Higher Certificate in Marketing

Purpose

The purpose of the qualification is to provide qualifying learners with a broad but elementary knowledge of marketing as well as business concepts, guiding them through the entry-level application of these concepts. These entry-level competencies serve as entry into further studies in marketing and related disciplines, ensuring lifelong learning and professional development of the learner.

Furthermore, it provides learners with the basic knowledge to work within the structure of the organisation effectively, drawing on functional organisational strengths and harnessing these to find gaps in the market, identify existing or new products and/or services offered by their organisations to fill these gaps, coordinate the preparation of these products and services across departmental boundaries and then to deliver products, product-related support or services creating value for customers, fulfil customer needs and expanding the use of the products and services through building customer relationships, monitoring customers in their use of products and services to build relationships and enhance preferred supplier perceptions among customers.

The qualification informs learners on how the basic marketing principles, e.g. price, product, promotion and distribution strategies or the creation of competitive advantage, can be applied in a variety of industries and circumstances.

This qualification allows learners to develop essential competencies needed to manage marketing processes effectively and understand the organisation within which it functions.

Upon completion of the qualification, learners will be able to perform the following competencies

• Be able to contribute towards the development of a marketing action plan.
• Guides the process of exploring, finding, investigating and providing products and services for potential markets identified.
• An entry-level integrative overview of the understanding that other business functions such as human resources, operations, finance etc. are all affected and integrated with the marketing function in the organisation.
• Basic skills are developed for measuring and calculating marketing budgets, marketing project progress and campaign success with sections on the number system and basic arithmetic, working with equations, graphs and charts, and basic calculations for statistics and financial decisions.
• Introduces the key role of digital marketing as part of the marketing mix.
• Develop marketing communication skills to ensure the ability to communicate to a wider community within the business to gain support and involvement in making marketing ideas work, and get the right products/services to the market.

Qualifying learners should be able to think across different disciplines, as companies are confronted with a continuous process of developing and maintaining a feasible fit between organisations' objectives, skills and resources and their changing marketing opportunities.

Rationale

The Higher Certificate in Marketing is designed as an entry-level higher education qualification that is industry-orientated with a marketing focus and serves to provide learners with basic introductory knowledge, cognitive and conceptual tools, and practical techniques for higher education studies in their chosen field of study.

The informed opinion from the industry is that workers in the field of marketing should also have a fairly broad-based knowledge of the world of business.

The institution conducted rigorous market research to determine the needs of South African marketers in general and potential learners in particular. The institution's research uncovered that there are a myriad of generalist marketing qualifications as well as qualifications offering specialist modules. The qualification fills the gap in the marketplace, providing learners with the basic introductory knowledge to continue studies in the marketing field (general or specialised) as well as in related fields.

The institution regularly consults with MASA (Marketing Association of South Africa), ZIM (Zambian Institute of Marketers) and MAZ (Marketing Association of Zimbabwe) on specific module content for its marketing qualifications, to collaborate and gain insights from marketing professionals, ensuring updated and relevant content.

The qualification will benefit the learner by providing a recognised introductory marketing qualification that will improve employability, and facilitate lifelong learning as an alumnus of the institution. Typical learners for this qualification will include school leavers who wish to pursue a career in marketing and use the qualification as an entry-level qualification into the world of marketing or entry into diplomas or degrees. In addition, there are potential learners who, in the workplace, are being exposed to marketing and need to enhance their knowledge of marketing.

Occupations that learners can enter once they have completed the qualification include, amongst others: sales, advertising, communications, digital marketing, events/promotional coordinator, marketing assistant, marketing management, brand analyst, advertising client assistant, to mention only a few.

Society will benefit from the qualification as marketing creates needs satisfying products and services which are designed for both the Business to Consumer Market (B2C) and the Business to Business Market (B2B).

The economy will benefit from the innovation, creativity and revenue that is generated through amongst other things, sales (e.g. VAT), increased productivity.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The institution uses RPL for access only and will develop its processes further to include RPL processes to part qualifications.

An RPL Committee (sub-committee of the Assessment Committee) will evaluate the application form, and may recommend entry tests or suggest access modules (Business Numeracy, Fundamentals of Business Communication and/or Academic Literacy) that need to be completed to ensure the learner is fully prepared for the RPL process.

The qualification may be achieved through the Recognition of Prior Learning, which includes formal, informal, and non-formal learning and work experience. Recognition of Prior Learning is applied in terms of policy and criteria of the institution in accordance with the national imperatives of widening access.

RPL for access

• The qualification provides alternative routes of access to higher education.RPL for access is applied to earners who do not meet the minimum entrance requirements or the required qualification that is at the same NQF level as the qualification required for admission may be considered for admission through RPL.
• Advanced standing may be granted.

RPL for exemption from module

• Learners may apply for RPL to be exempted for modules that form part of the qualification.
• For a learner to be exempted from a module and the learner needs to provide sufficient evidence in the form of a portfolio that demonstrates that competency was achieved for the learning outcomes that are equivalent to the learning outcomes of the module.

RPL for credits

• Learners may also apply for RPL for credit for or towards the qualification, in which they must provide evidence in the form of a portfolio that demonstrates prior learning through non-formal and/or informal learning to obtain credits towards the qualification.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• Senior Certificate at NQF Level 4.

Or

• National Senior Certificate (NSC) at NQF Level 4, granting access to Higher Certificate studies.

Or

• National Certificate Vocational (NCV) at NQF Level 4, granting access to Higher Certificate studies.

This qualification consists of the following compulsory and elective modules at National Qualifications Framework Level 5 totalling 135 Credits.

Compulsory Modules, Level 5,115 Credits

• Academic Literacy, 15 Credits.
• Fundamentals of Business Numeracy, 20 Credits.
• Fundamentals of Business Management, 20 Credits.
• Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, 20 Credits.
• Fundamentals of Marketing, 20 Credits.
• Fundamentals of Sales Management, 20 Credits.

Elective Modules, Level 5, 20 Credits (Choose one module)

• Fundamentals of Business Communication, 20 Credits.
• Fundamentals of Project Management, 20 Credits.
• Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management, 20 Credits.

1. Demonstrate an elementary understanding of literacy to academic writing, technology, numeracy and communications.
2. Display an elementary but broad scope of knowledge in the field of business and supply chain management to be able to link marketing activities to the functioning of organisations.
3. Associate and describe within a business context, the systems within which organisations operate and be able to link these to marketing opportunities.
4. Explain the typical elementary methods and procedures involved in a business enterprise.
5. Explain the theories typically applied in the field of marketing, supply chain and business management.
6. Solve elementary marketing and business problems in organisations.
7. Access, process and apply elementary marketing information, considering ethical behaviour.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1

• Identify suitable distribution channels Illustrate an improved writing style with a sound knowledge of the demands of grammar and style pertaining to business and academic writing.
• Communicate clearly and appropriately in a relevant business situation.
• Show effective use of communication tools with relevant use of technology to enhance efficiencies such as e-mails, memoranda, letters and reports using appropriate formats.
• Apply basic calculations required in business practice Compute and interpret basic financial calculations. >Demonstrate an understanding of elementary business statistics.
• Discuss integrated digital marketing strategy and how the elements of the online marketing mix support this strategy for a business enterprise.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2

• Understand the general background to the field of business management, including the environment in which an enterprise functions.
• Discuss the functional areas of business, with emphasis on operations management, supply chain and logistics management, and marketing management.
• Describe the marketing orientation and place of marketing in a given context.
• Explain the different management tasks that cover the fields of planning, organising, leading, motivation and controlling.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3

• Discuss the importance of the external environment.
• Discuss the effect of economic variables on the effective functioning of a business.
• Indicate how marketing interacts with other functional areas.
• Define marketing terminology.
• Develop a marketing mix.
• Understand the different marketing strategies.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the concepts, principles and practices of management in the context of business.
• Apply the principles of management activities within the business environment.
• Evaluate the impact of the business environments on business and management.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5

• Formulate marketing objectives and describe marketing strategies.
• Explain markets and target markets.
• Demonstrate an elementary understanding of supply chain management and planning, and its importance, activities, and role players
• Communicate the fundamentals with respect to purchasing, suppliers, inbound transport, inventory, warehousing, operations, distribution, outbound transport, customer service, and supply chain performance.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 6

• Understand the key steps in the selling process that lead to a successful sale, from prospecting for a sale to the follow-up once the sale has been completed.
• Understand the importance of effective time management.
• Illustrate the mastering of life-long learning skills in the dynamic field of marketing and supply chain management, and the broad field of management
• Understand the different marketing strategies appropriate for an organisation at a given stage on its lifecycle.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 7

• Describe the marketing process and conduct a marketing audit.
• Determine the importance of the external environment and the use of marketing research to gain knowledge regarding customers and competitors.
• Identify the different types of markets and the consumers in these markets.
• Determine the marketing communication mix for a product or service.
• Understand the role and importance of ethical behaviour and decision making in the supply chain environment and business in general, and base business decisions and actions on appropriate values.