A2

INFLUENCES
ON Write down the name of any large business you are familiar with e.g. Mars,
MARKETING Coca Cola, Next.
ACTIVITY
Draw a spider diagram to show all of the marketing activities they carry out.

INFLUENCES ON MARKETING
ACTIVITIES
 INFLUENCES ON MARKETING ACTIVITIES

 In this topic you will learn about

 Internal influences:
 Cost of the campaign
 Availability of finance
 Expertise of staff
 Size and culture of the business
 External influences:
 Social
 Technological
 Economic
 Environmental
 Political
 Legal
 Ethical
 MARKETING ACTIVITIES

 Marketing activities are all the actions taken by a business to

influence the buying behaviour of existing and potential
customers
 The aim is:
 Attention
 Interest
 Desire
 Action
 Examples of marketing activities include:
 Advertising
 Promotions e.g. 10% extra, BOGOF
 Sponsorship
 Merchandising
 Changing price
 Bringing out new products
 Improving existing products
 Altering where products are available e.g. e-commerce
 INTERNAL INFLUENCES

 The marketing activities of a business will be influenced by

internal factors i.e. factors from within the business
 These include:
 Cost of the campaign
How will the cost of
these 5 marketing  Some marketing activities are carried out in-house, these are
activities vary? called below-the-line and include activities such as displays of
products, direct selling, blogs and special offers
 Below-the-line activities are often a cheaper option
 Other marketing activities will involve the use of external
agencies, these are called above-the line and include
activities such as media advertisements and digital campaigns
 Above-the-line activities are normally more expensive
 INTERNAL INFLUENCES

 Availability of finance
 A marketing budget will see a limit on the amount of money that
can be spent on marketing activities in a given period of time
 The size of the budget will determine the type and number of
activities to be undertaken
 The budget may be set as a percentage of revenue

 Expertise of staff
 A large business will have a marketing department with
marketing experts employed who can undertake a wide range of
activities. For example, there may be specialists in social media
or public relations
 A smaller business may lack expertise and rely on the use of
external agencies or relatively straight forward activities such as
blogs or flyers
 INTERNAL INFLUENCES

 Size and culture of the business

 The size of the business affects the size of the budget as
well as the objective of the marketing activities e.g. a small
business may only want to reach a small geographical area
where a large business may require global marketing
 The culture of a business will affect the way it wants to be
viewed by customers e.g. offer a personal service or quick
and efficient
 Culture may also influence the marketing message e.g. is a
business ethical, family run or innovative
 ACTIVITY

Nihal is setting up a Sri Lankan cook in sauce business offering specialist sauces to deli’s
and small food outlets across the north east of England. He has just £2 500 to spend on
promotions as part of his marketing activities.
Promotional Method Cost Predicted resulting sales
Newspaper advertisement £500 3500
Food Magazine Advertisement £200 2500
Brochures £250 1000
Sampling £350 5000
Sponsorship £150 2000
Trade display stand £800 10000
Business cards £100 1000

When setting your promotional spending remember you might decide to have multiple
purchases of one method i.e. 2 newspaper advertisements would cost you £1000.

How should Nihal spend his budget?

 EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

You will also consider

 The marketing activities of a business will be influenced by
these external factors
in section C: Planning external factors i.e. factors from outside the business
and developing a
marketing campaign.  These can not be controlled by the business
 Can you identify 7 external factors?
 S_____
 T____________
 E_______
 E____________
 P________
 L____
 E______
 EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

 Social
 Buying habits e.g. online shopping
 Family size e.g. packet sizes
 Fashions and trends
 Changing demographics e.g. migration or an ageing population

 Technological
 New product development/innovations
 Marketing opportunities e.g. blogs, social media and viral
marketing
 Routes to market e.g. e-commerce and m-commerce
 EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

 Economic
 Change product ranges e.g. budget lines during a recession
 Marketing message e.g. value for money or treat yourself
 Promotions such as special offers when disposable income is
low

 Environmental
 Promoting environmentally friendly features e.g. less packaging
or lower food miles
 Use of raw materials in product design e.g. renewable resources
 New product development e.g. electric cars
 EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

 Political
 Ban on advertising of certain goods e.g. cigarettes can not be on
display
How has the 5p charge
on carrier bag  Charge on carrier bags, previously a form of advertising
impacted on
marketing activities?  Tax on sugary drinks

 Legal
 The advertising standards authority regulates advertising. It
states that adverts must not be misleading, harmful of offensive
 Consumers are protected by legislation. For example, the trade
About the ASA. description act states that a product must be fit for purpose, as
described and of reasonable quality
 EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

 Ethical
 Ethics is about doing what is deemed to be morally
correct
 A business’ ethics will affect its marketing activities, for
example:
 Not placing sweets or toys near to the check out to reduce
pester power from children
 Paying a fair price to suppliers, which will be reflected in
the price charged to consumers
 Ethical sourcing or raw materials influencing product
design
 ACTIVITY

 In pairs select 2 businesses – one large and one small

 Research the marketing activities of both businesses
 Prepare a presentation comparing the activities and
influences on the activities of both businesses
 In each case what do you think is the main internal
and external influence?
 INFLUENCES ON MARKETING ACTIVITIES

 In this topic you have learnt about

 Internal influences:
 Cost of the campaign
 Availability of finance
 Expertise of staff
 Size and culture of the business
 External influences:
 Social
 Technological
 Economic
 Environmental
 Political
 Legal
 Ethical