FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING- MARKETING MIX

 FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING

 MARKETING MIX

What Is Marketing Mix - 4 P and and 7 P of Marketing

Definition of Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is defined by the use of a marketing tool that combines a number of components in order to become harden and solidify a product’s brand and to help in selling the product or service. Product based companies have to come up with strategies to sell their products, and coming up with a marketing mix is one of them.

What is Marketing Mix?

Marketing Mix is a set of marketing tool or tactics, used to promote a product or services in the market and sell it. It is about positioning a product and deciding it to sell in the right place, at the right price and right time. The product will then be sold, according to marketing and promotional strategy. The components of the marketing mix consist of 4Ps Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. In the business sector, the marketing managers plan a marketing strategy taking into consideration all the 4Ps. However, nowadays, the marketing mix increasingly includes several other Ps for vital development.

What is 4 P of Marketing

Product in Marketing Mix:

A product is a commodity, produced or built to satisfy the need of an individual or a group. The product can be intangible or tangible as it can be in the form of services or goods. It is important to do extensive research before developing a product as it has a fluctuating life cycle, from the growth phase to the maturity phase to the sales decline phase.

A product has a certain life cycle that includes the growth phase, the maturity phase, and the sales decline phase. It is important for marketers to reinvent their products to stimulate more demand once it reaches the sales decline phase. It should create an impact in the mind of the customers, which is exclusive and different from the competitor’s product. There is an old saying stating for marketers, “what can I do to offer a better product to this group of people than my competitors”. This strategy also helps the company to build brand value.

Price in Marketing Mix:

Price is a very important component of the marketing mix definition. The price of the product is basically the amount that a customer pays for to enjoy it. Price is the most critical element of a marketing plan because it dictates a company’s survival and profit. Adjusting the price of the product, even a little bit has a big impact on the entire marketing strategy as well as greatly affecting the sales and demand of the product in the market. Things to keep on mind while determining the cost of the product are, the competitor’s price, list price, customer location, discount, terms of sale, etc.,

Place in Marketing Mix:

Placement or distribution is a very important part of the marketing mix strategy. We should position and distribute our product in a place that is easily accessible to potential buyers/customers.

Promotion in Marketing Mix:

It is a marketing communication process that helps the company to publicize the product and its features to the public. It is the most expensive and essential components of the marketing mix, that helps to grab the attention of the customers and influence them to buy the product. Most of the marketers use promotion tactics to promote their product and reach out to the public or the target audience. The promotion might include direct marketing, advertising, personal branding, sales promotion, etc.

What is 7 P of Marketing:

The 7Ps model is a marketing model that modifies the 4Ps model. As Marketing mix 4P is becoming an old trend, and nowadays, marketing business needs deep understanding of the rise in new technology and concept. So, 3 more new P’s were added in the old 4Ps model to give a deep understanding of the concept of the marketing mix.

People in Marketing Mix:

The company’s employees are important in marketing because they are the ones who deliver the service to clients. It is important to hire and train the right people to deliver superior service to the clients, whether they run a support desk, customer service, copywriters, programmers…etc. It is very important to find people who genuinely believe in the products or services that the particular business creates, as there is a huge chance of giving their best performance. Adding to it, the organisation should accept the honest feedback from the employees about the business and should input their own thoughts and passions which can scale and grow the business.

Process in Marketing Mix:

We should always make sure that the business process is well structured and verified regularly to avoid mistakes and minimize costs. To maximise the profit, Its important to tighten up the enhancement process.

Physical Evidence in Marketing Mix:

In the service industries, there should be physical evidence that the service was delivered. A concept of this is branding. For example, when you think of “fast food”, you think of KFC. When you think of sports, the names Nike and Adidas come to mind.

Marketing Mix Example:

This article will go through a marketing mix example of a popular cereals company. At first, the company targeted older individuals who need to keep their diet under control, this product was introduced. However, after intense research, they later discovered that even young people need to have a healthy diet. So, this led to the development of a cereals product catered to young people. In accordance with all the elements of the marketing mix strategy, the company identified the product, priced it correctly, did tremendous promotions and availed it to the customers. This marketing mix example belongs to Honeycomb, one of the most renowned companies in the cereal niche. Following these rules clearly has managed to make the company untouchable by all the other competitors in the market.
This makes Honeycomb, the giant we know and love today to eat as morning breakfast.

Marketing Mix Product

All products can be broadly classified into 3 main categories. These are :

1. Tangible products: These are items with an actual physical presence such as a car, an electronic device, and an item of clothing or a consumer good.
2. Intangible products: These are items that have no physical presence but can be felt indirectly. An insurance policy is an example of this. Online items such as software, applications or even music and video files are also intangible products.
3. Services: Services are also intangible products but they are the result of an economic activity that does not result in ownership. It is a process that creates benefits for customers. Services depend highly on who is performing them and remain difficult to reproduce exactly.

Importance of Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is a remarkable tool for creating the right marketing strategy and its implementation through effective tactics. The assessment of the roles of your product, promotion, price, and place plays a vital part in your overall marketing approach. Whereas the marketing mix strategy goes hand in hand with positioning, targeting, and segmentation. And at last, all the elements, included in the marketing mix and the extended marketing mix, have an interaction with one another.

Questions on Marketing Mix

Q.1 State Any One Advantage of Personal Branding

Ans:

• It is because of branding that customers are able to identify the products.
• Example, a customer who is satisfied with ‘Dove’ beauty bar need not inspect it every time she buys the product.

Q.2 State the Components of Product Mix.

Ans:

• Branding.
• Packaging.
• Labeling.

Q.3 A Company Has to Decide About Its Price Policy, Credit Policy; Terms of Payment Etc. Name the Concept Which the Company is Trying to Decide.

Ans:

Price Mix

The above mentioned is the concept, that is elucidated in detail about ‘Marketing Mix’ for the Commerce students. To know more, stay tuned to ATN ACADEMY.