Marketing Mix - Mr Cornes
MARKETING MIX
Product
This could mean a’ good', a’ service', a `place' or a’ person'. All of these will require different marketing strategies. It is important for a business to understand that a product brings both tangible and intangible benefits. For example, buying shampoo not only promises clean and shiny hair, but might also suggest that using it will make one feel more attractive. Getting the product right is clearly the role of marketing, and developing new products to meet the needs of customers is especially important. Once products are in the market, firms need to monitor how they are doing. If there are rival products, a firm will want to know how they are doing in comparison to its own. If market research reveals that customers prefer a rival's products, a firm might modify its own product to make it more attractive. It is vital for the company to monitor continually the progress of its products in the market place. Failure to do so could mean the early decline of the product.
Price
Getting the price right is absolutely critical. If the price is set at the wrong level, the product will not sell. Most customers will have an upper and lower threshold for the price of a product and therefore, if they perceive that the price is beyond these thresholds, they will not purchase and revenue will be lost. A business needs sound market information to get the price right and at the same time balance its need to make a profit. Pricing strategies will vary according to whether the product is an existing one or whether it is new on to the market, the type of product and the nature of the demand for it.
Promotion
The main aims of promotion are to persuade, to inform and to reassure. Factors that might influence promotion include:
• the availability of substitutes - where there are lots, there will tend to be considerable promotion
• the stage of the product life cycle - at the introductory stage, the product may require more promotion to make customers aware of it; at the maturity stage, the nature of promotion may change from raising awareness to reminding customers to buy it
• the availability of the product
• whether or not the product is visibly different from rival products
Promotion can be `above the line' and `below the line':
Above the line' promotion is advertising away from the point of sale, in places such as newspapers, magazines and television.
Below the line' promotion usually takes place at the point of sale. It might include free samples or special offers. Loyalty cards and bonus points are included in this type of promotion.
Firms will use a variety of methods to promote their products and this is usually known as the promotional mix.
Place
Place is about getting the product to the customer at the right time and in the right place. It is crucial to the success of the product.
Key considerations are:
• Where are the best outlets for selling the product?
• What incentives will retailers need in order to persuade them to stock the product? * How should the product be distributed to the chosen outlets?
Clearly, the best outlets for the product will be those where the target customer shops, but retailers have limited shelf space and may already fill them with products that yield a good profit. Promises of heavy advertising and promotion, in an attempt to create demand, may help to convince them to take the risk of stocking a new product.
Getting the product from the manufacturer to the consumer usually, but not always, involves an intermediary of some sort.
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