Marketing Mix – Meaning and its Elements

Neil Borden in the year 1953 introduced the term Marketing mix, an extension of the work done by one of his associates James Culliton in 1948.

Marketing Mix - A mixture of several ideas and plans followed by a marketing representative to promote a particular product or brand is called marketing mix. Several concepts and ideas combined together to formulate final strategies helpful in making a brand popular amongst the masses form marketing mix.

Elements of Marketing Mix

The elements of marketing mix are often called the four P’s of marketing.

1. Product

   Goods manufactured by organizations for the end-users are called products.

   Products can be of two types - Tangible Product and Intangible Product (Services)

   An individual can see, touch and feel tangible products as compared to intangible products.

   A product in a market place is something which a seller sells to the buyers in exchange of money.

2. Price

   The money which a buyer pays for a product is called as price of the product. The price of a product is indirectly proportional to its availability in the market. Lesser its availability, more would be its price and vice a versa.

   Retail stores which stock unique products (not available at any other store) quote a higher price from the buyers.

3. Place

   Place refers to the location where the products are available and can be sold or purchased. Buyers can purchase products either from physical markets or from virtual markets. In a physical market, buyers and sellers can physically meet and interact with each other whereas in a virtual market buyers and sellers meet through internet.

4. Promotion

   Promotion refers to the various strategies and ideas implemented by the marketers to make the end - users aware of their brand. Promotion includes various techniques employed to promote and make a brand popular amongst the masses.

   Promotion can be through any of the following ways:

   • Advertising

     Print media, Television, radio are effective ways to entice customers and make them aware of the brand’s existence.

     Billboards, hoardings, banners installed intelligently at strategic locations like heavy traffic areas, crossings, railway stations, bus stands attract the passing individuals towards a particular brand.

     Taglines also increase the recall value of the brand amongst the customers.

   • Word of mouth

     One satisfied customer brings ten more customers along with him whereas one dis-satisfied customer takes away ten more customers. That’s the importance of word of mouth. Positive word of mouth goes a long way in promoting brands amongst the customers.

Lately three more P’s have been added to the marketing mix. They are as follows:

• People - The individuals involved in the sale and purchase of products or services come under people.

• Process - Process includes the various mechanisms and procedures which help the product to finally reach its target market

• Physical Evidence - With the help of physical evidence, a marketer tries to communicate the USP’s and benefits of a product to the end users

Four C’s of Marketing Mix

Now a days, organizations treat their customers like kings. In the current scenario, the four C’s has thus replaced the four P’s of marketing making it a more customer oriented model. Koichi Shimizu in the year 1973 proposed a four C’s classification.

• Commodity - (Replaces Products)

• Cost - (Replaces Price) involves manufacturing cost, buying cost and selling cost

• Channel - The various channels which help the product reach the target market.

• Communication - (Replaces Promotion)

Robert F. Lauterborn gave a modernized version of the four C’s model in the year 1993. According to him the four C’s of marketing are:

• Consumer
• Cost
• Convenience
• Communication