The Marketing Mix has been defined by many as the controllable variables a company puts together to satisfy its target market... If any parts of a Marketing Mix get out of balance, the target market will be insufficiently served. This model of the Marketing Mix was first introduced by Neil Borden when he published his 1964 article, "The Concept of the Marketing Mix." Borden had first started using the phrase in 1949 and claimed that it came to him while reading a book by James Culliton on the activities of a business executive (netmba.com, 2009). The 4 P's that the Marketing Mix consists of are product, place, promotion, and price.
The term product refers to tangible, physical products, as well as to services. A lot of thought and preliminary research goes into the type of product a company will manufacture, including product specifications, design, and production of the unit. The biggest concern for a business is that they are able to introduce their product at the appropriate time, when the consumer's needs are greatest. A product will generally go through a life cycle, much like a human life cycle, consisting of four different stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. After the developmental period, a product is introduced or launched into the market. At this stage, the need for immediate profit is not a pressure; the product is promoted to create awareness. In the growth stage, competitors are attracted into the market with very similar offerings. Products become more profitable and companies may form alliances, joint ventures, or take each other over. The money spent on advertising is high and its focus is on building brand recognition. In the maturity stage, sales will grow at a decreasing rate and then stabilize. Producers will try to
References: ttp://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/. Retrieved June 8, 2009. http://www.managementhelp.org/mrktng/pricing/pricing.htm. Retrieved June 5, 2009. Lamb, Charles W., Hair, Joseph F., & McDaniel, Carl. (2005). Essentials of Marketing (4th ed.). Mason, Ohio: South-Western. Perreault, Jr., William D., & McCarthy, E. Jerome. (2005). Basic Marketing (15th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, Irwin. http://ir.netflix.com/. Retrieved June 6, 2009.