Assessment Point 2: Summative Essay

Name: Kabwe B Kufika

Student ID: R1806D5506993
Word Count: 1,200
Date: 3rd June 2022
Research Supervisor: Christine Lindsay Smith

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Abstract

The assignment is a self-reflection completed to enable the writer to critically assess on his time
spent learning the strategic marketing module. The assignment was conducted to enable the
writer to gauge the skills and attributes that were gained during this module.

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Table of Contents

1. Abstract 2
2. Introduction 4
3. What did I expect to learn 4
4. Challenges encountered during the module 5
5. What did I learn 5
6. What will I do differently going forwards 6
7. Conclusions 6
8. References 7

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Introduction

This paper aims at reflecting on the learning points that were gained during the strategic
marketing course. Reflection is an important part of learning, according to Nobel (2014) taking
time to reflect improves future related work performances. Therefore, I have set aside this paper
to reflect my own performance and draw conclusions on what went well and how to improve it. I
cover my initial expectations when commencing this module. I also uncover what were my
learning points from this module. Further, I look at how I see things differently after this module.
Finally, I present how I see things and the actions from this module.

During the module, I read the weekly readings and had to complete the summative task at the
end of the module, the summative essay was based on Amazon “the best marketing strategies
aren’t top down, they’re outside in, starting with the customers’ needs and wants.” While
drafting the essay my goal was to describe the process by which Amazon conducts its marketing
strategy by focusing on the customers.

What did I expect to learn?

At the beginning it was apparent that the module would provide a broader perspective marketing
strategy and how a large corporate like Amazon has been successful at its marketing strategy by
putting its customers first. Coming from a background of being an Accountant working in a fast-
growing e-commerce company, I have found that marketing is a useful tool for any company to
achieve success. At the inception of the module, I had envisioned to learn on the processes
required for a company to develop a successful marketing strategy.

From the first half of the module which covered strategic marketing and the various aspects of
strategic marketing, my viewpoint was for strategic marketing to be effective it should be linked
to the companies’ objectives and be rooted towards customers. This is exactly what Amazon a
leading E-commerce business has done. The focus of the first assignment was a case study on
Amazon, I was tasked with providing evidence as to why the best marketing strategies are not
top-down they are outside-in, beginning with the needs and wants of the customers. At first this
seemed like a daunting, however, through research on the company I discovered several
recommended reading topics helpful in writing my case study.

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Challenges encountered during the Module

In preparation of the summative task, I faced various challenges, critical amongst all was the
time required to complete the module, the module required to be completed within 8 weeks
which included two assessments. I had limited time as I had to manage both the tasks and my
professional work life, this proved to be a challenge. I found that conducting the research on
Amazon and learning the concepts was difficult. This led to me being unable to complete all the
weekly group tasks and achieve the rich recommended readings I planned to undertake.

Another, key challenge experienced was finding information on Amazon that was relevant to the
topic. I tried looking for information on google scholar and Findit, this made it easier as I found
some relevant articles using these sources. However, some of the concepts that were being
mentioned during the module were new to me, coming from an accounting background being a
professional accountant I was not too familiar with some of the content in the module. This
meant that I had to read further to understand the concepts.

What did I learn?

During each week I gathered important pieces of information that enabled me to complete my
summative essay. During the first two weeks I gathered knowledge on what strategic marketing
is, these initial two weeks were critical to me as the built the cornerstone to my understanding of
what strategic marketing is. Initially I had a tough time differentiating between marketing
strategy is and tactical marketing, Varadarajan (2015) argued that strategic marketing is
concerned with long run gaining of market share while tactical marketing is concerned with
tactics at an operational level.

During week 3 and 4, I learnt key concepts of segmentation and internal marketing. From the
weekly articles I gathered the common themes that guided me during my summative essay, I
used this to research on Amazon strategies to put customers first in everything that it does.
Analyzing the growth of Amazon its growth over the years since it was first established, I
gathered that the focus of Amazon has been customers before profitability. To gain an
understanding of why it has been successful over competition, I studied on the needs and wants
of its customers and how it has established systems to fulfill these needs and wants. This study
opened my eyes to Amazon in a new light in ways I previously did not know including the
companies’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. I also learnt about how Amazon

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ensures that employees are educated about its products so that they can better service its
customers.

My analysis found that the main success behind Amazon was how it targets specific customer, as
Stillerman (2015) pointed out that the began with an analysis of the strategic planning &
analysis, the strategic planning & analysis using tools such as the SWOT analysis. Highlighting
what key resources that the company has that makes it outperform its competition and areas
where they company has weaknesses.

What will I do differently going forwards?

A key skill learned from the module is time management, as there were several articles to read
during the module. I needed to effectively manage my time, one mistake I made was to delay
everything until the last two weeks, this led to me panicking. I have gathered that in future I will
responsibly manage my time by going through the weekly course work and taking notes on a
weekly basis, this can prove to be beneficial when writing down the final assessment.

Conclusion

I am glad that I completed this module as I have gained valuable knowledge, marketing is a
critical area of any business, learning about Amazon and its approach on customer centric
marketing was highly beneficial. Overall, the experience was very practical and I would
recommend this module to my colleagues

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References
Nobel, C. (2014). Reflecting on Work Improves Job Performance. Available at:
https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/reflecting-on-work-improves-job-performance?
_ga=2.236305473.1990051478.1655730378-474666602.1655730378 (Accessed on 20/06/2022)
Stiller, J. (2015). The Sociology of Consumption. A global Approach. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1469540518809153 (Accessed on 20/06/2022)
Varadarajan, R. (2015). Strategic Marketing, Marketing Strategy and Market Strategy, AMS
Review, Springer; Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 5 Issue 3 pp 78- 90.

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