This can vary, for example, PC World offers discounts and credit terms that will all alter the price different individual consumers will pay. 3. Promotion: Promotion describes the activities undertaken to ensure the consumer knows about the product and its capabilities. It usually combines advertising, sales promotion, public relations and personal selling. 4. Place: Place describes where and how the consumer can obtain the product. For example, Tests has stores all over the country but place does not have to be a physical location. Nowadays consumers can buy books over the telephone, IA the Internet or through their TV remote control.
Producers have to choose the best method carefully to ensure consumers can find their product in an appropriate place when they decide to make a purchase. Once the marketing objectives have been agreed, marketing plans must be developed to achieve goals. Objectives of developing mix A business will tailor its marketing mix to suit its objectives. The objectives may include the following. Support brand building. Satisfy needs and aspirations of targeted group of customers. Support brand building The marketing mix supports the building of brands through product strategies.
A strong brand allows a business to make more effective use of its marketing strategies by promoting more than one product within the brand range, and raises the profile of new products in the brand, for example, Colgate is a brand owned by Colgate-Palmolive. The Colgate brand has a strong reputation for dental hygiene products like toothpaste and toothbrushes. However, the strength of the brand means that the business can offer products to segments the market – teeth whitening, sensitive teeth, children’s toothpaste and so on, while limiting the investment it puts into raising awareness of the brand in the arrest.
It also reassures businesses stocking Colgate products, because they can see how much value customers place on the brand and effectively judge the level of risk associated with stocking the new product. Satisfy needs and aspirations of targeted group of customers The four As of the marketing mix are parameters that a business can control, although they are subject to the internal and external constraints of the marketing environment. The goal is to make decisions that centre the four As on the customers in the target market, in order to create perceived value and narrate a positive response.
If a product genuinely satisfies the needs and aspirations of its target market, it stands a better chance of a long-term success than a product that does not. A marketing mix should convince customers that they need the product, but the product itself (an important part of the marketing mix) needs to reinforce the message. Importance of need for cohesion of different elements of the marketing mix People who want a can of Coke need to find them in a variety of convenient locations, such as local shops. They are unlikely to search extensively to find a an of Coke if it is not there, and may choose an alternative.
Promotion is used to make a particular product to stand out from the crowd. The secret of success lies by blending the elements of the marketing mix effectively, as each individual product requires a different blend of the marketing mix. Coca-Cola needs to ensure that their product tastes pleasant, but the most important marketing mix elements are probably place and promotion for them. Product My product is rowing equipment all the way to the rowing clothing; the equipment will then range from the actual boats through to the rowing machines ND the clothing goes from racing gear all the way to blazers for big regattas and training gear.
My target market is new clubs just starting out, for all age ranges and all genders. This gives me a wider market to work with. The benefits for my targeted customers are that my prices will be cheaper than my competitors on the clothing side of my business, I will also be offering a deal on boat, like buy one get one half price for example, this will be good as they are getting two boats cheaper with me than they would in my competitors shops. One of my benefits will be the ability to get to any destination with the product tit a time that suits you within reason, rather than my company just turning up at inconvenient times.
I will have the best footplates for the boats, the best handle grips and the best quality kit as a standard to all my customers unlike my competitors that will charge more for these items. The last benefits that I will have for my customers will be the after sale, this will include, after sale services, warranties, delivery. I will also have a repair space that I can fix damages to a boat or the oars. The product life cycle is a concept that a product, like humans, has a life, so hey are born, they grow up, they mature and then they die.
It is useful to help you see where your product is and where it is heading in the future. The introductory stage is when the product is new to the market and that there may only be only a few organizations with this product, this will mean that there is high costs but low output, this will cause the organizations to have a higher price to cover the development and the initial promotional costs, but even then this might not guarantee a profit. Promotion concentrates on telling the customers what the product does.
If the customers accept the product then sales will grow rapidly. This is the growth stage, profits begin to rack up and there is a higher production levels that reduce the costs of the product. The problem now is that there is now more competition buying into this new product, this will cause the existing companies to invest more money into building the brand image, product improvements and sales promotions to obtain the dominant market position. The product has now hit the maturity stage; this is when the product experiences stable sales.
This is generally the longest the longest period of a successful reduces life. But eventually sales will fall and the market fids itself with too many producers, who begin to suffer poor sales and falling profits. Some leave the market, while others employ strategies to extend the life of the product. Price Price is one element of the marketing mix that produces revenue; the others produce costs. Prices can be changed quickly. A business must set a price for a product and, in deciding the product’s price, marketers must follow a six-step process. . Select the price objective – the objective could be to survive, or to maximize their market share. 2. Determine demand – the higher the price, the lower the demand and visa versa. 3. Estimate costs – every business should charge a price that covers the cost of producing, distributing and selling the product to create a profit. 4. Analyses competitors’ costs, prices and offers the business must take into account its competitors’ costs and prices before setting their own price. 5.
Select a pricing strategy – there are a number of price strategies that must be considered and the business will decide which one is best suited. 6. Select the final price – this is decided after testing on a variety of racing points. For my product I have a price objective to survive in the first three years of my set up, this will help me establish into the market. The demand in the product is stable, there is a steady demand so charging my prices lower than my competitors will to gain more customers and demand from me, this will help me bring in more profit.
In estimating my costs I will not have production costs, as I will by from another company, so my costs will be lower than my competitors as will only have to worry about the distribution and selling costs. The competitors ricers for their products are quite high, that is due to their costs being high, this means if I can cut back on my costs but still give a quality product this means can give a lower price meaning I make more sales. There are seven pricing strategies to choose from: 1 . Pricing: this is where they charge a high price for the product to make the customers associate the product with high quality. . Penetration pricing: this is when the product is put in at a low price to create sales before they increase the price. 3. Economy pricing: this is when there is a deliberate eating of a low price in order to boost sales. 4. Skim pricing: this is when the price is high as there is less competition in the marketplace, then as more similar products enter the market the price is lowered to remain competitive. 5. Psychological pricing: This is when the product is priced high to create an image in the customer’s head that the high price is linked with high quality.
They rely on the customer’s emotive responses, subjective views and feelings towards specific pricing. 6. Captive product pricing: This is when there is a product, like a printer or example, that requires ink in order to work, the ink will have a high price, but the initial price for the printer is low. 7. Product line pricing: this is when the pricing of different products within the same product range is at different price points. For example, a DVD player has different price ranges, as one might be standard, but the other one may come with a blue-ray disc reader. Ill have a pricing strategy of pricing; this is because I want my products to be thought to be high quality, this will also help with bringing in sales and income into the business. I might use that strategy during the summer when there is all the buying for equipment as the big regattas are on during this time, then during the summer I will use economy pricing, as it will attract people looking for cheap deals to replace old kit over the winter training period. Place Place in the marketing mix refers to where the product is purchased from and how it is distributed.
For example, most consumers of confectionery items will buy products from a retail store, a supermarket or a corner store, however, in order to sell the confectionery at the stores, the business needs to sell and stubbier the products to the wholesalers who will sell direct to the retailers. In some cases, the business may sell straight to the consumer as well as distributors and retailers. While a consumer will typically only want one product in a range, a retailer might want a selection of products from a range, and a wholesaler might purchase a substantial quantity of products in the range.
Each might expect to purchase the products under different terms; for example, the customer might want the product as soon as possible and expect to pay immediately, whereas the wholesaler might order a week in advance and expect o pay in 30 days’ time. Businesses need to adapt their marketing mix depending on the end customer; this will be whether the end customer is a consumer or a wholesaler, as they will be expecting different things from the same product.
My business will be the retail shop from the example above, I will be buying from the producer and creating the link between customer and producer. I will try and make a deal with the producers of the products to supply me with the products only, so I become the main source of their boats or equipment, this will produce a lot of income if seal this deal with a big company like Hudson Footwork’s. Distribution There are two different types of distribution methods: 1 . Indirect distribution: this is when the product goes through three different companies before it reaches the customers. . Direct distribution: this is when the product goes from producer straight to the customer with no between. Choosing indirect distribution may mean the business will loose some control of the pricing of their products, as they have to offer discounts to wholesalers and retailers, who may choose to pass on savings to the customers. However, this method could be saving the costs of distribution and making products available o customers immediately from a wide range of outlets.
Direct Distribution is for the companies that are selling expensive items like Apple, for example, they sell their product to customers through their website and distribute straight to the customers home. Online and/or physical presence The growth of online shopping is producing a lot of businesses a new place to sell their products to the customers. This offers a significant advantage for the businesses that are interested in selling direct to the consumers, because it gives them a virtual shop to browse from the comfort of their own home, where they an purchase items straight from the warehouse.
This may offer the business new benefits, such as avoiding wholesalers and therefore increasing the profit margins on their products, while still being seen to offer discounts. My business will have a website as well as a shop, on my website it will be able to be seen on tablets and smartness as well as on a computer and laptop, my website will allow the customers to design their clothing to the range of colossus can provide, it will also allow them to make changes to the boats inside colors as well as the outside design of the boat.
I will have distribution centers all over the country so I can reach everywhere, this will Costa lot but it will be worth it due to the wide customer base I will have. Promotion Promotion is the way a business first sells their product to the consumers. It is a way for the business to inform, persuade and influence the customer to purchase their product or service. Most companies use a thing called AID to help them get the right balance for their advert or other types of promotion.
An integrated mix of promotions in commonly used to attain AID and this is generally known as the promotional mix. Promotional mix The promotional mix involves the blending of a number variables to satisfy the needs of a business’s target market and achieve its organizational objectives. The promotional mix is a subset of the overall marketing mix, a business attempts to achieve the best blend of promotional elements to suit their promotional objectives. The components or the promotional mix are: 1. Advertising 2. Sales promotion 3.
Personal selling 4. Public relations Advertising, sales promotion and personal selling are the most significant elements because they usually account for the majority of a business’s rumination expenditure. However, all factors contribute to successful and efficient marketing promotions campaign. Advertising Advertising may be defined as paid promotions through various media by businesses, non-profit organizations and individuals that are in some way identified in the advertising message and hope to inform or persuade members of a particular audience.
Advertisers have many methods to try and get the consumer to buy their products. Often, what they are seen to be selling is a lifestyle or an image rather than the product itself. Advertising uses all types of Edie at the same time, Auto-glass, for example, have ads in car magazines, on the TV, the internet and on the radio, these are the four ways that a lot of people will here about their latest offers and deals. The online techniques they use are things such as banners and free download of songs and film to entice you in; once you click for that download they target you.
Personal selling Personal selling is a skilled task; it requires training a sales team and may be one of the more expensive aspects of the promotional mix. This is where a seller presents a product direct to the consumer, often face to face, but it can also e over the telephone and through video-conferencing and instant messaging. Personal selling may reach less people than the TV adverts and the radio ads as well but it is generally more effective. Public relations Public relations covers the firm’s communications and relationships with the public.
This includes customers, suppliers, stockholders, employees, the government, the general public and the society in which the organization operates. Public relations programs can be either formal or informal. Publicity is an important part of an effective public relations effort. It can be defined as he non-personal stimulation of demand for a good, service, person, cause or organization by placing significant news about it in a published medium or by obtaining favorable presentation of it through the radio, television, internet or that which is not paid for by an identified sponsor.
Compared to personal selling, advertising and even promotion, expenditures for public relations are usually low in most firms. Since they do not pay for it, companies have less control over the publication by the press or electronic media of good or bad company news. For this reason, a consumer may find this type of news source more believable than he information disseminated directly by the company. Sales promotion Sales promotion relates to marketing activities that fell outside of the categories described above.
These can include coupons, trade shows, displays, samples and other promotional efforts that occur on an irregular basis. Sales promotions are often short term and opportunistic, so may contribute to a spike (sudden short rise) in interest in a product or service. However, they are often combined with other promotional activity to provide longer-term growth. With my business I will do a mixture of all of them. I will use different medias o get my word out to the people as well as using famous faces to help sell my service and shop.
I will use personal selling to help me create a bond with my clients and to help create an image of my company that we are friendly. My public relations side will be trained to a high standard to talk and deal with different people whether it be my suppliers or my customers, they will be able to deal with all of them. My sales promotions will include coupons, to help bring in more sales in the winter, as well as end of season sales. When the racing season comes to an end, there will be sales to help sell off any remaining stock I have left over.
