Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix

Marketing strategy plan finds good opportunities and develop profitable marketing strategies. Two interrelated parts are needed for a successful marketing strategy. Of the two, marketing mix is the discussion point in this dissertation. This dissertation will describe the elements of marketing mix. In addition, Jackson Hewitt is the selected organization which this paper will familiarize its relations to the four elements of marketing mix.

The marketing management process is the process of planning marketing activities, directing the implementation of the plans, and controlling these plans (Perreault and McCarthy, 2004). Planning, implementation, and control are basic jobs of all managers. In the planning job, managers set guidelines for the implementing job and specify expected results. They use these expected results in the control job to determine if everything has worked out as planned. The link from the control job to the planning job is especially important. This feedback often leads to changes in the plans or to new plans. Marketing managers cannot be satisfied just planning present activities. Markets are dynamic. Consumers' needs, competitors, and the environment keep changing. The job of planning strategies to guide a whole company is called strategic management planning (Perreault, et al 2004). Strategic management planning is the managerial process of developing and maintaining a match between an organization's resources and its market opportunities. This is a top management job. It includes planning not only for marketing but also for production, finance, human resources, and other areas. Although marketing strategies are not whole company plans, company plans should be market-oriented. And the marketing plan often sets the tone and direction for the whole company. Marketing strategy planning helps find attractive opportunities and develop profitable marketing strategies. A marketing strategy specifies a target market and a related marketing mix. It is a big picture of what a firm will do in some market. Two interrelated parts are needed is a target market and a marketing mix.

Marketing mix is a controllable variable that a company puts together to satisfy a target group (Perreault et al, 2004). It could be the most famous marketing term. A company has many ways to satisfy the needs of target customers. A product may have many different features. Customer service level before or after the sale can be adjusted. Its elements are the basic, tactical components of a marketing plan. The marketing mix elements are price, place, product, and promotion. These elements are called the Four Ps (Kotler and Keller, 2006). The product area is concerned with developing the right product for the target market. This offering may involved a physical good, a service, or a blend of both. Not all products are limited to physical goods. The product of Jackson Hewitt is a completed tax form. The product services Jackson Hewitt provide is Refund Anticipation Loans (RAL), Accelerated Check Refunds (ACRs), and Gold Guarantee. This company services is set to satisfy customers' needs. Place is concerned with all the decisions involved in getting the right product to the target market's place. A product reaches customers through a channel of distribution. A channel of distribution is any series of firms that participate in the flow of products from producer to final user or consumer. Market exposure is part of reaching the target. Jackson Hewitt is the second largest paid tax return preparer in the United States based on the number of individual tax returns filed by paid preparers. In 2005, they operated a nationwide network comprised of 4,871 franchised offices and 613 company-owned offices under the Jackson Hewitt Tax Service brand. In 2005, their network filed 3.3 million tax returns, which estimate represented less 3 than 5% of the total individual paid tax return preparer industry in the United States (Jackson Hewitt Report, 2006). The company generated revenues from fees paid by franchisees, service revenues earned at company-owned offices and revenues earned in connection with our facilitation of the sale of financial products. Jackson Hewitt, are used interchangeably to refer to Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. Jackson Hewitt leases stores in areas most where consumers will shop or be seen. Sometimes a channel system is short. It may run directly from a producer to a final user or consumer. This is common in the marketing of services, i.e. Jackson Hewitt. Promotion is informing and selling the customer (Kaschyk, 2007). Promotion is focused on acquiring new customers, and sometimes it is focused on retaining current customers. Promotion includes personal selling, mass selling, and sales promotion. It is the marketing manager's job to blend these methods of communication. One of Jackson Hewitt strategy by obtaining more customers is through loyal customers. These customers would get a money discount if they refer friends or family to the business. Personal selling involves direct spoken communication between sellers and potential customers. Personal selling usually happens face to face, but sometimes over the phone. Jackson Hewitt has a system called "Phone campaign." Each receptionist would call a previous customer and remind them about tax filing and offer special discounts. Personal selling lets the salesperson adapt the company's marketing mix to each potential customer. Mass selling is communicating with