Question

on the video Part 2 - Discussion (1200 words) • Marketing Mix o Product o Price o Promotion o Place Target Market Distribution channels Promotional communications and tools

Answer 1

Marketing Mix:

The idea of marketing mix was conceived by Prof. N. H. Border of Harvard Business School. As per Border, marketing mix is an itegration and combination of various elements of marketing into a program or mix which will best achieve the objectives of an organization at a given time. The purpose of Marketing Mix is to use the various elements of marketing in such a way that both the revenues as well as the customer satisfaction and loyalty are optimised.

Marketing Mix is made up of four elements which are product, price, place, and promotion. These four elements are also called the 4 P's of marketing. Here is a disussion of 4 P's in brief:

Product : The product is the primary element of the marketing mix becuase other elements are needed only when a product exists. A product refers to a bundle of benefits offered by a company to to satisfy the wants and needs of its customers. It could be a tangible product such as a cellphone or an intangible product such as banking service. It refers collectively to all the attributes of the product such as features, quality, design, packaging, brand, after sale service, service quality etc.

Price: Price, the next important element of the marketing mix, is the economic value of a product or service as expressed in monetary terms. The price of a product should be fixed in such a manner that the target customers will willingly pay to buy the product. Price can be an indicator of the intrinsic value of a product. Hence, pricing decisions become critical in marketing a product and must be made carefully.  

Promotion: Promotion refers to all those special efforts which are undertaken by an organization to optimize its sales volumes. Promotion also includes offering certain incentives to customers to motivate them to buy such as discounts, free extra quatity, one product free with another etc. It includes activities advertising, publicity, personal selling of the product, etc. A vital element of marketing mix, promotion involves creating a positive and favorable image of the company as well as its product in the minds of the prospective customers so that they come to know about their product and are inspired to buy it. Promotion is not just a sales increasing exercise but is a tool in the hands of the marketer for creating long term and mutually satisfying relationships with its customers.

Place: Place refers to the distribution of a product i.e how the right product would finally reach in the hands of the right customers at the right time. It includes all those activities that result in making the product available to the target customers such as transportation, channels of distribution such as wholesalers or retailers, warehousing, storage, inventory management, etc. Unless this element of marketing mix is effectively managed, the other elements would go waste as the product will not reach the hands of its target customers.

Target Market : Every product cannot have an appeal for every person, some may want it and others don't. Hence, while formulating a marketing plan, it is important for a company to determine the target market of its product. A target market is a group of existing and potential customers with similar characterustics to whom a company wants to sell its product or service offerings. These similar characterustics could be demographic factors like gender, age, income, geography, purchasing power, as also the customer wants and purchasing preferences etc.

Distribution Channels : Distribution Channels are the channels responsible for delivering the products or services to their target customers. They are the intermediaries between the marketer and the final consumer of the product who make the product available to the right customers at the right time and in the right place. Distribution Channels could be direct channel i.e. direct selling from manufacturer to consumer, or indirect channels i.e. intermediaries which could be agents, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, e-cormmerce or online retailers such as Amazon, and market aggregators especially in case of services.

Promotional Communications and Tools: Promotional Tools include activities like advertising, publicity, public relations, personal selling of the product, etc.Communications Tools are the communications directed at the prospective customers by way of social media, emails, newsletters, catalogues, pamphlets, etc. to inform them about the product and inspiring them to buy it

To discuss the practical application of 4 P's I have chosen the product:

Burger

The two target markets of Burger are

1. University students

2. Trade persons

The 4 P's of marketing will be applied to this product as below:

Product: Adding more variants than just standardized burger to offer more variety to suit the taste buds of the customers, offering attractive packaging for take-aways, etc.

Pricing: Setting prices at levels which are affordable to both the students and trade persons as both these groups have a limited income.

Promotion: Advertising through posters, pamphlets, sign boards. etc. Offeing happy hour discounts in lean hours, designing packages such as "buy three get one free" etc.

Place: Opening outlets at places which both the students and trade persons can easily approach for buying burgers, creating a home/ office delivery setup for catering to online orders, setting kiosks near places which students frequent such as library, parks, stadium etc.