MARKETING MIX IN TRADITIONAL MARKETING

Marketing organizations around the world

have been using the traditional marketing mix to

develop, design and market products/services that

satisfy customers needs. The success of a product

in the market depends on a marketers ability to

mix the elements namely product, price, place,

promotion in the right proportion.

The way a product is priced should reflect the

value it delivers, keeping the competitors pricing

structure in mind. Promotion helps a company create

awareness and build recognition for itself and its

products in the target market through advertising, sales

promotion etc.,. A company can gain higher profits if it

can choose the right place in terms of distribution

channels like distributers, wholesalers, and retailers etc.,

to sell its products.

INADEQUACY OF FOUR Ps

The four traditional Ps of the marketing

mix- product, place, price and promotion are

adequate for marketing a product. However

they fail to cover the following aspect, which

differentiate products from services and are

therefore, important for services marketing.

o The product element involves only tangible

aspects and is therefore not appropriate for

services, which are basically intangible in

nature.

o A part of the promotion of the services usually

takes place at the time of consumption itself. This

is not so in the case of a product. In fact, the

people involved in service production handle the

promotion too in most cases.

o In the Indian scenario, the public sector

produced most of the services until very recently.

Very often still, the end consumer pays the

standardized and subsidized price, and this

aspect is ignored by the price mix.

o The dual role played by service customers as

co-producers and end consumers in the

production of service goes unnoticed by four

traditional Ps.

o The four traditional Ps fail to capture the

importance of distribution for services. In

most of the services, the production and

consumption takes place at the same time;

therefore, the distribution channel is either

absent or is very small.

o Further, consumers are unable to perceive

the quality standards of service before

consumption. On the other hand, marketers

are not able to identify and measure the

elements of the marketing mix that can

deliver quality service.

The above problem faced by

marketers have led to the addition of another

three Ps for marketing services, namely,

people, process management, and physical

evidence.

product

Marketers have identify three levels in developing

the product element of the marketing mix as far as services

are concerned. The ‘core’ level aims to satisfy the important

needs of the customer while the ‘tangible’ level manages the

appearance of the product. The ‘augmented’ level involves

the addition of supplementary services to the basic offering.

These three levels can be condensed into two, the

core level that caters to the basic benefits and a secondary

level which includes the tangible as the augmented service

levels.

The core level basically deals with service offering

while the secondary service level deals with the delivery of

service.

PricingThe pricing of services is very different from the pricing of goods

for various reasons. Service for example, can be differentiated

based on their price, as a higher price is generally associated

with better quality. The fixed cost is higher and the variable cost

is low in the case of service. Pricing of the same service can be

changed depending on the demand for the service. Though this

happens with some of the products which are seasonal.

Promotion Service providers should aim to promote their

service in order to eliminate the perceived risk.

This can be best achieved by encouraging and

promoting positive word-of-mouth publicity,

developing strong brands, offering a trial use

and finally by managing advertising and public

relation effectively to clearly communicate the

message to the customers.

PlacePlace relates to the ease in accessing the

service. Due to the inseparability of service, they are produced and consumed at the same place. This make its impossible for service providers to produce the service at a place where the cost are low and sell at a place where there is a high demand for it.

People Service organizations perceive people as a

means to gain a competitive advantage in the industry. Therefore they invest in attracting, training and relating the best talent.

Many service organizations involve their personnel

both at the point of frontline delivery and during the

production process that does not involve the final

consumer.

The service 0personnel have an important role in not

only designing the service, but also in delivering it.

Involve consumers as co-producers in designing the

service offering to suit their individual preferences. In

this case the service personnel play an important role

in helping the end consumer present his requirements

precisely.

ProcessThe production and delivery process in the

manufacturing sector is easier than in the service

sector. Marketers of service are often confused, as

there is little difference between marketing and

operations management in services. Customer

service encounters have an impact on the quality of

service delivered by the organisation. A service

encounter is the actual time period during which an

interaction take place between the service provider

and the customer.

over the years, some service organizations

have mechanized their service processes to

reduce the element of human judgment and

error in service delivery. For example, banks

has introduced ATMs to offer convenience to

customers and also reduce labor cost which

along with competition in the service industry

has increased tremendously.

Physical EvidenceService customers experience a great perceived

risk as they cannot rate a particular service until

it is consumed. Therefore they attach an element

of tangibility to their service offering. The

physical evidence can be in any form, for example,

brochures or TV commercials showing the detail

of holiday destination, pleasent and courteous

behavior of the service personnel in a bank, the

location and ambience of a food outlet etc.,