Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is primarily made up of four variables, and they are product, place, price, and promotion. These variables are often referred to as the four P's. Many sources often describe the marketing mix as a recipe used in developing a viable marketing strategy, with each ingredient being used different ways and at different times based on the product or service one is trying to market. This paper will utilize three sources to describe the elements of the marketing mix. It will also describe how each one of the four elements of the marketing mix impacts the development of an organization's marketing strategy and tactics.

Three Sources Describing the Marketing Mix

The article Developing Your Marketing Mix defines the marketing mix as "a combination of marketing tools that are used to satisfy customers and company objectives". The article describes how it takes proper coordination, planning, and use of each of these elements to reach the consumers in one's target market. The importance of the coordination of the elements is so that one can be sure they are not sending mixed messages to the consumer and confusing them, the elements should all contain the same message. Another important point that this article makes is that properly using the marketing mix to develop your marketing strategy, will help meet the nature and needs of one's specified target market.

Wikipedia.com defines the marketing mix as "The marketing mix approach to marketing is a model of crafting and implementing marketing strategies. It stresses the "mixing" or blending of various factors in such a way that both organizational and consumer (target markets) objectives are attained". The article summarizes how Jerome McCarthy who referred to the marketing mix as the four P's, defines how the elements are to be used. He states that marketers have these elements available to them to assist in developing a marketing strategy. However, the elements are more useful in developing long term strategies versus short term strategies from a marketing perspective. The article continues to provide a history of how the marketing mix evolved and how several variables were added to the original four P's outlined by McCarthy, but most academically accepted are product, place, price, and promotion.

The Netmba.com website defines the marketing mix as "the parameters that a marketing manager can control, subject to internal and external constraints of marketing environment". The goal is to generate a positive response from the target market. Just as the Wikipedia.com website has described more parameters being added into the marketing mix, so has the Netmba.com website, however Netmba.com also stresses that the four P's are the basis for most marketing text books.

Elements of the Marketing Mix

As stated earlier the elements of the marketing mix are product, place, price, and promotion, with each element possessing an important role in the marketing mix concept. The product element refers to design, functionality, style, quality, packaging, warranty, and service. For example, a good product will give benefits to its customers making marketing pretty easy. However, if a competitor has a similar product, also possessing good quality, then one has to differentiate their product from the competitor. This can be accomplished by changing the design of the product or offering better after purchase service / warranty benefits.

The place element can also be referred to as distribution. It is imperative that one knows how to reach the customer. The place is where you can expect to find your customer and where the sale is realized. A business needs to be able to use the proper distribution channels to get the product to the customer.

The price element refers to the pricing strategy a business should use to sell their product. A business must take into consideration things such as, competitor pricing, cost orientation, and value pricing. Often times a business will have a price already set and fit to their customer profile, but then they must concern