Syllabus: Pearson Edexcel AS Business
Module: Marketing Mix and Strategy
Lesson: 1.3.2 Branding and Promotion

Introduction

This Pearson Edexcel AS Business lesson on Branding and Promotion sits within the “Marketing mix and strategy” topic, under Theme 1: Marketing and People. It directly supports understanding of how businesses create awareness, loyalty, and competitive advantage in the market. These concepts are central to AO1 (knowledge), AO2 (application), and AO3 (analysis), and often appear in Paper 1 exam contexts. Branding and promotion aren’t just about advertising – they’re about shaping perception, adding value, and making products memorable in crowded markets.

Key Concepts

• Types of Promotion:
  Includes traditional advertising (TV, radio, print), digital channels (social media, email), PR, sponsorships, and sales promotions. Teachers should support students in categorising each type and linking it to strategic objectives.
• Purpose of Promotion:
  Builds awareness, drives sales, informs, persuades, reminds – and ultimately, positions the brand in the consumer’s mind.
• Types of Branding:
  • Manufacturer brands (e.g. Nike, Apple)
  • Own-label brands (e.g. Tesco Finest)
  • Generic brands (e.g. supermarket bleach or flour)
• Benefits of Strong Branding:
  • Brand loyalty
  • Premium pricing
  • Added value
  • Competitive edge
• Building a Brand:
  • Clear brand identity (values, personality)
  • Consistency across touchpoints
  • Differentiation from competitors
• Digital Impact on Promotion:
  Changing how businesses communicate – lower costs, more data-driven, two-way conversations with consumers.

Real-World Relevance

• Gymshark:
  A textbook example of using digital promotion (social media influencers) to build a globally recognisable brand from a garage-based start-up.
• Apple:
  Leverages branding to justify high price points and maintain loyalty, even in saturated markets. Their clean, minimalist advertising reinforces their brand values consistently.
• Lidl’s “Big on Quality, Lidl on Price”:
  Demonstrates how consistent promotion builds trust and challenges perceptions, targeting price-conscious consumers without undermining product quality.
• Pepsi vs Coke:
  An ongoing case of promotional wars – from celebrity endorsements to Super Bowl adverts – where brand identity drives market share.

How It’s Assessed

• Exam Format:
  This content is typically assessed in Paper 1, which focuses on Theme 1: Marketing and People.
• Command Words:
  • Explain: Show understanding of how branding influences consumer decisions.
  • Analyse: Explore how promotional strategies impact a firm’s success.
  • Evaluate: Consider whether a branding approach is effective for a specific business.
• Typical Question Types:
  • “Analyse the benefits of strong branding for a business entering a competitive market.”
  • “Evaluate the effectiveness of social media as a promotional tool for small businesses.”
• What Examiners Look For:
  • Application of business context (e.g. not just “brands are good” – but why it matters for this business)
  • Clear chains of reasoning (benefit → impact → consequence)
  • Balanced evaluation with supported judgements

Enterprise Skills Integration

This lesson naturally supports:

• Communication: Students learn how businesses shape messages to influence stakeholders.
• Decision-Making: Choosing the right promotion mix for different markets requires weighing cost, audience, and impact.
• Adaptability: As markets evolve, so do promotional tactics – students explore how businesses pivot brand strategies.
• Problem-Solving: Case-based tasks ask students to solve promotional challenges (e.g., “How should a brand reposition after a PR crisis?”).

Tool tie-in:
Use Pitch Deck Analyser to evaluate how well a student start-up idea expresses its brand and promotional strategy – a strong alignment with branding and value communication.

Careers Links

This content links directly to careers in:

• Marketing and Communications
  Roles like Marketing Executive or Brand Manager rely on deep understanding of promotion and brand strategy.
• Digital Advertising & Content Creation
  Understanding brand identity is core to creating relevant and engaging campaigns.
• Entrepreneurship
  Founders must craft and promote their brand story from day one – whether pitching to investors or engaging customers.

Gatsby Benchmark 4:
Use this lesson to bring in real employer case studies, or task students with building brand plans for a fictional start-up.

Teaching Notes

Tips for Teachers

• Build from the familiar: Start with brands students already know – Nike, Greggs, ASOS – and unpack their promotional choices.
• Keep it visual: Use real adverts or social media posts to spark discussion on tone, audience, and message.
• Use comparison: Ask students to contrast a premium brand’s strategy with a budget competitor – what’s the difference in messaging, imagery, or channels?

Suggested Activities

• Brand Audit: Have students analyse a brand of their choice – What’s their identity? How do they promote? What audience are they targeting?
• Create a Mini Campaign: Students design a week-long digital campaign for a new product launch, justifying their platform and message choices.
• Logo Deconstruction: Show different brand logos with no context – ask students what values or messages are being conveyed just through design.

Stretch Tasks

• Evaluate whether social media has made branding easier or harder for small businesses.
• Debate: “Does brand loyalty still matter in an age of price comparison websites and fast-changing trends?”

Common Pitfalls

• Over-simplifying branding as just “a logo”
• Not distinguishing between types of promotion or mixing up objectives
• Forgetting to apply content to specific business contexts in assessments

If you’re planning curriculum sequencing or CPD, this lesson builds well on earlier work on market segmentation and positioning (1.1.3), and lays the groundwork for discussions on pricing strategy (1.3.3) and product life cycles (1.3.5).