Product

What is Marketing Mix ?

The tools or ingredients or the variables mixed together by the marketers to interact with a specific market are known as Marketing Mix. It is the essence of any marketing endeavour and is the main building block of the marketing efforts of an organisation. The concept of marketing says that on the side there is the producer or marketer and on the other side there is the customer. The organisation wants to have a transaction with the customers and to do so it has to first develop or produce a product or service, design it, pack it, price it, name it, label it, promote it, and distribute it. Every one of these decisions is the core of a marketing mix, which consists of four elements; viz., Product, Price, Place, and Promotion....

Elements of Marketing Mix: 4Ps

According to McCarthy, the four elements of the marketing mix are as follows:...

1. Product

The first element of the marketing mix is Product, and it depicts the tangible or intangible goods offered by organisations to customers to satisfy their needs and wants. In simple terms, it is a bundle of utilities. Product Mix means the important decisions related to a product like the design of the product, quality of the product, the quantity of the product, packaging of the product, etc. Besides these decisions, product assortment is also an essential part of the product mix. In simple terms, it means the number or volume of products and items a specific producer offers to the market. For example, ITC is an FMCG company and is dealing with different food products....

2. Price

Price is the value of a product or service passed on by the buyer to the seller. As a customer is very sensitive about the price of a product, it is a crucial element of the marketing mix. A slight shift by the organisation in the price of a product can shift the customers towards the competitor’s product. Therefore, Price Mix is an important decision and is related to the fixing of the price of a product or service. The decisions under price mix are related to demand of the commodity, price of competitors, etc....

3. Place/Physical Distribution

It is essential to make the product or service available to the customer at the right place and at the right time, then only the customer would be able to purchase the product or service. Place is an element of marketing and is a process of transferring goods from the place of production to the place of consumption. Therefore, Place Mix is an important decision and is related to the physical distribution of the goods and services to the customers. The decisions under place mix include deciding the market for distribution, the channel of distribution, etc. Hence, the place mix consists of Channels of Distribution and Physical Movement of Goods. The two different channels of distribution are direct channel and indirect channel. And the components of physical distribution include order processing, transportation, warehousing, and inventory....

4. Promotion

The last element of the marketing mix is promotion, which includes activities undertaken by the marketer to communicate with the customers and distribution channels so they can enhance the sales of the firm. Through promotional communication, an organisation’s aim is to inform and persuade the customer to purchase the goods and inform him/her regarding the benefits of the product. Hence, Promotion Mix is an important decision and includes all decisions of an organisation related to the promotion of a sale of goods and services. Some of the important decisions under promotion mix are selecting a media to advertise the product, selecting promotional techniques, public relations, etc....