How to use this guide
Foundations of Marketing is a wide course: one term covers the whole subject, from what a customer is to how a price gets set. The cumulative final asks two kinds of questions. Name the idea: a short business story, and you say which concept fits (which segmentation base, which stage of the product life cycle, which pricing strategy, which channel). And make the call: a small case or a few numbers, and you say what the marketer should do and why. Most lost marks come from look-alike terms: needs vs wants, selling vs marketing concept, market penetration vs market development, skimming vs penetration pricing, markup on cost vs margin on price, line extension vs brand extension, push vs pull, specialty vs shopping goods.
Where this comes from. This guide follows the course's published description and the standard topics for a first marketing course, with Canadian settings and rules where they matter. Instructors' emphasis, examples and notation vary, so check which models your own section uses. Check your own course outline.
Topic order. Work the tabs left to right. 01 Marketing & value covers what marketing is, the five orientations and the marketing mix. 02 Environment & strategy covers the macro and micro environment, SWOT, the growth-share matrix and Ansoff. 03 Consumers and 04 Business buyers cover how each kind of buyer decides. 05 Research covers how marketers find out. 06 Segmentation & positioning covers segmenting, targeting and positioning, with a positioning map lab. 07 Product & brand, 08 Services, 09 Pricing, 10 Channels & retail and 11 Communications cover the mix, with number labs for break-even, markup and markdown, elasticity, channel margins and digital metrics. 12 Ethics covers responsible and sustainable marketing and the main Canadian rules. Case practice gives five new mini-cases with model write-ups.
Inside each topic: read the idea, try each worked example yourself before opening the analysis (they run simplest first), then do the lab. Finish with the Drill until you get several in a row right.
| Level | What it asks | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | One definition, or one part of one model | Which stage of the product life cycle has rising sales and rising profit? |
| Intermediate | Apply one model to a short scenario, or one formula | A gym targets people by how often they work out: which segmentation base? |
| Exam level | A full scenario with several parts: name, explain, recommend; multi-step numbers | Diagnose a failing launch and fix the mix; find break-even units for a target profit |
| Hard | Twists: look-alike terms, two models at once, working backwards | Is this market development or diversification? Does a 30% markdown on a 25% markup lose money? |
The drill starts at Beginner and steps up a level after three correct answers in a row; you can also pick a level yourself. The written questions, multiple choice and flashcards are ordered easy → hard.
The core models
- Marketing process: understand the market → design a customer-driven strategy → build the mix → capture value
- Orientations: production, product, selling, marketing, societal marketing
- Strategy tools: SWOT, growth-share matrix, Ansoff matrix, generic strategies
- Buying: five-stage consumer process; buy classes and buying centre for business
- Research: exploratory, descriptive, causal; primary vs secondary data
- STP: segment (four bases) → target (four strategies) → position (value proposition)
- Product: three levels, classes, mix, brand strategies, life cycle, new-product steps
- Services: intangibility, inseparability, variability, perishability; the service gaps
- Pricing: cost-, value- and competition-based; skimming vs penetration; elasticity
- Channels: levels, intensity, vertical systems, retail formats
- Communications: promotion mix, push vs pull, hierarchy of effects, owned, paid and earned media
- Responsibility: societal marketing, greenwashing, Canadian consent and truth-in-advertising rules
Rules people forget: memorize
- A need is a felt lack; a want is the form the need takes; demand is wants backed by buying power
- The selling concept starts with the product and pushes it; the marketing concept starts with the customer
- Market share = own sales ÷ total market sales; relative share = own sales ÷ largest rival's sales
- Segments must be measurable, accessible, substantial, differentiable and actionable
- Skimming starts high and falls; penetration starts low to win share fast
- Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution per unit
- Markup on cost and margin on selling price are different percentages of different bases
- Price elasticity above 1 = elastic: a price cut raises revenue; below 1 = inelastic: a price cut lowers revenue
- Push uses the sales force and trade promotion on channel members; pull uses advertising to make consumers ask for the product
- Services cannot be stored (perishability) and are produced while consumed (inseparability)
- Greenwashing is a claim of environmental benefit that the facts don't support
Exam format, weight and allowed aids differ between sections and terms. Check your own course outline.
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