IntrOductlon toM" t108

3 THE MARKETING MIX

l.V

Marketing is performed u'ifin a certain eavironment which itself is always

changing. The marketing activities have, therefore, to change in consonance with
errnironmeut to be continuously-effective. In order to appreciate this process it is
easier to divide the marketing activities into four basic elErnents which are together
referred to as the marketing mix" Theso four basic elements are:

i)PrOduct,
)PriCe,

ili)PrOmOtion,and
iV,PIace(or physid distribution)

As all these four start.wi! the lettet 'P'they arc, at tipesr referred to
of tbe msrketing mix or tlie 4Ps in marketing;

as

the four

The word-pro-duS-t stands for the goods.orcenicee offered by the o_rganisation. Once

ine

o""asiiuiaiiuma;tt

is

neciula4'to plan-tE pioduct;nd aftefiEifffiei on

aualysing whether.the produ& sttll deilCfies the ilile-dswhich were originally planned
for, ind if not, to determine the nGccsssry ctrrangeo. You will learn this in greater
detail urhen we talk ahout product etratogiep, sbout how aow products are
introduced, how they have to botnodiffcd ln due course to oontinue to be successful
in salCs,.aud why marginal or non-profitable products should be removed, uulees
they are contributing in some way to the overall benefit of Sre organisatiou.

tte money vel-u-gttraUnacuetomor-hae to pay. The product has to be

adequately piced. This involvcs gonside,rations of thq profit mar[iin; the cost, the ..
possibility of sales at different prices and the aoucept of tliC right pririe.

Price refers to

Promotion is the gsped of selling and advertising, or communicdting the benefils of

the product or sehrice , to the tq5gct otstomers or the markt segment involved ih
order to persuade them to Burchase such producti otseruices.
as wbll isthe sales forc. Be-sides, a certain
"6vsrtiiing
througp tpgciA.sehsohal discoults, &mBetitions,
amount of .prom5tion is-doue
special price reductions, etcr collectively called sdles promotion.

It includes selling thtough

Fiaally, ptrysi6al disttibution rpfeft to the aspct of the channels of dirtribution

tnrqdiil,tii.h th-e product hai to nAvatbEfo"reltreactres the'oudrimer.llt also
tr.h#; th; ildr:ilr'*p"rtt;'f-aistriuttfia.B-Eoe as'ilare}ouslng, ttduc[ioilation,
etc, needed for geographical distribution of the producte.
isatso concerned with the selectiOn of dlsEibution channelg. The organisation
must decide whether it should goll thtoughwholesalers (who buy in large quantities
and sell to retailers) and thgn to retailem (i.e., the shopkeepers; who ultimatelyell
to consumets), or whethef directly to the consumerer There are many ways ih wtich
a product can be mOVed fromthe produCer tO the consumer. The optimun methOd
has to be determi.ded in teEds of both consumer satisfastion and Profitability to the
grganisation, or optimum uso of the organisation?s resouroes.

It

14 THE MARKETINGSTRATEGY

::::
As welcamt,t,c ttrSt Step in the m

tlrrlre{4

ard ttr APPllcadru

ofagroupotpersOnsorparket
one
us 077

our product as

Jd DVLw

n Mtt

PFIChg

l.ProEt
`ns

2.Salesat DttrmtP

3.

ProfitctI'lluhg

1.

l.

Iotroduction of New Product

2. Improrrcrncnt of ErirtingPtoduas
3. Eliminatio of Marginrl or
Non-Pro6tablePrcduEts

2.SF
3.1

Promoh

4 PaJgaging

i3mndhg

PhrdcdllElbdm

l.'sctcctoo U PLuibudoo Cbmdr

us iUustrate.
hav sele

Perfrrmes can be purdrased by both men and \

in definfuig your consumei tirgct

at

thi sophistiryqgrgp But, this

!--..-

is

rather vaguc.

tsume

On'

mM

H InCOmo

p
O

U 8 Are30

IV'
as givm in Ftgurc
This grves us tho picurrc
toEpthsr'
thesc
put
Now let ue
Ejrrc IYr llrrtn

SG1prd

Crtdilrdr

UrtrnAnu

rir
)3

()l
(

()5

[]t
\ ','

[i'**ru'Tffiiffi
*iffiffiilH

$]13-fi

ffi IH-ffi H,

nruttdlbApJ

ProductP13mming

Nowv7eneedtogointOdetthabouttheexactproduct.,Wehavedeanedh as,pe
and thatthe pe ,muStb90fbi quality.

Can you nowdescmtethebottlem yOuwouml ? yOursuggmions here:

Bven the eolerlfiou of tbo boltlo b tnpottrns. You cannot uro

the costof theperftrr-ry.-q{ildly_*r*ig+jphigb.-

larp bottle,

oven thougb

Youare aimingata'aophisticarcd'

groupof wom,en.Therstitre;i*tiq1ffi"-iti+E-h$lg.ptrytF-sselected.
A,rrgrin*tdrls, hadyo6rrelcctod'nenanyourflitomcf&*'tuttypoUbottlewouftlyou
hoverelpcted? Ploase ffiite dos,n yolf'arr$'cr belorr:
,rrrrrl.rrrlrrrr.raarlala.r.al..a.,t.raaaa..raalla.aQ.lar'.arl'l'aalaa'"alat""q"""r"N""""'i""""r'r'
t"tttttttt"tt"tttttt:'

,rrrrr.rrrrrrrrrr.......tr.r...r.r.a...aa.................tat-,tttjt

.q..,...........,,...t......,......,.....,....,,..\;

"."'"""'"""""'

Ths bottle would bc square lookitrg and sotid ln appeaf,ance. It u,ould create the image
,
that'it ls manlyto use perfumes'.
'
An attractirrepaelagcobviouslymrstbeusedwiS.goodcolourdesigrrandhighqrrality
paper. Bynowlou inayhave realisedperhapsthattheostof theperfirme iqrelatively
'verylwascomparedwiththebeautifulbottle,tbepackagingandthemarketingorthe.
prcmotionsl efio'rt, whic,h is likely to follow

komotion
IUSAtffij"nwlthpromotlon,

pleaselictbelo*,thsmagnincrandaewspapersthatyou

.,.,..'l........,..,.'.i.......-..."...:...,.'....:,,,..,,,,..,..
.:..r........".,...!.".""":"'

...r..r.r...r...!{4r.....r.....r.,
.

...........

r.........

-".

r1tr

rrit..rr..t..

t.............

:, :...:..

Wo are sure you Eusthave.selected appropriate high quality magazines in the Indian
oontoxt. What about an advertldngtlrcme?
What would bc your advertisement lihe?
Clivo some of your suggestlone hem.

.l:....'.....,...t..d...............

'].,.......................,r..........,....
..,.'..

,r.....i.trr...i.rrrr.....r,...,..-......r.r1i...'.r..,......'.r,,r..i....l.i.l.i,.ir..al..ri;i.;;:;;..i'frl;;:i:,.',.;1...j
:r,,
'' ' ':

' '"

'

gPerhaps you would show a rtiloman passingby ag{ the me-qs:gognin&gg,g[gup

photograph w[e5e.mgu are clustered arou;rd gnc partiquJq"!,W_,o-tlrgp.,-Ehe leem9 to

["*

ooipJm,n.. rnr.;i,lanii"iti'i"Jt" 6" u"irii[

"-rid
Physical
With regard to distribution, you would 1o.y

Distrlbution

would need to bq induced-to store thepr{)

'

,'
ba_vS

fiitiliii-effiti;tilil"

':t ' '

'":

'"

!o !hgl*."rJ.,39"?

10

'1" '':

'

'

'

 l : I:

: :11

adequate marketing miX strategy.Thisis what makes marketing so cxciting and

challenging.

Prlclng

: :?l

ld

yOu Offer this product?Supposc the margin of profit which would satis,yOu is

Rs.2,Would you offerthis at 3S.8?

Give below yourprcfeFCnCE With illc rea3o

s forit

we are sur you must have rcmcmbered, when ariving at the final pricing figure, that
the price must be high enough to appeal to this so called'rcphibticatedlgroup. If the
Price is too lo-s/, an image milflrtbe created thal,bythe ure of ihis productthe uierwould
develop some skin rash or trouble. This is what is meant by the concept of the 'right'
price.
The above illustration has dealrwith the marketing mix very briefly, as each of these
elements will be dealt with in separate units in great depth. Ttre objective of the above
illustration is to show you how these 4Ps of marketing have to be aimed at the
consumers and ultimatelymustresult in both consumer+atisfadionandprofitabilityfor
the organisation. Thus, starting with ideutification of needs iequiring satisfaction, we
have ended with marketing decisions.

1.5 sttMAR
You have now some idea of what comes undsr the study of .Marketing for Managers'.
Youhave noticed that marketingisnot reallyan activitywhich shouldbe looked uf,onin
a vacuum or in isolation. It is'in essence tdkinga view of the wholebusiness organiiatiort
and its ultirnate objectives. conrBrn for marleting must pcnetrate all areas Jf the
enterprises. Marketing emphasiscs the belief, handed down for a long ':me by good
marketing people, that the 'customer is the king' and his satisfaction irust ueitre
ultimat aim of a business activity, if the business unit desires continued success over a
long period of tlme. It is because of tltis that all business thinking in management must
startwith identificatlonof a'need'of a groupof likelycustomersorpersons-, Thhleads
tg identification of the type of 'productior sin ice to'be offerect; Thi product or seryice
is aimed atsatisfyingthe needs of agroupof consumers, kno**
*ito.ersegmentor
".
segrlents. This is followed by a host of decisions and activitiep known
as the marketing
mix directed to secure consumer"satisfaction as well as profitabiliS for the
organisation.

6 KEY WoRDS

MpJ

g conceFt:It em .'siSes consumer oHentatiOn and S, Sfactbn as well as

pro tability forth,organis lo

Need:A human needis astate h which a person feels deprived ofsOmething.

ce:This is the moFley vanc forthc product orscrviCe offeredby an Organitation.

rttfm httI
fronl a small pan shop to a large departmentalstore.
Sellhg:This consists of exch,lil

'

l a productl y the salesman orshopkOeper with ile

lnts'od0cdm

toMorlel