CIM Level 4 Certificate in Professional

Marketing
Customer Experience (2102)

December 2016
Assignment
The assignment comprises THREE compulsory tasks
Task 1 is worth 30 marks
Task 2 is worth 40 marks
Task 3 is worth 30 marks
Total marks available 100
Candidate guidance:

Answer all tasks

The available marks are shown alongside each part of the task
Read all tasks carefully before attempting them

The Chartered Institute of Marketing 2016

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Customer Experience (2102) December 2016

Scenario:
Customer experience is widely recognised for delivering competitive advantage, and with
increasing competition and choice online, delivering enhanced customer experience
through digital marketing activities is more critical than ever before. A thorough
understanding of important elements of customer experience online can help the
organisation to make improvements and enhance competitive advantage.
In your role within the marketing function of an organisation of your choice, your
manager has asked you to prepare a report and discussion paper for senior management
which explores both the theory and reality of customer experience.
Your work will describe, analyse and make recommendations on how the online customer
experience can be enhanced through meeting the customers expectations of the digital
experience with reference to appropriate supporting theoretical frameworks. Recognition
should be made of the fact that online is often the first point of contact a customer may
have with an organisation and therefore this forms an integral part of customer
experience, building on and supporting any offline elements. For more traditional
organisations the online experience has to match and reflect the offline experience
customers may previously have enjoyed.
Guidance notes:
This assignment consists of THREE tasks, but the report should flow as a single whole
document. It should be presented as a professional document, suitable for use within the
context of your chosen organisation.
While it is helpful to include an introduction and summary in the report, these should be
brief, with the main focus being on the content outlined in the assignment brief provided.
FIVE marks will be awarded for the organisation summary which gives the examiner an
understanding of the context in which the tasks have been answered. Candidates should
write this summary in report format rather than bullet format. This is included in the
marks allocated to the report in Task 1.
It is good practice to acknowledge all sources/methodologies/applications using the
Harvard referencing system.
Good Practice Guidelines for Assessment Production
The recommended page count limit for this assessment has been set by the
examiners as being suitable for candidates to produce a concise, professional document
that covers all of the assessment criteria included in the brief. Submissions that exceed
the recommended page count limit are likely to contain irrelevant material that
can restrict the emphasis on key points relevant to the brief/task. Equally, submissions
that are below the recommended page count limit are unlikely to contain sufficient detail.

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Customer Experience (2102) December 2016

TASK 1 REPORT

Assessment criteria covered in Task 1:

AC1.1, AC1.2, AC1.3, AC 2.1, AC2.3
Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.

In your role within the chosen organisation, your manager has asked you to write a report
which demonstrates the importance of understanding customer expectations in a digital
marketing context and the role branding plays online.
Required:
(a)

Using the organisation summary guidelines, provide a background to

your chosen organisation.

(5 marks)

(b)

Outline the differences in customer expectations between offline and

online organisational interaction.

(15 marks)

(c)

Explain the importance of branding to the customer when accessing

an organisation online.

(10 marks)

(Total 30 marks)
(Organisation summary recommended page count limit one side of A4 paper)
(Tasks 1 (b) to 1 (c) recommended page count limit two sides of A4 paper)

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Customer Experience (2102) December 2016

TASK 1 REPORT
Recommended page count limit:
Task 1 (a) one side of A4 paper
Tasks 1 (b) to (c) two sides of A4 paper
ORGANISATION SUMMARY GUIDELINES
Contents will contribute to the FIVE marks available in part (a) of Task 1.
The following headings must be included:

Guidance
notes:

Organisation name

Type of organisation, for example, profit or not-for-profit, local,

national, global, and type of legal entity

Size of organisation in terms of turnover and/or number of employees

Range of products and services provided

Customer base, for example, B2B/B2C

Main competitors

Other information relevant to the assessment may be included, within the

recommended page count limit, to assist the examiner in understanding the
organisation.
Candidates are encouraged to reference the Organisation Summary
throughout the task to avoid repetition and provide context to their answers,
it should clearly demonstrate the context and situation of the chosen
organisation.
Continued

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Customer Experience (2102) December 2016

Task 1 continued

Specific digital marketing knowledge is not required for this or other tasks in
this assignment. The overriding content should be customer experience,
focusing on delivering this with digital marketing activities.
Task 1 (b) The differences in customer expectations of the digital content
provided by the organisation should be assessed in relation to the offline
expectations. Mapping the customer journey and consideration of previous
experience and competitor offerings could be appropriate for this task
element. This should ideally be related to the chosen organisation although
examples of best practice can be used if the chosen organisation does not
have both online and offline customer journey elements.
Guidance
notes:

Task 1 (c) Brands have an impact on expectations of customer experience,

whether online or offline. The importance of brand through online activities
of an organisation should be explained, considering specifically how
expectations of customer experience are influenced by brand activities such
as characteristics, promise and value propositions. A best practice
organisation can be used for this if the chosen organisation does not operate
online.
Use of appropriate theoretical frameworks to underpin answers and provide
structure is recommended throughout the task.
Application of the theories to the chosen organisation, recognising specific
customer experience expectations and provision should be included
throughout the answer.

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Customer Experience (2102) December 2016

TASK 2 REPORT

Assessment criteria covered in Task 2:

AC3.1, AC3.2, AC4.3, AC4.4
Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.

Customer experience components and frameworks underpin good experiences for

customers of any organisation. For this task you are required to produce a report that
considers customer experience components and frameworks and how they can influence
the role of elements of the marketing mix.
Required:
(a)

Describe how customer experience components are integrated into

your organisations digital offering.

(10 marks)

(b)

Assess how the use of a quality framework could help the

organisation to improve the digital customer experience.

(12 marks)

(c)

Discuss how the people, processes and promotional elements of the

marketing mix can be enhanced through the use of digital
technologies.

(18 marks)

(Total 40 marks)
(Tasks 2 (a) to (c) recommended page count limit five sides of A4 paper)

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Customer Experience (2102) December 2016

TASK 2 REPORT
Recommended page count limit: five sides of A4 paper
Task 2 (a) Theories relating to customer experience components should be
described to demonstrate how they apply in the context of digital marketing
for the chosen organisation. Consideration could be given to areas such as
moments of truth, the customer touchpoints and journey through online
activities, or the brand value and promise.
Task 2 (b) Assessment of the current quality of digital customer experience
provided by the organisation should be made for comparison against
appropriate customer experience quality frameworks. Areas of digital
customer experience which could be improved should be discussed with
demonstration of how adoption of a relevant quality framework would
achieve this.
Guidance
notes:

Task 2 (c) People, process and promotion are key elements of the
marketing mix which affect customer experience through the perceptions
created and the delivery of service, potentially throughout the customer
journey. You need to demonstrate and discuss how the use of digital
technologies can enhance customer experience delivered through these
marketing mix elements, using tools such as social networks and other digital
media to support the value proposition within the context of the chosen
organisation.
Use of appropriate theoretical frameworks to underpin answers and provide
structure is recommended throughout the task.
Application of the theories to the chosen organisation, recognising specific
customer experience expectations and provision should be included
throughout the answer.

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Customer Experience (2102) December 2016

TASK 3 DISCUSSION PAPER

Assessment criteria covered in Task 3:

AC5.2, AC5.4, AC6.2, AC6.3
Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details.

Measurement of customer experience is essential in understanding if the organisations

digital marketing activities are meeting customer experience expectations. You are
required to produce a discussion paper to explore relevant customer experience metrics,
using the results from them as a basis to make improvements to that experience.
Required:
(a)

Justify the need to measure and monitor online customer experience

from the perspective of customers and the organisation.

(8 marks)

(b)

Explain how market research methods could be used to measure the

effectiveness of online customer experience for the chosen
organisation.

(10 marks)

Using an analysis of information obtained from metrics make

recommendations for improvements in your organisations online
customer experience.

(12 marks)

(c)

(Total 30 marks)
(Tasks 3 (a) to (c) recommended page count limit four sides of A4 paper)

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Customer Experience (2102) December 2016

TASK 3 DISCUSSION PAPER

Recommended page count limit: four sides of A4 paper
Task 3 (a) Customer experience can be measured from many perspectives
to help provide a wider understanding of the experiences delivered and
received. For this section of the task you are required to justify the need to
measure and monitor customer experience provided by the chosen
organisation through online activities from the perspective of employees and
external customers.

Guidance
notes:

Task 3 (b) The success of online customer experience activities can be

measured through a variety of market research methods, both online and
offline. Appropriate research methods for the context of the chosen
organisation should be applied to demonstrate the current effectiveness of
these activities through primary and secondary methods.
Task 3 (c) Information obtained from relevant metrics of digital
performance in relation to online customer experience should be analysed to
provide a basis on which recommendations to improve online customer
experience within the chosen organisation should be made. Candidates may
present hypothetical data as the basis for their recommendations.
Use of appropriate theoretical frameworks to underpin answers and provide
structure is recommended throughout the task.
Application of the theories to the chosen organisation, recognising specific
customer experience expectations and provision should be included
throughout the answer.

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