Introduction

The marketing mix deals with the way in which a business uses price,

product, distribution and promotion to market and sell its product.

The marketing mix is often referred to as the "Four P's" - since the most
important elements of marketing are concerned with:

 Product - the product (or service) that the customer obtains

 Price - how much the customer pays for the product
 Place – how the product is distributed to the customer
 Promotion - how the customer is found and persuaded to buy the product

It is known as a "mix" because each ingredient affects the other and the mix
must overall be suitable to the target customer.

For instance:

 High quality materials used in a product may mean that a higher selling
price can be achieved
 An advertising campaign carried in one area of the country requires
distribution of the product to be in place in advance of the campaign to
ensure there are no disappointed customers

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Meaning of Marketing

Modern marketing has two different meanings in the minds of people who
use the term.

One meaning of marketing conjures up the terms “selling, influencing,

persuading” thought by many persons and always viewed and discussed as a
business activity. They mistakenly think of marketing only as selling and
promotion tasks, but only two of several marketing functions.

Unfortunately, the other meaning of marketing is weaker in the public minds; it

is the concept of sensitively “serving and satisfying human needs.”

Here, we shall accept the second meaning since a company’s success depends to
a great extent on identifying consumer needs, developing good products, and
pricing, distributing, and promoting them effectively, which this meaning
focuses on.

Important Features of Marketing 

Some of the most important features of marketing are as follows:

1. Customer focus 7. Marketing environment

2. Customer satisfaction 8. Marketing mix 9. Integrated approach

3. Objective-oriented 10. Commercial and non-commercial organizations

4. Marketing is both art and science

5. Continuous and regular activity

6. Exchange process 11. Precedes and follows production.

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1. Customer focus:
The marketing function of a business is customer-centred. It makes an attempt
to study the customer needs, and goods are produced accordingly. The business
existence depends on human needs. In a competitive market, the goods that are
best suited to the customer are the ones that are well-accepted. Hence, every
activity of a business is customer-oriented.

2. Customer satisfaction:
A customer expects some services or benefits from the product for which
payment is made. If this benefit is more than the amount paid, then the customer
is satisfied. In the long run, customer satisfaction helps to retain market
demand. It helps achieve organizational objectives. Customer satisfaction can
be enhanced by providing value-added services, which includes providing
additional facilities at little or no extra cost.

3. Objective-oriented:
All marketing activities are objective-oriented. Different objectives are fixed at
different levels, but the main objective is to earn profit from business along with
the satisfaction of human wants. Marketing activities undertaken by sellers
make an attempt to find out the weaknesses in the existing system, and
measures are taken to improve the shortfalls so that the objectives are achieved.

4. Marketing is both art and science:

Art refers to a specific skill that is required in marketing activities of any type of
business. Science refers to a systematic body of knowledge, based on facts and
principles. The concept of marketing includes a bunch of social sciences such as
economics, sociology, psychology and law. It indicates market operations based
on some principles. Hence, marketing is an art as well as a science.

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5. Continuous and regular activity:
Marketing is an activity designed to plan, price, promote and distribute
products. At the same time, it also addresses both the current and future
consumers. Thus, it is a continuous process. A marketer has to consistently
monitor environment. This helps in coming up with new products.

6. Exchange process:
Marketing involves exchange of goods, services and ideas with the medium of
money. Exchange takes place between sellers and buyers. Most of marketing
activities are concerned with the exchange of goods. Functions such as
distribution, after-sale services and packaging help in the exchange process.
Channels of distribution and physical distribution play an important role in the
exchange process by creating place utility.

7. Marketing environment:
Economic policies, market conditions, and environmental factors, such as
political, technological, demographic and international, influence marketing
activities. Marketing activities are inseparable from such environmental factors.
A successful marketer needs to adapt to these changing factors and adjust
marketing strategies to suit new market developments.

8. Marketing mix:
A combination of four inputs constitutes the core of a company’s marketing
system—product, price, place, and promotion. Marketing mix is a flexible
combination of variables. They are influenced by consumer behaviour, trade
factors, competition and government regulatory measures.

9. Integrated approach:
The marketing activities must be co-ordinated with other functional areas of an
organization. Functions such as production, finance, research, purchasing,

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storekeeping and public relations (PR) are to be integrated with marketing. This
will help in achieving organizational objectives. Otherwise, it will result in
organizational conflicts.

10. Commercial and non-commercial organizations:

With the societal marketing concept gaining importance, social marketers are
finding useful new ways of applying marketing principles. Commercial
organizations are also adopting cause-related marketing to strike long-term
relations with consumers.

Business organizations such as educational institutions, hospitals, religious

institutions and charitable trusts have also found meaningful applications of
marketing. Thus, marketing is applicable to both business and non-business
organizations.

11. Precedes and follows production:

Identifying consumer needs and wants is the primary task of a marketing
manager. Production activities are adapted to these consumer needs. Thus,
marketing precedes production. Marketing helps in the distribution of the goods
which follows production. Hence, production and marketing activities are
closely related to each other.

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 Major Importance of Marketing
Importance of marketing can be studied as follows:
(1) Marketing Helps in Transfer, Exchange and Movement of Goods:
Marketing is very helpful in transfer, exchange and movement of goods. Goods
and services are made available to customers through various intermediaries’
viz., wholesalers and retailers etc. Marketing is helpful to both producers and
consumers.

(2) Marketing Is Helpful In Raising And Maintaining The Standard Of

Living Of The Community:
Marketing is above all the giving of a standard of living to the community. Paul
Mazur states, “Marketing is the delivery of standard of living”. Professor
Malcolm McNair has further added that “Marketing is the creation and delivery
of standard of living to the society”.

(3) Marketing Creates Employment:

Marketing is complex mechanism involving many people in one form or the
other. The major marketing functions are buying, selling, financing, transport,
warehousing, risk bearing and standardisation, etc. In each such function
different activities are performed by a large number of individuals and bodies.

(4) Marketing as a Source of Income and Revenue:

The performance of marketing function is all important, because it is the only
way through which the concern could generate revenue or income and bring in
profits. Buskirk has pointed out that, “Any activity connected with obtaining
income is a marketing action. It is all too easy for the accountant, engineer, etc.,
to operate under the broad assumption that the Company will realise many
dollars in total sales volume.

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However, someone must actually go into the market place and obtain dollars
from society in order to sustain the activities of the company, because without
these funds the organisation will perish.”

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(5) Marketing Acts as a Basis for Making Decisions:
A businessman is confronted with many problems in the form of what, how,
when, how much and for whom to produce? In the past problems was less on
account of local markets. There was a direct link between producer and
consumer.

In modern times marketing has become a very complex and tedious task.
Marketing has emerged as new specialised activity along with production.

(6) Marketing Acts as a Source of New Ideas:

The concept of marketing is a dynamic concept. It has changed altogether with
the passage of time. Such changes have far reaching effects on production and
distribution. With the rapid change in tastes and preference of people, marketing
has to come up with the same.

Marketing as an instrument of measurement, gives scope for understanding this

new demand pattern and thereby produce and make available the goods
accordingly.

(7) Marketing Is Helpful In Development Of An Economy:

Adam Smith has remarked that “nothing happens in our country until somebody
sells something”. Marketing is the kingpin that sets the economy revolving. The
marketing organisation, more scientifically organised, makes the economy
strong and stable, the lesser the stress on the marketing function, the weaker
will be the economy.

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Who is a Marketer

A marketer is a person whose duty is to identify goods & services desired by a

set of customers, as well as marketing of those goods and services on behalf of
the company. Marketer helps boost the sale of products and services which in
turn boosts the revenue for the organization by creating effective marketing
strategies.

Some of the jobs of marketer include setting goals, segmenting the target
customer segment, studying the competition, addressing a target audience
through modes of communication, nurturing the relationship with customers,
creating content, budgets, setting priorities designing campaigns.

Types of Marketers

There are 6 types of marketers depending upon their role and area of expertise:

1. Brand Marketer: works on building a good brand name for the business. He

ensures that a customer’s perceived value of the brand is optimal. He may make
use of online and offline marketing for the purpose.

2. Product Marketer:  is responsible for marketing the goods and services of a

company by planning and launching marketing events, working with advertising
firms to execute outbound marketing.

3. Content Marketer: is similar to inbound marketer but a little more

specialized. Its job is to create high-quality content in a way that increases a
company's search ability and online presence.

4. Inbound Marketer: is concerned with converting potential customers into

paying customers by providing useful information in the form of templates,
materials, e-books, blog posts to the target customer segment.

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5. Social Media Marketer: specializes in managing various social accounts of
the company, ensuring constant updates and implementing marketing strategies
to acquire more followers.

6. Digital Marketer: deals with online aspects of marketing ranging from

managing a company's social accounts, designing online marketing events to
sending marketing emails to potential leads.

Importance of a Marketer

The financial success of any organization depends on marketing ability.

Finance, operation and other business operations will not matter if there is not
enough demand for its products and services which is taken care of by marketer.
The more people know about a product or service, the more they are interested
to buy it. They help to build brand equity using a combination of brand logo,
icon, name, caption etc that people experience through online and offline
channels.

Marketers help in improving the quality of life by spreading awareness among

people of the organization’s products and services without which people may
not know of the presence of particular products or services available in the
market. They work on identifying the customer's needs, wants and demands. It
is his identification of the market needs that lead to the innovation and
introduction of thousands of new products and services In the market every now
and then.

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Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix is a set of marketing tool or tactics, used to promote a product or

services in the market and sell it. It is about positioning a product and deciding it
to sell in the right place, at the right price and right time. The product will then
be sold, according to marketing and promotional strategy. The components of
the marketing mix consist of 4Ps Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. In the
business sector, the marketing managers plan a marketing strategy taking into
consideration all the 4Ps. However, nowadays, the marketing mix increasingly
includes several other Ps for vital development.

What is 4 P of Marketing

A product is a commodity, produced or built to satisfy the need of an individual

or a group. The product can be intangible or tangible as it can be in the form of
services or goods. It is important to do extensive research before developing a
product as it has a fluctuating life cycle, from the growth phase to the maturity
phase to the sales decline phase.

A product has a certain life cycle that includes the growth phase, the maturity
phase, and the sales decline phase. It is important for marketers to reinvent their
products to stimulate more demand once it reaches the sales decline phase. It
should create an impact in the mind of the customers, which is exclusive and
different from the competitor’s product. There is an old saying stating for
marketers, “what can I do to offer a better product to this group of people than
my competitors”. This strategy also helps the company to build brand value

 Price in Marketing Mix:

Price is a very important component of the marketing mix definition. The price
of the product is basically the amount that a customer pays for to enjoy it. Price
is the most critical element of a marketing plan because it dictates a company’s

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survival and profit. Adjusting the price of the product, even a little bit has a big
impact on the entire marketing strategy as well as greatly affecting the sales and
demand of the product in the market. Things to keep on mind while determining
the cost of the product are, the competitor’s price, list price, customer location,
discount, terms of sale, etc.,

 Place in Marketing Mix:

Placement or distribution is a very important part of the marketing mix strategy.

We should position and distribute our product in a place that is easily accessible
to potential buyers/customers.

 Promotion in Marketing Mix:

It is a marketing communication process that helps the company to publicize the

product and its features to the public. It is the most expensive and essential
components of the marketing mix, that helps to grab the attention of the
customers and influence them to buy the product. Most of the marketers use
promotion tactics to promote their product and reach out to the public or the
target audience. The promotion might include direct marketing, advertising,
personal branding, sales promotion, etc

Definition of Branding
According to American Marketing Association, “Brand is a name term, sign,
symbol, or design, or a combination of them which is intended to identify the
goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them
from those of competitors.”
According to Mellerowicz, “Brand is defined as branded product as an
ubiquitous finished product of consistent or increasing quality for private
consumption with an identification mark, standardised amount, and appearance,
acceptance in the market and existing consumer advertising.”

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Meaning of Branding
Brands are all around us. We live in a world of branded products and services.
Everyday we are exposed to a plethora of brands right from dawn to dusk. It is
ironic that we do interact with brands more than humans in a single day. Since
the dawn of history of mankind, there has been a desire to establish one’s
identity separate from those of fellow human beings.
From ‘search it’ to ‘Google it’; from a ‘time piece’ to ‘Omega’; from a just a
‘cricket tournament’ to ‘IPL’. We do not drive cars any more, we drive — a
Rolls Royce, a Porsche, a Honda, a Volkswagen, etc. We do not wear a T-shirt
or jeans but, a Lacoste, a Tommy Hilfiger, a Levis or a Wrangler.
We do not wear sneakers any more but, instead we wear a Reebok, Adidas, or a
Nike. The brands have changed the way we shop and also influence the way we
lead our lives. The modern world is a jazzy and glitzy playground for brands.
From people to nations everyone aspires to be a brand. Brands are about
satisfaction, and association with the consumers.
Meaning of Packaging
Packaging is the act of designing and creating the container and wrapper for
the product. Package is the cover of the product that is used for storing,
handling and protecting the product from external factors like sunlight,
moisture, breakage etc.
Packaging makes the product attractive and acts as an important tool of sales
promotion. Attractive packages allure the customers to buy the product.
Packaging performs the basic function of holding the product, protection,
handling, storage, convenience in usage.
Packaging may be an art or science concerned with the development and use of
materials, methods and equipments for applying a product to a container or
vice versa designed to protect throughout the various stages of distribution.

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Thus, a package is a container or a wrapper of a product in which it is wrapped
of packed so that it may safely reach the consumers without losing its utility.
Characteristics of Product Packaging
Following are the main characteristics of packaging:
1. Packaging is a science.

2. Main objective of packaging is to deliver the product safely at the different

stages and to provide the consumers facilities of their usage and assurance for
their conservation.

3. Packing is that group of planning activities which relates to packing material

(containers and wrappers), their manufacture, designing and packing.

4. Activities of labelling and branding are automatically included under

packaging.

5. Packing is a part of packaging.

6. It generates consumer choice.

7. It introduces the customer with the product

8. To make the consumer introduced with the product.

9. It enhances the image of the product.

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Conclusion
The concept of the marketing mix and four P's have been strongly dominant
paradigms marketing stage for many companies. Marketing managers must
realize its usefulness in the marketing of goods and services. But market
research is bringing new approaches. The globalization of business and the
growing recognition of the importance of customer retention, interaction and
networking in the industrial, marketing experiences, business ecosystems, value
migration, life cycle, customer relations and relationship marketing, among
other trends and criteria, begin to create new trends in thinking about the theory
and practice of marketing. The product is the part of the marketing mix, along
with the price, methods of distribution and promotion. Products can meet the
need or requirement and offers the market in order to attract attention,
acquisition, use or consumption. This is not only related to physical objects but
also include services, people, places, organizations, ideas, etc. Worldwide
product marketing includes both tangible product (movable or objects) and
intangible (services) offered in the market to satisfy needs or desires of the
customers. The product is a package of features and benefits the customer
receives at purchase. Considering the importance of augmented product model ,
marketing manager must focused on providing additional services or offers such
as after-sale services, discount offers, attached gifts etc. in order to build strong
relationship with customers and create brand image and equity among target
market.

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