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ELEMENTS OF THE MARKETING MIX
Elements of the Marketing Mix
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ELEMENTS OF THE MARKETING MIX
Elements of the Marketing Mix
High-performance organizations today know that their marketing is a key part of their
success or failure. Planning marketing management in an effective way is the best way to ensure
that your marketing operations are successful. Marketing planning means setting goals,
evaluating new opportunities, crafting marketing strategies, making plans for marketing, and
coming up with marketing programs.
Creating the market strategy is an important part of planning marketing. Developing the
market strategy is begun by targeting the intended market for a service or product, and then
creating a market mix that will appeal to the target market.
The marketing mix and the elements of that mix are the key components of the
organization's marketing plan. The marketing mix can be described in terms of the Four Ps.
These are product, place, promotion, and price. The customer is not a part of the marketing mix,
though many people have this perception. The customer is who is targeted by the marketing
mix. “The basic reason to focus on some specific target customers is so that you can develop a
marketing mix that satisfies those customers’ specific needs better than they are satisfied by
some other firm (William D. Perreault, 2009).”
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ELEMENTS OF THE MARKETING MIX
The Element of Product
The “product” in the marketing mix means coming up with the right product for the
targeted audience. The product could be a service, good, or both. A product is not simply
physical goods. “For example, the Product of H & R Block is a completed tax form. The
Product of a political party are the policies it works to achieve. The important thing to remember
is that your good or service should satisfy some customers’ needs (William D. Perreault, 2009).”
Branding, packing, installation and warranties are also considered part of the product element of
the marketing mix.
Sikorsky Aircraft is one of the leaders in the rotary aircraft industry. Their product is a
major part of their marketing mix. Sikorsky's customers are commercial and military operations,
and they have particular needs and wants in the products that they buy. Sikorsky has several
kinds of helicopters and they are presented and outfitted with different types of trim to suit their
different target audiences. This fits the company's marketing strategy, because Sikorsky needs to
develop different products for different missions. Sikorsky knows that their customers expect
safety, quality, and good service, so they take all of these aspects into account with their product.
The Element of Place
The element of Place in the marketing mix is everything that it takes to deliver the
product to the target market.
“A product reaches customers through a channel of distribution. A channel of distribution
is any series of firms (or individuals) that participate in the flow of products from producer to
final user or consumer. Sometimes a channel of distribution is short and runs directly from a
producer to a final user or consumer. This is common in business markets and in the marketing
of services (William D. Perreault, 2009).”
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ELEMENTS OF THE MARKETING MIX
Some organizations do not sell their product directly to their customers, but they use
retailers to get their products into the hands of consumers. These intermediaries can be called
dealers or resellers, and it is the organization which is the end of a distribution channel, before
the product's end user. Retailers sell items or services to customers.
Sikorsky Aircraft sells direct, straight to the consumer. The way that customers take
delivery of these products is determined by the contractual agreements made before the time of
sale between the company and the customer. Commercial and private customers use freight
transportation to receive their product. Some clients, especially the military, come to the
Connecticut Sikorsky flight field to attain the product and fly it away.
The Element of Promotion
Promotion is the third P in the marketing mix. Promotion is how the organization
communicates with the different players in the distribution channel. Promotion primarily aims to
tell the target market what they need to know about the product. Mass selling, personal selling,
and sales and promotions are different aspect of promotion. The organization's market manager
is in charge of ensuring the effectiveness of market communication.
“Personal selling involves direct spoken communication between sellers and potential
customers. Mass selling is communicating with large numbers of customers at the same time.
The main form of mass selling is advertising —any paid form of non-personal presentation of
ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Sales promotion refers to those promotion
activities—other than advertising, publicity, and personal selling—that stimulate interest, trial, or
purchase by final customers or others in the channel. This can involve use of coupons, point-ofpurchase materials, samples, signs, contests, events, catalogs, novelties, and circulars (William
D. Perreault, 2009).”
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ELEMENTS OF THE MARKETING MIX
Sikorsky Aircraft’s marketing mix uses promotion heavily to move their products.
Sikorsky keeps their level of publicity, and their customer's opinions, high to keep people
interested in their aircrafts. The UH-60 Blackhawk is famous for being the US Army's
“workhorse” helicopter, and it is Sikorsky's flagship helicopter. Almost every advertisement for
the US military features this helicopter. Each branch of the US military buys variants of the UH40, including the Coast Guard. Sikorsky uses their ties to the armed forces, through the quality
of their product, to ensure that customers are excited about their products.
The internet is a good way for all kinds of organizations to sell their products. Sikorsky
has taken advantage of this possible opportunity by launching their new website, which tells
customers all of the information about the company and about the available range of their
products.
The Element of Price
Price is the last P in the marketing mix. The product's price must be set in a way that is
consistent with the prices of competing products and companies, as well as the overall cost of the
marketing mix. For example, Sikorsky Aircraft keeps its prices at a level where they are
competitive, but they can still create and market high quality products.
“A manager must also try to estimate customer reaction to possible prices. Besides this,
the manager must know current practices as to markups, discounts, and other terms of sale. And
if customers won’t accept the Price, all of the planning effort is wasted (William D. Perreault,
2009).”
Conclusion
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ELEMENTS OF THE MARKETING MIX
The marketing mix is how an effective marketing strategy is built, and the Four Ps are all
a part of the marketing mix. None of the different aspects are more or less important than the
others, as they are linked and create a coherent marketing mix together. Using the marketing mix
effectively helps organizations everywhere find their customers, speak to them, and keep their
existing customers excited about and loyal to their products.
References
(2010). Retrieved May 2nd, 2010, from Sikorsky Aircraft Company Website:
www.sikorskyaircraft.com
Net MBA. (2007). The Marketing Mix (The Four P's of Marketing). Retrieved May 2nd, 2010,
from Net MBA: http://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/
William D. Perreault, J. P. (2009). Basic Marketing, A Marketing Strategy Planning Approach.
New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
ELEMENTS OF THE MARKETING MIX
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