‘Marketing Mix is a recipe for effective marketing. Using the 4Ps of Marketing Mix when planning the marketing for a product allows for a consistent approach.’
This article introduces 4Ps of Marketing Mix which are different inter-related parts making up the Marketing Mix.
The Marketing Mix can be defined as the four key decisions that a business organization must make in order to market their products effectively.
In other words, these 4Ps are considered the tools available to a business manager that shall be used to gain reaction it is seeking from its target market resulting in achieving marketing objectives.
What are the 4Ps of Marketing Mix?
4Ps of Marketing Mix are the tactical elements of a firm’s marketing strategy carefully designed to meet the needs and wants of customers.
The first two of these marketing decisions are what products the business is going to produce and sell as well as what the price the business is going to charge customers who want to buy them. These days, businesses rarely sell only one product.
The other two of these marketing decisions are how to promote the products that the business is producing and selling as well as how to move them from the producer to the final customer after the purchase was made.
Let’s take a look at the 4Ps of Marketing Mix in details:
1. PRODUCT. Product is the good or service produced by a business and made available to customers. A product can be anything that is capable of satisfying customer’s needs and wants. Consumers require the right product. This might be an existing product, an adaptation of an existing product or a newly developed one. In fact, for most companies, a product is not developed in isolation, but is a part of a product group that are closely related in terms of their functions and the benefits they provide. For example, Dell‘s range of personal computers, Apple’s range of smart phones or Sony‘s range of televisions. When thinking about a product, business managers also need to consider product design, product performance and packaging.
2. PRICE. Price is the amount of money customers have to give up to acquire a product. Setting the right price for a product is important too. If the price is set too low, then customers might think that there are some issues with product’s quality. Hence they may hesitate to buy it. On another hand, if the price is set too high, then many customers may be unable to afford it, or unwilling to pay such high price after conducting cost-benefit analysis. There are several effective pricing strategies at manager’s disposal when entering into a new market, aiming to increase profitability or winning over competition.
3. PROMOTION. Promotion is communication between the business and the customer, making the customer aware that the product is for sale. The main objectives of promotion are to inform prospective customers about the product and the business; to show the benefits of the product; to persuade potential customers to buy the product; to present a good image, etc. Most importantly, promotion must be effective – it must make people buy the product by emphasizing only good things. Additionally, the success of promotional campaigns must be measured against pre-established marketing objectives. Spending money on promotion must generate sales for the firm.
4. PLACE. Place is the way in which a product is distributed – how it gets from the producer to the customer. Also, place describes where and how a product will be distributed to the consumer – sold and delivered. A producer may use different models to make its products available to the market. Place is all about making sure that the business has enough supplies of a product and makes them available on the market for potential customers to purchase. That is why distribution is vital in order to make sure that this happens without interruptions. If a product is not available at the right time and in the right place, then even the most amazing products will not be sold in the quantities expected.
Each Marketing Mix will be different. Each Marketing Mix will be unique.
The blend of different elements in a Marketing Mix will depend upon: marketing objectives, type of product, target market, market structure, competitors’ behavior, global issues such as culture or religion, competitors’ Marketing Mixes, product positioning, Product Portfolio, etc.
Some factors influencing the creation of good Marketing Mix might be drawn from The STEEPLE Analysis and consider political, economic, social, technological, legal and ecological factors.
In summary, 4Ps of Marketing Mix are a range of tactical marketing decisions for producing and selling products which can greatly influence sales of a business.
