Topic: marketing mix

Name: CHIUTSU ANDREW N

Candidate number:

Centre number: 100225

School: Maranatha Adventist High School

Level: O Level

Background

Marketing is defined as the art of creating and satisfying consumer needs and wants ata aprofit. It is the
process in which the enterpriser and the team make sure that groups and individuals obtain what they
need and want through creating and exchanging goods and service. While marketing mix are strategies
which the enterpriser can use to effectively satisfy consumer needs and wants and making profit at the
same time.
marketing

the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and
advertising.Common examples of marketing at work include television commercials, billboards on the
side of the road, and magazine advertisements.

marketing mix

a combination of factors that can be controlled by a company to influence consumers to purchase its
products.Dollar Tree leverages price as a factor by pricing everything in the store at $1 or lower. This
sends a strong signal to their target consumer that they'll save money by shopping at their stores.

1. Meets consumer needs and wants:

Needs pre-exist in market. Marketers identify the needs of the consumer and adopt their marketing
strategies accordingly. They influence wants, as these are shaped by cultural and individual
personalities. Their needs are satisfied through the exchange process.

2. Ensures organization survival, growth and reputation:

A business survives because of customer retention and increase in the market share. Marketing helps
companies achieve their objectives because it is customer-centric. Marketing helps in 8satisfying
customers beyond their expectations.

3. Widens market:

Marketers use mass communication tools such as advertising, sales, promotion, event marketing and PR
to promote their products far and wide. Moreover, PR programmes build and protect a company’s
image and product. Revolutions in media technology have made marketing more interactive.

4. Adapting the right price:

Price is a critical element in the marketing mix of a producer because it generates revenue. Marketing
strategies help in setting fair prices, incorporating appropriate changes, and preparing a right approach.
The exchange process move smoothly when prices are fixed in a favourable manner.
5. Better product offerings:

Most companies sell more than one product. Physical products, that is goods have to be well packed and
labelled. In contrast, services are characterized by intangibility and inseparability. Thus, marketing plays
an active role by designing and managing product offerings.

6. Creates utility:

Much of a product’s utility is created through marketing. Utility is the ability of a product to satisfy
wants. Marketing creates form, place, time, information and possession utility. For example, a car fulfills
the need to possess a vehicle and ride it.

7. Management of demand:

Marketers are skilled professionals who play a key role in influencing level, timing and composition of
demand. A demand can be a negative demand, no demand, latent demand, declining demand, irregular
demand, full demand or overfull demand. Marketing helps in dealing with these varied levels of
demand.

8. Face competition:

Competitive orientation is important in today’s global markets. Marketing helps in maintaining balance
of consumers’ expectations and competitor’s offerings by monitoring the market closely. Superior
services, premium products and efficient dealership are used by marketers to retain their market share.

Product life cycle of a car

Stage 1: Market Introduction

This stage is characterized by a low growth rate of sales as the product is newly launched and
consumers may not know much about it. Traditionally, a company usually incurs losses rather than
profits during this phase. Especially if the product is new on the market, users may not be aware of its
true potential, necessitating widespread information and advertising campaigns through various
media.

However, this stage also offers its share of opportunities. For example, there may be less competition.
In some instances, a monopoly may be created if the product proves very effective and is in great
demand.

Growth

During the growth stage, the public becomes more aware of the product; as sales and revenues start
to increase, profits begin to accrue.The growth stage is the period during which the product
eventually and increasingly gains acceptance among consumers, the industry, and the wider general
public. During this stage, the product or the innovation becomes accepted in the market, and as a
result sales and revenues start to increase. Profits begin to be generated, though the break even point
is likely to remain unbreached for a significant time--even until the next stage, depending on the cost
and revenue structures.

The graph shows where the growth stage is located on the product life cycle (introductory stage,
growth stage, maturity stage, and decline stage). The cycle tracks total market sales.

Initial distribution is expanded further as demand starts to rise. Promotion is increased beyond the
initially high levels, and word-of-mouth advertising leads to more and more potential customers
hearing about the product, trying it out, and--if the company is lucky--choosing to use the product
regularly. Repeat orders from initial buyers are also obtained.

If a monopoly was initially created, then it still exists in this stage. Because of this, the manufacturing
company can look at ways to introduce new features, alterations, or other types of innovation to the
product according to feedback from consumers and from the market in general. This would be done in
order to maintain growth in sales and ensure that interest in the product continues to grow and not
stagnate, thus maintaining the growth stage. In fact, the growth stage is seen as the best time to
introduce product innovations, as it creates a positive image of the product and diminishes the
presence of competitors who will be attempting to copy or improve the product, and present their
own products as a substitute.
Maturity

During this stage, sales growth has started to slow down, and the product has already reached
widespread acceptance in the market, in relative terms. Ultimately, during this stage, sales will peak.
The company will want to prolong this phase so as to avoid decline, and this desire leads to new
innovation and features in order to continue to compete with the competition which, by now, has
become very established, advanced and fierce. Competitors ' products will begin to cut deeply into the
company's market position and market share. However, despite this, sales continue to grow in the
early part of the maturity phase. But, these sales will peak and ultimately decline, as the graph shows.

Demand for the product ultimately decreases due to competition and market saturation, as well as
new technologies and changes in consumer tastes. Actions the company takes may include:

Improving specific features in order to resell the product (for instance, in the case of a car, the
manufacturer may include alloy wheels, new colors, sport or hybrid versions, or other changes in
order to keep sales going);

Lowering prices in order to fight off competition;

Intensifying distribution and promotional efforts;

Differentiation efforts, in the hope that new customers will start to buy the product.

Finding a new targeted market.

The stage that lasts the longest in the product life cycle is the Maturity stage. It is at this time that
repeat business and purchases take the place of new customer buying. So, during the maturity stage,
the following occurs:

Costs are lowered as a result of production volumes increasing and experience curve effects

Sales volume peaks and market saturation is reached

Increase in numbers of competitors entering the market

Prices tend to drop due to the proliferation of competing products

Brand differentiation and feature diversification is emphasized to maintain or increase market share

Industrial profits go down

Decline

The decline stage of the product life cycle is the one where the product ultimately 'dies' due to the
low or negative growth rate in sales (see ).

The graph shows that the decline stage is the last part of the product life cycle (introductory stage,
growth stage, maturity stage, and decline stage).

Decline Stage: The decline stage of the product life cycle is the terminal stage where sales drop and
production is ultimately halted.

Profitability will fall, eventually to the point where it is no longer profitable to produce, and
production will stop. As a number of companies start to dominate the market, it becomes increasingly
difficult for the company in question to maintain its level of sales. Consumer tastes also change, as do
new technologies which may make the product become ultimately obsolete

What is price?

price is the quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or
services. In some situation, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in
the commercial exchange, the payment for this product will likely be called its "price

What is its role in the marketing mix

The role of price in the marketing mix is to define the pricing strategy that will best attract those
within the business’s target market. When discussing this issue, the price of the product, discounts,
segmentation and financing options are included. Setting a price involves determining what the target
market is prepared to pay, the costs to produce the product, and what the competitors
charge.Developing the price section of a company's marketing mix strategy includes conducting
research within its target market. The business needs to determine what its customers are willing to
pay, which can often be difficult if the product or service is unique or significantly different than what
is currently being offered. If this is the case, businesses can use surveys and test marketing techniques
to gain insight into what price points are optimal.