WMG Full-Time Master’s Programmes

Strategic Marketing

The Marketing Mix

Introduction

Dave Harvey

November 2019
Successful Marketing…
“Marketing is the activity, Successful marketing depends upon
conducted by addressing a number of key issues…
organisations and including what a company is going to
individuals, that operates offer, how it is going to communicate
through a set of its value propositions to its
institutions and stakeholders, how much it is going to
processes for creating, charge, and when and where the
communicating, offering can be bought
delivering, and
exchanging market These considerations are now known
offerings that have value as the 'P’s of marketing - sometimes
to customers, clients, referred to as the “Marketing Mix”
marketers and society at
large” ‘A mixer of ingredients’ - Culliton (1949)

‘13 ingredients’ - Borden (1964/1975)

American Marketing Association’s (AMA)
2017 definition of Marketing
4 P’s - McCarthy (1978)

7 P’s - Booms & Bitner (1981)

 Marketing Mix Components…
Some academic
researchers continue to
add more Ps Process

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Target
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One ‘Dr Feelgood’
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hi b
marketing consultant ps Pu
claims there are 44 Ps !!!!
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We will be focusing on the 7Ps version
(Booms & Bitner, 1981)
 Product
 Place
 Price
 Promotion
 People
 Process
 Physical Evidence

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Marketing Mix’s Role & Position…
The Marketing Mix is a
practical toolkit and
comprises a set of
controllable tactical
activities developed by
marketers to implement
their marketing strategy
recommendations
It facilitates the co-
creation and exchange
processes of value
appropriation and Statements of short-term results
perceived value through
value propositions with
customers in targeted
segments to ensure value
in-use satisfaction and
also deliver shareholder Marketing
Mix
value
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Vision & Values
The reason why the world would be a better place
because an organisation is in it
Mission
A statement of an organisation’s fundamental
reason for existence
Goals
A desired state of affairs which an organisation
attempts to realise
Objectives Policy
Rules to be observed in
to be achieved achieving goals & objectives
Strategy
A design or decision process to achieve goals and
objectives through positioning
Activity
A plan and set of tactics to achieve goals and
objectives
Key points about the Marketing Mix
 Each of the 7Ps has to be consistent with the rest
to establish a coherent position or value
proposition in the mind of the target customer
 This positioning:-
 Must match the needs, wants, desires and values
of the customer
 Be distinct from the competition
 Have a sustainable competitive advantage
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Critical Evaluation…
Classic marketing However…
emphasises that all the
P’s need to be planned in Many marketers, even at the most senior levels, do not have control over all of
order to achieve success the ‘P’s’…no matter how many there are

Sellers need to know in The concept is merely conceptual - many of the ‘P’s’ are completely inadequate
to describe the subtlety and complexity of what marketers need to do
detail the sought
benefits and sacrifices
The ‘P’s’ do not include “brand” - a serious omission given that this is one of the
made by customers so most powerful and valuable aspects of strategic marketing for all stakeholders
each ‘P’ can be
customised to their The divisions amongst the ‘P’s’ are increasingly blurred, sometimes they are non-
needs existent e.g. marketing and selling over the internet

Sellers need to know the The ‘P’s’ say nothing about ‘after-care’ thus dangerously supporting the
‘mix’ of components of separation of the marketing function from the buyer’s experience of value-in-use
all ‘P’s’ that will most
appeal to the customers Customer value is the starting point - no longer does a company blindly start
with a product, add more ‘P’s’ and then attempt to find a market

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Discussion
 Why do you think marketers have moved from
the 4Ps to the 7Ps to describe the marketing mix
in recent years?

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