Explain in detail the concept "marketing mix" and describe how a business determines the emphasis within the marketing mix. including legal and ethical influences

The marketing mix determines much of a business's sales and will ultimately determine the success or failure of a business. For this reason the marketing mix is the most important element when determining a business' marketing plan. Whilst the marketing plan is based upon many things the marketing mix takes into consideration the factors which influence customer choice. All business' must determine their own marketing plan based upon their own needs and goals of marketing, as a result of this Billabong Australia makes extensive use of the marketing mix in their marketing plan. Legal and ethical influences also need to be considered when developing a business' marketing mix. Whilst many of these factors are dictated by legislation business's must also take responsibility for their own actions and ensure that their products and practices meet the standards in the community.

A marketing plan will include not only the marketing mix but also a SWOT analysis, marketing objectives, the target market, marketing strategies and details on implementation, monitoring and controlling the plan. Developing a marketing plan involves determining the type of selling the business wishes to use wether it be customer orientated or conquest marketing. The business also must conduct extensive research before developing its marketing mix and ultimately its marketing plan.

The marketing mix is commonly defined as "the four P's" for product, price, promotion and place. These four elements determine how a business will structure a large proportion of its marketing plan. These elements are also strongly determined upon the influences of the market in which the product or service is to be sold such as psychological, sociocultural, economic and government factors. As the marketing mix takes into account these factors, the business's goals both long and short term and tailors the business's marketing plan to its target market it is the most important element when developing a marketing plan.