1.0 Introduction

In order to achieve your marketing objectives you need to have a strategy that includes different elements - the various parts of the marketing mix. Calling it a mix reminds you to try and get the balance right between the different elements. It is easy to assume that one part of the mix is wrong, when in fact it is another. For example, if take-up of a newly-priced service is poor, it could be that the answer is to change the service, or to deliver it in a way that is more convenient to the user, or to improve the quality of the promotion (rather than to cut the price). Marketing professionals and specialist use many tactics to attract and retain their customers. These activities comprise of different concepts, the most important one being the marketing mix. There are two concepts for marketing mix: 4P and 7P. It is essential to balance the 4Ps or the 7Ps of the marketing mix. The concept of 4Ps has been long used for the product industry while the latter has emerged as a successful proposition for the services industry.

2.0 A Review on Various Ps of Marketing

McCarthy identified the four P’s of the marketing mix:

• Defining the characteristics of your product or service to meet the customers’ needs. It must provide value to a customer but does not have to be tangible at the same time. Basically, it involves introducing new products or improvising the existing products.
• Price: Deciding on a pricing strategy. Even if you decide not to charge for a service, it is useful to realize that this is still a pricing strategy. Identifying the total cost to the user (which is likely to be higher than the charge you make) is a part of the price element. Pricing must be competitive and must entail profit. The pricing strategy can comprise discounts, offers and the like.

• This includes advertising, personal selling (eg attending exhibitions), sales promotions (eg special offers), and atmospherics (creating the right impression through the working environment). Public Relations is included within Promotion by many marketing people (though PR people tend to see it as a separate discipline). It includes the various ways of communicating to the customers of what the company has to offer. It is about communicating about the benefits of using a particular product or service rather than just talking about its features.

• Place or distribution. Looking at location (eg of a library) and where a service is delivered (eg are search results delivered to the user’s desktop, office, pigeonhole - or do they have to collect them). It refers to the place where the customers can buy the product and how the product reaches out to that place. This is done through different channels, like Internet, wholesalers and retailers.

It is also said that we can extend the number of P’s - the two which are usually seen as useful additions for services (including information services) are:

• Good information services are not likely to be delivered by people who are unskilled or demotivated; People refer to the customers, employees, management and everybody else involved in it. It is essential for everyone to realize that the reputation of the brand that you are involved with is in the people’s hands.

• The way in which the user gets hold of the service (eg the way in which a document or a search can be ordered). It refers to the methods and process of providing a service and is hence essential to have a thorough knowledge on whether the services are helpful to the customers, if they are provided in time, if the customers are informed in hand about the services and many such things.

• Physical evidence. It refers to the experience of using a product or service. When a service goes out to the customer, it is essential that you help him see what he is buying or not. For example- brochures, pamphlets etc serve this purpose. It is the material part of a service. Strictly speaking there are no physical attributes to a service, so a consumer tends to rely on material cues. There are many examples of physical evidence, including some of the following: Packaging. Internet/web pages. Paperwork (such as invoices, tickets and dispatch notes). Brochures. Furnishings. Signage (such as those on aircraft and vehicles). Uniforms. Business cards. The building itself (such as prestigious offices or scenic headquarters). Mailboxes and many others . . .

3.0 Marketing Mix – Example: Fiat

Fiat was one of the founders of the European motor industry. From its inception in Turin, Italy on July 11th, 1899, the company continued to guide its evolution by focusing on both the quality of its products and the adoption of cutting edge industrial systems. Fiat’s first factory opened in 1900 and employed 150 workers producing 24 car models of cars. The first distinctive Fiat logo was designed in 1904. Fiat itself has been successful in supplying the small car market. The 1990s saw the addition of several new models to the Fiat family: including the Cinquecento in 1991, the Punto in 1993 and the Seicento in 1998.The Punto was named European Car of The Year in 1995 and has remained one of Fiat’s best selling small cars. It has been at the top of Ireland’s best-seller’s list for more than half of its life.

The story of the market positioning and launch of the New Panda, perfectly illustrates how car companies such as Fiat, innovate and design in line with customer expectations to secure a market share for each model. The New Panda hopes to appeal to the small car segment and the initial first car buyer segment while also appealing to families who wish to acquire a second car, or to those using their car in urban or city areas. However, there is a marketing challenge at the centre of targeting these segments. This car interests distinct and different groups of car buyers so there is a need for careful product positioning in the mind of the consumer. Some considerations when positioning a new car might include:

• First car or small car users who expect specific design qualities from a car
• Families who want a second car to get them from A to B or to complete the school run twice a day and who will also want different features
• People who may wish to acquire a slightly larger car or one that is more powerful
• Young people looking for ‘personality’ from their car - perhaps more sporty features or individual and distinctive design finishes.

Indeed it is an interesting fact that carmakers need to be very specific about product positioning as they often do not compete on price alone. New Panda’s key target market is young dynamic people. Fiat has a marked advantage in this area because it is known for its keen pricing and is also an established, highly recognisable brand that young people can relate too. ‘Compact car’ advantages i.e. size and functionality are of critical importance in this target market therefore product design and price are key elements in the marketing mix for the Fiat New Panda. A ‘marketing mix’ is used to convert the positioning strategy into a reality. It is made up of four elements: product, price, place and promotion. The marketing mix is used to reinforce the advantages of the New Panda carefully reflecting its core values and positioning. It confirms how and why it will be of interest to various segments of the car-buying public. In its branding and market positioning, Fiat wishes to communicate a number of key attributes of the New Panda – it is an intelligent smart car that is ready for action and it is also a little crafty, lighthearted and irresistible. The New Panda’s positioning statement is designed to succinctly convey the product advantages and the ‘character’ of the model in a way that will best attract the New Panda target market. Full of Life, Cheeky,Versatile and Ready For Everything. As discussed above the product design is linked in with branding and positioning strategies. It is important that all of these features are linked. A marketing decision was made to ‘launch’ the New Panda to ‘the trade’. A launch to the dealers is different to launching a car to the public. Prepublicity directed at the trade is used to create interest in the new model. Increased demand for a car is also know as a ‘pull factor’ as it essentially pulls the product through the distribution channel from the manufacturer toward the customers. In order to succeed at getting the product to the consumer, Fiat has an International network of ‘agents’ or dealers who carry Fiat cars and other ‘marques’ (car brands e.g. Alfa Romeo) in the companies stable. This means that support is given to the Fiat dealers around Ireland to promote the new model in a way that generates demand for the new car. ‘Price’ – Reflecting the Positioning Strategy. Fiat has a clear understanding of its key target market (young people and other price-conscious car buyers) and has designed pricing strategies to best address their needs and the positioning of the New Panda. In the case of the New Panda it was imperative that it be keenly priced and also that running costs were low. The price quoted by Fiat is the price you pay at the dealership. This is Fiat’s Open Book pricing policy. As a marketing concern transparency of prices is important. Some prices quoted by competitors are ‘ex works’ which is the price of the car quoted from the factory. Additional charges for delivery are thus not included in the final price quoted. Fiat has finance packages. One example is where customers can opt to pay only 25 per cent of the total cost of the car and then pay the balance of the cost of the car, i.e. the remaining 75 per cent, over a period of 36 months with zero per cent interest. Another package focuses on the benefit of low monthly repayments. This finance package is essentially a Hire Purchase agreement and is subject to the Consumer Credit Act of 1995. Monthly payments can represent a more attractive option to first time car buyers or people on a limited income, sooner than borrow 100 per cent of the cost of a new car. ‘Promotion’ – Communicating the Positioning of New Panda. Pre-publicity in the form of motoring reviews and test drives are critical to the success of a trade launch as this activity must generate sufficient consumer curiosity and interest in the new model. In this way, experts and driving correspondents or journalists, are also given the opportunity to assess the merits of a new car before the car-buying public delivers its own verdict in the form of car sales. Fiat showcased the New Panda (formerly known as Gingo) at the prestigious 73rd International Motor Show in Geneva. One of the most popular ways to do this is to hold ‘open weekends’ in garages where customers can come along to test drive the new car. By getting potential car buyers to test drive a car, product usage increases. This has a knock on effect to car sales. The primary above the line medium used to promote and communicate a new car is through advertising. In the case of the New Panda, the main advertising mediums used, aside for those used when communicating with the trade, are outdoor billboard advertising and TV advertising.

If we analyse who we are trying to communicate with when we are launching a new car, the choice of TV and outdoor advertising makes perfect marketing sense. However, increasingly newer forms of communications are being used, such as the internet, to reflect the attributes or ‘characteristics’ of the New Panda. Here we see the positioning statement being used once more to form the basis of the advertising message. This ensures a consistency across all elements of the marketing mix. The New Panda‘s ‘characteristics’ are summarized in the following ideas:

• The Essentials - it has those features that really count and will be of most service
• Surprise - you get more than you expected
• Energy - the car is dynamic, vital, endowed with good humor and optimism
• Freedom - to move about and go where you want easily and with worry-free driving.

4.0 Conclusion

All aspects of the marketing mix must function together as a whole in order to create a useful marketing campaign and get a product the sales it needs. The marketing mix must suit the company and the products it sells. Luxury items like mp3 players must have a good promotional campaign, be a quality product, be distributed in all the needed places and also have a competitive price that shows its value. This marketing strategy is extremely important to the success of a particular good or service which in turn could determine the success of the organization in the future. When marketing managers attempt to develop and manage their product it is extremely important that they look at various different aspects;

1. Those relating to the marketing mix: which the company has control over because they are able to develop their marketing strategies depending on the consumers needs and wants.
2. Those that make up the marketing environment: which include elements that the company has little or no control of e. g. certain government rules and regulations.
3. Market opportunity analysis: this exists when a company is given the chance to take action towards researching a particular group of customers.
4. Target market selection: which involves selecting a group of potential customers for whom a firm creates and maintains a marketing mix that specifically fits the needs and wants of that particular group.
5. Marketing Management: this is the process of planning, organizing, implementing, and controlling marketing activities to facilitate changes effectively and efficiently.

By using this type of marketing strategy organizations are given the opportunity to market a very successful product, so it would be true to say that the marketing mix and its manipulation are vital for the success of a business. However, their good or service may only be successful if the organization provides products that satisfy consumers needs and wants through a coordinated set of activities that also allow the organization to achieve its goals. Customer satisfaction should be the major aim of the marketing concept. But the process does not end here because the organization should continue to alter, adapt and develop products to keep pace with customers changing desires and preferences. Organizations should be aware of the importance of customers and release that marketing activities begin and end with the customer. In attempting to satisfy customers, businesses must consider not only the short and medium term needs but also the long term desires as it is vital to the long term success of the business and probably the best way to do this would be to link the different departments of the company together i.e. Production, Finance, Accounting, Personnel etc A company adopting this particular marketing strategy must not only satisfy its consumers preferences but it also must achieve the objectives that it hoped to achieve by using this strategy. The best way of achieving your objectives is to satisfy the customer and an adequate marketing mix strategy is an excellent way to satisfy the customer who means that implementing the marketing mix strategy should benefit the organization as well as the consumer.

References

“Marketing Management, Analysis, Planning and Control”, Philip Kotler – PHI.

“Marketing Management”– Stanton – John Wiley.

Kotler, P & Armstrong, G (2004), ‘Principles of Marketing’, Tenth Edition, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc

Lauterborn, R (1990), ‘New Marketing Litany: 4P’s Passe; C-Words Take Over’, Advertising Age, Oct 1, 1990:26

Lazer, W (1971), ‘Marketing Management: A Systems Perspective’ New York: John Wiley & Sons.

McCarthy, E J (1960), ‘Basic Marketing - A Managerial Approach’, Illinois: Irwin.

Proctor, T (2000), ‘Strategic Marketing: An Introduction’, London: Routledge.