You must have seen the image of the food pyramid in textbooks or different websites. This pyramid is generally divided into 4 main parts from the base of the pyramid to the tip of the pyramid and you are allowed to consume a certain amount of each food group during the day. For example, bread and cereals are at the base of the pyramid, fruits, and vegetables are in the next row, then dairy products, meat, sweets, and fats are at the base of the pyramid.
Your food during the day is mixed and a combination of these food groups. Different sources even drew this pyramid differently divided the food groups into 7 categories and assigned each part of the pyramid to a category.
But you may be wondering what this has to do with the marketing mix. In this article, I am going to introduce you to the marketing mix. So, if your activity is somehow related to the subject of marketing, I recommend that you spend 10 minutes and don’t miss reading this article.
Table of Contents
What is a marketing mix?
Marketing mix is one of the basic topics of marketing and it is a set of tactics and actions that a company uses to promote its brand or product in the market. This concept is also known as 4P, which means the marketing mix, which means a combination of the 4 main pillars of the market:
- product
- price
- Promotion Promotion
- Place and distribution channel
These 4Ps include a variety of factors that you need to consider for successful marketing of a product:
- What do consumers want?
- How does your product or service meet their needs?
- How does this product stand out from its competitors?
- How will you interact with customers as a producer?
It is interesting to know that this concept was first mentioned by Neil Borden, a professor of advertising at Harvard in the 1950s, who published an article in 1964 in which he showed how companies can use advertising tactics to attract their customers. Of course, other concepts were added to this 4P later.
7P Marketing Mix
As you know, marketing science is changing and improving day by day, so the old basics of the past definitely cannot fully meet today’s needs. Accordingly, some people added another 4P to this 3P and split the old shell.
- People
- processes
- physical signs related to the product (physical evidence)
These 3 factors were new basics that were added to the four pillars of marketing. But this was not the end of the story and other Ps were added to this category and it reached 8P, 11P, 13P, 15P, 21P, 44P. Of course, some introduced the 4C marketing mix, in which the topic of marketing is considered from a different angle.
- Customer Value
- Cost
- Convenience
- Communication with the customer
Marketing mix 7T
After that, Aleksandr Chernov, a professor at Clog Business School, introduced the 7T marketing mix. This 7T includes the following: Neil Borden did a great job.
- Product
- Service
- Brand
- Price
- Incentives
- Communication
- Distribution
But you might ask yourself, what is the use of lining up these words for marketing managers? These words have the status of a checklist for people in this field, and each of these words remains like a wrench or pliers in the hands of a technician that a marketing manager must be able to use correctly and in the right place.
Maybe the meaning and concept of each of these words seems simple, but all of these are dependent on each other like the gears of a clock, and the presence of defects in each of these components affects the rest of the elements as well. Finally, it will hurt the final result.
If you get a correct understanding of the marketing mix; The marketing mix can have many benefits for you. For example, by using a marketing mix, you can have a review of your marketing strategy and create coordination between different parts of your marketing.
One day you will come to your senses and see that your products are not sold despite having enough advertisements and having high quality. This is where you have to check all the following factors a doctor, find the diseased organ, and treat it.
Elements of the marketing mix
the product
A product is anything that is offered in the market to satisfy the wants and needs of humans. Products have different categories:
- Products may be tangible and physical items such as mobile phones, books, or laptops
- Intangible and non-physical like a bank account
- Consumer products and services such as food or clothing and services such as postal services, services of educational institutions
- Industrial products and services such as raw materials, machinery, or parts.
But the 5 features that differentiate your products are product name, packaging, style, features, and product quality.
As mentioned, one of the important factors is product quality. If your product doesn’t have quality, the best work on other elements of the marketing mix won’t help either.
It is part of the advertising marketing process and you plan to organize a campaign for your products or services. So creating a marketing campaign starts with understanding the product itself and you need to know why the customer needs your product. What does your product add or do that a competitor’s product can’t? Maybe there is a feature in its design or performance that will encourage consumers to buy it.
So, if your product has passed its peak period and has reached a period of stagnation and sales decline, it is time to redesign your product or add new features and functionality to it. So you must know what stage your product is in its life cycle.
price
The price is also an important factor and the marketers should determine the price according to the real value and quality of the product and not take whatever the blade cuts. But in some cases, marketing managers may increase the price of a product to give it a more attractive and luxurious appearance or lower the price to have more sales. So marketing managers determine the price, supply costs, and discounts they want to give to the product.