Today, the highly competitive market dictates businesses to distinguish themselves to grab customers’ attention and influence their positioning. Differentiation requires brands to invest into developing their marketing mixes. A marketing mix is defined as a totality of factors that a brand can control to influence consumers’ perception and desire to purchase products and services (Baker & Hart, 2016). Through the process of developing a marketing mix, a company creates a distinguishable personality and signifies its intent, mission, and vision. A well-chosen marketing mix helps to highlight strengths and downplay weaknesses as well as increase a company’s adaptability and resilience amidst the uncertainty of the modern market.
One of the most common approaches to developing a marketing mix is McCarthy’s four P’s. The four P’s in the formula stand for product, place, price, and promotion (Festa et al., 2016). Products are items that meet customers’ expectations and satisfy their needs. Those can be both tangible and intangible (services, ideas, and experiences) goods. Price is the only variable in the formula that pertains to revenue. It is the sacrifice that customers are willing to make to acquire the needed product or service. Within a marketing mix, price can be moderated through pricing strategies, discounts, and promotions.
Place refers not only to physical locations but also to any media through which customers can access the product. Choosing places wisely is important because it increases the visibility of goods and services and provides convenience for the customer. Lastly, promotion encompasses advertising, PR, direct marketing and sales promotion. There needs to be a balance between promotion means; besides, promotion needs to be strategic and well-timed. In summation, developing a marketing mix creates value as it helps to organize communication with customers and helps companies stand out on the market.
References
Baker, M. J., & Hart, S. (Eds.). (2016). The marketing book. Routledge.
Festa, G., Cuomo, M. T., Metallo, G., & Festa, A. (2016). The (r) evolution of wine marketing mix: From the 4Ps to the 4Es. Journal of Business Research, 69(5), 1550-1555.