The Marketing Mix
This is a full range of activities that is used by a business to market
its products. This is usually referred to as the ‘4p’s’.
1. Product
2. Place
3. Price
4. Promotion
1. Product- this is all the aspects of a good or service. This is including their branding, design, quality, appearance and any other special features. The product also includes the number of sizes or models offered and the after sales service.
The term product covers more than just the physical item or service offered. It can include everything from the size, colour, style, design, quality and characteristics. Also the name and packaging of the product are quite unique.
Large firms often produce several products that seem to be very alike and to compete with one-another. Firms have to make sure that when they advertise them right to make sure the public are aware that they are different products. The emphasise on the differences between goods in the same product range is called product differentiation.
To enable this firms want to ensure that their products have their own identity. These are the ways a firm can differentiate their products: -
∙ Name – this gives a product identity and to stop other firms using this name it can be a registered trademark.
∙ Logo – Companies may have a symbol or a badge so that products made by that company could be recognised. On every product the companies logo will be printed.
∙ Design – Firms go into a great deal of trouble to design their products so that they look different from similar products produced by other firms.
∙ Content – what goes into making a product is an important part of the products identity.
∙ Packaging – this has two purposes. The first is to protect the good from damage and the second is the marketing, the way of presenting and selling goods. This is one more way of giving goods identity. Firms want people to recognise their product with out even having to read anything. Here products can be made to look eye catching and attractive
2. Place- this is where the company decides to sell their good or service to the consumers. A product is unlikely to be successful if customers find it difficult to purchase it. So ‘place’ is a vital part of the marketing mix. Companies must decide how to get their product to the consumer. When buying a product the consumers expect to get the goods and services they want at the right place, when they want them and in the right amounts. Producers must choose where to sell a product and decide how it is to get to the point of sale. The goods or products must get to the sellers i.e. shops in first class condition and as quickly, cheaply and efficiently as possible. The route by which goods get to the consumers is known as the chain of distribution.
Transport is an essential part of the chain of distribution. It gets goods to where consumers can buy them. Companies can sell their goods through wholesalers to littler shops or straight to bigger shops such as Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco etc.
3. Price is very important to consumers when they are buying products so this makes price a very important factor in the marketing mix. Therefore companies have to take into account that they don’t try to sell their product for too or much it will not be bought and that they don’t sell the product for too less as they will not make a profit.
Firms must be consistent in their marketing mix. Once a target market has been chosen the whole marketing mix has to give consumers the same message. For the consumer, price is related to three factors:
∙ Quality consumers match this to price. They expect good quality products to have a higher price than that of lower quality products.
∙ Image some goods have prestige value. Some people buy goods because it reflects their image they have of themselves
∙ Fair price consumers most definitely expect goods to be priced fairly. Consumers will not be willing to pay high prices for something that will be a rip off. They can also be sub conscious of cheap goods which may mean cheap quality. People expect good value for their money.
4. Promotion are the methods used by a company to sell a product including, advertising, other publicity, discounts, special offers, point of sale displays and direct marketing. Companies need to communicate with their consumers. They need to make sure that customers are aware that the product is for sale, to instruct them on what the product is about, to tell them how it will serve their needs and to persuade them to buy it for the first time or again.
Companies can advertise through the media. This can include:
∙ Television, radio and cinema,
∙ Magazines,
∙ National and local newspapers,
∙ Directories including 'yellow pages' and 'Thomson directories.'
All these different types of advertising can be used for promotion but many different types of advertising are aimed at different people.
