Introduction
Product refers to the goods and services that a company offers to the clients. It includes physical attributes, what they represent, how different they are from other firms and the unique benefit they provide to the individuals who buy. Price means the amount which the goods and services sell at the market. The price must be competitive to gain significant share of buyers and must focus on high level of profit. Place means the area of region where the business sells the products offered and how the firm gets the items to the prospects. Place is also known as distribution and contains information where the products can be found. Promotion is about letting the buyers know existence of given product or service and luring them to buy. Promotion is mostly performed by means of advertising either through mainstream or social media.
Product
For any marketer, developing a unique and compelling product should be the first task to undertake. For any market to have complete set of items, different products serving various purposes must be evident. Companies that have introduced first products in a given category have sold much than those which advance existing items. For example, Apple company was the first to develop smartphones that could play music, make phone calls and also browse the Internet. That made many buyers focus attention on the firm’s products and the company sold many phones during the initial stage of development of smartphones. As of 2018, Apple had total sales of almost $2.2 billion from selling iPhones only (Van der Westhuyzen & Van der Merwe, 2017). For a significant competitive advantage, development of products or services should involve research on trends in consumer demands in the market
Price
Pricing for products and services is a sensitive aspect as it will affect the business performance. If prices are higher and there is no significant degree of fair perceived value, it becomes difficult for the business to thrive. Sometimes discounts on goods and services are given to entice more customers to buy hence increasing the total sales. During marketing, a firm considers what other companies have set in terms of cost for buying a given item. Cost for development of product and delivery to the buyer are also factors to consider when determining price. It is also important to set price depending on the ability for consumers to buy in a particular market. One of the companies that have excelled by having price sensitivity is Walmart of the US as shown in the figure above (Van der Westhuyzen & Van der Merwe, 2017). The retail store ensures that all products being sold in their distribution store are customer-centric.
Place
Distribution of products and delivery services is an important aspect in marketing. If consumers cannot get goods and services closer to their areas, it means the items may take long time before being sold. Proximity of stores that contain goods is important to ensure customer satisfaction. For example, companies use eBay to market products and whenever customers order goods, they can access them through delivery to their doors (Van der Westhuyzen & Van der Merwe, 2017). Other distribution channels include Amazon, Alibaba among others. The purpose of distribution is to make buyers aware of where they can find different goods and services.
Promotion
For promotion strategy to work, a company must have a unique way of presenting their information on products and services offered to customers. During promotion, information on product, price and place is covered. Advertising is mostly used since it is convenient way of letting buyers know about a given product or service. Advertising can be done through mainstream media such as television, official magazines, radio and newspapers. Social media is also a platform where products can be advertised. Examples of social media platforms include Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp and Twitter. In 2000, Swedish vodka brand Absolut sold over four million items due to advertising campaign. The reason was that the firm used some signature bottles that had a halo, made from stone materials and had outlines of trees on a ski slope, which attracted may customers to buy (Van der Westhuyzen & Van der Merwe, 2017). Promotion is important because it determines how the sales are moving targeting fair returns on revenue.
Conclusion
- Marketing mix refers to the elements of business that are made to leverage the sales of goods and services
- There are elements in the marketing mix, they are as follows; product, price, place and promotion
- Product means the goods and services that a company offers to the market for consumers to buy
- An example of product is a cell phone that is developed by companies such as Apple
- Price refers to the set cost for buying products by consumers in the market
- Price is determined by competition, value of item and cost for manufacturing
- Place refers to where products and services can be accessed
- Place is also known as distribution because it serves to get ways to deliver goods and services to the customers
- Promotion is the method in which buyers are given information on product, price and place and is done through advertising in most cases
- For any business to thrive in market, it must integrate the four Ps effectively
Reference
Van der Westhuyzen, B., & Van der Merwe, J. (2017). The marketing mix. Future Managers.