a. Products: The product is the most important aspect of the marketing mix. Products have both tangible and intangible benefits. Tangible benefits include benefits, which can be measured such as the top speed of a car. Intangible benefits are benefits that cannot be measured such as the enjoyment the customer will get from the product. It is important that the product is changed as necessary to bring it up to date and prevent it from being overtaken by competitors.
- Exactly what product or service are you going to sell to this market? Define
it in terms of what it does for your customer. How does it help your customer
to achieve, avoid or preserve something? You must be clear about the benefit
you offer and how the customer’s life or work will be improved if he or she
buys what you sell.
The term “product” refers to tangible, physical products as well as
services. Here are some examples of the product decisions to be made:
Variety
Quality
Design
Features
Brand name
Packaging
Services
Sizes
Warranties
Returns
- b. Price: It is very important that the correct price is charged
for a product. If the price is too high consumers will avoid the product
as they will believe it to be too expensive yet if the product is priced
too low they may believe that there is something wrong with the product
for it to be so cheap. Also if the company charges too low a price, it may
not cover its costs. There are many different pricing strategies that
companies can use to decide on a price for their product including market
and psychological pricing methods.
Exactly how much are you going to charge for your product or service,
and on what basis? How are you going to price it to sell at retail? How are you
going to sell it at wholesale? How are you going to charge for volume
discounts? Is your price correct based on your costs and the prices of your
competitors?
Some examples of pricing decisions to be made include:
Pricing strategy (Skim, penetration, etc.)
Suggested retail price
Volume discounts and wholesale pricing
Cash and early payment discounts/ bonus
Seasonal pricing
Bundling
Price flexibility
Price discrimination.
- c. Place : The place is where you can expect to find
your customer and consequently, where the sale is realized. Knowing this
place, you have to look for a distribution channel in order to reach your
customer.
The place is not where is located your business but where our customers are.
For a retailer it is the same but for a boat producer located in Philippines
the real place is the entire world. Do not confuse positioning and place. Here
place means the real physical position of the customer in a geographic area or along
a distribution channel. Distribution is about getting the products to
the customer. Some examples of distribution decisions include:
Distribution channels
Market coverage (inclusive, selective, or exclusive distribution)
Specific channel members
Inventory management
Intermediaries
Distribution centers
Order processing
Transactions
Reverse logistics
In consumer marketing channels, we have to consider three main
distribution channels:
Selling to the customer
Selling to the retailer
Selling to the wholesalers
- d. Promotion: In the context of the marketing mix,
promotion represents the various aspects of marketing communication, that
is, the communication of information about the product with the goal of
generating a positive customer response. Marketing communication decisions
include:
Promotional strategy (push, pull, etc.)
Advertising
Personal selling & sales force
Sales promotions
Public relations & publicity
Marketing communications budget
However, the strategies for the four P’s require some modifications when
applied to services. For example, traditionally promotion is thought of as
involving decisions related to sales, advertising, sales promotions and
publicity. In services these factors are also important, but because services
are produced and consumed simultaneously, service delivery people are involved
in real-time promotion of the service even if their jobs are typically defined
in terms of the operational function they perform.
- e. People: All human action that plays a part in
reference and information services delivery namely the liberating
personnel.
- f. Process: Process means, the procedure mechanisms and flow of
the activity by which the reference and information service are acquired.
- g. Physical Evidence: Physical environment means, the environment
in which the reference and information service are delivered that
performance and communication of the service.