MARKETING MIX

 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 unit, we shall examine the marketing mix known as the 4ps and its implications on marketing activities.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of through this unit, you should be able to:

1. explain the 4ps of the marketing mix 
2. discuss the importance of the marketing mix in marketing 
3.  state the role of 4ps in marketing activities. 

 MAIN CONTENT

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.

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 trouble- free 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.

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:

1. Target customers: How much they will buy at various prices, in other words, price elasticity of demand. 
2. Cost: How much it costs to produce and market the product i.e. both production and distribution costs. 
3. Competition: Severe competition may indicate a lower price than when there is monopoly or little competition. 
4. The Law: Government authorities place numerous restrictions on pricing activities. 
5. 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.

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.

 The Promotion

Promotional activities consist of various means of communicating persuasively with the target audience. The important promotional methods are:

1. Advertising – where an identified sponsor pays media (NTA, for instance) to transmit messages to target consumers. 
2. Personal selling – where sales representatives employed by the firm engage in interpersonal communications with individual consumers and prospective customers. 
3. Sales promotion – where the marketer utilises displays, demonstrations, premiums, contests, or similar devices to supplement advertising and personal selling. 
4.  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, colour TV sets might highlight movies such as status, and prestige associated with owning a colour television, whereas if they are in the lower-income group, the price of a model might be emphasised. 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.

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 emphasised 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. 

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.