for data collection rather than the whole target population

Seasonal variations

Regular and repeated variations that occur in sales data within a period of 12 months or less

Secondary research

Collection of data from second hand sources

Snowball Sampling

Using existing members of a sample study group to recruit further participants through their acquaintances

Social Marketing

Considers not only the demands of consumers but also the effects on all members of the public

Stratified Sampling

This draws a sample from a specified segment of the population and uses random sampling to select an appropriate number from each

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Managing the network of businesses that are involved in the provision of products to the final consumers

Target Market

The market segment that a particular product is aimed at

Trend

Underlying movement of the data in a time series

Unique Selling Point (USP)

Differentiating factor that makes a company’s product unique, designed to motivate customers to buy

Viral marketing

The use of social networking sites or text messages to increase brand awareness or sell products