OxfordAQA A-Level Business: Marketing objectives and plans and Marketing data (9625/9725) – Revision Notes

Condensed notes for sections 3.1.2.1 Marketing objectives and plans and 3.1.2.2 Marketing data of the OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Business specification. The 9625 and 9725 wordings differ, so points are labelled (9625 only) or (9725 only); unlabelled points are in both. For full explanations and worked examples, use the study guide for this unit. Then test yourself with the practice questions. Wider context is in the Marketing overview notes. See also the course hub, the printable checklist and the free diagnostics.

Marketing objectives: the list and the calculations

Both versions list five of these; brand loyalty is 9725 only. The formulas are the standard forms (the specification does not print them).

Objective	What it tells you	Standard form
Sales volume	Units sold	Count of units
Sales value	Sales revenue	Price x quantity
Market share	Position against rivals	Business sales / total market sales x 100
Customer retention and repeat sales	Whether customers stay and buy again	(Customers at end - new customers) / customers at start x 100
Brand loyalty (9725 only)	Whether customers choose the brand again	No single formula: repeat purchase rate, loyalty card use, survey answers
Sales per product, employee, region, store or customer	Productivity and where sales come from	Total sales / number of products, employees, regions, stores or customers

Quick examples with fresh numbers:

• Sales of 3.6 million in a market of 24 million: share = 15%.
• 1,000 customers at the start, 250 gained, 1,150 at the end: retained 900, so retention = 90%.
• Sales of 2.1 million across 7 stores: 300,000 per store.

Method in steps for any interpretation question:

1. Calculate the figure and say which way it moved.
2. Compare with something: last year, the market, a rival, another store or region.
3. Give a likely reason, using the case facts.
4. Say what the business should do or check next.

Must-know distinctions:

• Volume can rise while value falls (price cuts). Value can rise while volume falls (price rises).
• Sales can rise while market share falls, if the market grows faster.
• Total sales can rise while retention falls, if new customers replace those who left.
• Repeat sales are orders from returning customers. Retention is the share of customers kept.

The importance of marketing (9625 only)

• Marketing decisions influence competitiveness.
• Links: operations (can it supply?), finance (budget, cash), human resources (skills).
• Global business: larger markets and new customers, but different tastes, languages and unfamiliar rivals. International marketing may need an adapted offer.

Marketing plans

Elements: 9625 has marketing objectives, strategy (overall approach), tactics (specific actions) and budget. 9725 has marketing objectives, marketing mix and marketing budget.

Element	Value
Objectives	Give direction and a target to judge success against
Marketing mix (9725)	Fits product, price, promotion and place together for the target customer
Strategy and tactics (9625)	Strategy sets the approach, tactics the actions that carry it out
Budget	Sets a limit, forces choices, allows spending to be compared with results

Purpose of a plan: turns aims into actions, coordinates departments, lets managers monitor results. Limit: depends on the quality of data and can be slow to change.

Return on marketing spending (9725 only), standard form:

Return (%) = (extra profit from the marketing - marketing spend) / marketing spend x 100

Worked reminder: spend 10,000 produces 30,000 extra revenue at a 50% gross margin. Extra gross profit is 15,000. Return = (15,000 - 10,000) / 10,000 x 100 = 50%. The revenue ratio is 3 to 1, which flatters the campaign. Always say which measure you use.

Caution: extra sales may not all come from the campaign.

Influences on plans, objectives and decisions

Group	Items	Typical effect
Influences on demand (9725)	Price, income, competition, marketing activities, number of customers, customer preferences	Raise or lower the sales the plan can aim for
Market conditions and competition	Growing, mature or shrinking market. Many or few rivals	Changes the priority: share and volume, or retention and cost control. Close rivals push towards price and differentiation
Resources	Budget, skills of employees, capacity	Limit which activities are possible and how ambitious the targets can be

Income link: normal goods rise with income, inferior goods fall. With income elasticity of demand of -0.5 and income up 8%, quantity demanded changes by about -4%.

Capacity check: do not aim for sales the business cannot supply.

9625 only:

• Technology: digital marketing and social media, relationship marketing, dynamic pricing, e-commerce, m-commerce (mobile selling).
• Ethical influences: honest claims and care with customer data may limit marketing or cost money, but can build trust.
• Domestic and international competition: foreign rivals add pressure on price and quality.

Market research

	Primary	Secondary
Meaning	New data collected for the purpose	Existing data collected for another purpose
Methods	Surveys / questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observations	Websites / social media, academic journals, government publications, media articles
Strength	Fits the question, current	Cheaper, faster, wider view
Weakness	Costly, slower	May be dated or not specific

Primary method	Plus	Minus
Survey / questionnaire	Many responses, numerical	Shallow, bias from wording
Interview	Depth and follow-up questions	Slow, interviewer effect
Focus group	Ideas and reasons	Dominant voices, small group
Observation	Real behaviour	No explanation of why

Secondary source	Check
Websites / social media	Who wrote it, is it typical
Academic journals	Relevance to the business
Government publications	Date and level of detail
Media articles	Bias and accuracy

Market mapping (9625 only): a diagram placing brands on two axes (for example price and quality) to show rivals and gaps.

Sales forecast (9625 only): an estimate of future sales. Importance: it drives production, stock, staffing, cash and budget. Difficulties: changing tastes, rival actions, economic change, no history for new products, unreliable data.

Qualitative data: opinions and reasons, rich but hard to summarise. Quantitative data: numbers, easy to compare and test, but silent on why. Use both.

Value of sampling: cheaper and faster than asking everyone, if the sample is representative.

Sample	Rule	Plus	Minus
Random	Equal chance for all	Unbiased	May miss small groups
Stratified	Groups in proportion, random within each	Represents every group	Needs good population data
Quota	Set numbers per group, interviewer picks	Quick, cheap	Interviewer bias

Stratified method in steps: split the population into groups, work out each group’s share, multiply the sample size by that share, pick at random within each group. Example: 600 people in groups of 300, 200 and 100, sample 30: take 15, 10 and 5.

Choosing a method depends on cost, time required and reliability of findings. Link each to the case: a tight budget points to secondary data, a fast decision to a short survey, a high-risk decision to a larger, careful sample.

Interpreting marketing data

• Correlation runs from -1 to +1. Sign: positive means rise together, negative means one rises as the other falls. Size: near 1 (ignoring sign) is strong, near 0 is weak.
• Correlation is not cause. Look for another factor, or chance.
• A confidence interval is a range likely to hold the true figure for the whole market. The confidence level (for example 95%) shows how sure you can be.
• Bigger sample: narrower interval. Higher confidence level (99% against 95%): wider interval.
• Illustration only: 50% in a sample of 900 gives about a 3 percentage point margin at 95% confidence. You need the idea, not the formula.
• Big data and data mining (9625 only): very large data sets (purchases, web clicks, social media) searched for patterns. Value: targeting and early warning. Limits: cost, data quality, chance patterns, privacy concerns.
• Use data in decisions: state what it shows, how reliable it is, what to do.

Quick self-test

1. List the six marketing objective types (state which is 9725 only).
2. A firm sells 9 million in a market of 75 million. What is its market share?
3. At the start of the year a firm had 700 customers and kept 560 of them. What is its retention rate?
4. Sales are 450,000 and the firm has 15 employees. Calculate sales per employee.
5. Write the return on marketing spending formula in words.
6. Name the elements of a marketing plan in 9625 and in 9725.
7. Name the three resource influences in the specification.
8. A population of 600 has groups of 300, 200 and 100. How many of each are in a stratified sample of 30?
9. Explain what a correlation value of -0.8 means.
10. Give one disadvantage of focus groups and one of government publications.
11. Why does a smaller sample give a wider confidence interval?
12. Name the three influences on the choice of research method.
13. Give one difficulty in producing a sales forecast.

Answers

1. Sales volume, sales value, market share, customer retention and repeat sales, sales per product/employee/region/store/customer, and brand loyalty (9725 only).
2. 9 / 75 x 100 = 12%.
3. 560 / 700 x 100 = 80%.
4. 450,000 / 15 = 30,000 per employee.
5. (Extra profit gained - marketing spend) divided by marketing spend, times 100.
6. 9625: objectives, strategy, tactics, budget. 9725: objectives, marketing mix, budget.
7. Budget, skills of employees, capacity.
8. 15, 10 and 5.
9. A strong negative link: as one variable rises the other tends to fall. It does not prove cause.
10. Focus group: a dominant voice can sway others, or the group is too small to represent the market. Government publication: general rather than specific to the product, or out of date.
11. Less information about the whole market, so the estimate is less precise and the range of likely true values is larger.
12. Cost, time required, reliability of findings.
13. For example a changing taste, a rival’s reaction or no sales history for a new product.

Where marks are usually lost

• Giving a calculated figure with no interpretation or comparison.
• Mixing up retention (customers kept) with repeat sales (orders from returning customers).
• Dividing by the wrong figure when finding retention or share.
• Using revenue in a return calculation when profit was asked for, or not stating the measure.
• Listing research methods without tying the choice to cost, time and reliability in the case.
• Calling a sample “reliable” without mentioning its size or how it was chosen.
• Reading a correlation as proof of cause.
• Treating a confidence interval as the range of individual customers rather than the likely range for the whole market.
• Ignoring capacity when advising a bigger promotion.
• Presenting a 9725-only point as a 9625 point, or the reverse.

Frequently asked questions

What are the marketing objectives in OxfordAQA International AS Business? The objectives are sales volume, sales value, market share, customer retention and repeat sales, sales per product, employee, region, store or customer, and brand loyalty. Both specifications list the first five; brand loyalty is in 9725 only.

How do you calculate return on marketing spending? Return on marketing spending is the extra profit gained from the marketing minus the marketing spend, divided by the marketing spend, multiplied by 100. It appears in 9725 only, and not all extra sales may come from the campaign.

Can sales volume rise while sales value falls? Yes. If a business cuts its prices, it may sell more units while its total revenue falls. Equally, value can rise while volume falls if prices go up.

What is the value of sampling in market research? Sampling is cheaper and faster than asking every customer, as long as the sample is representative of the population. The choice of method depends on cost, the time required and the reliability of the findings.

Official syllabus

OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Business specification (9625, first teaching September 2018; successor 9725, first teaching September 2026 for AS and September 2027 for A2), sections 3.1.2.1 and 3.1.2.2, published by OxfordAQA.