marketing mix decisions – part 1

8/9/2019 Marketing Mix Decisions – Part 1

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By

DSK

3/31/2010 1marketing by Akash



Product (Customersolution)

Price (Customer cost) Place (Customer

convenience) Promotion (Customer

communication)




Which means

Anything that can be offered to

create an exchange It is looking at satisfying a

customer problem

Hence we say that a product is a

customer solution




At the heart of a great brand is a greatproduct.

Product is a key element in the marketoffering

Market leaders generally offer products andservices of superior quality that provideunsurpassed customer value




At the time of deciding your marketing planyou will have to take a number of product

decisions such as What will constitute the product

How many variants of it should be there on offer

How it should be different from competingproducts

How it should be packaged




We take an example of a Hotel




At the first level In a hotel (which is a product)the core benefit is

Rest and sleep (A hotel guest is basically buyingrest and sleep in a hotel)

it is the basic benefit




In case of hotel the basic product willconstitute

Hotel room (including a bed, bathroom, towels,desk, TV etc)

At this second level marketers must turn the basic

benefit into a basic product.

Match basic benefit with a basic product




At the third level, the marketer prepares onexpected product

A set of attributes and conditions buyersnormally expect when they purchase thisproduct.

Hotel guests expect a clean bed, fresh towels,

working lamps, and a relative degree of quite




At the fourth level, the marketer prepares anaugmented product that exceeds customerexpectations

In developed countries brand positioning and competitiontake place at this level.

In Developed countries, brand positioning andcompetition take place at this level.

However in developing countries like India and Brazilcompetition takes place mostly at the expected productlevel.

In a hotel augmented may be a PC in the room or thewelcome drink to improve the position of the product inthe eyes of the customer




It includes all the possible augmentations andtransformations the product or offering

might undergo in the future. Here is where companies search for new ways

to satisfy customers and distinguish theirofferings

Like a Hotelier might look forward to add Gym or

swimming pool in future




Differentiation arises and competitionincreasingly occurs on the basis of product

augmentation, which also leads the marketerto look at the users total consumptionsystem: The way the user performs the taskof getting and using products and relatedservices.




Each augmentation adds cost, and

Augmented benefits soon become expected

benefits and necessary points of parity Todays Hotel guests expect cable or satellite

TV with a remote control and high speedinternet access or two phone lines.

This means competitors must search for stillother features and benefits




As some companies raise the price of theiraugmented product, others offer a stripped

down version at a much lower price




It has four set of properties

Super Delux hotels (ITC Hotels)

Five star hotels (Welcome Hotels)

Budget hotels (Fortune Hotels)

Palaces, Forts and Havelis (Welcome heritage)




Basis

Durability and tangibility

Consumer goods classification

Industrial goods classification




Nondurable (Soft Drink and soaps)

Durable (Refrigerators, TV etc)

Services (Intangible)




Convenience (Soft Drink, Soap) Staples (Purchase on regular basis) toothpaste

Impulse (without any planning or search effort) Chocolate, Candy etc

Emergency Goods (Urgent need ) - Umbrella

Shopping (Furniture, Clothing) Homogeneous (Similar in quality may be different in

price) Lux and Rexona Heterogeneous (Differ in product features and

services which happens to be more significant thanprice) Lux and Dove




Specialty goods (a Mercedes)

Unsought (Life insurance)




Materials and parts

Raw Materials

Farm products Natural products

Manufactured materials and parts

Component materials (pig iron, yarn to be further

processed) Component parts (finished products, small motor, light)




Capital items

Installations (Buildings and heavy equipments)

Equipments (Portable factory equipments andtools) hand tools, lift trucks etc

Supplies and business services

Maintenance and repair (Paints, nails)

Operating supplies (Lubes, coal, writing paper)

Together they come under the category MRO




Business services include

Maintenance and repair services

Business advisory services


marketing mix decisions – part 1

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