Marketing and People
THE BIG IDEA
“This topic is about two main things: how a business sells products to customers and how it looks after its workers. You will learn how companies find out what people want to buy, how they compete with other brands, and how they keep their employees happy and working hard to reach company goals.“
CRUCIAL KEYWORDS
Market Orientation
Building a business around what customers actually want, rather than just what the business is good at making.
Price Elasticity of Demand (PED)
A way to see how much sales go up or down when you change the price of something.
Hierarchical Structure
A company set up like a pyramid, with a few bosses at the top and many workers at the bottom.
Labour Turnover
The percentage of workers who quit their jobs and need to be replaced each year.
How It Works
1) Product Lifecycle
Think of a product like a person: it is born (launch), it grows up fast (growth), it becomes an adult (maturity), and eventually it gets old and retires (decline).
2) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Imagine a ladder of needs: you can’t worry about being famous (esteem) if you are currently starving (physiological) or feel unsafe.
3) The Boston Matrix
It is like sorting your toys: ‘Stars’ are popular and growing, ‘Cash Cows’ are old favourites that still make money, and ‘Dogs’ are the ones nobody wants anymore.
CASE STUDY EVIDENCE
- Amazon spends a lot of money teaching workers new skills so they can get more packages delivered faster.
- •Apple charges a high price for new phones because people value the brand, which helps them make more profit than their rivals.
EXAM ESSENTIALS
- When writing an essay, use the phrase ‘This depends on…’ to show you know there isn’t just one right answer.
- Remember: Niche is ‘small and expensive,’ while Mass is ‘big and cheap’.