LESSON
THREE
SESSION OBJECTIVES
At the end of the session the leaners should be able to;

Explain the marketing mix principles
THE MARKETING MIX
Marketers use different tools in order to get the desired response from the customers or best
satisfy their needs. Successful marketing depends upon addressing a number of key issues.
These include: what a company is going to produce; how much it is going to charge; how it is
going to deliver its products or services to the customer; and how it is going to tell its
customers about its products and services. These tools are known as The Marketing Mix.
Marketing Mix is probably the most famous term in marketing.
The Marketing Mix is refers to a set of controllable and tactical marketing tool that the firm
blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. The marketing mix consists of
everything that the firm can do to influence the demand of its product.
In other words, Marketing Mix is a combination of marketing tools that a company uses to
satisfy their target customers and achieving organizational goals. Traditionally, the marketing
mix was developed for the fast moving consumer goods sector and E.J McCarthy classified
all these marketing tools under 4Ps as: Product, Price, Place/Distribution and Promotion. As
service sectors have become more aware of marketing, this marketing mix has been
developed, 3Ps were added mainly for service industries and they include: People, Process
and Physical Evidence.
WHY DO ORGANISATIONS PERFORM A MARKETING MIX
It is important to note that t getting a good marketing mix is possible once all the necessary
factors are taken into consideration. Though some marketers have failed to operationalize the
marketing mix ;there are a number of successes registered because of the same. Here are
some reasons you should do marketing mix.
1. Creating a Useful Product
There are lots of product out there in the market that don’t add value to customers who buy
them. This happens because a proper research was not carried out before the product was
created. That’s one of the reasons why you should consider doing marketing mix so as to
avoid mistakes at the early stage of marketing. Marketing mix helps you determine the right
product to create and the right market target for your project.
For example in Uganda the BB soda product failed to take off in the market place because it
did not appeal to the market.
2. Determining Right Promotional Strategy
Marketing mix helps marketers determine which strategy will work best for their products. A
lot of times marketers create a niche product and perform mass marketing strategy to promote
their products, but it doesn’t work that way. When there is a niche product and they start
promoting it to lots of people while ignoring the target market, the product becomes
irrelevant and will not get the desired marketing result aimed at. Marketing mix will help you
determine the right promotional strategy for your product.
3. Right Pricing For Product
One of the factors that determine if customers will buy your product is the price, this works
especially for new customers as existing customers do not really bother about that. Price can
make a whole lot of difference when it comes to marketing, which is why you need to fix the
right price for your product and to do this you’ll need to do marketing mix, so as to consider
other factors in determining the right price.
4. Right Location
Marketing mix also help you determine the best location to sell your product. There are some
products that are meant to be sold in a market that is highly populated; this usually works for
products with low prices, while products with high prices might do well in a market that’s not
highly populated. This is why marketing mix is needed for you so as to be able to determine
the right location to sell your product. Take for instance selling a cold drink in a cold
weather, things don’t work like that, which is why you need to make the right decision when
it comes to location.
5. Customer Satisfaction
One of the objectives of marketing is to satisfy your customers both in terms of your product
meeting their needs and your relationship with them. Marketing mix will help you determine
the right product for each target market; it will also give you a clue of how to manage your
different customers. Your customers are very important, they are the ones who will buy your
product, if they decide not to buy from you, just imagine what will happen.
6. Desired Marketing Result
One of the ways to get a good marketing result is do your marketing mix. If you are able to
focus on all necessary elements of marketing mix before you start your marketing, you will
definitely meet your target if you follow this process. When you ignore any element of
marketing mix, it might affect your marketing result negatively. The common issue that
happens most time is when a product is created and it’s not meant for the target market it’s
being promoted to.
7. Right Decision Making
When you are doing your marketing you need to continuously make decisions and those
decisions will have impact on the result you get. For you to always make the right decision,
you should consider using marketing mix, when you consider all elements of marketing mix
before making a decision, it will help you avoid making mistakes in the decisions you make.
8. Saves time
A lot of time when marketers have issues with getting result, it’s because they’ve not done
enough research about their field at which they function, which is why they need to do
marketing mix to enable them make a proper research. When you make a mistake in
marketing at the early stage, you might need to start all over again, which will really take
time but if you had taken your time to plan and do research, you won’t find yourself in a
situation like that but you will be getting a good result instead.
If you want to achieve success in marketing, you can practice marketing mix and it will work
just fine. Marketing mix allows you to come with several ideas which you can mix to achieve
your marketing goal.
What makes for an effective marketing mix?
An effective marketing mix is one which:

Meets customer needs- The customer is king in the market environment; being the
reason for the existence of the organisation.

Achieves marketing objectives- The organisation should be able to fully analyse the
objectives such as increasing sales.

Is balanced and consistent-The strategies used should be able to put a number of
issues into consideration such as age, rural or per-urban

Creates a competitive advantage for the business- there should be a cutting edge for
the business.
The marketing mix for each business and industry will vary; it will also vary over time.
For most businesses, one or two elements of the mix will be seen as relatively more important
than the others, as illustrated below:
These considerations are now known as the 7Ps of marketing, sometimes referred to as the
marketing mix. The important thing to note is that all these 7Ps (variables) are controllable,
subject to internal and external constraints of marketing environment. Thus, marketers using
different blends of these variables can target different group of customers having different
needs. So, a customer may call marketing mix “the offering”.
FEATURES OF MARKETING MIX
Combination of seven marketing variables: Marketing mix is a combination or integration
of four basic marketing variables namely, product, price, promotion, place, people, process
and physical evidence. These variables are interdependent.
Useful for achieving marketing targets: Marketing mix aims at achieving marketing targets
in terms of sales, profit and consumer satisfaction. It is rightly said that marketing mix is the
marketing manager's instrument for attainment of marketing objectives/targets.
Flexible and dynamic concept: Marketing mix is not a rigid combination of four variables.
It is in fact a flexible combination of variables. It is necessary to adjust the variables in the
mix from time to time as per the changes in the marketing environment. It is the continuous
monitoring of the marketing mix which facilitates appropriate changes in the mix.
Periodical adjacent of variables necessary: Marketing mix variables are interrelated and
need suitable adjustments from time to time. Updating of marketing mix is essential for
making it a powerful tool for achieving marketing targets. Updating is also essential due to
environmental changes taking place within the firm.
Marketing manager acts as a mixer of ingredients: A marketing manager has to function
as a mixer of marketing ingredients and has to achieve desired results through skillful
combination of 7Ps. He needs maturity, imagination and intelligence for appropriate blending
of the variables.
Customer is the focus point: The main focus of marketing mix is the customer. His
satisfaction and support are important. Variables of marketing mix are for giving more
satisfaction and pleasure to consumers.
Variables are interrelated: Marketing mix variables are interrelated. Decisions in one area
affect action in the other areas. An integrated approach is needed while making changes in
the marketing mix variables.
Consumer-oriented activity: Marketing mix is a consumer-oriented activity as its purpose is
to give satisfaction and pleasure to consumers. Here, the needs and expectations of
consumers are given special attention and 7Ps are adjusted accordingly.
Traditional 4Ps of sellers correspond to 4Cs of customers: Four Ps in the marketing mix
represent the sellers' view of the marketing tools available for influencing buyers. Each tool is
designed to deliver a customer benefit. For instance;
 Product-Customer Solution
 Price -Customer Cost
 Place-Customer Convenience
 Promotion-Customer Communication.
1.
PRODUCT
Marketing starts with a product since it’s what an organization has to offer for its target
market. Therefore, a product is anything that can be offered to the market for attention, use or
consumption that might satisfy consumer needs and wants. Products comprise of: physical
objects (goods), services, places, persons, ideas, information, events, experiences, properties
and organizations. Service is any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another that is
essentially tangible and does not result in ownership of anything for instance; Barbers and
Beauticians, Doctors, Engineers, Bankers, Lawyers, Maintenance and repair people, etc.
In addition, a product is a key element in the market offering. Thus, marketing mix planning
begins with formulating and offering but brings value to the target customers. This offering
becomes the basis upon which the company builds profitable relationship with customers.
Therefore, without a well-developed product strategy that includes input from the target
market, a marketing organization will not have long term success.
2.
PRICE
Price is the amount of money charged for a product or service. Price can also refer to the sum
of values that customers exchange for the benefits of using or having the product or service.
Price is the most dynamic element of the marketing mix and it is the only element of the
marketing mix that generates income for the organization as all other marketing mix elements
generate costs.
A company does not set a single price, but rather a single factor that covers different items in
its production line. The company adjusts product prices to reflect changes in cost and
demand; and to account for a variation to the buyers’ situation. For instance, as a competitive
environment changes; the company will consider when to initiate price changes and respond
to them. The pricing decision plays a very critical role in the success/failure of the company
for example; an organization may not be realizing its full profit potential if prices are low and
on the other hand, it may be losing the valuable customers if prices are high.
3.
PLACE/DISTRIBUTION
A place/ distribution refer to all the company’s activities that make the product or service
available to the target customers. In addition, it refers to how an organization will distribute
the product or service they are offering to the end user. The distribution decisions focuses on
establishing a system that is at its basic level, allow customers gain access and purchase a
marketers’ product.
The marketer distribution system must be both effective (i.e. delivers the goods/services to
the right place, with the right amount, in the right condition) and efficient (i.e. deliver at the
right time and for the right cost).
4.
PROMOTION
This is a form of corporate communication that uses various methods to reach a targeted
audience with a certain message in order to achieve a specific organizational objective. In
other words, promotion is any activity that raises awareness of a product or encourages
customers to purchase a product. It communicates the merits of the product and persuades
target buyers to buy them. These activities include; advertising, direct selling, sales
promotion and public relations.
NB. The above elements are used to create more customers in the market. However, it is
important also to note that, advertising is a form of promotion but not all promotions are
advertisements. The following things will influence how a firm chooses to promote its
product:
 Promotional campaign purpose
 The budget for the promotional campaign
 Legal rules about what you can promote and how
 The target market for the product
 The marketing environment in which the firm operates
5. PEOPLE
People are an essential ingredient in service provision; recruiting and training the right staff is
required to create a competitive advantage. Customers make judgments about service
provision and delivery based on the people representing your organisation. This is because
people are one of the few elements of the service that customers can see and interact with. It
is essential that all employees who have contact with customers are not only properly trained,
but also the right kind of people for the job; many customers cannot separate the product or
service from the staff member who provides it. This shows the importance of your people.
Staff requires appropriate interpersonal skills and service knowledge in order to deliver a
quality service. In the UK many organisations apply for the "Investors in People"
Accreditation to demonstrate that they train their staff to prescribed standards and best
practices.
6.
PROCESS
This element of the marketing mix looks at the systems used to deliver the service. For
instance, Banks that send out Credit Cards automatically when their customer’s old one has
expired again require an efficient process to identify expiry dates and renewal. An efficient
service that replaces old credit cards will foster consumer loyalty and confidence in the
company. All services need to be underpinned by clearly defined and efficient processes.
This will avoid confusion and promote a consistent service. In other words processes mean
that everybody knows what to do and how to do it. Customers are not interested in the detail
of how your business runs. What matters to them is that the system works.
However, process is one of the ‘Ps’ that is frequently overlooked. A customer trying to reach
your company b phone is a vital source of income and returning value; but so often customers
have to stay on hold for several minutes listening to a recorded message before they are able
to get through. Many of these customers will give up, go elsewhere and tell their friends not
to use your company just because of the poor process that is in place. Even if they go
through, they will go away with a negative impression of the company.
The reason for this is that the system is not usually designed by marketers thus; they are
designed by company’s benefit, not the customers. This part of the process is the first
experience of a company that many customers have. There’s’ no value in making the rest of
the company run perfectly if this part is faulty. As a consequence, this ‘P’ cold be of great
source of competitive advantage if used wisely.
7. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE/PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Physical evidence is about where the service is being delivered from. It is particularly
relevant to retailers operating out of shops. This element of the marketing mix will
distinguish a company from its competitors. Physical evidence can be used to charge a
premium price for a service and establish a positive experience. For example all hotels
provide a bed to sleep on but one of the things affecting the price charged, is the condition of
the room (physical evidence) holding the bed. Customers will make judgments about the
organisation based on the physical evidence. For example if you walk into a restaurant you
expect a clean and friendly environment, if the restaurant is smelly or dirty, customers are
likely to walk out. This is before they have even received the service.
Finally, an effective marketing programme blends all of the marketing mix elements or pillars
into a coordinating programme designed to achieve the company’s tactical tool kit for
establishing or positioning in a target market. Therefore, no one element can be considered in
isolation that is, you cannot develop a product without considering a price, or how it will
reach the customer. This process is called marketing planning.
THE 7PS OF THE MARKETING MIX
CLASS DISCUSSION
30 MINUTES ACTIVITY
Using an organisation of your own choice discuss the marketing mix concept.
Groups A,B,C,D
15 Minutes discussion then presentation 10 minutes each.