The Marketing Mix explained

What is Marketing ?

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) defines marketing as 

"Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably."

The Marketing Mix 

The Marketing Mix often referred to as the 4p's, these are the elements that companies and organisations consider so that they can effectively meet the needs and wants of their consumers. The 4P's consists of-

• Place
• Price
• Product
• Promotion 

Place

This is a key part of the Marketing Mix. There's a well known phrase within the marketing industry that describes marketing as,

" Putting the right product at the right price, at the right place at the right time."

Having a product or service positioned in the right place plays a key part in whether the product/service will be a success. Key market research is carried out before a product or service is launched in order to ensure the product is positioned and distributed effectively to its intended target market. 

Price

Another key element within the Marketing Mix is the price of a product or service.

Companies and Organizations don't want to either sell their product or service too cheaply or price them too highly as by doing this they could price there intended target audience out of the market. An example of this is a new bar opening in Huddersfield with its intended target market being University students but then charging a high price for drinks. In order to ensure this does not happen vital market research is carried out to look at what competition is out there for the product or service and how much they are charging so that when the products or services are launched they could undercut their competition by offering them at a lower introductory price. Another advantage of looking at similar products or services is that the organisation gains a better understanding of how much these products/services are currently being sold at and where they are being sold. In addition to this the organisation can also asses the quality and standard of the competitors products/services so that they can see if there new products/ services are of a higher standard and quality and if they are they could charge a higher price or if there of a lower quality and standard charge a lower price. 

Product

Another element of the Marketing Mix is the product or service itself. When a company first looks into producing a new product/service they have to carry out key market research in order to establish whether there is enough demand for this product/service from their intended target market. In order to do this the product life cycle of the new product/service is researched. The product life cycle consists of, Development, Introduction, Growth, Maturity, Decline and some products and services also go through Rejuvenation. 

Marketers often give new products and services a unique selling point as a way of making them stand out from other similar products already on the market.

Key Questions considered by organisations interested in launching a new product or service -

• Who is our intended target market for the product?
• What will our customers gain from this product?
• What does our product offer that our competitor products don't?
• What is our USP?
• Where will our product fit within the market?

Examples of companies that have unique selling points-

Promotion

The finale element of the Marketing Mix is promotion. Positioning any new product/ service in the market place is a difficult task. Promoting and advertising a new product or service plays a key role in whether they will be successful or fall short of the mark. Previously Traditional marketing use to be used by all organisations in order to help them promote and advertise new and existing products and services. Traditional marketing includes advertising on Television, Radio ads, newspaper ads, leaflets and posters. However another form of marketing is now assisting organisations to engage customers with their products and services. Experiential Marketing encourages consumers to get involved with the product. One way of doing this is a new restaurant offering free food samples to encourage people to eat at the restaurant. Many companies now use both Traditional and Experiential marketing. Ensuring that new products and services are seen by their intended target audiences is key to whether they are a success. Vital market research is carried out before an advertising campaign is launched in order to find out how consumers within the product/services intended target audience buy their products, either online or in store for example.        

http://marketingmix.co.uk/