marketing_mix

Search for "marketing mix" on Ebay? Click here!

marketing mix

The term "marketing mix" was first used in 1953 when Neil Borden, in his American Marketing Association presidential address, took the recipe idea one step further and coined the term "marketing-mix". A prominent marketer, E. Jerome McCarthy, proposed a 4 P classification in 1960, which has seen wide use. The four Ps concept is explained in most marketing textbooks and classes.

Four Ps

Elements of the marketing mix are often referred to as 'the four Ps':

• 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 service based like the tourism industry & the hotel industry or codes-based products like cellphone load and credits. 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. Packaging also needs to be taken into consideration.

• 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 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 cinema commercials, radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards. 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 (see Product above).

Broadly defined, optimizing the marketing mix is the primary responsibility of marketing. By offering the product with the right combination of the four Ps marketers can improve their results and marketing effectiveness. Making small changes in the marketing mix is typically considered to be a tactical change. Parm Bains says making large changes in any of the four Ps can be considered strategic. For example, a large change in the price, say from $19.00 to $39.00 would be considered a strategic change in the position of the product. However a change of $130 to $129.99 would be considered a tactical change, potentially related to a promotional offer.

The term 'marketing mix' however, does not imply that the 4P elements represent options. They are not trade-offs but are fundamental marketing issues that always need to be addressed. They are the fundamental actions that marketing requires whether determined explicitly or by default.

Four Cs?1?

A formal approach to this customer-focused marketing mix is known as Four Cs (Commodity, Cost, Channel, Communication). Koichi Shimizu proposed a four Cs classification in 1973.Koichi Shimizu (2009) "Advertising Theory and Strategies", 16th edition, Souseisha Book Company (Japanese)Koichi Shimizu (2003) "Symbiotic Marketing Strategy", 4th Edition, Souseisha Book Company (Japanese)

The four elements are:

• Commodity (Original meaning of Latin: Commodus=convenient) : the product for the consumers or citizens. Not product out.

• Cost (Original meaning of Latin: Constare= It makes sacrifices) : producing cost, selling cost, purchasing cost and social cost.

• Channel (Original meaning is a Canal) : Flow of commodity : marketing channels.

• Communication (Original meaning of Latin:Communio=sharing of meaning) : marketing communication : It doesn't promote the sales.

The Four Cs can be compared to the Four Ps. This system is basically the four PsE. Jerome McCarthy (1975) "Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach", Fifth Edition, Richard D. Irwin, Inc., p.37. renamed and reworded to provide a customer focus. The four Cs Model provides a demand/customer centric version alternative to the well-known four Ps supply side model (product, price, place, promotion) of marketing management. This is a part of 7Cs compass model.

Four Cs?2?

The Four Cs model is more consumer-oriented and attempts to better fit the movement from mass marketing to niche marketing. The Product part of the Four Ps model is replaced by Consumer or Consumer Models, shifting the focus to satisfying the consumer needs. Another C replacement for Product is Capable. By defining offerings as individual capabilities that when combined and focused to a specific industry, creates a custom solution rather than pigeon-holing a customer into a product. Pricing is replaced by Cost reflecting the total cost of ownership. Many factors affect Cost, including but not limited to the customer's cost to change or implement the new product or service and the customer's cost for not selecting a competitor's product or service. Placement is replaced by Convenience. With the rise of internet and hybrid models of purchasing, Place is becoming less relevant. Convenience takes into account the ease of buying the product, finding the product, finding information about the product, and several other factors. Finally, the Promotions feature is replaced by Communication which represents a broader focus than simply Promotions. Communications can include advertising, public relations, personal selling, viral advertising, and any form of communication between the firm and the consumer.

The Four Cs model has been criticized for simply being nothing more than the Four Ps with different points of emphasis.Freddy J. Nager (2010), "Marketing Mix-Up: Being Treated Like Lois Lane," atomictango.com/2010/02/16/marketing-mix/ In particular, the Four Cs inclusion of customers in the marketing mix is criticized, since customers are a target of marketing, while the other elements of the marketing mix are tactics. The Four Cs also exclude numerous strategies for product development, distribution, and pricing, while assuming that consumers want two-way communications with companies.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "marketing_mix". The list of authors you can find on this page.