What Is Marketing Mix?
Marketers often use tools in their marketing process, and one such of them is the marketing mix which is a crucial element when confirming the product or the brands offer. It is mostly associated with the major four Ps: place, promotion, product and price. When we are talking about service offering sectors, these Ps is extended to seven or eight Ps each component addressing the different nature of the associated services.
In the 1990s, the approach was changed into one that is more customer centric, and in place of the Ps came the concept of Cs, mainly the consumer, communication, cost and convenience or commodity, channel, communication, and cost. In 2012, however, the theory was altered again into people, programs, performance and processes.
Product: First proposed by McCarthy, the concepts are used by people especially marketers all around the world. The first component of the theory is the products that are items that satisfy the needs of the consumers demands. It can include both tangible product and an intangible service while the tangible ones have independent physical existence in the market, the intangible ones cannot be measured. While the first one may be a car or a razor, the second one will be computer operating system.
Most of these products come with their own life cycles, mainly growth, maturity and the eventual period of decline similar to that of sales fall. This makes it important for the marketers to conduct the necessary research on the life cycle of the product and concentrate on the various challenges that the product can face tentatively. Lastly, it is important that the marketer consider the product mix. This means they can alter the product mix by either expanding the current mix or by increasing the number of product lines. The marketer should always consider factors like the positioning of the product in the market mix, exploiting the brand presence and company resources also the ways by which the product mix is configured. Because of the amount of competition present in the market, it becomes extremely important that the marketers plan accordingly.
Price: This is the amount that the customer will pay for the product and this is the most important aspect as it will determine the effort and survival of the product in the market especially in this competitive one. It also determines the companys profit and therefore adjusting the price has reflective impact on the various marketing strategies employed by the company. This will also affect the demand and the sales and therefore the chosen price should be something that the customer is willing to pay. The price is often set after being aware of the customer perceived value of the same product.
Place: This will consider the distribution of the product in marketplaces that will demand the maximum sales of the same.
Promotion: Once the product has been determined, price has been set and the place for marketing has been decided, it is important to spread the word about it and the marketers employ techniques like advertising, public relations and others to ensure that the market is well aware of the same.
Conclusion
It is important that the marketers consider these four P’s to ensure the survival of the product in this cut-throat market. It becomes important because only when all these elements are considered, does the product attain its true glory and presence.
