1.0 INTRODUCTION
It is not enough to
generate product ideas. These ideas must be turned to appropriate products or
services desired by the consumers; otherwise, the products are as useless as if
they did not come into
existence. In addition, these products must be
adequately priced, promoted and distributed through the most appropriate media
at minimum costs to reach the target consumers. These activities involve a lot
of tasks which must be adequately planned and executed by individuals saddled
with such responsibilities. In this note, we shall examine the marketing mix known
as the 4ps and its implications on marketing activities.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of through
this note, you should be able to:
·
explain the 4ps of the marketing mix
·
discuss the importance of the marketing mix in marketing
·
state the role of 4ps in marketing activities.
3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.1 The Marketing Mix
Once the company has decided on its overall competitive marketing strategy,
it is ready to begin planning the details of the marketing mix. The marketing
mix is one of the major concepts in modern marketing. Marketing mix is defined
as the set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the firm blends
together to produce the response it wants in the target market. In other words,
the marketing mix consists of everything the firm can do to influence the
demand for its product. It is also described as the combination of the four
inputs that constitute the core of a company’s marketing system: the product,
the price, place and the promotion.
It should be noted however that the four ingredients in the mix
are interrelated. Also, the decisions in one area usually affect action in the others.
Each of these four variables contains countless variables. For instance, a
company may market one product or several related or unrelated products. It may
distribute its products/services through wholesalers, or directly to retailers,
and so on. It therefore implies that management must select the combination
that will best adapt to the environment. In essence, management is seeking the
mix that will lead to the optimal synergistic results.
3.2 The Product
Product means the goods and services’ combination the company
offers to the target market. A product, service or idea may be defined as something
which is given to consumers in exchange for a price. Managing the product
ingredients includes planning and developing the right products and/or services
to be marketed by the company. Guidelines are needed for changing existing
products, adding new ones, and taking other actions that affect the assortment
of products carried. Activities related to a product, service or idea include
the following: quality, features, style, brand name, packaging, sizes,
services, warranties, returns, etc.
Research and experience in the marketplace have indicated that a marketer
should treat the product as a bundle of satisfaction offered to consumers
rather than as a physical item. This is so, because consumers really seek
satisfaction of their needs and desires rather than physical products. For
example, the purchaser of a refrigerator wants troublefree operation, space,
convenience, an aesthetic design rather than just a refrigerator cabinet and
motor. Also, the buyer of a wristwatch wants accurate timing, reliability,
status, attractive design and no maintenance, not merely pieces of metal,
plastic, and glass. Therefore, marketers who view the product as a bundle of
satisfaction are able to fulfil their mission of servicing the consumer,
and can benefit accordingly through increased sales.
3.2 The Price
Price is defined as the amount of money that consumers must pay in
exchange for the product, service or idea. Generally, marketers consider the
following factors in setting prices:
(a) Target customers: How much they will buy at various
prices, in other words, price elasticity of demand. (b) Cost: How much
it costs to produce and market the product i.e. both production and distribution
costs.
(c) Competition: Severe competition may indicate a lower price than when there is
monopoly or little competition.
(d) The Law: Government authorities place numerous restrictions on pricing
activities.
(e) Social Responsibility: Pricing affects many parties, including employees,
shareholders and the public at large. These should be considered while pricing.
There are other factors as well, besides the ones listed above
which a marketer has to consider.
3.3 Place or Distribution
Basically, place or distribution activities are used to transfer
ownership to consumers and to place products, services or ideas at the right
time and place. Distribution is made up of two components:
(1) physical distribution, and (2) channels of distribution.
Physical Distribution: Consists of the activities involved in moving products or
services from producer to consumer. Examples include:
(1) Transportation
(2) Warehousing and storage
(3) Order processing
(4) Inventory control
(5) Location.
Often, the objective of physical distribution is to move goods to consumers
at minimum cost. The physical distribution network should be oriented towards
the needs and desires of target consumers.
The Channels of Distribution: Those routes through which the ownership
of goods, services and ideas flows on the way from producer to consumer. In
establishing channels of distribution, marketers should decide which marketing
functions are needed in order to satisfy target consumers, and then determine which
institution (such as wholesalers and retailers or the manufacturer himself) can
best perform these functions. The overall objective is to maximise service to
the consumer at a profit to the marketer.
3.4 The Promotion
Promotional activities consist of various means of communicating persuasively
with the target audience. The important promotional methods are:
(a)Advertising – where an identified sponsor pays media (NTA, for instance)
to transmit messages to target consumers.
(b) Personal selling – where sales representatives employed by the
firm engage in interpersonal communications with individual consumers and
prospective customers.
(c)Sales promotion – where the marketer utilises displays, demonstrations,
premiums, contests, or similar devices to supplement advertising and personal
selling.
(d) Publicity and public relations – where both publicity and
public relations are used to stimulate supportive news items about the firm and
its products that have greater credibility with the public than advertising. Like other elements of the marketing mix,
promotion should be aimed at the target audience rather than at consumers at
large.
If target consumers are in
the upper income group, promotional messages for, say, color TV sets might
highlight movies such as status, and prestige associated with owning a color
television, whereas if they are in the lower-income group, the price of a model
might be emphasized. If target consumers tend to be highly educated, promotion
messages should be more sophisticated than when target consumers have low levels
of education. Failure to consider the unique characteristics of the target
consumer can result in ineffective promotional efforts.
3.5 New Product Development and Marketing Mix
The product is one component of the marketing mix and is usually
the core part, so the product is developed first. However, there are occasions
when the product is designed to fit some other component of the mix. For
example, the product may be developed to fit a price range, an image slot or a
channel. But you must not forget that the various elements of a marketing mix
are conceptually interconnected to meet some want and so there must be a
procedural interconnection in designing the various components.
In drawing up a tentative marketing mix as part of any new product
development programme, first let us take the element of promotion. It is
a key consideration when the want is likely to be latent or passive for the majority
of the members of the target market. In general terms, the motivation to buy is
based preferably on some core advantage and the benefits that might be stressed
in the advertising copy or sales appeal.
In the case of pricing, price can be important not just in terms
of cost to the consumer, but as contributing to the image of the product.
Pricing needs to be considered in relation to both the buying inducement and
the rest of the offering or mix.
Finally, the role of a distribution strategy in new product
development should not be underestimated. It should, however, be noted that if distribution
i.e. availability in the target market cannot be assured, all other things will
fail. Hence, the role which distribution channels are expected to play must be
investigated at the earliest stage possible.
You must not, however, forget the overall important fact emphasized
earlier that all elements of the marketing mix, i.e. promotion, pricing, place
and distribution strategies need to be brought together and coordinated in the
overall marketing mix.
3.6 Roles of Pricing and Advertising in Marketing Mix
(a) Advertising – Most often, only a few firms directly compete with one another
in the same target market. Economists call such a situation an oligopolistic
situation. In this type of situation, many firms prefer to increase their share
by increasing demand through advertising rather than by reducing prices. The
question that arises is – why do firms prefer such a strategy? The reason is
that building up an image through advertising can be more difficult to match
than a price cut.
The assumption behind this preferred approach is that the firm can
achieve a competitive edge in advertising and that it does not possess such a
large cost advantage over competition as to make price cutting an attractive pre-empting
strategy.
(b) Pricing – Price may be the major element in the marketing mix. Pricing
decisions should be carefully coordinated with decisions on product, promotion
and distribution. For example, the luxury segments of consumer markets suggest
a quality, branded product, extra-touches, high class outlets, appeals and
media that capture the luxury image and a high price to match.
4.0 CONCLUSION The objective of a marketer is to combine the various elements of
the marketing mix viz. price, product, promotion and distribution in such a way
that he/she will achieve the necessary volume of sales at a cost that will
permit him/her to make a desired profit. The way these elements are to be
combined will basically depend on the target market to be served. This means
that the needs and wants of the target consumers have to be studied and
interpreted and a unique blend of various elements of the marketing mix has to
be designed to reach a specific group of consumers.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this note, we
discussed marketing mix and its elements as they affect marketing activities. 
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