Marketable

Marketing mix

A marketing mix (alternatively known as product offering, product model, marketable compound, and, when already marketed, marketed compound; hereinafter, the Mix) is a model representing distinguishable components of the marketable. In other words, the Mix is a combination of components of a marketable that a business handles in order to make consumers be aware of, influence them to purchase, and get the benefits from this marketable.

Components

Deliverable

deliverable, which can be divided in an unpackaged deliverable and packaging

Delivery

Product delivery. The action of delivering marketables either ordered or for sale. Delivery personnel may be incorporated and important for this delivery.

Charge

Product charge. A payment asked for a marketable. Not only its price, but also financing and acceptable payment methods may be incorporated in and important for this charge.

Presentation

Product presentation. The proffering or giving of a marketable to its potential consumers, particularly, through product manuals, official website, and public relations. Branding is the marketing practice of creating a name, symbol, or design that identifies and differentiates a marketable from other marketables.

Basic tools

Several business tools are used to capture the Mix in marketing products.

The 4Ps

The 4Ps (alternatively spelled, Four Ps, 4 Ps, or 4P's; also known as 4Ps of marketing) is the oldest Mix tool.

1. Product refers to the deliverable that its seller offers for sale. This may include its features, benefits, style, design, branding, packaging, services, warranties, guarantees, life cycles, investments and returns.
2. Price refers to the total cost to customer to acquire the product, and may involve both monetary and psychological costs such as the time and effort spent in acquisition. The product charge such as list pricing, discount pricing, special offer pricing, credit payment or credit terms".
3. Place refers either to the physical location where a business carries out business or the distribution channels used to reach markets. They include the direct or indirect channels to market, geographical distribution, territorial coverage, retail outlet, market location, catalogues, inventory, logistics, order fulfillment, virtual stores such as a call center and a website.
4. Promotion refers to the marketing communications mix used to make the offer known to potential customers and persuade them to investigate it further.

The 4Cs

If the 4Ps reflects the seller's side, the 4Cs tries to capture the buyer's one:

1. Consumer demands as opposed to the product. Consumers buy products to solve particular problems and satisfy particular needs.
2. Cost as opposed to the price, which is only a part of the total cost to satisfy customer's demand.
3. Convenience as opposed to the place. In the era of Internet, convenience takes into account the ease of buying the product, finding the product, finding information about the product, and several other factors.
4. Communication as opposed to the promotion. The buyers look for cooperation rather than manipulation.

The 4As

Although the 4Cs tries to capture the buyer's side, the 4As attempts to capture its drivers:

1. Acceptability is the extent to which the Mix exceeds customer expectations. This includes the core benefits, reliability, and other properties of the deliverable, as well as its psychological acceptability that resulted from its branding, packing, and positioning.
2. Affordability is the extent to which customers in the target market are able and willing to cover the product's costs. Affordability has two dimensions, which are (a) economic affordability or ability to pay and psychological affordability or willingness to pay.
3. Accessibility is the extent to which customers are able to readily acquire the deliverable. Accessibility has two dimensions, which are (a) availability and (b) convenience.
4. Awareness is the extent to which customers are informed regarding characteristics of the deliverable, persuaded to try it, and reminded to repurchase. Awareness has two dimensions, which are (a) brand awareness and (b) product knowledge.

The combination of acceptability and affordability determines the value proposition.

Special tools

The 7Ps

In addition to the 4P's, the following three P's might be added to describe the Mix of a service,

1. People (or personnel) refers to the personnel that stand for the service. In the professional, financial or hospitality service industry, people are not producers, but rather the products themselves.
2. Process refers to a set of activities that results in delivery of the product benefits including greetings and customer service actions.
3. Physical evidence refers to the tangibles or non-human elements of the service encounter, including equipment, furniture and facilities.

The 7Cs Compass

None of the 4Ps, 4CPs, 4As, or 7Ps address the influence that the organization has on the Mix, as well as the fact that customers are often a part of the Mix for services. The 7Cs Compass Model tries to capture those:

1. Corporation, which is offering its Mix to the market.
2. Commodity, which refers to the product what the customer gets.
3. Cost, which refers to the price and other costs that the customer pays.
4. Channel, which refers to the place and convenience in other tools.
5. Communication, which refers to the marketing communications mix.
6. Consumer, which, using the cardinal directions of the compass, indicates N = Needs; S = Security; E = Education (i.e. consumer education); and W = Wants.
7. Circumstances, which, using the cardinal directions of the compass, indicates N = National and international environment; S = Social and cultural; E = Economic; and W = Weather.

The New 4Ps of Marketing Management

Finally, these new four Ps actually apply to all disciplines within the company, and by thinking this way, managers more closely align themselves with the rest of the company.

1. People reflects, in part, internal marketing and the fact that employees are critical to marketing success. Marketing will only be as good as the people inside the organization. It also reflects the fact that marketers must view consumers as people to understand their lives more broadly, and not just as shoppers who consume products and services.
2. Processes reflects all the creativity, discipline, and structure brought to marketing management. Marketers must avoid ad hoc planning and decision making and ensure that state-of-the-art marketing ideas and concepts play an appropriate role in all they do, including creating mutually beneficial long-term relationships and imaginatively generating insights and breakthrough products, services, and marketing activities.
3. Programs reflects all the firm’s consumer-directed activities. It encompasses the old four Ps as well as a range of other marketing activities that might not fit as neatly into the old view of marketing. Regardless of whether they are online or offline, traditional or nontraditional, these activities must be integrated such that their whole is greater than the sum of their parts and they accomplish multiple objectives for the firm.
4. Performance as in holistic marketing, to capture the range of possible outcome measures that have financial and nonfinancial implications (profitability as well as brand and customer equity) and implications beyond the company itself (social responsibility, legal, ethical, and the environment).

Related lectures

• Business Modeling Quarter.