More About "The Marketing Mix "
1. What is product? Why are forward thinking companies developing new products?
Product the goods or service that you are marketing. The product is not just a collection of components, but includes its design, quality and reliability.
Products have a life-cycle, and forward-thinking companies are continually developing new products to replace products whose sales are declining and coming to the end of their lives. A total product includes the image of the probuct as well as its features and benefits.
2. What is place?
Place getting the product to the customer. Decisions have to be made about the channels of distribution and delivery arrangements. Retail products may go through various channels of distribution:
Producer sells directly to end users via own sales force.
Producer→ retailers→ end users (and some other variants)
3. What must each stage add to the product? What is "breaking the bulk"?
Each stage must add value to the product to justify the costs: the middle-man is not normally someone who just take his cut but someone whose own sales force and delivery system can make the product more easily and cost-effectively available to the largest number of customers. One principle behind this is breaking down the bulk: the producer may sell in minimum quantities of, say, 10 000 to the wholesaler, who sells in minimum quantities of 100 to the retailer, who sells in minimum quantities of 1 to the end user. A confectionery manufacturer doesn't deliver individual bars of chocolate to consumers: distribution is done through wholesalers and then retailers who add value to the product by providing a good service to their customers and stocking a wide range of similar products.
4. What is place? What takes account of the value of a product?
Place making it easy for the customer to buy. The marketing view of pricing takes account of the value of a product. Its quality, the ability of the customer to pay, the volume of sales required, the level of market saturation and the prices charged by the competition. Too low a price can reduce the number of sales just as significantly as too high a price. A low price may increase sales but not as profitably as fixing a high, yet still popular price.
5. What is promotion?
Promotion - presenting the product to the customer. Promotion involves considering the packaging and presentation of the product, its image, the product name, advertising and slogans, brochures, literature, price lists, after-sales service and training, trade exhibitions or fairs, public relations, publicity, and selling, where the seller develops a relationship with the customer.
6. What is a "unique selling proposition"?
Every product must possess a "unique selling proposition"-features and benefits that make it unlike any other product in its market.
In promoting a product, the attention of potential customers is attracted and an interest in the product is aroused, creating a desire for the product and encouraging customers to take prompt action.
