Marketing Concept - the 4 P's of Marketing

MARKETING CONCEPT:

The broad definition of marketing describes it as the combination of all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchange intended to satisfy human needs and wants. In this case, Kumar intends to market Swift's runner shoes to Bangladesh. For successful marketing of the product, Swift has to prepare a marketing plan which consists of various tools like the 4 P's of marketing, target marketing, segmentation, positioning etc. The promotional mix is also formulated which consists of advertising, direct selling, sales promotion etc which helps in the promotion of the product.

The marketing principle or concept : The central idea is the 'matching' between a company's capabilities and the various wants of the consumers to achieve the objectives of both parties. (McDonald, 1999). It is also defined as the philosophy of doing business that emphasizes customer orientation and coordination of marketing activities in order to achieve the organization's goals. The management of the marketing mix consists of the various tools and techniques that are available to marketers in order to implement the marketing principle.

The marketing planning process is basically explained as a systematic way, or a logical sequence of identifying a range of options, choosing few of them, scheduling them, setting the marketing objectives and the formulation of plans for achieving them.

Marketing planning is very essential for the proper running or any organization considering the complex and hostile environment for the operating company. Each of the typical objectives that the firms set, such as maximizing factors like profit, return on investment, revenue and minimizing costs has their own special appeal to the different managers depending on the nature of their particular function. (Miller & Layton, 2000)

THE 4 P'S OF MARKETING :

Marketing mix - Defined as the combination of elements such as product, pricing structure, distribution system and promotional activities that are used to satisfy the needs of an organization's target market and accomplishing the firm's objectives. When entering a foreign market, the company has the choice of pursuing basic marketing mix options such as: the mix remains unchanged, certain elements could be modified or a totally new mix can be formulated. (Keegan & Green, 1997)

These are vital marketing tools that help in satisfying the consumer's needs and wants and help in targeting the potential market. These are the major elements in a marketing mix for any product or service that is intended for marketing.

Product - the good, service or simply the idea that satisfies the end consumer. Here, in terms of international marketing, it is necessary for the firm to adjust its products to meet local tastes and conditions. Sometimes the merchandise modification may not be feasible and a totally new product must be developed. Here, Swift's running shoes take the place of the product that is intended for selling.

Price - what is actually paid by the customer that intended product. The price charged in the foreign markets is seldom identical to that charged domestically because of differences in costs of many things such as transportation, advertising, selling etc. Because of these variations in costs experienced in different countries, most firms use some form of cost plus pricing to set foreign prices. For Swift, an introductory price, but not too low is recommended at an initial stage while promoting this new product, so that it does have competition and at the same time, it does get the necessary profit.

Promotion - the means of communication between the supplier and the buyer. Many firms standardize their international promotion efforts. Here, it is critical and vital to understand that the overall message has to be translated and not the words in the main language of promotion. The meaning has to be delivered and not the change in words. Due to the translation problems, it is in best to the company that it develops new promotional themes in foreign markets.

Place - the means of getting the product into the hands of the customer. Here, the international distribution channels can only be identical to the domestic ones if similar distribution institutions exist and the buyers support similar establishments. This comes under distribution where Swift's marketer distributes the shoes under proper channels, obeying government laws.

The above four marketing mix elements are interrelated i.e., decisions in one area affect actions in another. If a firm relies on price as its primary competitive tool, then the other elements must be designed to support aggressive pricing. Each marketing mix element contains limitless alternatives such as a producer may make and market one product or many, and may be related or unrelated to each other. Ultimately, from the multitude of alternatives, the management must choose a combination of elements that will satisfy target markets and achieve organizational goals.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE :

A product's life cycle comprises of the aggregate demand over an extended period of time for all brands belonging to a general product category. The cycle is graphed by plotting aggregate sales volume for a basic product category over time. (Miller & Layton, 2000) The graph can also plotted with the sales volume curve with the corresponding profit curve. An organization's marketing success can be affected noticeably by its capability to decide and adapt to the life cycle for each of its product categories. The different stages in a product life cycle are:

Introduction - Also called the pioneering stage, here, a product or a service as the case may be, is launched into the market in a full scale marketing program after passing through development, idea screening, prototypes and market tests. As the consumers are unfamiliar with the new product, the firm's promotional program is to provoke demand for the product. The introduction stage is the most risky and expensive stage as money is spent on both developing the product and to seek consumer acceptance. As this is an introduction of Swift's shoes into Bangladesh's market, the shoes are in the introduction stage of the product life cycle. (Kiel, Lusch, McColl-Kennedy & Lusch, 1992)

Growth - Here, the sales and profits rise at a rapid rate and competitors enter the market. As a result to competition, the profits start to decline near the end of this stage.