MARKETING MIX ELEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

The first marketing mix concept was introduced by Neil H. Borden in 1965. Borden is a marketing and advertisement professor at the Harvard Business School and a former president of the American Marketing Association. He defined the marketing mix as a combination of all of the factors at a marketing manger command to satisfy the target market.

MARKETING MIX

Marketing mix is the set of the marketing tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target market. (Kotler, Ang, Leong and Tan, 1999). The marketing mix is not a theory of management that has been derived from scientific analysis, but a conceptual framework which highlights the principal decisions that marketing managers make in configuring their offerings to suit customers’ needs. The tools can be used to develop both long term strategies and short term tactical programmes.

The concept of marketing mix has various elements which can be described as different at

• Manufacturer side
• Customer side

Marketing mix elements at manufacturer side:

1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion

ELEMENTS OF MARKETING MIX (Adapted from Kotler, Ang, Leong and Tan, 1999)

They are popularly known as the 4P’s of the marketing mix concept.

The mentioned elements are closely related to the decision making process of the customer. The final choice of the customer’s purchase has been described by marketing element called 4A’s. They are

1. Awareness
2. Affordability
3. Accessibility
4. Acceptability

The Marketing mix elements w.r.t Dove Deep Pure face wash are explained as follows:

Product

Dove Deep Pure face wash is the product here.
The product has value which it provides to the consumer in return for a certain cost.
Value= Benefit – Cost

 Value for Dove Deep Pure is the cleaning, smoothening, moisturizing and scrubbing properties it offers. This value is available to the customer in return for some cost which is the price of the product in the market.

Price vis a vis Affordability

For a manufacturer, the price of the product is basically the price the manufacturer quotes in return for the value provided by the product. Price of the product is an essential element as it is quoted keeping in mind the target group for the product.

Dove Deep Pure face wash is priced at Rs. 90/- for 50g in the market. The value provided by the face wash to the consumer is set in exchange for some price which is paid by the customer.

For a customer, price is related to the element of affordability. The price quoted by Dove clearly indicates that it is targeted for urban, upper middle class as a beauty brand. A direct comparison can be made with Pears priced at Rs.45/- for 50g. Pears is not promoted as a beauty brand and is lower priced due to a different target group it caters to.

Place vis a vis Accessibility

For manufacturer a, place is the market where he wants to put his product for purchase. It includes retails stores, general stores etc. Marketers make sure the product is easily available to increase and sustain its demand.

Dove Deep Pure face wash is available in the customer’s locality at general stores, retail stores like Big Bazaar, Reliance etc., at stores in malls. It is widely available as it is an all season product.

For a customer, the place relates to the accessibility. Easy access leads to repeat buyers, first timers would love to try out the product, the will increase the demand and help to sustain it.

Promotion vis a vis Awareness

Promotion plays a very important part for any product in the market. Promotion lies at the heart of marketing mix for the manufacturer. Promotional activities such as advertisements, campaign increase the visibility of the product in the market and makes customer aware about the product value offered.

Dove Deep Pure face wash has advertisements which are aired on different TV channels. They show case working women who want to look beautiful all the time be it office or at home. The campaigns were also aimed at beauty product promotion of Dove face wash. All the promotional activities address value provided by the face wash to the customer to initiate purchase or buying behaviour.

For a customer, promotional activities for the products make it aware about the product in the market. Dove  Deep pure face wash target group is  aware about the face wash as a beauty brand and primarily aimed at women. The features of cleansing, moisturizing, scrubbing and smooth skin differentiates it from other products in the market. The awareness helps a lot to the customer to make the decision among available alternate options.

Acceptability

For a customer acceptability of the product initiates repeat buying. The demand for the product depends on its acceptance in the market.

Dove deep pure wash has a strong brand reputation attached to it. The quick acceptability of the product in the market has pushed the product to maturity phase now.