What is the Marketing Mix?
Professor E Jerome McCarthy first used the term Marketing Mix in the 1960's. He suggested that it contained 4 elements, which are now commonly referred to as the 4 P's, which are used to describe the position of a product in a marketplace. They are the variables that marketing managers can control in order to best satisfy a customer in a target market. The 4 P's are:
1. Product The product is the physical product or service that it is offered to the consumer. Product decisions include aspects such as function, appearance, packaging, service, warranty etc.
2. Price The price is the amount the customer pays for a product. Pricing decisions take into account profit margins and the prices of competitors.
3. Place Place represents the location a product can be purchased. Place decisions are those associated with channels of distribution that serve as a means for getting the product to the target customers.
4. Promotion Promotion represents all the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace. Decisions taken are those related to communicating and selling to potential customers.
The extended marketing mix consists of the 4 P's and 3 extra P's, or the 7 P's of Booms and Bitner. It is a marketing strategy tool that expands on the number of controllable variables. The original 4 P's were directed at, and useful for tangible products. The 7 P's model is more useful for service industries.
5. People Anyone who directly or indirectly comes into contact with the customer can have an impact on overall satisfaction. To the customer the people involved are generally inseparable from the business.
6. Process This is the processes involved in providing a service and the behaviour of people, which can be crucial to customer satisfaction.
7. Physical evidence The service is intangible because unlike a product it can't be experienced before it is delivered. It is the ability and environment in which