Introduction of 4ps Essay

Marketing The 4 Ps of marketing are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Think of each of these as a variable which you control. The idea is to set these variables in such a way so that sales will take place. You cannot â€Å"make† a customer pull out her credit card, but you can certainly help her in coming to a decision by setting the â€Å"right† price, the retail location, the level of advertising and even product attributes such as colour or perceived quality. You control everything but the customer herself. These variables are all interdependent. Taken together, they constitute a certain mix. This is often referred to as the marketing mix. In defining this mix it is also necessary to take into account your competitor’s mix as well as your overall corporate goals and objectives. The idea is to come up with a mix that will clearly differentiate your products from those of your competitors while considering your corporate goals. For example, your company may wish to offer a high-end luxury type of product since your competitors are addressing the mass market and this is consistent with your company’s goal of owning  the market for top-of-the-line products of this category. Definition of 4P’s Product: The marketing mix concept has its roots in the 1950s U. S. corporate marketing world, and the practice of marketing has obviously evolved tremendously since this term was invented. One of the changes is that there are a lot more services available nowadays, such as those available online. Also, the distinction between product and service has become more blurry. Either way, product here refers to products or services. The product or service you offer needs to be able to meet a specific, existing market demand. Or, you need to be able to create a market niche through building a strong brand. Price: The price you set for your product or service plays a large role in its marketability. Pricing for products or services that are more commonly available in the market is more elastic, meaning that unit sales will go up or down more responsively in response to price changes. By contrast, those products that have a generally more limited availability in the market are more inelastic, meaning that price changes will not affect unit sales very much. The price elasticity of your product or service can be determined through various market testing techniques. Place: This term really refers to any way that the customer can obtain a product or receive a service. Provision of a product or service can occur via any number of distribution channels, such as in a retail store, through the mail, via downloadable files, on a cruise ship, in a hair salon, and so on The ease and options through which you can make your product or service available to your customers will have an effect on your sales volume. Promotion: Promotion is concerned with any vehicle you employ for getting people to know more about your product or service. Advertising, public relations, point-of-sale displays, and word-of-mouth promotion are all traditional ways for promoting a product. Promotion can be seen as a way of closing the information gap between would-be sellers and would-be buyers. Your choice of a promotional strategy will be dependent upon your budget, the type of product or service you are selling, and availability of said promotional vehicle.