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The marketing mix is the combination of the four elements of marketing, the four Ps, that make up the marketing strategy. They are:
1. product, including brand name, packaging, positioning, and warranties
2. price, including list price, discounts, credit terms, and payment period
3. promotion, including advertising, sales promotion, and publicity
Once the four Ps have been established, the business must then determine the emphasis it will place on each of the variables. This will largely be determined by where the product is positioned or its stage in the product life cycle. For example, a product that is being marketed with an image of exclusivity and prestige will require a marketing mix totally different from a no-frills, generic item. A different marketing mix will also be required for a product in its introductory stage than when it reaches the decline stage.
Once the business has established its marketing objectives, the next step in the marketing plan is to develop the marketing strategies so as to achieve the objectives. A marketing strategy plan . I imagine that there are a wide range of variables that can influence the decisions affecting the market strategy. However, decisions are normally based on the four major elements of the marketing mix, e.g. product, price, promotion, and place.
Through changes in the marketing mix, the business can devise a strategy that will achieve the marketing objectives of:
1-Increased market share
2- Geographic expansion
3-Market penetration
4-Price advantages
To Increased Market Share through mix , business will often state an objective as being increased market share. Increased market share can be achieved in a number of different ways. These include:
1-Lower the price of the product until the objective is achieved
2-Improve product image and recognition through large scale advertising.
3-Improve customer service increase the number of retail outlets introduce a new line of products.
4-Increase product width introduce more differentiated products
5- Increase product depth offer discounts, free gifts, or loyalty schemes.
However, Business needs to realize that, due to the cost of establishing the strategy, profits may suffer in the short term but are prepared to accept this in return for higher long term benefits.
Instead of copying and pasting from the Wikipedia I'm going to make it simple:
Marketing mix means putting the right product/s in the right place, time and price. That's why we need to use the 4 p's: Product, price, place, promotion.
The difficult task here is to find the right combination of the 4 p's to sell our product.
If we have 3 of them, our product won't be so attractive to be sold.
Depending on the segment of the market, we need to adapt our 4 p's to make the product more attractive.
Doing a research of our segment will help us to move the 4p's and increase the sales.
Marketing mix is a mixture different concentration of 4Ps of marketing i.e. Product, place, price and promotion.
Consumers perceive or put different values on product, place, price and promotion. So, based on market segmentation and sensitivity of segmented market, the marketers use the 4Ps in such a proportion that maximize their sales.
Example:
1. Majority of low income group people live in down town areas who are most sensitive to price. So, marketer sales a product at downtown area a very competitive price and put less promotion in order to maximize sales and as well as profit
2. The upper class people lives is some posh area who are less sensitive to price but more sensitive to product attributes and promotion. So, the marketers sales the same product with different packaging/color at high price with advertisement in premium newspapers to maximize sales as well profit
3. Similarly, the marketers would segment the markets according to age group and make promotional campaign targeting a specific group to buy the product. Example: low end or a middle end Samsung mobile phone market. One can easily find a lot of promotion in this phone segment and more specifically, the phone model disappear after one year or so and new model appears with slightly attractive features. So, the marketer is maximizing sales as well as profit
In all the above cases, the marketer is segmenting the market and using the different concentration /doses of Product, place promo and price to maximize the sales vis-a-vis market share and ultimately profit also
The marketing mix is a business tool used in marketing and by marketers. The marketing mix is often crucial when determining a product or brand's offer, and is often associated with the four P's: price, product, promotion, and place.
Product
A product is seen as an item that satisfies what a consumer in the target market needs or wants. It is a tangible good or an intangible service. Intangible products are service-based like products in the tourism industry, the hotel industry and the financial industry. Tangible products are those that have an independent, physical existence. Typical examples of mass-produced, tangible objects are the car and the disposable razor.
Every product is subject to a life-cycle including a growth phase, followed by a maturity phase, and finally an eventual period of decline as sales falls. Marketers must do careful research on how long the life-cycle of the product they are marketing is likely to be and focus their attention on different challenges that arise as the product moves through each stage.
The marketer must also consider the product mix. Marketers can expand the current product mix by increasing a certain product line's depth or by increasing the number of product lines. Marketers should consider how to position the product, how to exploit the brand, how to exploit the company's resources, and how to configure the product mix so that each product complements others. The marketer must also consider product development strategies.
Price
The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. The price is very important as it determines the company's profit and hence, survival. Adjusting the price has a profound impact on the marketing strategy, as it will often affect the demand and sales as well. The marketer should set a price that complements the other elements of the marketing mix. When setting a price, the marketer must be aware of the customer's perceived value for the product.
There are various strategies that can be applied when pricing a product like skimming and penetration pricing. Skimming means to price the product highly to increase profits. For example if you invent a new software which no one else has, you can skim the market because the customers are forced to buy from you until there is more competition. Penetration pricing can be applied when you want to enter a market and price your product lower than the perceived market price so that more people will buy it and this will increase your market share.
Promotion
Promotion represents all of the methods of communication that a marketer may use to provide information to different parties about the product. Promotion comprises elements such as advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion.
Advertising covers any communication that is paid for. This can be in the form of television commercials, radio and Internet advertisements or through print media and billboards. Public relations is where the communication is not directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word-of-mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create word-of-mouth momentum. Sales staff often play an important role in word-of-mouth and public relations.
Place
Place refers to providing the product at a place or places which is convenient for consumers to access it. Place is synonymous with distribution. Various strategies such as intensive distribution, selective distribution, exclusive distribution and franchising can be used by the marketer to complement the other aspects of the marketing mix.
agree with all expert answers above
I agree with experts answers, Thanks for the invitation.
Many professional answers have already been here with full details of 4 Ps and its market movements to increase market shares.
Marketing mix is a marketing strategy that a company uses to produce desired response from its target market or end users. The product or services a company has to decide which will satisfy customers as it is provided as per consumer requirement. Providing a price to the consumers is important as it should be affordable to the consumers and at the same time it should bring profit also by increasing sales. Companies may adopt strategies like lowering the price to penetrate in to the market and once it wins the customer good will tactically it can increase the price either by new brands or improving quality related methods. Companies know very clearly that without promotion methods their efforts to reach desired target will be in vain. Innovating new techniques for promoting goods is important as it usually done through advertisement in the medias, bill boards, exhibitions, trade fairs and other events. Choosing the right place is important as it should be easily accessible to the consumers and convenient for the companies to do its activities effectively.
Marketing is an essential function of the organization consists of four elements:1. Product (item).2. Price.3. promotional mix.4. DistributionThe promotional mix consists of a number of elements, including:1. Advertising.2. Sales activated.3. personal selling.4. Direct Marketing.5. Public Relations.Where some of these elements adds to the advertising and publishing.Marketing mix is used in marketing feasibility study and to take various decisions of the constituent elements of the marketing mix and in control of these elements and planning
agree with Mr. khalid Gaffar answer
The Marketing mix is generally accepted as the use and specification of the four p's describing the strategic position of a product in the marketplace. A Marketing mix is the division of groups to make a particular product, by pricing, product, branding, place, and quality. Although some Day1 marketers have added other P's, such as personnel, packaging and physical evidence, the fundamentals of marketing typically identifies the four P's of the marketing mix as referring to: "Marketing Mix" is set of correlated tools that work together to achieve company's objectives, they are:product, price, promotion, place. The set of controllable tactical marketing tools, product,price,place and promotion - that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market: Product - A tangible object or an intangible service that is mass produced or manufactured on a large scale with a specific volume of units. Intangible products are often service based like the tourism industry & the hotel industry. Typical examples of a mass produced tangible object are the motor car and the disposable razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced service is a computer operating system.
Price – The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. It is determined by a number of factors including market share, competition, material costs, product identity and the customer's perceived value of the product. The business may increase or decrease the price of product if other stores have the same product.
Place – Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the Internet. Promotion – Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements - advertising, public relations, word of mouth and point of sale. A certain amount of crossover occurs when promotion uses the four principal elements together, which is common in film promotion. Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from and cinema commercials, radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards. One of the most notable means of promotion today is the Promotional Product, as in useful items distributed to targeted audiences with no obligation attached. This category has grown each year for the past decade while most other forms have suffered. It is the only form of advertising that targets all five senses and has the recipient thanking the giver. Public relations are where the communication is not directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word of mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth and Public Relations
