A Marketing Mix

A business firm controls four important elements of marketing which are called a marketing mix.

A firm’s marketing mix is the combination of the product, the price of the product, the means for its distribution, and the promotion of the product to reach a firm’s target market.

A firm can vary its marketing mix by changing any one or more of these ingredients. Thus a firm may use one marketing mix to reach one target market and a second, somewhat different marketing mix, to reach another target market. For example, most automakers produce several different types of vehicles and aim them at different target segments based on age and income.

1) The product ingredient of the marketing mix includes decisions about the product’s design, brand name, packaging, warranties, and the like.

2) The pricing ingredient includes both base prices and discounts of various kinds. Pricing decisions are intended to achieve particular goals, such as to maximize profit or even to make room for new models. The rebates offered by automobile manufactures are a pricing strategy developed to boost low auto sales.

3) The distribution ingredient involves not only transportation and storage but also the selection of intermediaries.

4) The promotion ingredient focuses on providing information to target markets. The major forms of promotion include advertising and publicity.

The “ingredients” of the market mix are controllable elements. A firm can vary each of them to suit its organizational goals, marketing goals, and target markets.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-17