Advanced Diploma in Marketing
Business, Commerce and Management Studies - Marketing
Purpose and Rationale
Qualification Description
Purpose: The purpose of the qualification is to enable students to operate as marketers at a higher level of marketing management in order for them to add identifiable and quantifiable value to the businesses of their employers or to their own businesses.
- Advanced Business Strategy IV will help students achieve a corporate strategy; develop competitive strategies; apply ring-fencing to business units; and implement operational control strategy.
- Advanced Marketing IV will enable students to formulate a marketing strategy; practice relationship marketing and customer care; increase market share for the organisation.
- Advanced Marketing Research IV will equip students with the skills of a marketing research design; data collection; data coding, editing, capturing and storage; data analysis; and compiling a research proposal for academic purposes.
- Advanced Promotion IV will help students achieve conceptualising and planning an event; developing a promotion budget; and developing a media plan.
- Advanced Services Marketing IV will equip students with the skills of creating a conducive environment for customers' pleasant experience; develop service marketing strategies; and shaping, delivering, and managing service marketing programmes.
Rationale: This qualification offers students the next logical academic and career step after completing the National Diploma in Marketing since it is offered at level 4 of study in each course. It will be suitable for students who want to enhance their careers as well as those who want to venture into their businesses.
Stakeholders in the industry expect a graduate at this level to operate independently from direct supervision compared to graduates that have an undergraduate qualification. It is therefore meant to equip the student with managerial skills in marketing, which is the level of operation for independent decision-making, backed by relevant theory coupled with practice.
Outcomes
- Formulate strategic plans for corporate competitiveness and value chain management for customer satisfaction.
- Design management information systems (MIS) that enable supervisors, managers, and senior managers to access real time information at the touch of a button.
- Develop an information system that is connected with business customers systems.
- Formulate a cohesive communications strategy suitable for each brand and target market.
- Formulate a marketing research strategy.
Assessment Criteria
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1:
- Identify differentiating factors for positioning.
- Determine unique positioning for each brand and relevant target audiences.
- Create a services mix to complement product offerings in a unique manner.
- Develop pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies for different seasons and customer categories.
- Design product offering processes for customer convenience.
- Design an effective management information system for warranties and product maintenance.
- Craft and implement product returns policies for customer satisfaction.
- Design customer assistance systems and delivery processes to suit customer needs.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2:
- Develop operational plans for branch autonomy and accountability.
- Empower branch staff and management to make decisions within policy.
- Design branch reporting systems to enhance autonomy and accountability.
- Design branch operating systems to avoid inter-branch resource utilization.
- Control operations according to strategic planning.
- Design and implement a Decision Support System for continuous monitoring.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3:
- Design programmes for analyzing information integrated with business associates and customers.
- Implement a structure to monitor information flow closely.
- Develop a Decision Support System to communicate with the Research and Development Unit.
- Scan and analyze information from the external marketing environment.
- Collect in-depth expert analysis through marketing research and intelligence.
- Utilize marketing intelligence effectively for new investment areas.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4:
- Determine the best promotion aspects for optimal fund utilization.
- Make strategic decisions on product line offerings.
- Design strategic expansion or contraction of the product mix.
- Determine the best individual product marketing mix based on MIS and marketing intelligence.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5:
- Make informed decisions on internal marketing research or outsourcing.
- Develop strategic planning for each marketing research project.
Integrated Assessment:
- Formative assessments in the form of tests and practical business assignments for the first and second terms.
- Projects on strategy for each exit level outcome.
- Projects on corrective service, customer retention, and service recovery strategies.
- Year-end examination for holistic assessment.
- Projects' marks weighted to constitute marks for the third formative assessment.
- Projects done on an open book basis, while tests are written under invigilation.
Qualification Details
- Type
- Advanced Diploma
- NQF Level
- 07
- Min. Credits
- 120
- SAQA Source
- More Information
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This page includes information from the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) . Builtneat Pty Ltd trading as Study Start, has modified all or some of this information. SAQA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.