In order for a company to achieve its goals, the company must have a strategy that mixes the correct elements of marketing. The term Marketing Mix refers to "the four Ps" of marketing which are product, price, place, and promotion (Kotler & Keller, 2006). When creating a mix, a company must keep their target market in mind. The company must also understand the needs of the customer, then create marketing strategies that will satisfy the demand. The marketing mix should also meet or exceed the goals of that company.
Product is the element in the marketing mix that will define to the target customers what about the company's product that meets the customer's needs (Kotler & Keller, 2006). This particular area of the marketing plan is where the company would determine if they will be offering a physical product or service. In additon, the company, will in this area, decide how to brand the product, if there will be any warranties, and the way the product will be packaged (Kotler & Keller, 2006).
Pricing is an element of marketing mix where the company would decide the actual price that the customer would pay . This would be determined by factoring in any direct cost as well as indirect cost of providing the product or service. In order to achieve competitive advantage through pricing, the company should return some of the profits from cost efficiency to the customer in the form of a discount. In other words, the Company's efficiency can be related to the price of the product or service the company offers to the target customers.
Promotion deals with "telling the target market or others in the channel of distribution about the right product" (Perreault & McCarthy, 2002). Sometimes promotion is focused on acquiring new customers or retaining current customers. Promotion can includes personal selling, mass selling, and sales promotion (Perreault & McCarthy, 2002). I like to believe that even word of mouth is considered to be promoting the product
References: FedEx. (2005). About FedEx: Advertising. Retrieved November 12, 2005, from http://fedex.com/us/about/unitedstates/advertising/?link=4 FedEx. (2005). About FedEx: Corporate History. Retrieved November 12, 2005, from http://fedex.com/us/about/today/history/?link=2 FedEx. (2005). About FedEx: Delivery Options. Retrieved November 12, 2005, from http://fedex.com/us/services/deliveryoptions.html?link=4 FedEx. (2005). About FedEx: Worldwide Network. Retrieved November 12, 2005, from http://fedex.com/us/about/overview/worldwide/?link=2 Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2006). Marketing Management (12th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Perreault Jr., William D., & McCarthy, Jerome E. (2002). Basic Marketing (14th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. USPS. (2005). Shipping Products and Services. Retrieved November 13, 2005, from United Stated Postal Service Web Site: http://http://www.usps.com/business/shippingtools/shippingproducts.htm?from=home&page=shippingproductsservices