UOWD | MARK804 Tips & Experiences
Do note that what I talk about in this blog post is fairly interchangeable with the curriculum in UOW Australia as the learning objectives are similar (but there will be certain differences).
I scored 88% (High Distinction) for the module.
Study Resources
I think MARK804 is more about reading about current affairs and trying to relate them to concepts learned - because that makes it both easier to remember and has benefits in exams (because you need case studies for the exam).
The lectures are very comprehensive and cover all the concepts you need for the exams. FOR THE SAKE OF EXAMS, you don’t need to do any additional reading (apart from what I said about the case studies).
As usual with these kinds of things, it DOES help understanding to fully grasp concepts with the textbook - I think the Kotler textbook (in the essential resources and study guide for Autumn 2021) can help give a good grasp on concepts on the earlier topics.
Here’s a link to my personal last-minute revision notes - strictly speaking, it is more personalized to me and the things I want to revise - and skips a few points I feel I am comfortable with, so just use it as a reference rather than a bible.
Breakdown of Marks
Case Analysis Report 20%
Brand Audit Presentation 20%
Individual Reflection 10%
Final Exam 50%
High Distinction: 85-100%
Distinction: 75-84%
Credit: 65-74%
Pass: 50-64%
I’m personally still not sure of how the grades work (whether it is for every subject or an average of all your scores at the end of your degree).
Assignment 1
My group scored 17.25 for this project.
Assignment 1 is a group project about a case study (around 20 pages long) and you have to come up with a report that details the issues pertaining to the topic.
Few things that are important:
Executive Summaries: Listen clearly to what he wants - it’s usually very clear. If you’re still unsure, look up his papers in journals - the abstract can give you an idea of how to do it properly.
Get it done early. Get someone to collate it - someone ideally nitpicky who will fix the document. With group projects, you never know what group members you will encounter so try to deal with it as soon as possible.
Seek guidance (consultation hours) if you need help with direction.
Understand what ‘issues’ really mean and use them to describe the case appropriately.
Assignment 2 (Group + Individual)
My group scored 19/20 (and won the best group award) for this assignment.
I scored 8.25/10 for the individual assignment.
In view of COVID, my task is likely to be different from whatever task you have. Mine was a recorded PowerPoint presentation - the best group actually gets a certificate for your efforts. Everyone has the same task, produce a PowerPoint about the Product, Price, Place, and Promotions mix for the chosen company and suggest solutions to improve the marketability of the product.
Few things that are important:
Seek guidance (consultation hours) if you need help with direction. (Very important for Task 2)
Make sure that your content relates to your suggestions/insights (the slides beforehand pre-empt your suggestions moving forward)
Consistently answer forums for discussions every week (because it is part of individual report marking criteria)
I suggest weekly meetups on Zoom for the group to make sure you guys are on track.
To be honest, I think it’s worth asking how he wants the literature to be reviewed for the individual reflection - because to this day, I’m not sure whether I was doing the right thing XD.
Final Exam
I scored 88% (or thereabouts, because they didn’t actually give us our final exam score) for the final exam.
Do note that I’m trying my best not to give the entire exam away but rather give a picture of the task.
You will see a real-world case related to an area of marketing and you will analyze the case. The case during my semester wasn’t something with issues per se, but rather what a company did with what is essentially their loyalty program and what was done well. You need to discuss what was done well in the company (the question didn’t really go in the direction of ‘issues’).
Then, the next part was what is your personal experience good customer ___ management (you will have to think of a company and your personal knowledge about that company (you need to either do your own research or relate your personal experiences to the concepts taught during the course).
There is a definitions portion that requires examples - around 4 - for example, one of the questions is what is down stretch. I personally wrote the definition and my personal example was the iPad - and the down stretch example is the iPad Air.
Next up, there was a question about what reduces price ______. You need to give 6 factors that contribute with examples on how they factor into price _____. This one is pretty tough because you really need to commit all the factors to memory.
The last part was about a watchmaker and how they were pricing their products. You basically have to discuss the pricing method and how it is doing it.
Do not JUST study these topics. I’m almost absolutely certain that the exam will vary from semester to semester - but I have not revealed the entire contents of the exam just in case. Do not consider this an exhaustive list of what will come up.