BUSM2412 Marketing for Managers: how do you plan each task?

Direct answer: The course assesses whether you can apply marketing theory to a managerial problem, run a strategic planning process, use research to support decisions, and present to stakeholders. The RMIT handbook lists five course learning outcomes and three assessments, and each assessment states which outcomes it tests.

The handbook entry for BUSM2412 Marketing for Managers says that "Theoretical concepts such as segmentation, targeting, positioning, among others are presented and applied in a series of cases and activities that reflect the use of these concepts in real practice" (RMIT University, n.d.). The same entry adds that "A feature of this course is to consider the relevance of marketing practices in different organisational contexts" (RMIT University, n.d.). Those two sentences describe the standard you are marked against: a concept counts only when it changes a recommendation for a named organisation.

The RMIT course handbook also shows how the marks are split, and the split tells you where to spend time.

Source: RMIT University course handbook, course 008905, read 2026-10-27.

The group plan carries 40% of the grade and is the only task that tests all five outcomes (RMIT University, n.d.), so the individual written task is best treated as a rehearsal of the analysis you will later scale up with your team. Your course guide on Canvas sets the word counts and due weeks, and it overrides any general advice here.

Direct answer: Use segmentation, targeting and positioning as three linked decisions, not three definitions. Show which segments exist, argue why one segment is worth serving given the organisation's resources, then state a position that segment would believe, with evidence for each step.

Market segmentation divides a market into groups that respond differently to an offer, and W. R. Smith (1956) framed it as a strategy distinct from product differentiation rather than a statistical exercise. A strong BUSM2412 answer names the bases it used (demographic, behavioural, needs-based) and explains why those bases separate buyers who would actually choose differently.

The gap between segmentation theory and practice is well documented. In a survey of 167 Australian managers who work with segmentation, Dolnicar and Lazarevski (2009) found that 68% saw segmentation solutions as a "black box", 65% had had difficulties interpreting a segmentation solution, and 17% overestimated how valid the solutions were. Your report can avoid the same trap by explaining how each segment was formed and how stable it is likely to be, rather than presenting segments as facts. The same authors note that only one earlier study, by Dibb and Simkin in 1994, had examined methodological reasons for this divide, so the evidence base is thinner than textbook treatments suggest (Dolnicar & Lazarevski, 2009).

Kotler and Keller (2016) present segmentation, targeting and positioning as a sequence, and targeting is where most marks are won or lost, because it is a judgement. Compare at least two candidate segments on size, growth, accessibility and fit with the firm's capabilities, and say plainly why the weaker one was rejected. A table of criteria with a short justification in each cell reads far better to a marker than a paragraph that lists every segment as attractive.

Positioning then states the place the brand should hold in the target segment's mind relative to named competitors. Write it as a testable claim, for example "the most convenient option for working parents in District 7", and point to the research that makes it credible.

The handbook also notes that "Ethical or responsible marketing as a strategy for building trust is also identified" (RMIT University, n.d.). A positioning claim the organisation cannot keep is a trust problem, and saying so shows the critical judgement the course is looking for.

Direct answer: Start from the decision the manager faces, then choose research that could change it. Report what the data shows, what it means for the decision, and how confident you are. An insight is actionable when a reader can see which option it supports and which it rules out.

CLO3 asks you to "Utilise marketing research tools and methodologies to generate actionable insights and guide data-driven decision-making" (RMIT University, n.d.). The American Marketing Association defines marketing research as the function that links consumers and the public to the marketer through information, and it lists that definition as approved in 2017 (American Marketing Association, n.d.).

In BUSM2412 Marketing for Managers, this means writing a short research brief before you collect anything. Name the decision ("should the firm enter the student segment this year?"), the information that would settle it, and the source you will use: secondary industry reports, the firm's published data, a small survey or customer interviews. Then keep a clear line between finding and implication.

Source: illustrative examples written by MAAS for this guide, not real survey data.

Stating the limits of a small sample is part of the analysis, not a weakness, and markers in a criterion-referenced course reward it when it is tied to how much weight the recommendation can bear.

Direct answer: Follow the planning sequence the course teaches: situation analysis, objectives, segmentation and positioning, the marketing mix, implementation, and control. Each section should feed the next, so a reader can trace every tactic back to a finding and every objective forward to a measure.

CLO2 asks you to "Implement the strategic marketing planning process to develop and manage marketing plan" (RMIT University, n.d.). The word "manage" matters: a plan that ends with tactics and no control section only answers half the outcome. The research supports this emphasis. In a study of 391 respondents from 53 medium and large life sciences firms, B. D. Smith (2019) found only a 50% overlap between what strategic marketing plans said and what the firms did, and identified conflict inside the organisation as the most important cause. Individual commitment was a secondary cause, and the moderating factors proposed in the 2013 model the study tested were not supported. A control section that names owners, timelines and measures is how your plan shows it has thought about that gap.

The marketing mix, a term Borden (1964) popularised, is where groups often describe the 4Ps one by one without linking them. Borden (1964) presented the mix as a checklist of 12 ingredients, from product planning and pricing to fact finding and analysis, and he reported using the phrase in his teaching for about 15 years before he published it. Research sits inside his list, which supports linking your research section to the mix rather than treating it as a separate chapter. Treat the mix as one design, so price, channel and promotion all serve the same target and position.

Source: structure adapted from the course learning outcomes (RMIT University, n.d.) and the AMA definition of marketing.

In BUSM2412 Marketing for Managers, agree the target segment as a team before anyone drafts the mix, because a group plan in which each member chose a different customer is the most common reason the sections fail to connect. For a broader view of how strategy courses expect plans to hang together, compare the approach in our MKT300 strategic marketing management guide.

Direct answer: Build the presentation around one recommendation for one audience, then use two or three pieces of research to justify it. CLO4 is about communicating to stakeholders, so the marker is judging whether a manager could act on what you say, not whether you covered every concept.

CLO4 asks you to "Present marketing ideas and concepts to a variety of stakeholders using effective communication skills" (RMIT University, n.d.). Decide early who the stakeholder is: a marketing director wants the decision and the cost, while a board wants risk and return. The same analysis can be framed for either, but not for both at once.

A simple structure works well within the time limit. Open with the recommendation in one sentence, show the evidence that supports it, address the strongest objection, and close with the next step and the measure of success. The American Marketing Association describes marketing as creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging "offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large" (American Marketing Association, n.d.), which is a useful check on whether your recommendation explains value for each group it affects.

Rehearse with your slides as prompts rather than a script. Our guides on how presentation rubrics are graded and presenting without reading your slides cover delivery in more detail. Students who also take an introductory course can reuse the frameworks from our MARK1107 marketing principles guide, adjusting the depth to postgraduate level.