MKB1700: nail every assessment, not just read the notes
Your complete guide to Monash University's fundamentals of marketing unit. See where the marks are, work real practice questions, and study with an AI tutor that knows MKB1700.
Sia generates MKB1700 practice questions, walks through marketing and the marketing environment step by step, and quizzes you on the material the heaviest assessments weight most heavily.
Sharpen your argument
A premium artisan-coffee brand is setting the price of a new single-origin bag. Its accountant says: 'Our unit cost is $9, so add a standard markup and that is the price; cost is what determines the price.' Using the unit's pricing model, which response is the strongest critique?
Recall the unit's floor-to-ceiling model: cost sets the FLOOR on price (sell below cost and you lose money), while the buyer's perceived value sets the CEILING (no one pays more than they think it is worth, however high the cost).
Value-based pricing flips the logic to value to price to cost: it starts from the buyer's perceived value (the ceiling) and is the approach this unit favours, because it is customer-led and ties straight back to STP and positioning.
The accountant has anchored the whole price to the floor and ignored the ceiling, so option B (cost-plus only sets the floor; perceived value sets the ceiling) is the strongest critique.
Eliminate the others: A restates the misconception, C collapses everything to competition-based pricing and discards both floor and ceiling, and D accepts the wrong premise and only argues about the markup size.
The weaker choice: Treating cost-plus markup as 'the' price. Cost only sets the floor; a cost-plus number can sit above what customers perceive the product is worth (the ceiling) and simply not sell, or below it and leave value on the table. The unit favours value-based pricing for exactly this reason. watch this!
One exam decides 40% of your grade. This is a HURDLE: you must attend in person and pass it to pass the unit. Addresses learning outcomes 1, 3 and 4. This whole page is built around that.
Overview
What MKB1700 is, and where it sits
MKB1700 Fundamentals of Marketing is a 6-credit-point first-year unit in the Monash Business School (Department of Marketing). Its central theme is value: how marketing creates value for organisations, stakeholders, consumers and society. Over twelve weeks it introduces the marketing discipline and its role in an organisation, then walks the full marketing toolkit, from understanding the market (the marketing environment, buyer behaviour and segmentation, targeting and positioning) to building and taking an offer to market (product, price, place and promotion), and finishes with planning, marketing research and contemporary issues.
The unit runs on a strict weekly rhythm rather than a traditional lecture series. Content for each week is released the Friday before. In your own time you work through the lesson guide (offered as 1-slide-per-page or 4-slides-per-page), watch the lesson, do all the prescribed readings, then sit the pre-class quiz (open from Sunday 8am, due Tuesday 11:55pm). You then attend a Wednesday tutorial (with a seminar in Weeks 3, 6 and 9) and, by Thursday 11:55pm, upload that week's activity reflection. The prescribed text is Elliott, Rundle-Thiele, Waller, Bentrott, Hatton-Jones and Jeans, Marketing (5th ed., 2021), with weekly readings from the Leganto reading list.
The hardest part is not technical depth (the only arithmetic is a simple cost-plus markup). It is that the marks are spread across continuous coursework all term and the 40% Interactive Oral Exam is a hurdle you must attend in person, on campus, in the exam period. With no past papers and an unseen, spoken format, success comes from keeping the weekly rhythm, building a strong concept map of how the frameworks connect, and being able to explain and apply them out loud under time pressure.
Difficulty & time commitment
Is MKB1700 hard, and how much time does it take?
MKB1700 is manageable if you keep a weekly rhythm and treat the back half as the main event. Across student reviews the pattern is consistent: it starts gently and steepens, and the heaviest assessment is the part that separates grades.
The difficulty curve and the assessment weighting point the same way: the back half is harder and worth more. Front-loading effort there is the highest-return decision in the unit.
Is this unit for you
Who tends to do well, and who tends to struggle
You will likely do well if
- You keep the weekly rhythm: lesson guide and readings, then the pre-class quiz by Tuesday, then the tutorial, then the reflection by Thursday. With content released the Friday before, falling behind compounds quickly.
- You can connect frameworks rather than list them. The concept map and the oral exam both reward showing how the environment, STP, the 4 Ps and planning fit together.
- You are comfortable explaining your thinking out loud, since 40% of the mark is a live, in-person Interactive Oral Exam.
- You write clearly and reference properly. The 20% essay and the unit's APA 7th requirement reward a tidy, well-argued 1200 words.
You may struggle if
- You rely on cramming a single past paper. There are none, and the highest-stakes assessment is an unseen, spoken oral exam.
- You leave coursework to the end. The essay is due Week 4 and the concept map Week 11, so the load is spread across the term, not concentrated in a final week.
- You freeze when asked to apply a framework on the spot. The oral exam is interactive and applied, not a recitation of definitions.
- You skip the weekly quizzes and reflections. Even on a best-9 rule, missing several early weeks erodes both your marks and your grasp of the toolkit.
- Build the Marketing Concept Map from Week 1 and keep linking each new week back to value and the marketing mix, so by Week 11 it is a genuine map of the discipline, not a last-minute diagram.
- Rehearse the pricing floor-to-ceiling argument and a buyer-decision-process walkthrough out loud, since applying frameworks verbally is exactly what the oral exam scores.
- Treat the Week 4 essay and the weekly reflections as practice at articulating marketing reasoning, and act on the feedback before the oral exam.
- Use the Week 12 oral-exam preparation and the Week 10 assignment-coaching tutorial deliberately, and practise answering unseen application questions under time pressure.
Syllabus
The 12 topics, week by week
The exam-weight marker on each topic shows where the marks concentrate. The amber topics carry the highest exam weight.
W1 · Marketing, exchange and value
Lesson Guide Week 1; Marketing (5th ed.)What marketing is and its role in an organisation: identifying, creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings of value. Value as the customer's perceived worth versus alternatives, and the company-versus-customer split (the firm sets price, the customer determines value).
W2 · Key marketing concepts and terms
Lesson Guide 02 Key Concepts; first graded pre-class quizCore vocabulary and frameworks of the discipline: needs, wants and demands, the exchange process, the marketing concept and orientations, and the marketing mix as the organising toolkit for the rest of the unit.
W3 · The marketing environment
Lesson Guide 03 Marketing EnvironmentThe micro-environment (company-specific forces such as suppliers, intermediaries, customers, competitors and publics) versus the macro-environment (broad external forces), and how scanning the environment surfaces opportunities and threats. Includes a seminar this week.
W4 · Buyer behaviour
Lesson Guide 04 Buyer Behaviour; Marketing (5th ed.) ch. 4 to 5How and why buyers decide: the influences on decision making and the buyer decision process described through an example. Underpins the Week 4 'What is Marketing' essay. Readings span chapters 4 and 5 of the text.
W5 · Segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP)
Lesson Guide 05 STP; Marketing (5th ed.) ch. 6Move from understanding the market to choosing a target and crafting an appealing offer: connect marketing evidence to likely segments, build a customer profile using segmentation variables, and demonstrate positioning by constructing a perceptual map. Reading includes Levitt's 'Marketing Myopia'.
W6 · Product
Lesson Guide 06 ProductProduct as the core of the marketing mix: goods, services, experiences and ideas; the layered view of a product (core value, actual and augmented); and branding. Includes a seminar this week.
W7 · Price
Lesson Guide 07 Price; Marketing (5th ed.) ch. 8How marketers capture value and what customers are willing to pay: recommend a price consistent with positioning, account for the factors that influence price, and identify pricing strategies. Cost sets the floor, perceived value sets the ceiling, and the unit favours value-based pricing.
W8 · Distribution (place)
Lesson Guide 08 PlaceGetting the offer to the customer: distribution channels (direct versus intermediaries), retail and channel formats, the supply chain and how place decisions support the positioning and value of the offer.
W9 · Promotion
Lesson Guide 09 PromotionThe promotion mix (advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing) and Integrated Marketing Communications, which carries one consistent message across channels. Includes a seminar this week.
W10 · Planning
Lesson Guide 10 PlanningPulling the toolkit together into a marketing plan: linking the target segment, value proposition and the 4 Ps into a coherent strategy. The tutorial includes assignment coaching for the upcoming assessments.
W11 · Marketing information systems and research
Lesson Guide 11 Marketing ResearchHow firms gather and use market information: marketing information systems, the research process, primary versus secondary data and how research feeds the decisions made across the rest of the unit. The Marketing Concept Map is due this week.
W12 · Marketing contexts and contemporary issues
Wrap-up; Interactive Oral Exam preparationMarketing in different contexts and current debates in the discipline, plus structured preparation for the Interactive Oral Exam. No new examinable frameworks beyond consolidating the term.
How it's assessed
Assessment structure
| Component | Weight | Format & timing |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-class Quizzes (best 9 scores) | 10% | Individual weekly pre-class quizzes; your best 9 scores count. Each opens Sunday 8am and is due Tuesday 11:55pm, drawn from that week's lesson and readings. Tuesdays 11:55pm, Weeks 2 to 12. Best 9 of the weekly quizzes count toward the 10%; addresses learning outcomes 1 and 4. |
| Weekly activities reflection (best 9 scores) | 15% | Individual weekly reflection on the tutorial activities: 1 to 2 diagrams, photos or a paragraph per week, uploaded after class. Best 9 scores count. Thursdays 11:55pm, Weeks 1 to 11. Best 9 of the weekly reflections count toward the 15%; addresses learning outcomes 3 and 4. |
| What is Marketing Essay | 20% | Individual written essay, 1200-word limit, APA 7th referencing. Draws on Weeks 1 to 4 (marketing, key concepts, the environment and buyer behaviour). Thursday 11:55pm, Week 4. Individual task; addresses learning outcomes 1 and 2. |
| Marketing Concept Map | 15% | Individual concept map showing how the unit's frameworks and concepts connect, built up week by week through the tutorials. Thursday 11:55pm, Week 11. Individual task; addresses learning outcomes 1, 2 and 5. |
| Interactive Oral Exam (hurdle) | 40% | Individual, in-person Interactive Oral Exam, attended on campus during the exam weeks. A spoken, applied assessment in which you discuss and apply the marketing frameworks to questions posed live. Exam period, date to be advised (on campus, in person). This is a HURDLE: you must attend in person and pass it to pass the unit. Addresses learning outcomes 1, 3 and 4. |
- Weighted average of at least 50% AND you must pass the Interactive Oral Exam, which is a stated hurdle requirement. You must attend the oral exam in person, on campus.
- Interactive Oral Exam (40%, hurdle): an in-person, on-campus spoken assessment where you apply the marketing frameworks to questions posed live, rather than a written paper
- Calculator policy: No calculator dependency. The only arithmetic in the unit is a simple cost-plus markup; the Interactive Oral Exam is a spoken, applied assessment rather than a numerical paper.
This is a coursework unit. Coursework carries 60% of the grade and the interactive oral exam (hurdle) is the single heaviest piece at 40%, so steady work across the semester decides your result more than any one sitting. This is a HURDLE: you must attend in person and pass it to pass the unit. Addresses learning outcomes 1, 3 and 4.
Final exam timing: Interactive Oral Exam held in person, on campus, during the Monash Semester 2 2026 examination period (the source states the date is to be advised). Confirm the exact date, time and venue against the official Monash exam timetable.. Confirm the exact date and venue on the official exam timetable.
How to actually pass it
A weekly rhythm, two checklists, and the traps to avoid
The unit rewards consistency over cramming, and practice over re-reading. Here is the loop that works, then what to have nailed before each exam.
The weekly loop
Before the mid-semester checklist
- Sit every pre-class quiz before Tuesday 11:55pm, since the best 9 feed your 10% quiz mark.
- Upload your weekly activity reflection every Thursday, since the best 9 feed your 15% reflection mark.
- Start the 'What is Marketing' essay early: it is due Thursday of Week 4 (20%) and draws on Weeks 1 to 4. Use APA 7th referencing.
- Begin your Marketing Concept Map in Week 1 and add to it every tutorial, rather than building it from scratch before the Week 11 deadline.
- Use the Week 4 essay Q-and-A sessions and the Week 10 assignment coaching tutorial for feedback before you submit.
Before the final heaviest topics
- Consolidate all 12 weeks into one coherent concept map of how the frameworks connect (environment to STP to the 4 Ps to planning), since the oral exam tests how you link them, not isolated recall.
- Be able to define and APPLY the named frameworks out loud: the marketing concept and mix, micro versus macro environment, the buyer decision process, STP and the perceptual map, the three product layers, the pricing floor-to-ceiling model, the promotion mix and IMC.
- Rehearse explaining a worked example aloud (for instance, why cost-plus only sets the floor and value-based pricing sets the ceiling), because the Interactive Oral Exam is spoken and applied.
- Use the Week 12 oral-exam preparation activities and practise articulating answers under time pressure with a study partner.
- Remember the exam is in person, on campus, and is a hurdle: confirm the time and location on the official exam timetable and plan to attend.
The mistakes that cost marks
Treating cost-plus markup as 'the' price. Cost-plus only sets the floor. The customer's perceived value sets the ceiling, and the unit favours value-based pricing. A cost-plus number can sit above what buyers will pay and simply not sell.
Preparing for the oral exam like a written paper. The 40% exam is an Interactive Oral Exam: in person, on campus, with questions posed live. You have to explain and apply frameworks out loud, so rehearse speaking, not just reading notes.
Letting quizzes or reflections slip. Both run on best-9 rules, but missing several early weeks burns through your buffer fast and leaves you with the marketing toolkit half-learned heading into the essay and concept map.
Memorising frameworks in isolation. The concept map (15%) and the oral exam reward seeing how the environment, STP, the 4 Ps and planning connect. Listing definitions without linking them loses the highest marks.
Confusing the micro and macro environment. The micro-environment is company-specific (suppliers, intermediaries, customers, competitors, publics); the macro-environment is broad external forces. Map each force to the right layer before the exam.
Teaching team
Who teaches MKB1700
The bios below are factual. The star ratings are not ours: they are impressions from students who have taken the unit, so you can hear from people who sat in the lectures.
Narelle Pittard
Leads the unit as Chief Examiner and lecturer, and also tutors; the teaching team's preferred contact is by email.
Teaching team as listed in the unit materials reviewed. AskSia does not rate lecturers; star ratings are submitted by students who have taken MKB1700.
Set texts
The prescribed reading
The syllabus references map straight onto these.
Marketing (5th ed.)
Elliott, G., Rundle-Thiele, S., Waller, D., Bentrott, I., Hatton-Jones, S., and Jeans, P. (2021).
Where it fits
Prerequisites, related units & why it matters
A first-year foundation unit with no listed prerequisites, suitable if you are seeking a career in marketing or want a basic understanding of the marketing function in an organisation. It is offered in both Semester 1 and Semester 2.
Your MKB1700 study toolkit
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is the final exam like in MKB1700?
It is an Interactive Oral Exam worth 40% and it is a hurdle you must pass. You attend it in person, on campus, during the exam weeks, and you discuss and apply the marketing frameworks to questions posed live, rather than sitting a written paper. There are no past papers; Week 12 includes structured oral-exam preparation.
Is there a required textbook?
Yes. The prescribed text is Elliott, Rundle-Thiele, Waller, Bentrott, Hatton-Jones and Jeans, Marketing (5th ed., 2021). Earlier editions are acceptable with some differences in page references and minor content. Weekly readings are also drawn from the Leganto unit reading list, including Levitt's 'Marketing Myopia' in the STP week.
How are the marks split across the semester?
Pre-class quizzes are worth 10% (best 9 scores), weekly activity reflections 15% (best 9 scores), the 'What is Marketing' essay 20% (due Week 4), the Marketing Concept Map 15% (due Week 11), and the Interactive Oral Exam 40% (hurdle). That puts 60% of the mark in continuous coursework before the oral exam.
Is there much maths?
Almost none. MKB1700 is a qualitative, framework-driven unit. The only arithmetic is a simple cost-plus markup in the pricing week (unit cost plus a markup), and even there the unit favours value-based pricing over cost-plus, so there is no calculator-heavy content.
What is the weekly rhythm?
Content is released the Friday before each week. In your own time you read the lesson guide, watch the lesson and do all the readings, then sit the pre-class quiz (open Sunday 8am, due Tuesday 11:55pm). You attend a Wednesday tutorial (a seminar in Weeks 3, 6 and 9), then upload your weekly activity reflection by Thursday 11:55pm.
Who teaches the unit and how do I contact them?
Narelle Pittard is the Chief Examiner and lecturer for the unit (also tutoring), with Glenn Hendricks as a tutor. The teaching team states the best way to contact them is by email.
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