The Marketing Mix

Once you have decided your business strategy, you will be ready to begin planning the details of the marketing mix. What is the marketing mix? The Marketing Mix is defined as: The set of controllable tactical marketing tools: Products, Price, Place, and Promotion that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market.



Product Price

Variety List Price

Quality Discounts

Design Allowances

Features Payment period

Brand Name Credit Terms

Packaging

Services

Promotion

Advertising Channels

Personal selling Coverage

Sales Promotion Assortments

Public relations Locations

Inventory

Transportation

Logistics

Price

List price

Discounts

Allowances

Payment period

Credit terms

Place

Channels

Coverage

Assortments

Locations

Inventory

Transportation

Logistics

Product: the goods and services combination the company offers to target the market.

Price: The amount of money customers have to pay to obtain the product.

Place: includes company activities that make the product available to target consumers.

Promotion: activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it.

Your Product Line:
Inventory control is one of a retailer's biggest challenges, and depth and width have a significant impact on the ability to control inventory.

Positioning

Positioning means developing strategies that will place your product in a particular position relative to competitors.
How have Toyota: Prius and Corolla positioned their respective products in the automobile marketplace. Why? Think about it?

Smart positioning requires understanding the benefits of your products, what those benefits are worth to the customer. You can position your products based on price, quality, availability, uniqueness, etc.

Packaging
It helps to communicate your product's image, it also serves the basic function of protecting products, and providing information about use, ingredients, quantity and so forth.
Packaging can also reduce shipping cost, earn goodwill, and increase your access to overseas markets. Make your packaging decisions carefully!
Products are not the only thing that can be packaged, services can be package as well. Bookkeeping services, Legal services, Shipping services, Banking services, etc.

Branding
Branding is about creating a consistent message for your business, and making sure it comes through whenever and wherever you interact with the public.
It includes benefits, packaging, advertising, and services. You can look at brand identity as a promise. When customers see your name or logo, it promises them certain things. Each time you deliver on that promise, your brand is strengthened. Any time you break the promise, it's weakened. So, Under promise and Over deliver!!