5.

Seven Marketing Mix's in Strategic Marketing Management Development

5.1 Marketing Mix's

5.1.2 Marketing mix definition

What is a marketing mix?

Marketing mix is a selection of marketing tools that include several areas of focus that can be
combined to create a comprehensive plan. The term refers to a classification that began as the 4
P’s: product, price, placement, and promotion, and has been expanded to Product, Price,
Promotion, Place, People, Packaging, and Process.

Marketing mix is the set of controlled tactical marketing tools (products, prices, places and
promotions) that combined company to produce the desired response in the target markets
(KOTLER; ARMSTRONG, 2009).
Daryanto (2013), the marketing mix is the tactical marketing tools that can controlled and
combined by the company to produce the desired response in the target markets. Marketing mix
is the variables to be monitored by the company to satisfy the groups targeted (CANNON, et al,
2008).
Marketing mix consists of a product, is offered at a certain price, with some kind of promotion to
tell prospective tourists about these products, and a way to reach consumer's place (CANNON, et
al, 2008). Marketing mix consists of all the things that a company can do to influence the
demand for its products (KOTLER; ARMSTRONG, 2009).

Why is a marketing mix important?

A successful marketing mix helps to get your product or service to the right customer, at the right
time and at the right price. Without consistently analyzing and adapting your marketing mix
based on real-time data and consumer research, your business will not reach its full growth
potential.

The 7 P’s Of Marketing

The classic marketing mix, as established by Professor of Marketing at Harvard University, Prof.
James Culliton in 1948 and expanded upon by Jerome McCarthy, incorporates Product, Price,
Placement, and Promotion into a theory of marketing that has been important to the industry for
more than 70 years. Since then, the theory has been expanded into the 7 P's of marketing. Which
are: Product, Price, Promotion, Place, People, Packaging, and Process.

Today, we refer to these interchangeably as the 7 P's or as the Marketing Mix. Here, we will
discuss this concept, its components.

What are the 7 Ps of Marketing?

The 4 P’s marketing mix concept (later known as the 7 P’s of marketing) was introduced by
Jerome McCarthy in his book: "Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach". It refers to the
thoughtfully designed blend of strategies and practices a company uses to drive business and
successful product promotion. Initially 4, these elements were Product, Price, Place and
Promotion, which were later expanded by including People, Packaging and Process. These are
now considered to be the “7 P’s” mix elements.

It can be difficult for a small business owner or marketing manager to know how to establish a
unique selling proposition or to reach the right customers, especially on new platforms like the
internet, with digital marketing.Fortunately, the 7 Ps of marketing give you a framework to use
in your marketing planning and essential strategy to effectively promote to your target market.

You can also take into consideration elements of the mix in your day to day marketing decision
making process with the goal to attract the right audience to successfully market to through your
marketing campaigns.

The 7 elements of the marketing mix include the following:

1. Product (or Service)

Your customer only cares about one thing: what your product or service can do for them.
Because of this, prioritize making your product the best it can be and optimize your product lines
accordingly. This approach is called “product-led marketing.” In a marketing mix, product
considerations involve every aspect of what you're trying to sell. This includes:
There are five components to successful product-led marketing that are important for product
marketers to take into consideration:

 Get out of the way. Let your product or service sell itself. Focus your marketing efforts
on getting consumers to try what you have to offer so they can learn its value for
themselves.
 Be an expert (on your customers). Know your customer's needs and use that knowledge
to help communicate your product's value.
 Always be helping. Position yourself as an ally by creating informative content that
meets your target customers’ needs, and they'll be more likely to buy from you. (This is
also called content marketing.)
 Share authentic stories. Encourage happy customers to share their experiences and tell
others why they appreciate your brand.
 Grow a product mindset. Focus on your product before you consider how to sell it.
Invest in development, and the product quality will take care of the rest.

Example. Before the iPhone was launched, most consumers did not realize the need for a phone
that would let them access everything at their fingertips. The way Apple marketed its product
compelled people to simplify their lives by carrying a smartphone that could also serve as a GPS,
calendar, search engine, flashlight, weather guide and calculator.

Questions to ask. Before marketing a product, it is important to understand it intimately. This

includes discovering details about the target audience and its preferences.

The following are some questions to answer before developing a product:

 What is the product?

 Is it a specific product or a service?
 What does the product accomplish?
 Does the product fulfill a need or provide a unique experience?
  Who are the target customers for the product?
 What differentiates the product from the competition?

2. Price
Many factors go into a pricing model. Brands may:

 Price a product higher than competitors to create the impression of a higher-quality

offering.
 Price a product similar to competitors, then draw attention to features or benefits other
brands lack.
 Price a product lower than competitors to break into a crowded market or attract value-
conscious consumers.
 Plan to raise the price after the brand is established or lower it to highlight the value of an
updated model.
 Set the base price higher to make bundling or promotions more appealing.

Consider what you're trying to achieve with your pricing strategy and how price will work with
the rest of your marketing strategy. Some questions to ask yourself when selling products:

 Will you be offering higher-end versions at an additional cost?

 Do you need to cover costs right away, or can you set a lower price and consider it an
investment in growth?
 Will you offer sales promotions?
 How low can you go without people questioning your quality?
 How high can you go before customers think you’re overpriced?
 Are you perceived as a value brand or a premium brand?

Example. Price points play a vital role in making a product successful. For example, if a product
is overpriced, only a few consumers will purchase it. Conversely, a product that is priced too low
can give consumers an impression of inferior quality, thus preventing them from purchasing it.

Questions to ask. To determine the most profitable price for a product, it is important to study
the target audience and what they are willing to pay for that product.

The following are some questions to answer before establishing a product pricing strategy:

 How much do the competitors charge for similar products?

 What is the affordability and price range of target consumers?
 What is the lowest price that the product can sell for?
 What is the highest price that the product can sell for?
 What price is too high or too low for the target audience?
 What price is the best fit for the target market?
3. Promotion

Promotion is the part of the marketing mix that the public notices most. It includes television and
print advertising, content marketing, coupons or scheduled discounts, social media strategies,
email marketing, display ads, digital strategies, marketing communication, search engine
marketing, public relations and more.

All these promotional channels tie the whole marketing mix together into an omnichannel
strategy that creates a unified experience for the customer base. For example:

 A customer sees an in-store promotion and uses their phone to check prices and read
reviews.
 They view the brand's website, which focuses on a unique feature of the product.
 The brand has solicited reviews addressing that feature. Those reviews appear on high-
ranking review sites.
 The customer buys the product and you’ve sent a thank you email using marketing
automation.

Here are the ways you can use these channels together:

 Make sure you know all the channels available and make the most of them to reach your
target audience.
 Embrace the move toward personalized marketing.
 Segment your promotional efforts based on your customers' behavior.
 Test responses to different promotions and adjust your marketing spend accordingly.
 Remember that promotion isn't a one-way street. Customers expect you to pay attention
to their interests and offer them solutions when they need them.

Example. Timing can play an influential role in promotional marketing. Take, for example, the
football season during which pizza delivery deals are targeted during games. This entices
consumers to try new products they may not have enjoyed otherwise.

Questions to ask. For a product to be successful, setting the best price or being a great product
offering is not enough. Promotion is the main ingredient in the marketing mix that can distribute
the product to the masses. Therefore, the promotional messages should always cater to the target
audience as well as to the distribution channels.

The following are some questions to consider when thinking about a promotional strategy:

 When is the right time to reach the target audience?

 Which channels or mediums will the target audience get their information from?
  What advertising approaches will be the most fruitful for the target audience?
 Which channels are the most cost-effective and efficient for product promotion?
 Which part of the target audience should be engaged?
 Where are the competitors spending their advertising efforts and marketing revenue?

4. Place

Where will you sell your product? The same market research that informed your product and
price decisions will inform your placement as well, which goes beyond physical locations. Here
are some considerations when it comes to place:

 Where will people be looking for your product?

 Will they need to hold it in their hands?
 Will you get more sales by marketing directly to customers from your own e-commerce
website, or will buyers be looking for you on third-party marketplaces?
 Do you want to converse directly with your customers as they purchase, or do you want a
third party to solve customer service issues?

Example. The place is where the product is marketed and distributed from. For example, when
targeting a product to seniors, it would be wise to not market it on TikTok. Similarly, products
targeting the younger generations would gain more attention if they were promoted online and on
social media platforms.

Questions to ask. Not every place is suitable for marketing and distributing a product. As such, it
is important to distribute products and meet customer needs in a place that is easily accessible.

The following are some questions to consider before deciding on a place to market a product:

 Which places or venues do buyers frequent for similar products and services?
 Where is the competition selling its products?
 What are the shopping habits of the target audience?
 Will the product placement and distribution require a sales team, the use of Salesforce or
will it be self-service?
 How can the right distribution channels be accessed?

5. People

People refers to anyone who comes in contact with your customer, even indirectly, so make sure
you're recruiting the best talent at all levels—not just in customer service and sales force.

Here’s what you can do to ensure your people are making the right impact on your customers:
  Develop your marketers’ skills so they can carry out your marketing mix strategy
 Think about company culture and brand personality.
 Hire professionals to design and develop your products or services.
 Focus on customer relationship management, or CRM, which creates genuine
connections and inspires loyalty on a personal level.

6. Packaging

A company's packaging catches the attention of new buyers in a crowded marketplace and
reinforces value to returning customers. Here are some ways to make your packaging work
harder for you:

 Design for differentiation. A good design helps people recognize your brand at a glance,
and can also highlight particular features of your product. For example, if you’re a
shampoo company, you can use different colors on the packaging to label different hair
types.
 Provide valuable information. Your packaging is the perfect place for product education
or brand reinforcement. Include clear instructions, or an unexpected element to surprise
and delight your customers.
 Add more value. Exceed expectations for your customers and give them well-designed,
branded extras they can use, like a free toothbrush from their dentist, a free estimate from
a roofer, or a free styling guide from their hairdresser.

7. Process
Prioritize processes that overlap with the customer experience. The more specific and seamless
your processes are, the more smoothly your staff can carry them out. If your staff isn't focused on
navigating procedures, they have more attention available for customers—translating directly to
personal and exceptional customer experiences.

Some processes to consider:

 Are the logistics in your main distribution channel cost-efficient?

 How are your scheduling and delivery logistics?
 Will your third-party retailers run out of product at critical times?
 Do you have enough staff to cover busy times?
 Do items ship reliably from your website?

If you get more than one customer complaint about any process, pinpoint what's going wrong
and figure out how to fix it.

What is a marketing mix example?

A good example of the marketing mix might be a convenience store. In this instance, we might
consider a chain of convenience outlets that provide a wide range of products including fresh and
packaged food, tools, household, and kitchen items, novelties, magazines, etc.

Product: Goods and items that produced and provided in a way that provides convenience and
utility.

Price: Pricing will be considered competitive with supermarkets, with some exceptions where
convenience, novelty, and fun add special appeal.

Place: Locations should be amenable to the value proposition of convenience. As such, locations
should be strategically positioned near residential areas, shopping centers, educational centers,
etc.

Promotion: Advertising will be largely constrained to posted promotional material, the outlet
buildings themselves, local social media pages, and so on.

Here, we will consider the customer experience as the opportunity to access simple food items,
snacks, and a range of useful products for home, recreation, and more.

What is a product? Tips on how to launch a lovable product

A product is any item or service you sell to serve a customer’s need or want. They can be
physical or virtual. Physical products include durable goods (like cars, furniture, and computers)
and nondurable goods (like food and beverages). Virtual products are offerings of services or
experiences (such as education, software, and streaming services). A product may also be a
hybrid — including both physical and virtual elements (like a kitchen appliance with its own
mobile app). Hybrid products are becoming more common as traditionally analog products
incorporate digital technology as a way to better reach and serve customers.

These categories can help us understand different types of products. But they are not hard and
fast rules. For example, software can be considered both a product and a service. Traditionally,
you would purchase a physical version of the program and install it on your computer — but
today most software products are sold virtually. This approach uses a web-based delivery model
and customers pay a recurring subscription fee to access the software. This how the term
software-as-a-service (SaaS) originated.

5.2. What Is Strategic Marketing?

Strategic Marketing is the way a firm effectively differentiates itself from its competitors by
capitalising on its strengths (both current and potential) to provide consistently better value to
customers than its competitors. In principle it’s that simple, but it means a lot more than getting
creative with the marketing mix.
Armed with a thorough understanding of the firm’s capabilities and aspirations, the customer
market and the competitive landscape, the Goal of Strategic Marketing (and the job of the
strategic marketer) is to maximise a firm’s positive differentiation over competitors in the eyes of
its target market. It does this by answering 3 key questions; where, how and when should the
business compete. In understanding this, it’s no surprise that a Strategic Marketing Plan will
often lay a framework for fundamental change in the way a firm works and how it engages its
markets.

Business-to-Business (B2B) Marketing, like any area of management, has both strategic and
operational components. While operational marketing (marketing management) is concerned
with developing a suitable marketing mix to realise a set of defined business goals, Strategic
Marketing on the other hand is concerned with defining what the business needs to ‘be and
become’ to consistently beat the competitors by delivering consistently better value.

Simply put, the Role of Strategic Marketing is to decide: Which markets to compete in (where to
compete).

What the basis of the firm’s competitive advantage is going to be (how to compete), and When
and how the firm will enter each market (when to compete) It’s only when these three questions
have been answered can the marketing planning begin.

What is the strategic marketing process?

The strategic marketing process involves conducting research and establishing goals and
objectives that will maximize the effectiveness and success of your overall marketing strategy.

The strategic marketing process involves conducting research and establishing goals and objectives that
will maximize the effectiveness and success of your overall marketing strategy.

This process is beneficial as it helps you be more intentional with your marketing. You’ll be able
to ensure that you’ve targeted the right audience, entered the right markets, and used the correct
mediums.
You can think of it like this: strategic marketing is the butter you spread on toast. You can have
plain toast as it is, but the butter enhances the flavor and makes it better. Strategic marketing
ensures that your marketing campaigns are well-planned, effective, and shown to the right
people.
Essentially, strategic marketing is the act of uncovering the information you’ll need to create an
effective marketing plan and execute successful campaigns.

Strategic Marketing Process Phases

Given that strategic marketing directly influences many elements of your overall marketing
strategy, it’s important to approach the process carefully. Below we’ll discuss the different
phases of a strategic marketing process.
1. Planning Phase
The first stage of strategic marketing is the planning phase. It’s the most critical step, as it is the
basis of your efforts. You’ll want to identify your business purpose, needs, and the goals and
objectives you want to accomplish, as the entire process will help you achieve them.
Without this information, it will be challenging to progress to the next steps as you won’t
understand the purpose behind your marketing efforts, which makes it even harder to create a
solid plan that helps you succeed.
2. Analysis Phase
The analysis phase involves taking an outward look at how your company measures up to your
competitors and your industry. During this stage, many businesses will conduct market
research and competitor analyses.
Market research will give you an understanding of what your industry looks like, like current
trends, market share, and an overall sense of the playing field. The information you discover
should also validate your goals and objectives and let you know if they’re achievable. For
example, if your overall business goal is to bring a new type of fork to market, but there is no
industry or consumer demand for this new type of fork, your efforts won’t be worthwhile.
A competitor analysis will teach you the ins and outs of how your competition works, their
position in the industry, and any possible gaps in the market that you can take advantage of to
out-perform them. You can look at competitors’ customer testimonials to get a sense of what
your target audience is looking for that they don’t provide and use that insight to build a product
that your ideal customer already wants.
You’ll also want to take time to study your target audience and create buyer personas. Aim to
gain a well-rounded understanding of who your customers are, their needs, desires, interests, and
where you’ll find them within the market.
All in all, your analyses should give you an understanding of how competitive you are, and how
competitive you’ll need to be in your final strategy to outshine similar businesses and become a
viable market competitor.
3. Development Phase
Once you have a clear picture of your industry and how you should present yourself in the
market, the next step is to develop your marketing plan. This stage is more closely related to the
aspect of marketing you may be most familiar with, as you’re establishing the marketing
tactics that are informed by your strategic marketing process.
This stage involves defining your marketing mix, which is how you’ll meet the objectives from
phase one concerning the information you discovered during phase two.
A marketing mix is composed of four Ps: product, price, place, and promotion. Let’s go over
some brief definitions of each:
 Product: This is what your business is selling. Product marketers or managers typically do this
work, but it involves researching (from phase two), development, and creating a product launch
timeline.
 Price: The price point at which you’ll sell to consumers. Pricing should also be informed by
market research and reference to different pricing strategies.
 Place: Where your product or service will be sold, like online or in-store.
  Promotion: How you’ll advertise your product and introduce it to the market. For example, the
different promotional channels (like social media) you’ll use to get your audience excited and
entice them to do business with you.
You can think of it like this: say your end goal, developed during phase one, is to create a full-
service CRM. Your discoveries in phase two have shown you that the current CRM your
customers use isn’t scalable, which is a consistent pain point. They also want a more reasonably
priced option.
This current phase would help you create, price, market, and promote your full-service, scalable,
and affordable CRM to the correct audiences that are ready and eager to purchase what you have
to offer.
4. Implementation Phase
The final phase of the process is when you begin to act on your marketing efforts. As the name
suggests, you’ll start implementing the strategy you’ve developed based on your planning and
market research. You’ll launch your product and begin seeing sales.
After implementation, it’s also important to take time to review your processes and make
changes as necessary. As the market is constantly evolving, you may need to re-address certain
things from phase two due to new trends or changing consumer interests.

Strategic marketing is a full circle process.

Although each phase has its unique requirements, it all comes full circle; the marketing mix you
created during phase three is based on research from phase two. And, if you’ve put time and
effort into your overall strategic marketing process, you’ll attract customers, drive revenue, and
meet the goals and objectives you identified in phase one.