Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix

In order for a company to achieve its goals, the company must have a strategy that mixes the correct elements of marketing. The term Marketing Mix refers to "the four Ps" of marketing which are product, price, place, and promotion (Kotler & Keller, 2006). When creating a mix, a company must keep their target market in mind. The company must also understand the needs of the customer, then create marketing strategies that will satisfy the demand. The marketing mix should also meet or exceed the goals of that company.

Product is the element in the marketing mix that will define to the target customers what about the company's product that meets the customer's needs (Kotler & Keller, 2006). This particular area of the marketing plan is where the company would determine if they will be offering a physical product or service. In additon, the company, will in this area, decide how to brand the product, if there will be any warranties, and the way the product will be packaged (Kotler & Keller, 2006).

Pricing is an element of marketing mix where the company would decide the actual price that the customer would pay . This would be determined by factoring in any direct cost as well as indirect cost of providing the product or service. In order to achieve competitive advantage through pricing, the company should return some of the profits from cost efficiency to the customer in the form of a discount. In other words, the Company's efficiency can be related to the price of the product or service the company offers to the target customers.

Promotion deals with "telling the target market or others in the channel of distribution about the right product" (Perreault & McCarthy, 2002). Sometimes promotion is focused on acquiring new customers or retaining current customers. Promotion can includes personal selling, mass selling, and sales promotion (Perreault & McCarthy, 2002). I like to believe that even word of mouth is considered to be promoting the product depending on the customer's experience when purchasing that product or service. In addition, the promotion should be as such that the product would not have to be pushed or forced upon the customer by a "salesman".

Place is where the customer receives the product or service. This in most cases this is the store. However, when thinking about place, realize that this does not truly mean what place the store is located, but instead what place the target customer's are located. The key is to make sure that the company is providing the correct product in areas where that particular product is in demand.

All four Ps are needed in a marketing mix (Perreault & McCarthy, 2002). The four Ps must be creatively combined, so that a company develops the best mix for its target market. In other words, each decision must work well with all the other elements to make a balanced mix. This is the reason the four Ps should be focused upon the customer or target market. "The needs of a target market often determine the nature of an appropriate marketing mix" (Perreault & McCarthy, 2002).

To give an example of the correct marketing mix, I will use FedEx founded by Frederick W. Smith in 1973 (FedEx, 2005). Mr. Smith saw that the United States was in enormous need for a reliable, overnight delivery service company designed to solely transport packages and documents (FedEx, 2005).

FedEx's "product" became the service of delivering packages. FedEx offers a wide range of services for many different people, including FedEx Same Day, FedEx First Overnight, FedEx Priority Overnight, FedEx Standard Overnight, FedEx 2Day, FedEx Express Saver, FedEx Ground U.S., and FedEx Home Delivery (FedEx, 2005).

FedEx attracts customers through affordable pricing influenced by the costs of gas, promotions, and market research. Being efficient in this area, he is able to provide a price lower than other competitors such as USPS or DHL. For example, the price of a FedEx overnight letter is about $11 (FedEx, 2005) compared to USPS prices of $12 and $13 dollars (USPS, 2005).

FedEx services are available almost everywhere at any time. When customers' shipment is ready to go, they can either schedule a courier