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CIM Level 6 Diploma in Professional Marketing

Mastering Metrics (2201)

April 2017

Assignment

The assignment comprises THREE compulsory tasks

Task 1 26 marks

Task 2 38 marks

Task 3 36 marks

Total marks available 100

Candidate guidance:

Answer all tasks


The available marks are shown alongside each part of the task
Read all tasks carefully before attempting them

The Chartered Institute of Marketing 2016

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Scenario: Preparing for change in the external environment

For many organisations the application of metrics and the use of analysis are still
relatively new but the use of metrics to support marketing decision making is key,
especially given the level of uncertainty that can exist within the marketing environment.

Metrics as a means of measuring and establishing a view on the challenges the


organisation faces from changes in the external environment can ensure prompt action
when needed to ensure organisational objectives are achieved.

The candidates role in this assessment is to act as a Marketing Consultant, who has been
employed to assist the chosen organisation in reviewing how metrics can be used to
monitor organisation performance in ONE identified area of external environment change
relevant to the chosen organisation which is likely to have a significant impact on the
organisation over the next three years.

The same chosen identified change should be applied across all three tasks contained
within this assignment.

Guidance notes:

The assignment consists of three tasks. The report you write should flow as a single
document. The purpose of this assignment is to offer candidates the opportunity to
demonstrate and apply their knowledge of metrics and other forms of analysis to either
marketing in the broader context, or to specific areas of marketing. This should then allow
for improvements in the performance of the chosen organisation, achieved from a greater
and wider understanding of the current business situation. Candidates are encouraged to
use differing metrics to analyse and report upon the position of their chosen organisation
and the identified change in the environment. It is important that you have access to the
chosen organisation and to the manner in which it operates, in order to apply the
marketing metrics and analyse the data retrieved.

It is good practice to acknowledge all sources/methodologies/applications using the


Harvard referencing system.

Good Practice Guidelines for Assignment Production

The recommended page count limit for this assignment has been set by the
examiners as being suitable for candidates to produce a concise, professional document
that covers all of the assessment criteria covered by the brief. Submissions that exceed
the recommended page count limit are likely to contain irrelevant material that
can restrict the emphasis on key points relevant to the brief/task. Equally, submissions
that are below the recommended page count limit are unlikely to contain sufficient detail.

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TASK 1 REPORT

Assessment criteria covered in Task 1:

AC1.1, AC1.2, AC1.3, AC1,4, AC2.1, AC2.2, AC2.3

Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.

You have been asked to investigate the metrics or other forms of measurement which are
currently used in the chosen organisation, in relation to external environmental change.

Required:

(a) Using the organisation summary guidelines, provide a background to


your chosen organisation. (5 marks)

(b) Explain the current marketing metrics and other forms of


measurement used in your chosen organisation for monitoring the
external environment. (8 marks)

(c) Evaluate the effectiveness of metrics and other forms of


measurement currently used within the chosen organisation to
monitor changes in the external environment. (13 marks)

(Total 26 marks)

(Organisation summary recommended page count limit one side of A4 paper)


(Tasks 1 (b) to 1 (c) recommended page count limit three sides of A4 paper)

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TASK 1 REPORT

Recommended page count limit:

Task 1 (a) one side of A4 paper

Tasks 1 (b) to (c) three sides of A4 paper

ORGANISATION SUMMARY GUIDELINES

Contents will contribute to the FIVE marks available in Part (a) of Task 1.

The following headings must be included:

Organisation name

Type of organisation, for example, profit or not-for-profit, local,


national, global, and type of legal entity

Size of organisation in terms of turnover and/or number of employees

Range of products and services provided

Customer base, for example, B2B/B2C

Main competitors

Guidance Other information relevant to the assignment may be included, within the
notes: recommended page count limit, to assist the examiner in understanding the
organisation.

Task 1 (b) This sub task requires an explanation of the present situation in
respect of the current use and application of metrics and other forms of
analysis in your chosen organisation to monitor and understand the external
environment. In addition to typical marketing metrics there very often exists
other types of data available to organisations to help understand the external
environment, both micro and macro. The requirement here is for candidates
to consider the wider range of measurements which may be taken within the
chosen organisation to enable an understanding of the external environment
which can be used to inform marketing decisions.

Within this section candidates should consider the team structures and
working practices that allow wider sources of measurement in addition to
marketing metrics to inform decisions, identifying the purpose of marketing
metrics in relation to the changing external environment. Market and brand
metrics along with customer profiling, channel and distribution metrics may
all be relevant for this sub task.

Continued

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Task 1 continued

Task 1 (c) The third sub task follows-on from Task 1 (b). Having explained
the metrics and other forms of analysis which are currently used in the
chosen organisation, an evaluation then needs to take place of how
effectively they are applied to understand the changing external
environment. This provides a second set of information about the current
situation and metrics which can be used in other tasks.

In evaluating the metrics and other information sources used, candidates


should consider the effectiveness of the metrics discussed in Task 1 (b) by
the chosen organisation, in relation to changes to the external environment.
The risk of poorly implementing metrics through areas such as margins of
error along with measuring the wrong factors are likely to be considered.
Following on from the content of Task 1 (b) the use of leading indicators and
predictive metrics to understand elements of the external environment such
as customers, markets, brands and channels may be relevant here, along
with metrics and measures for the macro environment.

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TASK 2 REPORT

Assessment criteria covered in Task 2:

AC1.1, AC2.1, AC3.1, AC3.2, AC3.3, AC4.1, AC4.3

Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.

This part of your report should focus on a significant change in the external environment,
using data and information available for metrics within the chosen organisation. These
metrics need to be applied to demonstrate the likely impact of the change both
numerically and graphically through a marketing dashboard.

Required:

(a) Describe, using predictive metrics, an external environmental change


which will have a significant impact on the chosen organisation over
the next three years. (14 marks)

(b) Apply data within the metrics identified in Task 2 (a) to determine
the extent of the impact the environmental change may represent to
the organisation over the next three years to build a test and learn
environment. (14 marks)

(c) Present the data findings through the completion of a marketing


dashboard, highlighting trigger levels within an explanation of the
format of the display used for your marketing dashboard (10 marks)

(Total 38 marks)

(Tasks 2 (a) to 2 (c) recommended page count limit six sides of A4 paper including one
side of A4 paper marketing dashboard)

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TASK 2 REPORT

Recommended page count limit: six sides of A4 paper, including one side of A4
paper for the marketing dashboard

Task 2 (a) In this sub task the candidate is required to describe an external
environment change which will have a significant impact on the chosen
organisation over the next three years. The decision on which environmental
change to focus upon should be based on the use of predictive metrics to
understand and demonstrate the changes taking place in the environment.
The choice of an environmental change which is likely to have a significant
impact on the organisation will enable the candidate to demonstrate the
requirements of Task 2 (b) and Task 2 (c) more clearly.

Relevant metrics for any element of the external environment, both micro
and macro, should be considered. These may include, but not be limited to,
channel, customer, market and competitor metrics in addition to information
sources which would inform the macro environment changes, whether
internal or external to the chosen organisation.

Task 2 (b) has two parts to the question. First of all the candidate is required
to apply the metrics described in Task 2 (a) to determine the extent of the
impact which the environmental change identified will have on the chosen
Guidance organisation over the next three years. There is a requirement to use data
Notes: which is currently available to the organisation in order to demonstrate the
extent of the change expected. Moving on the candidate is then required
advise on how a test and learn environment (as outlined in assessment
criteria 4.1) can be built which will enable the data and information sources
to be assessed on an ongoing basis throughout the three years, and further
into the future, thus assessing the effectiveness of the metrics.

Task 2 (c) For this sub task candidates are required to construct a marketing
dashboard and to display the data analysed in Task 2 (b) within the
dashboard. The results should be analysed and displayed on the marketing
dashboard using appropriate graphical formats. It is important to consider
the format and layout of the data on the marketing dashboard, and how best
to present the data extracted. Here, a trigger level is defined as
demonstrating variance across acceptable levels. Trigger levels that is those
events which alert the organisation that corrective actions need to be taken
should be indicated where appropriate within an explanation of the
dashboard format to demonstrate application of the test and learn
environment.

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TASK 3 DISCUSSION PAPER

Assessment criteria covered in Task 3:

AC5.1, AC5.2, AC5.3, AC6.1, AC6.2, AC6.3

Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.

Finally, you should produce a discussion paper which focuses upon improvements that
could be obtained by the chosen organisation immediately, and in the future. You should
consider the use of the identified metrics and sources of data and information for
additional metrics to gain further understanding of the identified external environment
change.

Required:

(a) Assess the potential benefits to the organisation in the future


through the continued use of the metrics identified in Tasks 1 and 2. (10 marks)

(b) Identify additional predictive data sources which could be used by


the chosen organisation to improve understanding of the identified
external environment change. (12 marks)

(c) Evaluate how the additional predictive data sources (outlined in Task
3 (b)) could improve strategic decision making within the chosen
organisation. (14 marks)

(Total 36 marks)

(Tasks 3 (a) to 3 (c) recommended page count limit six sides of A4 paper)

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TASK 3 DISCUSSION PAPER

Recommended page count limit: six sides of A4 paper

Task 3 (a) This initial sub task asks candidates to produce their answers as a
discussion document. The requirement is to assess the benefits the
candidate believes will be achieved by the chosen organisation from changes
to the metrics and analysis suggested. For example the benefits derived from
the use of metrics and analysis might include: improved product market
alignment and better competitive strategies, re-direction of the organisation
when it was found be heading an unplanned direction or the introduction of
market forecasting leading to improved production control marketing and
sales alignment, and improved decision making based upon better
intelligence.

Task 3 (b) In Tasks 1 and 2 candidates are required to use metrics based on
data and information currently available within the chosen organisation. For
this sub task the requirement is to consider additional sources of predictive
data which could be used to gain additional knowledge and understanding of
the identified external environment change. These sources should be both
Guidance
online and offline, using both primary and secondary data.
notes:
Consideration should be given within this section of the impact of different
types of metrics on one another when understanding changes in the external
environment, including building metric hierarchies and tracking interactions.

Task 3 (c) Metrics are a constantly evolving area of marketing with many
new trends emerging in their use. The information provided by the metrics
and the additional data sources identified are used by the organisation to
improve strategic decision making and ensure that organisational
effectiveness is maximised. Demonstrating where improved decision making
will be possible and the benefits that can bring to the organisation is
required within this task. Areas likely to be relevant for this are the use of
real time data to understand changes as they happen, technology and
platform integration to develop knowledge through the analysis of big data,
along with integration of traditional and digital metrics integration.

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