The Marketing Mix
We’re going to be talking about the marketing mix so what is the marketing mix the marketing mix is a model based on commonly accepted definition of marketing is all about having the right product in the right place at the right price and at the right time the original model have four key elements product price place and promotion this then evolved into a larger model which is called the extended marketing mix this has seven key elements it has the original product.
Price place and promotion that also has new elements of people process and physical evidence so let’s look at each of these in turn first of all we have product this is the product or service that you provide and this is all about what makes your product or service what it is it’s about design technology usefulness convenience value quality things such as packaging branding and accessories and warranties we then have price there are various different approaches that you can take to pricing your product or service you have cost plus pricing this is where you take the total costs of producing and getting your product or service to your customer and add a percentage markup you have consumer-led pricing which is about researching your target customer base and prior to providing them with a product or service that you would consider they would find a fair price you have competitive pricing which is about supplying your product or service at a price that is competitive with other businesses that are supplying the same product or service to your target market you have penetration pricing which is.
You’re looking to obtain market share in a target marketplace and you enter with a low price and then once you’ve obtained that market share you rise your prices then we have skimming this is almost the opposite of penetration pricing this is where you have a price that’s very high initially for your product or service and then this reduces over time it’s commonly used by technology companies who have high initial investments in production costs.
Service is found and is able to be purchased by your target customer base so you may have your product available through wholesalers you may have your products available through your own store you may have direct sales as a channel through which you sell your product you may have online sales things such as party plans or make use of mail-order the next element looks at promotion this is all about how the customer finds out about your product it’s about advertising it it’s about public relations it’s about sponsorship things like sales promotion personal selling Direct Mail.
After sales back up we then have process this is all about looking at how everything fits together how your product or service actually gets to the customer and how successful those processes are managed this is where you can look at Quality Assurance and quality management.
We have it an overview of the extended marketing mix but how is this actually used in the real world well let’s look at a major global brand McDonald’s well known everywhere here we have how the marketing mix looks for McDonald’s they have their product sobviously the core for most one among them being vegan hamburger but they don’t just do a hamburger they do a range of options with their hamburger they do chicken burgers and as markets evolve where we’ve got things such as consumers now who are looking for more responsibly sourced meat more ethically packaged goods and more healthier options McDonald’s have also adapted their products to match pricing McDonald’s obviously with their range of products that they have they have different prices they also work internationally so they work with multiple currencies and they will have different pricing for the different countries that they deal with and they will work to a range of different pricing models placement you can obviously find McDonald’s burgers in there McDonald’s restaurants so they have a clear place
You can buy their product or service you can also look at information on them on the Internet in terms of promotion McDonald’s have a range of different means with which they communicate about their product and service to their potential customer and they gear them to different target markets we have the standardized promotion so things like their McDonald’s arches.
In the different restaurants that they have you can see them on the internet and find information about the company there you’ve got special promotions things like Happy Meals and the free giveaways that they give with the happy meals for children different toys that change every so often we have different promotions in terms of the meals that they provide so you might have a special option one week and then a different option the next week they also advertise free Wi-Fi within their restaurants for business customers or customers who would like to access the internet.
People McDonald’s have lots of different people involved in the organization who are helping to get their product or service to to market these include management administration staff and frontline customer service and sales staff the next element is process and McDonald’s our market leader at processor engineering they make sure that they have processes for producing their product the hamburger they make.
New market place you use it so that you can analyze what product or service is needed how you fit into that marketplace what sort of place should you be promoting your product or service in how should you be getting it to the customer, if you look at all of the individual elements of the marketing mix this helps define your strategy.