The Marketing Mix
(The 4 P's of Marketing)
Marketing decisions generally fall into the following four controllable categories:
Product Place
The 4 P’s of
Marketing
Price Promotion
The goal is to make decisions that center the four P's on the customers in the target
market in order to create perceived value and generate a positive response.
Product
The term "product" refers to tangible, physical products as well as services. Here are
some examples of the product decisions to be made:
Brand name Packaging
Functionality Repairs and Support
Styling Warranty
Quality Accessories and services
Safety
Price
The process of determining what to charge for the product or service, as well as taking
into consideration what your consumers are willing to pay for. Look at variable such as
production costs/expenses, competition, etc. Some examples of pricing decisions to be
made include:
Pricing strategy (skim, Cash and early payment
penetration, etc.) discounts
Suggested retail price Seasonal pricing
Volume discounts and wholesale Bundling
pricing Price flexibility
Price discrimination
Place (Distribution)
Distribution is about getting the products to the customer, where are your products
going to be sold or available. Products must be easily found by consumers, will your
product be sold all year long or just seasonally? Some examples of distribution
decisions include:
Distribution channels Inventory management
Market coverage (inclusive, Warehousing
selective, or exclusive Distribution centers
distribution) Order processing
Specific channel members Transportation
Promotion
Promotion represents the various aspects of marketing communication that is,
marketing your product to generate consumer awareness of information like what it is
and where it can be found. Deciding on a message to relay to consumers, and
advertising with the goal of creating a positive response. Marketing communication
decisions include:
Promotional strategy (push, pull, Sales promotions
etc.) Public relations & publicity
Advertising Marketing communications
Personal selling & sales force budget
The 2 C’s of Marketing
Customers Competition
By understanding who we are selling to and who we’re competing against, we are more
likely to be successful in marketing our product.