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Question 1Part (a): Barr’s product mix (10 marks)Award one mark for each relevant advantage or disadvantage and up to three additional marks per advantage or disadvantage for development, reasoned reference to relevant concepts and/or justified illustrative examples from the case study. This gives a maximum of four for each advantage or disadvantage (but see below).Answers which cover only disadvantages or advantages should gain a maximum of five marks.Relevant concepts: product lines; product items; product positioning; product life cycle.Possible advantages include: coherent grouping of products within one market (drinks) — can help to gain economies of scale in promotion and operations, build managerial expertise etc; targeted at a number of different markets (eg Orangina, Tizer); range of different product lines and items — some have a very clear identity (eg Irn-Bru).Possible disadvantages include: many are at the mature stage of the product life cycle; soft drinks is a rapidly changing market and new brands may be important (Barr’s may be finding it hard to develop new brands — its own brands are well-established and its franchises are in a static market (Orangina), or not well-known in the UK (Lipton Ice Tea).Part (b): Elasticity (5 marks)Award one mark for an indication that the candidate understands the term ‘price elastic’.Award one mark for each relevant point plus up to three additional marks for development and/or examples from the case study.Relevant concepts: price elasticity of demand; promotional methods; product life cycle; market research.Price elasticity may influence Barr’s in that it can lead to attempts to enhance brand loyalty so that price elasticity is reduced which, in turn, curtails the impact on sales of a change in price. There are many examples in the case study of attempts to develop brand loyalty, eg Irn-Bru, Tizer. Question 2Barr’s external environment (12 marks)Award one mark for each relevant point and up to three additional ma