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@tandi – do you mean are these specific enough as project objectives? Yes but you need to now formulate
some more detailed research questions that you will help you fulfil these objectives e.g. is Clicks able to offer any unique selling propositions?Also given that customer expectations can be broad you should consider whether it differentiates its product offerings for particular markets (types of customer) or segments (what it offers in specific areas or outlets).
Do you mean the same research questions as someone else or same as your objectives? The research questions breakdown the objectives into more exact components. So your SWOT objective would be dealt with by developing research questions on the marketing mix: considering how Clicks uses price to compete with rivals or what forms of promotions it uses for specific products and /or to attract specific customers etc. You should also consider how it pitches itself in the market e.g. does it go for high end customers or mass market?
@Raveen -Topic 18 does not require primary data collection -it can be done successfully from doing good research and using appropriate secondary data. These days with the internet this data is relatively easy to come by if sufficient effort is made and the right organisation is chosen
Some students do conduct surveys but these will only ever normally fulfil part of the project brief that is the effectiveness of SOME of the strategies and is unlikely to cover everything.
Before doing this topic students need to get a good idea about the theories underlying marketing strategies so I suggest that you look at the following links:
https://www.segmentationstudyguide.com/stp-process/full-stp-process/
https://www.consumerpsychologist.com/cb_Segmentation.html
IF you decide to conduct primary research then you also need to understand the principles of how to conduct valid surveys so read Phil Clarke’s article in the Info Pack AND the Information on the following link.
https://www.consumerpsychologist.com/cb_Research_Methods.html
Students invariably produce and rely on unreliable surveys and then fail on application and evaluation (which is why I advise secondary data -BUT the research needs to be good to pass and excellent for a higher grade).
Raveen I reposted your query here as we only need one forum for Topic 18 and this is it. Reminder to everyone -please search for an appropriate existing Topic rather than starting a new topic – see PLEASE HELP KEEP OUR FORUMS TIDY!!!!
Hi Trephena,
Is it really important to have both the research questions and research objectives for the rap. Can’t I have only the r. objectives? plz advise. thanks
@tanvi2211 -You are expected to formulate one from the other. So objectives are usually overarching aims of what your project hopes to achieve and the research questions are more detailed ‘plans’ of how these objectives will be fulfilled. Please see the attached (although it deals primarily with T8, the same principle applies to T18)
Hi All
I am now doing part 3 of my rap.
My research questions:
What is the current marketing strategy of Clicks Retailers
What is Clicks Brand Proposition?
How do they communicate their product offers to their customers
How does Clicks cater for its customers given the extreme demographics in South Africa
Is the strategy effective
What can Clicks do better to improve their marketing strategy1) What is the current marketing strategy of Clicks retailers. –
For this I have a heading – Ïdentifying Marketing Strategy of Clicks Retailers.
I have a page and a half of this giving a breakdown of all what Clicks Plans to do based on a document I obtained from work (Clicks).2) My second heading is Evaluation of Clicks Marketing Strategy
Do I have to answer each question individually as a heading?
I feel that I have answered these questions on the models under this heading?3) Conclusion and Recommendations
@tandi -sorry if has taken me so long to get back to you my day job has been making heavy demands on my time unfortunately.
My main concern for the success of your project is that you must demonstrate that you have some original analysis and input and the ‘danger’ of using company information is that you are just reporting and repeating what someone else found and their ideas. So rather than just state the strategies you need to evaluate them – remember part of the title is about reviewing the effectiveness of the strategies!
You could do this review by researching artcles on the company and its marketing techniques, assessing what competitors do and bringing in some data e.g showing growth in market share, possibly increases in net profit per employee or trend in ratio of revenue to marketing costs.
Hi,
Is it neccessary to use the swot analysis, marketing mix and 5 porters forces as models in Topic 18? Because am exceeding the word limit. please advice.
Thanks,@tanvi2211 – cut the Porter’s and try to make the SWOT more relevant by applying it specifically to marketing strategies
Hi,
is it compulsory to have a recommendation section for the RAP?. My mentor said if exceeding word limit, then its not necessary. But I believe it should be there. Please confirm if its compulsory. thanks@tanvi2211 – No you could cut the Recommendations but you do need a Conclusion i.e. how successful or otherwise the strategies have been (based briefly on the main evidence you found)
Have amended the last advice to…’or cut the SWOT and really try to bring in marketing aspects that could apply to the 5 different aspects of the Porter’s’ wherever possible (customers , rivals should be easy some of the others will be harder – so don’t worry too much if you can’t do this so well for suppliers for example).’
Hello,
Please confirm me whether is it important to include bibliography for the rap.Also, as am resubmitting my rap this period, confirm me if i need to submit a ppt presentation as i have changed my topic and organisation as well. but i have pass my SLS.Thanks
@tanvi – a proper reference list is a must, a bibliography is optional. Sorry I am on holiday and can’t access the Information Pack but it will tell you in there if you must resubmit the Presentation if you have changed topic.
(Sometimes the system won’t let you complete the submission and upload your files without a Presentation file and I have known students to have to load the one they did and passed previously even when they haven’t changed topic just to submit their report!)
Please help me to find an organisation to study. I am considering to choose my employer..a financial institution..Is it ok?
@naisonm – no problem with the choice. The emphasis here would be on being objective and applying the 7 Ps of marketing really well. If it is the company you are employed in try to ascertain whether they target a type of specific customer or have a broad range of products so that they appeal to different groups e.g. pension products (for companies and/or individuals), investors, and particular age groups for some products (the over 50s like Saga).
Students tend to fail T18 because they trot out generalisations and don’t put enough focus on the actual strategies relevant to their organisation and fail to consider things like market penetration, product differentiation, market segmentation.
Hello Trephena,
I have finally passed in my second attempt. Many many thanks to you and everyone in the OBU forum. It was indeed a great help from all of you regarding the advices, prompt responses, in fact everthing).. Thanks a lot.
Hi Trephena,
I’m thinking about doing the RAP on some organisation in which I was assigned as an Internal Auditor from my firm.
In my review, i gained quite a lot of information about the marketing processes which I think would give material for a good report. However, there were few positives identified in the company and a lot of negatives. So would it be okay to criticise the marketing strategy in the whole of my report while praising the aspects they are doing okay. Its an NGO and a relatively new one.
Also with regards to the referencing, my primary source of Info will be my audit review and there’s nothing much on the internet to quote. So how would that look like in the report.
I have a backup company in mind if this doesnt work out, but I just wanted to get your opinion before continuing, as it would be much easier to work on and there wouldnt be much need of research as I already have done enough in my Internal Audit.
Thanks
@Ali – I think your main problem here might possibly be that you MUST show original analysis and it seems that you want to use the work that was carried out for some other purpose as the basis of your RAP. This is a type of plagiarism if you depend too much on it.
The summary of the rules in the Information Pack state “All assessments are intended to determine the skills, abilities, understanding and knowledge of each of the individual students undertaking the assessment…. Cheating is defined as obtaining or attempting to obtain an unfair academic advantage.” The information in the pack is mainly addressed at students on campus based courses so although it states “Duplication – submitting work for assessment that is the same as, or broadly similar to, work submitted earlier for academic credit, without acknowledgement of the previous submission” this would be interpreted in the context of the RAP as submitting work for assessment that is broadly similar to work carried out as a work project or for some other purpose and not primarily for the RAP. Do not assume that the markers won’t notice if you ‘overlook’ the origins of the work report. Many RAPs follow a common sequence, thread and approach and anything that deviates from ‘the norm’ (as your undoubtably would if you were to hide the true nature of it) are subject to greater scrutiny and even investigated by the ACO to establish whether they are original
Although you can use the report for part of your research you must acknowledge where this has come from (i.e. a work project) and this cannot form most of your work. You must also demonstrate adequate use of a variety of sources (see Assessment Criteria 6) otherwise the research will be deemed insufficient to fulfil the information gathering criteria so that is again maybe another problem.
If you bear these limitations in mind and take steps to rectify them, then you could use the report but you must supplement it so that if does not form, I would estimate, more than about 15-20% of the material you are relying on.
I was passed on Self Reflection (point 8) but failed on Communication Skills inc Presentation (point 9) because my presentation needs changing with assessor comments being “Your Presentation has the basics of being successful but needs to be up dated when you have re-focused your work as at the moment it does not fulfill the requirements for Topic 18”.
The overall SLS assessment, therefore, was a Fail.
Now my mentor says that I don’t need to submit a new SLS as I passed on Self Reflection and they only failed me because of presentation, but I’m not so sure about because the overall is an F.
Please tell me if there’s any need to submit a new SLS.
Also, they recommended me to shift focus to the competing company, as it might be easier for me, which I have done. Would this affect the areas previously passed in the assessor feedback?
Thank You
You do not have to rewrite your statement. It sounds as though there were a few issues with your presentation -possibly it was too generic and it did not accurately reflect the key findings in sufficient detail?
If you do not change topic or company sections passed are carried forward
Thanks for your reply…
The thing is that as per my mentor’s guidance, I performed a little bit comparison with regards to marketing mix and sales growth, between company A and B in Topic 18.
In their feedback, the marker says that I didn’t need to do that and doing so has made my findings interesting but narrow. In my RAP, the focus was on Company A but now they recommend that I can shift my focus to Company B if it is easier for me. I have shifted my focus solely on Company B without any comparison this time.
So would this be counted as changing the company?
Now reading the articles on this website, I understand that T18 does not required a comparison. My mentor’s approach was such because they failed his mentee on the bais that he didnt analyse the organisation against any benchmark company.
Oh well in that case to gain peace of mind introduce any new self-reflection and edit your original statement and submit it along with the rest of your work as yes you have changed company.
Normally a comparator is not required for topic 18 but some commentary comparing and contrasting on how rival companies address marketing strategies might strengthen the analysis. I doubt the other student failed merely on ‘not having benchmark analysis’ – I suspect there were other inherent weaknesses…
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