TAKEAWAY PREVIEW

1. Marketing is a management process focusing on producing and selling products that meet customer needs in order to achieve the firm’s business objectives.

2. The term ‘Marketing Mix’ refers to the combination of tactics or strategies used by a producer to achieve its business objectives.

3. In market orientated firms many of the firms activities can be classified as marketing activities. It is the blend or mix of these activities that creates the firm’s marketing mix.

4. Businesses need to make sure they are marketing the right product to the right person at the right price in the right place and at the right time.

5. In a traditional marketing mix model (known as the 4P’s model), four key areas of marketing are identified:

• Design and manufacture of the product itself
• The pricing policy for the product
• The placement or distribution channels for the product
• The promotion of the product

6. In the extended marketing model (known as the 7P’s model), three further areas are included:

• The people the businesses employs, especially if they have direct dealings with customers
• The processes the business uses e.g. to control costs, manage stocks or ensure quality control
• The physical impact the firm projects through for example its buildings, its vehicle fleet and staff uniforms.

7. Clearly the policies within all the area should be complementary.

8. An effective marketing mix will be balanced and consistent, give the business a competitive advantage in the market and help the company achieve its business objectives.

9. To remain effective, the marketing mix needs to be adjusted when market conditions change, or the firm’s business objectives change.

10. Market conditions may be affected by changes on the so called STEEPLE (social, technological, environmental, ethical, population, legal and economic) factors.