Syllabus: OCR - GCSE Business
Module: 2. Marketing
Lesson: 2.4 The Marketing Mix

Introduction

In the OCR GCSE Business specification, Topic 2.4 covers the Marketing Mix—a core pillar of any business strategy. Learners are expected to understand how product, price, place, and promotion work together to influence customer behaviour and business success. This unit builds on earlier marketing knowledge by encouraging students to think practically about business decisions, bridging theoretical content with strategic thinking and real-world application.

This is a critical topic for developing both exam fluency and commercial awareness, and offers a strong platform for embedding enterprise skills.

Key Concepts

According to the OCR specification, learners must be able to:

• Define and explain the four elements of the marketing mix (4Ps):

  • Product: Types of goods/services, product differentiation, product lifecycle.

  • Price: Pricing strategies such as cost-plus, penetration, skimming, competitor, and promotional pricing.

  • Place: Distribution channels including retailers, wholesalers, e-commerce, and direct sales.

  • Promotion: Advertising, sales promotion, sponsorship, social media, and public relations.

• Analyse how these elements interact and how changing one element can influence the others.

• Apply their understanding to different types of markets, customer needs, and business contexts.

• Use case studies or data to justify business decisions related to the marketing mix.

Real-World Relevance

The marketing mix is visible in almost every commercial decision around us:

• Product: Apple’s iterative product lifecycle with annual iPhone updates keeps demand high and brand perception premium.

• Price: Netflix adjusting pricing tiers to appeal to different segments while managing profitability.

• Place: Gymshark’s shift to direct-to-consumer online retail has shaped its entire distribution strategy.

• Promotion: Greggs’ viral marketing campaigns, such as the vegan sausage roll, show how promotional stunts can impact brand image and sales.

Bringing these examples into lessons helps students recognise marketing decisions in real life—and gives context for applying exam skills.

How It’s Assessed

OCR typically assesses this topic through a range of application and analysis questions, including:

• Explain: e.g. “Explain one pricing strategy a business might use.”

• Analyse: e.g. “Analyse how the choice of distribution channel might affect a business’s costs.”

• Evaluate: e.g. “Evaluate the most appropriate promotional strategy for a business launching a new product.”

Expectations include:

• Drawing on specific case contexts.

• Using subject terminology precisely.

• Applying logical reasoning to suggest and justify business decisions.

Command words like explain, analyse, and evaluate require increasing depth, and should be explicitly practised in classroom tasks.

Enterprise Skills Integration

This unit lends itself naturally to “learning by doing”:

• Problem-solving: Students weigh up how to balance price with promotion to achieve a strategic goal.

• Decision-making: Choosing between promotional channels for a startup on a limited budget.

• Critical thinking: Evaluating how a change in one ‘P’ (like price) might create a knock-on effect on the others.

Enterprise Skills simulations can bring this to life. For example, in a plug-and-play simulation, students might run a fictional business and be tasked with adjusting the marketing mix in real time to compete with rivals. This promotes deeper understanding through application—not just retention.

Careers Links

This topic opens up a wide range of career-related conversations, aligned to Gatsby Benchmarks 4, 5, and 6:

• Marketing Assistant – working with social media or product launches.

• Sales Executive – understanding pricing strategies and promotional techniques.

• Product Manager – overseeing lifecycle and placement strategies.

• E-commerce Manager – using place and promotion in digital contexts.

Including short role profiles, guest speakers, or video diaries from professionals in these roles can help students make clear connections between classroom content and real careers.

Teaching Notes

Here are some classroom-ready insights for delivering this topic:

Do:

• Use mini case studies (e.g. Pret’s loyalty scheme, Aldi’s pricing model).

• Encourage students to ‘design a brand’ using all four Ps.

• Link promotion types to real adverts or influencer campaigns students recognise.

Don’t:

• Teach the 4Ps in isolation—model how they interact from the start.

• Skip price elasticity and value perception—it’s key to understanding pricing.

• Rely on textbook examples alone—current brand campaigns engage better.

Extension Ideas:

• Students pitch a new product to the class, justifying their marketing mix choices.

• Run a group challenge: rebrand an existing failing product using the 4Ps.

• Use Enterprise Skills’ business simulations to practise dynamic marketing decisions in a team setting.

Common Pitfalls:

• Students listing features of each P without explaining why they matter.

• Confusing promotional pricing with other price strategies—clear definitions and examples help.

• Failing to tailor mix decisions to customer needs or market context in exam answers.