The P's of marketing are PRODUCT, PLACE, PRICE AND PROMOTION.
Product refers to an item or items a business intends to sell. When producing/ manufacturing/ examining a product, questions should be asked such as, what product is being sold? What differentiates the product from its competitors? Can the product be marketed with a secondary product? And are there substitute products in the market?
Price refers to how much the product is likely to cost. When establishing price, considerations needs to be given to cost the unit cost price, marketing costs and distribution expenses.
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Place refers to distribution of the product. Considerations include whether the product is going to be sold through a physical store front, online or made available through both distribution channels?
Finally, Promotion refers to the integrated marketing communications campaign. Promotional activities may include advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, public relations, direct marketing, sponsorship and guerrilla marketing. Promotions are likely to vary being dependent on what stage of product life cycle the product is currently in. Marketers must be aware that consumers associate a product‘s price and distribution with its quality, and would be prudent to take this into account when devising the overall marketing strategy.
With the growth of the services sector, marketers realized that services cannot be marketed in the same way as the products. Certain characteristics of services posed serious problems for marketers who realized that services marketing must be done differently and not with the same marketing mix variables. Service characteristics like intangibility inseparability, heterogeneity and perishability.
To cope with these challenges, service marketers suggest additional 3 Ps – Process, Physical Evidence and People. The process is aimed at solving the heterogeneity or variability problem associated with the services by providing a service blueprint. The physical evidence solves some of the problems associated with the intangible nature of services. The physical evidence in terms of service environment, equipment, personnel and so on attempts to tangibilize the intangible.
The final P – People – gives lot of attention to the service providers because they are, strictly
speaking, part of the service provided. They can influence the perceived service quality in a big way.
Types of Marketing-There are numerous marketing methods which are prevalent in today‘s
economy, but five of them are dominating the world market as a whole;
Digital Marketing-Digital marketing, or direct digital marketing, is a type of marketing in which a business uses only electronic means to advertise their products and services. This type of marketing can be implemented through television, the internet (newsletters, or other emails), and even electronic billboards. Not only does this save a company in mailing costs, it also ensures that more people will be exposed to their products. Digital marketing has erupted from television commercials to the internet, then from the internet to phones and other portable digital devices such as the iPad, Kindle, etc.
Brands can now be direct sellers, content producers, bloggers, tweeters and even friends without having to rely on media to deliver those messages. Consumers can seek out those brands, connect with them through social networks, tweet about them, and instantaneously let all their friends know what they think about them or what they plan to buy.The goal of digital marketing is to utilize these numerous devices, often via the Internet, to connect segments of users with relevant businesses. Marketers will use a variety of methods to target and reach out to users to grab their attention and begin the process of selling to them.
JAN-MAR, 2018, VOL-7/37 Page 111 And thanks to the increased use of these digital devices, businesses around the globe are increasingly making digital marketing their primary focus:
71% of companies plan to increase their digital marketing budgets this year
On average, 60% of a marketer‘s time is devoted to digital marketing activities, fuelling demand for digital marketing skills
One third of businesses are planning to introduce a Digital Transformation program and one third already have
Digital content creation and management now claim the second-largest share of digital marketing budgets
28% of marketers have reduced their traditional advertising budget to fund more digital marketing
73% of B2B marketers use video as a content marketing tactic, and 7% of marketers‘ plan on increasing their YouTube marketing
One of the things that separates digital from traditional marketing is the capabilities of modern technology. Digital marketers are focused primarily on targeted, measurable activities. They want to zero-in on the ―right‖ audience and measure the results of their efforts. In the past, targeting looked like taking out a regional TV ad or running an ad in a niche magazine, but today‘s technology allows for a much more refined, measurable approach.For example, a digital marketer today can run a Facebook advertisement targeting only 20-year-olds interested in the band Coldplay. They can see every view, like, comment, and click and then use a tracking pixel to see exactly what people do after they click on the ad. This data can then be used to create ads that perform better
Internet Marketing:Like its relative digital marketing, Internet marketing uses electronic means to advertise to the public. The difference between the two is strictly Internet driven. Internet marketing employs email, banner ads, those annoying pop ups, etc. The internet is an ever-growing market of seemingly limitless advertising space, and it continues to grow with evolving subsections of marketing such as affiliate marketing.
Also called online marketing, it is the process of promoting a brand, products or services over the Internet. Its broad scope includes email marketing, electronic customer relationship management and any promotional activities that are done via wireless media.It also combines the technical and creative aspects of the World Wide Web such as advertising, designing, development and sales. Moreover, Internet Marketing also deals with creating and placing ads throughout the various stages of customer engagement cycle.
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Affiliate Marketing:Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing in which online advertisers and merchants share revenue with online salespeople or website owners through a compensation model that is based on certain performance measures such as Pay by Click, sales, registrations, or a model that combines any of these forms.
Multi-Level Marketing:Multi-level marketing, is a type of marketing in which consumer products are generally sold by individuals either in consumer‘s homes or in a designated area of meeting. For instance, Avon, Tupperware, and Mary Kay are all forms of legitimate multi- level marketing. Multi-level marketers set their own hours and can earn money based on sales.
Global Marketing:Global marketing is a form of marketing in which various international business allies form relationships and develop networks on a global scale. They work closely with one another‘s home countries, their government officials, and the industry competitors to gain and develop a target market. In this type of advanced market, stakeholder benefits outweigh that of the company‘s personal organizational objectives. In this case, stakeholders would be employees, the society in which a business is entering, the companies‘ respective governments, etc.
Global marketing refers to marketing activities by companies that emphasize the following: 1. Reduction of cost inefficiencies and duplication of efforts among their national and regional subsidiaries
2. Opportunities for the transfer of products, brands, and other ideas across subsidiaries 3. Emergence of global customers
4. Improved linkages among national marketing infrastructures leading to the development of a global marketing infrastructure.
4 Types of Marketing Strategies :There are different types of marketing strategies available. Picking up a marketing strategy includes analysing the needs of your business, your target audience and specifications of your products.Marketing strategies have made it much easier to promote products and services. They also limit the strategy to target audience ensuring the proper advancement of the business.
The two main types of marketing strategy are:
1. Business to business (B2B) marketing
2. Business to consumer (B2C) marketing
Following are the different types of marketing strategies available
Paid advertising:This includes multiple approaches for marketing. It includes traditional approaches like TVCs and print media advertising. Also, one of the most well-known marketing approach is internet marketing. It includes various methods like PPC (Pay per click) and paid advertising.
Cause marketing:Cause marketing links the services and products of a company to a social cause or issue. It is also well known as cause related marketing.
Relationship marketing:This type of marketing is basically focused on customer building. Enhancing existing relationships with customers and improving customer loyalty.
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Undercover marketing:This type of marketing strategy focuses on marketing the product while customers remain unaware of the marketing strategy. It is also known as stealth marketing.
Word of mouth:It totally relies on what impression you leave on people. It is traditionally the most important type of marketing strategy. Being heard is important in business world. When you give quality services to customers, it is likely that they‘d promote you.
Internet marketing:It is also known as cloud marketing. It usually happens over the internet. All the marketing items are shared on the internet and promoted on various platforms via multiple approaches.
Transactional marketing:Sales is particularly the most challenging work. Even for the largest retailers, selling is always tough especially when there are high volume targets. However, with the new marketing strategies, selling isn‘t as difficult as it was. In transactional marketing the retailers encourage customers to buy with shopping coupons, discounts and huge events. It enhances the chances of sales and motivates the target audience to buy the promoted products.
Diversity marketing:It caters diverse audience by customizing and integrating different marketing strategies. It covers different aspects like cultural, beliefs, attitudes, views and other specific needs.
Bibliography:
Year of Publishing Title Author Publisher 2016 Marketing Fauzia Burke BerrettKochler 2011 Strategies of Marketing Sarah Jane White Harrman House 2016 Social & Digital Media
Marketng
Kunst&KollegenGambh You Publish
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