THE MARKETING MIX

Prof. Kunal GauravDhruva College of Management

Hyderabad

Marketing mix

Marketers use numerous tools to elicit the desired responses from their target markets. These tools constitute a marketing mix.

Marketing mix is the set of marketing tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target market.

McCarthy classified these tools into four broad groups that he called the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion

Robert Lauterborn suggested that the sellers’ four Ps correspond to the customers’ four Cs.

4P Vs 4C

Product

A PRODUCT is anything we can offer to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy customers’ need and want.

Levels of Products

1. The CORE BENEFIT LEVEL is the fundamental need or want that consumers satisfy by consuming the product or service.

2. The GENERIC PRODUCT LEVEL is a basic version of product containing only those attributes or characteristics absolutely necessary for its functioning but with no distinguishing features.

3. The EXPECTED PRODUCT LEVEL is a set of attributes or characteristics that buyers normally expect and agree to when they purchase a product.

Levels of Products

4. The AUGMENTED PRODUCT LEVEL includes additional product attributes, benefits, or related services that distinguish the product from competitors.

5. The POTENTIAL PRODUCT LEVEL includes all the augmentations and transformations that a product might ultimately undergo in the future.

PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION

Products have been traditionally classified on the basis of their characteristics like usage, durability and tangibility.

Based on durability and tangibility, products can be classified into three groups (i) non durables, (ii) durables and (iii) services.

Products can be classified depending on who the final purchaser is and how he uses them. Based on the usage of the products, they are divided into (i) consumer products and (ii) industrial products.

Product Life Cycle

A new product progresses through a sequence of stages from introduction to growth, maturity, and decline. This sequence is known as the product life cycle and is associated with changes in the marketing situation, thus impacting the marketing strategy and the marketing mix.

Product Life Cycle

Price

Price, amount of money for which a unit of goods or services is exchanged. Price is equivalent to market value and may or may not measure the intrinsic value of the goods or services to the buyer or seller.

In the entire marketing mix, price is the one element that produces revenue; the others produce costs.

Price is also one of the most flexible elements: It can be changed quickly, unlike product features and channel commitments.

Price is also a key element used to support a product’s quality positioning, Because a firm, in developing its strategy, must decide where to position its product on price and quality, there can be competition between price-quality segments

PRICE AND NON-PRICE COMPETITION

Price Competition A marketer who resorts to price competition will compete with his competitors on the price front by offering his product/services at the same price or at a lower price than that of the competitor.

Non-price competition ensues when marketers focus on factors other than the price, such as product features, quality of the product/service being provided, packaging, promotions, and so on.

Setting Pricing Objectives

Survival Profit Return on investment Market Share Status quo Product quality

The Selection of a Pricing Method

Mark-up pricing Target return pricing Perceived value pricing Going rate pricing Sealed bid pricing Differentiated pricing Value pricing Market Skimming Pricing

Place

A channel of distribution comprises a set of institutions which perform all of the activities utilized to move a product and its title from production to consumption.

Channel Levels

1. Zero Level2. One Level3. Two Level4. Three Level

Promotion

Promotion involves disseminating information about a product, product line, brand, or company.

Promotion Mix

● Advertising ● Sales Promotion ● Personal Selling

● Public Relation ● Direct Marketing ● Online Marketing

Advertising - Any paid presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Examples: Print ads, radio, television, billboard etc.

Sales Promotions - Incentives designed to stimulate the purchase or sale of a product, usually in the short term. Examples: Coupons, product samples, rebates etc.

Personal Selling - A process of helping and persuading one or more prospects to purchase a good or service or to act on any idea through the use of an oral presentation. Examples: Sales presentations, sales meetings, telemarketing etc.

Publicity – non-paid form of communication that includes planting significant news about it or a favorable presentation of it in the media. Examples: Newspaper and magazine articles/reports, TVs and radio presentations, charitable contributions, speeches, issue advertising, and seminars.

Public relations – Maintaining relationship with various stakeholders to build and maintain goodwill in the market.

Media Reach Vs. Impact

Receptiveness: Whether the audiences have clearly received the message.

Comprehension: Whether the audiences have understood the message.

Response: Whether the audiences have accepted the message.

Extended Marketing Mix – 7Ps

4P (Existing) 3P (Additional)

Product People

Price Process

Place Physical evidence

Promotion

Booms and Bitner extended the traditional 4P (McCarthy) framework to seven to reflect a predominantly service economy.

People

All People that are directly or indirectly involved in the creation and consumption of service are an important part of extended service mix.

Knowledge workers, management, employees and consumers often add significant value to the total product/ service offering.

Process

Procedures, Mechanism and flow of activities by which services are consumed (consumer management process) are an essential part of marketing strategy.

Physical Evidence The ability and environment in

which the service is delivered. Both tangible goods that help to

communicate and perform the service, and the intangible experience of existing customers and the ability of business to relay the customer satisfaction to the potential customers.

12 P of Marketing

6 P of Marketing Mix 6 P of Marketing Man

Product Professionalism

Price Passion

Place Perseverance (Being +ve)

Promotion Problem-Solver

Packaging Participative & People-Oriented

Publicity Persuasive

Thank You!