Marketting Mix

Question 3: Marketing mix decisions and strategies are always among the most complex areas of marketing management. Choose a well-known product or service and analyze what marketing strategies have been used to market it as far as you are aware of. Bring in as many elements of the marketing mix as you can to illustrate your analysis.

Marketing Strategy

A marketing strategy is a set of actions, which constitute a plan, direction, guide or course of actions into the future in the pursuit of a competitive advantage. It is essentially a course of action, including the specification of resources required to achieve a desired objective (CIMA). The main objective, therefore, of a marketing strategy is to build an attractive secured market position.

Strategy Formulation is the building block of a strategic plan for a company. It is a managerial function which directs all stages of the strategic plan; these are the creation of the company’s mission, setting performance goals and forming a strategy to fulfill these goals. Therefore, Market Strategy Formulation would craft a market strategy to meet specific marketing objectives. It would also involve discovering and realizing consumer needs and providing a means of satisfying these needs. To do this, it is necessary for marketers to identify groups of people who share the same needs; a target segment, and make their products available to these target segments. They must also make their product appealing and desirable to their target market.

There are different levels of Marketing Strategy.

- Corporate strategy: this answers the question “What business will we operate?”

- Business Strategy: which answers “How should we compete in each market we have chosen to enter?”

- Functional Strategy: this deals with how the firm intends to manage the functions of finance, marketing, operations, human resources and R&D.

- Tactical Strategy: this deals with tactical strategy, such as advertising of marketing function, with subsequent programmes and budgets for achieving the objectives.

Marketing Mix Decisions

The aim of marketing is to maximize profits and there is a wide variety of possible combinations of marketing methods which management can select, and some combinations will earn a greater profit than others. This combination of factors is the marketing mix.

The Marketing mix refers to a set of controllable variables and their levels that a firm uses to influence the target market (Kotler). It comprises 4 main categories: product, price, promotion and place; the 4 P’s.

Product as an element of the market mix, relates to the product range, life-cycle, quality, features, styling, safety and convenience in use, after-sales service, optimal size of production volumes, customer needs, product design and development programmes etc.

Price involves such factors as price elasticity of demand, the competitive nature of the market, discounts offered, breakeven analysis, government regulations and intervention, customer expectations, cost of raw materials, etc. If the consumer’s buying decisions are strongly influenced by price factors, a product should be made available

i. at an attractive price

ii. where appropriate, with suitable available credit facilities.

Promotion involves advertising, sales promotion and publicity attempt to draw the attention of potential customers to the company’s products and induce them to buy, so as to increase sales, market share and profits. These factors maintain customer awareness and loyalty.

Place. The producer must plan for the availability of the product, and the distribution channels to be used. The product must be readily available where consumers would expect to find it.

The Coca-Cola Company

The mission statement of the Coca-Cola Company for the remainder of the 1990’s, as issued in February 1994 states:

“We exist to create value for our share owners on a long term basis by building a business that enhances The Coca-Cola Company’s trademarks. This is our ultimate commitment.

As the world’s largest beverage company, we refresh that world. We do this by developing superior soft-drinks, both carbonated and non-carbonated, and profitable non-alcoholic beverage systems that create value for our company, our bottling partners and our customers.”

The Coca-Cola name has been one of the most popular brand names worldwide. In fact, the phrase �Coke’ is the second most recognized word in the world, in any language (the first being �OK’). Its presence is universal, as it can be seen in television commercials, billboards, prestige locations, as sponsors for major events, etc. The product itself is one of the most favored beverages worldwide. In a local study performed at a popular University, 8 out of 10 students opted for Coca-Cola as opposed to any flavored carbonated beverage, and 6 out of these 8 persons selected Coca-Cola as their favorite cola drink, and more so, as the favorite carbonated beverage. 3 out of these 6 persons even admitted to consuming at least two of the 20oz drinks daily.

One of the reasons behind the vast loyalty of this product is their effective Marketing Strategies. The Coca-Cola Company Marketing system follows the following agenda:

Having effective marketing programs involves many steps, as can be seen from the diagram. The research done will give information about the target and from this the company can formulate a strategy or a plan on how they are going to market this particular product. This is followed by the implementation steps of develop and execute. From this, research is again done to determine what impact there has been, such as how effective the strategies used has been, and this used to adjust the direction, and start over.

The Coca-Cola brand name has made its presence felt worldwide. Its presence can be seen from explicit television commercials featuring polar bears and brightly decorated Coca-Cola delivery trucks at Christmas time, to billboards at local shops which sell the product to consumers. This