Edmund Jerome McCarthy was an American marketing professor (1928 – 2015) and author of Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach, a book which has been one of the top textbooks in university marketing courses since its publication. In it he first introduces the idea of the four P’s Marketing Mix as a framework for managing marketing.
The four P’s suggested are – Product, Price, Place and Promotion. The concept of the Marketing Mix is used widely by marketers and businesses to develop and implement effective marketing strategies.
First P in the Marketing Mix – Product
Every business should ensure that is products meet the needs of its target market. How do you know if yours does? Sales levels and reviews will give you a good idea but you really need to ask your target market. As Mark Ritson would put it, your company needs to be market oriented. Through surveys and focus groups or simply talking to customers over the counter, get information on what your target market thinks of your product – in terms of quality, availability, price, its features and benefits.
Second P in the Marketing Mix – Price
In setting the price of its products, businesses need to not only calculate their production and distribution cost and their costs of marketing to come up with a healthy margin. Businesses also need to ascertain what the market will bear and how the price will be perceived by target customers in terms of it quality and positioning.
P Number 3 in the Marketing Mix – Place
Make it easy for people to buy your products. Use the most convenient and efficient channels – online marketplaces, your own website, real-life shops. The more the better. A good knowledge of you target market and their shopping habits helps you to identify where you need to be available for them to buy.
Finally 4th – the Last P in the Marketing Mix – Promotion
This is the P that lots of people think is the only part of marketing. Communicating the benefits of your products or services to the market. Moreover nowadays, lots of people think that promotion = “digital marketing”. However, what you do to promote your brand really depends on your target market and on your positioning, what you stand for. Integrated marketing campaigns have been shown to be more effective – think about using a mix of advertising, PR, packaging, in-store point of sale, sales promotions, events. All reinforcing your values and targeted at your market. Measure the effectiveness of what you do and keep tweaking. Remember that you need both brand building promotional activity as well as sales activation.
The Marketing Mix
The Marketing Mix is a powerful tool for business to ensure that marketing efforts are well-targeted and aligned with the needs and wants of customers.
Get Help
If you’d like help in figuring out the right Marketing Mix for your business, call me on 086 1294859 or email me at paula@ronanmarketing.ie. You can book a 2 hour marketing consultation on my schedule here – https://calendly.com/paularonan/two-hour-marketing-consultation
