MKTG90004: pass the exams, not just read the notes
Your complete guide to University of Melbourne's marketing management unit. See where the marks are, work real practice questions, and study with an AI tutor that knows MKTG90004.
Sia generates MKTG90004 practice questions, works through them step by step, and quizzes you on the material the exam weights most heavily.
Sharpen your argument
A new brand tries to appeal to everyone with one generic message and an average price, and gains no traction. Using the STP framework, which explanation is the strongest?
The STP framework sequences segmentation (divide the market), targeting (choose segments) and positioning (occupy a distinct place in the target's mind).
Without a target and a distinct position, the brand offers no reason to be preferred over alternatives.
So the strongest explanation is a failure of STP: an everyone strategy positions the brand nowhere.
The weaker choice: Reducing the problem to price or visual identity. The core marketing-management error is skipping STP: trying to appeal to everyone leaves the brand undifferentiated and preferred by no specific segment. watch this!
One exam decides 50% of your grade. This whole page is built around that.
Overview
What MKTG90004 is, and where it sits
MKTG90004 Marketing Management is the University of Melbourne's postgraduate foundation marketing subject. It runs the full marketing-management process: marketing foundations and the marketing environment, segmentation, targeting and positioning, product and branding, services marketing, pricing, place and integrated marketing communications, research and metrics, and pulling it together in a marketing plan.
The subject is applied: a 50% exam tests the frameworks and a two-part marketing plan plus a group presentation apply them to a real product or market. The recurring skill is moving from analysis of the environment and customer to a coherent segmentation-targeting-positioning choice and a marketing mix that delivers it.
Official outline: handbook.unimelb.edu.au · MKTG90004 outline. Always treat the official outline and the exam timetable as authoritative.
Difficulty & time commitment
Is MKTG90004 hard, and how much time does it take?
MKTG90004 is manageable if you keep a weekly rhythm and treat the back half as the main event. 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 can apply the marketing frameworks (STP, the marketing mix, IMC) to a real product rather than describe them.
- You build the marketing plan steadily across the semester rather than at the deadline.
- You connect analysis of the environment and customer to a coherent positioning and mix.
You may struggle if
- You memorise marketing terms without applying them to a decision.
- You leave the two-part marketing plan late; it rewards iteration.
- You treat positioning as a slogan rather than a strategic choice grounded in STP.
- Anchor every recommendation in a segment, a target and a distinct position.
- Treat the marketing plan as a coherent argument from analysis to mix, not a checklist.
- Practise linking each mix element (product, price, place, promotion) back to the positioning.
Syllabus
The 9 topics, topic by topic
The exam-weight marker on each topic shows where the marks concentrate. The amber topics carry the highest exam weight.
T1 · Marketing Management Foundations
The marketing concept · the core process · customer-delivered value · buyer behaviour
T2 · The Marketing Environment
Micro vs macro · PESTLE · SWOT · Porter's Five Forces · the competitor table
T3 · Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
Ad-hoc vs feral segmentation · targeting · personas · POP/POD · perceptual maps
T4 · Product and Branding
The 7P cake · 5 product layers · the product mix · PLC · Keller's pyramid
T5 · Services Marketing
IHIP · the servicescape · the services triangle · the experience economy · service recovery
T6 · Pricing
The 6-step process · pricing methods · TEV vs perceived value · break-even · the 6 mix-pricing types
T7 · Place and IMC
5 distribution decisions · omnichannel · coverage · the 8 IMC tools · the effects ladder
T8 · Research and Metrics
Research design · qual vs quant · ROMI · CLV · NPS · vanity vs value · SMART objectives
T9 · Marketing Planning
Part A situation analysis · Part B recommendations · analyse → conclude → recommend → justify
How it's assessed
Assessment structure
| Component | Weight | Format & timing |
|---|---|---|
| Final examination | 50% | 2 hours · individual · spans the whole subject — application, not recall. |
| Marketing Plan Part B | 20% | Group · recommendations (~4000 words) — STP, the 7P mix & metrics for a live client. |
| Marketing Plan Part A | 10% | Group · situation analysis (~2000 words) — PESTLE, micro, Porter & SWOT. |
| Group presentation | 10% | Mid-semester client / challenge checkpoint. |
| Weekly quizzes | 10% | Best 5 of 8, in-seminar (10 questions / 10 min) — confirm the exact split in your subject guide. |
- Pass on a weighted average of at least 50%. No single-component hurdle unless noted; confirm against the official subject page.
This is an exam-cram unit. With the exams at 50% of the grade and the final examination alone at 50%, your result is overwhelmingly decided by how well you perform under time pressure.
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
Before the final heaviest topics
- Rehearse STP and the marketing mix as applied choices, the exam's core.
- Revise pricing, IMC and services-marketing frameworks with real examples.
- Prepare to link analysis to positioning to mix in a structured answer.
- Consolidate the research-and-metrics material for evaluating marketing decisions.
The mistakes that cost marks
Skipping STP. An everyone strategy is the classic marketing-management failure: without a chosen segment and position, the brand differentiates from no one.
Describing frameworks. Marks come from applying STP and the mix to a decision, not listing them. Description sits low on the rubric.
Backloading the plan. The marketing plan rewards steady iteration; assembling it at the deadline produces an incoherent strategy.
Teaching team
Who teaches MKTG90004
No teaching staff are publicly listed for this offering. Check the official course page for the current coordinator and lecturers.
Where it fits
Prerequisites, related units & why it matters
Postgraduate foundation marketing subject; check the UniMelb Handbook for program prerequisites.
Your MKTG90004 study toolkit
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Each tool already knows MKTG90004: your syllabus, your texts, and where the marks are. Grouped by how you study, from first contact to exam week.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is MKTG90004 hard?
It is a mid-moderate postgraduate subject. There is little computation, but the exam and marketing plan reward applied strategic judgement against qualitative rubrics, so the work is coherent applied marketing rather than technical difficulty.
How is MKTG90004 assessed?
A 50% final exam, a two-part marketing plan (10% Part A and 20% Part B), a 10% group presentation, and 10% weekly quizzes. The components sum to 100%.
What does it cover?
Marketing foundations and environment, segmentation, targeting and positioning, product and branding, services marketing, pricing, place and integrated marketing communications, research and metrics, and marketing planning.
How much maths is involved?
Very little; some marketing metrics appear, but the subject is applied strategy and planning, not calculation.
What lifts marks?
Building a coherent strategy from analysis, a clear STP choice, and a marketing mix that delivers the chosen positioning, rather than describing frameworks.
Study MKTG90004 with Sia
Work through the core topics and the rest of the unit with a tutor that knows it and quizzes you on the topics the assessments weight most heavily.
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