The Marketing Mix
Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.
Joe Chernov
“The 7Ps model was devised by E. Jerome McCarthy and published in 1960 in his book Basic Marketing. A Managerial Approach.’”
Hanlon, Annemarie. (2014). How to use the 7P’s Marketing mix. Available http://www.smartinsights.com/marketing-planning/marketing-models/how-to-use-the-7ps-marketing-mix/. Last Accessed 20th November 2016.
All marketing students will have heard of the 7p’s or otherwise known, the marketing mix.
The marketing mix was traditionally the 4p’s, limiting to just ‘product, place, price and promotion’.
however this was when businesses would only sell products rather than services. Since the business has evolved these four p’s have expanded, including ‘people, process and physical’.
Many organisations have successfully implemented the marketing mix in various ways.
I believe that you need to incorporate these for a successful business. Most of these link in with each other in various ways, but you need to understand them separately.
- this is a link which gives you a brief description of the 7p’s.
Product
Businesses need to look at what customers need or want. There is no need to make a product that no one needs or no one wants. You need to look at what is in demand and what is popular before deciding on your product.
Kellogs have implemented the ‘product’ aspect of the marketing mix exceptionally well thought the years. 1906 saw the first batch of Kellogs Corn Flakes being created. They understood that creating a product that would appeal to everyone was key. They clearly understood the importance of having a quality product and ensured that their products are of the highest quality to create a good brand name.
The Kelloggs Brand name hasn’t physically changed very much over the years, but the products that they sell definitely have.
Kellogs now mass produce various types of breakfast cereals to appeal to all age groups for example, Frosties for kids, and All-bran for adults.
By introducing their tiger mascot, they attracted children and now produce several different types of kids cereals such as Coco-Pops, Rice Crispies and Fruit Loops.
Kellogs have mainly stayed in the breakfast sector, but now they also produce breakfast bars as they are aware that some people may not have time to sit down for breakfast and would prefer a ‘grab and go’ breakfast, and so came the breakfast bar era, producing Rice Crispy Bars, Special K bars, Nurtigrain bars and many more
By expanding their audience Kelloggs have ensured brand loyalty to the company and become one of the most well known breakfast companies in the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xitosjt-w-M - Kelloggs history.
Price
‘Pricing is the exchange rate you put on all the tangible and intangible aspects of your business. Value for cash’
- Patric Campbell, CEO Price Intelligently
Pricing is seen to be one of the most important aspects of the marketing mix, as ‘it is the only element of the marketing mix, which generates turnover for the organisation.’
The Marketing Mix. Pricing Strategy. Available http://www.learnmarketing.net/price.htm. Last Accessed 19th November 2016.
Price links back to some of the other P’s. Here are some examples of how you link Price to the other P’s. Product, you need to look at costs for producing your product, Place, you need to look at distribution costs, Promotion, how much is it going to cost you to advertise your products.
Companies need to pay special attention to price, for example, if a company is new to a market, consumers may not be willing to fork out high prices for their product as they are not familiar with it. However this can also be an advantage as for those companies who have been in the market for a long time and are reasonably well known, as they can charge high prices as they already have loyal customers, such as Chanel and Armani.
Chanel can charge handbags for £5000 and still retain customers. This is because of the reputation they have and the level of quality of their products.
But you do not always have to have a big price tag to have a good quality product.
“For me, it’s not about price. It’s about necessity, quality and usefulness. Like, I have my Wet N Wild 666 lip liner. It’s 99 cents and always has been.”
-Fergie, Black Eyed Peas.
This quote is from a famous singer who is basically saying that sometimes the value of something can be very different from the price. Manufacturers need to take this into account as they do not have to charge huge price tags for items just because it may be of good quality.
Promotion
Promotion is a huge part of the marketing mix. Many companies fail without having adequate promotion. With the soaring rise of social media promotion for companies has never been easier. Many companies take advantage of this by promoting their business, product or service on social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook.
Instagram is also a great platform for business promoting as many companies pay well known people to promote their products through their Instagram pages.
Companies such as L’Oreal and Pepsi have celebrities such as Cheryl Cole and Beyonce representing them by appearing in their adverts and promoting their products. By doing this they gain support from the celebrities fans and also are able to advertise on a bigger platform to a wider audience.
L’Oreal is a well known brand with many well known celebrities advertising this brand. But not only do celebrities advertise for this brand, many celebrities have gone a step further and became ambassadors for the company, for example Julianne Moore, Andie Macdowell and Cheryl Cole.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3EEIcPkcO4 - this is one of the most well known L’Oreal adverts by Cheryl Cole which includes the very well known catchphrase ‘because we’re worth it’
Businesses use good public relations to promote their business by using some of these celebrities to develop good relationships between customers and the organisation. However this can sometimes have an adverse affect on a company. For example H&M had to drop Kate Moss in 2005 from any endorsements relating to the company after a picture of the model taking drugs surfaced. Burberry and Chanel also dropped Kate Moss, realising she was not a good role model and did not want her to represent their brand.
Segura, Megan. (2012). 7 Celebrities Who Lost Big Endorsements. Available: http://stylecaster.com/beauty/7-celebrities-who-lost-big-endorsements/. Last accessed 10th Nov 2016.
If some businesses do not like the idea of celebrity endorsements, there are many other methods of promotion available, such as Direct Mail. This can be in the form of postal or emails. This can be extremely effective if the organisation has done its target market research. The negative to this sort of promotion is that it can be cost consuming and can be seen as ‘junk’ and is often left aside.
Place
The placement of a product is extremely important as potential buyers need to be able to access the product or service easily. To be able to successfully place a product you need to ensure you have a good understanding of your own target market.
Where you distribute a product is important as you need to take into account how much it will cost to post, how far customers are willing to travel etc.
A few distribution strategies are Franchising, Exclusive distribution, Selective distribution and Intensive distrubution.
Businesses can also use Indirect Distribution which means going through a negotiator, for example a manufacturer does not sell directly to the retailer or customer, they sell through a wholesaler then to the retailer. This takes away some of the control from the manufacturer as it goes through a third person. Low value products such as crisps are usually sold via this method.
The opposite of that is Direct Distribution where they sell directly from the manufacturer to the customer, this gives the manufacturer more control, if not all control over how their product is sold.
Businesses need to decide wether they distribute online, in store etc.
Missguided is a good example of an online retailer that started online and distribute all across the UK and 160 countries worldwide. Missguided sell high fashion clothing items and have very recently realised that their popularity is rising and now have opened their first clothing store in Stratford and have three more stores due to open in the UK in early 2017.
(2016). Marketing Theory. Available: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/business-theory/marketing/marketing-mix-price-place-promotion-product.html#axzz4R1HM8dxW. Last accessed 10th Nov 2016.
Extended Marketing Mix
People
People are essential to growth and success. Hiring the right people for the job is really important as they can provide competitive advantages. The people you hire represent your business. Staff are the ones who are responsible for delivering the service so it is important that they get the right training in order to provide great customer service, which can create brand loyalty and returning customers.
People are also the target market, the people who you are selling to. You need to do your research on who you are aiming your product or service to.
For example, Barbie. Barbie is a brand name from the company Mattel. Barbie is a high fashion doll with many different models and accessories. Mattel aimed their ‘Barbie’ product at young girls.
Process
The processes of a product involves how a product is made and how a product or service is executed. You need to look closely at the process of a product to ensure you get the best possible process model to avoid any unwanted costs or issues.
Examples of a business which uses ‘process’ well is Mcdonalds. From the customer walking through the door, to the customer leaving satisfied, McDonalds have a process. They have a process in which they are able to take your order and have it ready for you in a very quick time limit. This is expected from the customers of McDonalds which is a main reason for people returning as they know they do not need to wait a long time for food to be ready to eat.
Knowing your companies process is a contributing factor to success, having a process in place means that everyone knows when and how to do certain things.
Physical
Physical Evidence can link back to promotion and product. This relates to the staff, how they look and act, to the buildings, how they look and where they are situated. Both of these aspects should be looked at when exploring the wider marketing mix.
Where websites are concerned the physical appearance is key to ensure a high level of customer experience. If a website is set out well, physically appealing and easy to use, many customers would come back.
The quote ‘don’t judge a book by the cover’ is often overlooked and ignored. This rule does not always work when it comes to products as you would more than likely dismiss an unappealing product and purchase the more appealing products. Many people do not go into the products history to find out more about it, so first impressions are everything!
The general look of a store can put off potential customers straight
away.
Companies also need to ensure that their staff act in a professional manner as they are the face of the company while in the stores. A bad experience from a member of staff can damage the brand and lose customers, not just for that specific store but for others too.
