The Marketing Mix

Sheet 19

The Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is the set of ‘ingredients’ that the business will use to achieve its aims, and is based on the ‘four Ps’ (see below). A successful marketing mix of a good product in the right place at the right price, with attractive packaging and advertising, wins customers and makes profits more likely. As the marketing strategy for a product, or range of products, progresses, it is likely to be changed and amended, depending on its success. Each change will involve a change in the marketing mix - more money and time will be spent on some ‘P’ elements, and less on others.

The ‘four Ps’ elements of marketing mix

Product
¨  Quality. Needs constant review
¨  Range. Develop new products, or concentrate on small number?
¨  After sales service. Builds reputations and sales.
¨  Features and facilities. Alterations/updates can completely ‘remake’ a product.
¨  Size and packaging. May be crucial to customers. / Price
¨  Basic price level. Needs constant review.
¨  Discounts. Could win new customers.
¨  Pricing products differently for different customers.
The
four
Ps
Promotion
¨  Expenditure - how much?
¨  Style and substance - posters, adverts, local leafleting?
¨  Timing- regular, seasonal, aimed at particular time of day? Vital at launch of new product.
¨  Media - press, TV, point-of-sale, telephone, local or national? / Place
¨  Distribution - most common chain of distribution is producer - wholesaler - retail - customer, but shorter chains, e.g. wholesale - consumer (cash and carry stores) cut costs.
¨  Direct selling - home selling, e.g. children’s books, also mail order, TV and computer sales are all growing sectors of the market.
¨  Delivery and stock levels - sales will be lost if these areas are inefficient. Increase delivery fleet?

Marketing Strategy and Marketing Mix

In creating the marketing mix for a product or range of products, a business will concentrate on different elements from the lists overleaf. For instance, if the marketing strategy is to establish a new product in an existing market, a company might decide to concentrate on low pricing (Sheet 27) and swift and efficient delivery. It may not have much money left for promotion (relying instead on word-of-mouth marketing). If a business is trying to boost the sales of a well-established product, on the other hand, its marketing mix may involve creating new product features and improving product quality, running a new advertising campaign, and trying to attract a new group of customers.

Different companies place different emphasis on elements of the marketing mix. One supermarket chain may base its place in the market on a continuing reputation for low prices (Aldi) whereas another on its reputation for quality, range of products and presentation (Waitrose or Sainsburys).

The Marketing Plan

When a business launches a new product it will have conducted market research to find the segment of the market it wishes to target the product at. It will then create a marketing plan for that product. This will use the 4 elements of the marketing mix.

markemix